A senior figure in Sudan’s pro-army Democratic Bloc has urged the Port Sudan authorities to avoid a diplomatic or media confrontation with the United States, calling instead for continued dialogue with Washington.
Mubarak Ardol said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that Sudan should keep communication channels with the US administration open regardless of existing disagreements.
“I do not encourage at all entering into a diplomatic or media confrontation with the American administration,” Ardol said, according to local Sudanese media.
He said Sudan’s foreign relations should be built around mutual interests, respect and direct dialogue, arguing that escalation should be avoided and avenues for understandings that could contribute to peace and stability should remain open.
Ardol is a senior figure in the Democratic Bloc, a coalition of civilian parties and armed movements that has broadly aligned itself with the Sudanese Armed Forces during the war against the Rapid Support Forces.
The bloc includes movements led by Darfur governor Minni Minnawi and Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, whose forces have fought alongside the SAF. Ardol himself heads the Democratic Alliance for Justice.
His comments come amid heightened tensions between Washington and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan over US efforts to secure a humanitarian ceasefire.
Reuters reported this week that the United States was withholding a visa for Burhan ahead of the UN General Assembly as Washington pressed him to accept a proposed 90-day ceasefire. Sudan’s army has previously expressed reservations over elements of the US-backed plan.
Despite its general alignment with the army, the Democratic Bloc has shown divisions in recent months over how peace negotiations should proceed, with some factions favouring international mediation while others have supported an internal political process promoted by Burhan.
