Sudan’s Port Sudan authorities have appealed to the regional IGAD bloc to support an army-backed political dialogue inside the country, but the organisation has so far stopped short of publicly endorsing the initiative as it continues to participate in a broader international political track.
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Muawiya Osman Khalid made the request during the 74th Extraordinary Session of the IGAD Council of Ministers in Djibouti on Tuesday.
Khalid urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development to support what Port Sudan describes as a “Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue” aimed at resolving the country’s political crisis without foreign interference.
However, public accounts of the ministerial meeting did not announce IGAD support for the specific Port Sudan initiative.
Instead, discussions highlighted the regional organisation’s broader role in facilitating dialogue, promoting political solutions and supporting regional peace and stability.
IGAD is already part of the five-member Quintet alongside the African Union, United Nations, European Union and Arab League, which is pursuing consultations with Sudanese political and civilian forces ahead of a broader political process.
The Quintet has said an eventual Sudanese political process should emerge from broad and inclusive consultations capable of building legitimacy and common ground.
That position potentially complicates Port Sudan’s attempt to gain regional backing for the separate dialogue launched in areas under army control.
The Sudan Founding Alliance, known as TASIS, had already rejected the Port Sudan dialogue initiative earlier this month.
TASIS spokesman Ahmed Tugud Lisan said on September 1 that the initiative lacked the conditions necessary for an independent dialogue because army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had initiated the process, appointed its committee and determined its agenda and location.
TASIS contrasted the initiative with the Quintet-led process, arguing that any credible Sudanese dialogue should not be controlled by one of the parties to the conflict.
Neither TASIS nor the Rapid Support Forces appeared to have issued a new public statement specifically responding to Tuesday’s IGAD meeting or Khalid’s request as of Wednesday morning.
Khalid also used his address to present the Port Sudan authorities’ assessment of the war, saying conditions in Sudan had improved and that the Sudanese Armed Forces were making battlefield advances.
He accused the RSF of attacks against civilians and “systematic destruction” and said Port Sudan remained committed to facilitating humanitarian assistance.
Those claims reflected the position of the Sudanese delegation and were not presented by IGAD as independent findings.
Tuesday’s participation also did not mark Sudan’s formal return to IGAD, despite descriptions in some Sudanese media.
Sudan formally resumed full participation in the organisation in February 2026, nearly two years after the Burhan-led authorities suspended engagement with the regional bloc in January 2024.
IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu acknowledged that timeline in his opening remarks on Tuesday, saying Sudan’s resumption of full membership in February had restored the organisation’s membership.
IGAD subsequently reopened its mission in Khartoum in July.
The dispute over the political process nevertheless remains unresolved, with Port Sudan seeking regional recognition for its internally organised dialogue while IGAD continues working through the wider Quintet framework.
