The planned meeting of the IGAD’s council of minsters scheduled to take place in Juba on Tuesday has been called off indefinitely due to the ongoing fighting in the Sudan’s capital, Khartoum,
Deng Dau, South Sudan acting minster of foreign affairs and international cooperation, says in a statement on Monday that “The new date will be announced accordingly in due time following the consultations with the secretariat of IGAD and the chair of IGAD’s council of minsters.”
The meeting was scheduled to discuss two regional agenda – peace and security in the IGAD and disaster and humanitarian issues.
On Sunday, Sudan, being the chair of IGAD, requested the cancelation of the planned extraordinary meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)’s council of ministers, citing the crisis in Khartoum -The country’s capital
In a statement issued by Sudan embassy in Djibouti to IGAD secretariat on Sunday, the mission said Sudan would not be able to participate in full capacity due to the unfolding situation in the country.
“Sudan as a Chair of IGAD’s Council of Ministers (CoM) kindly requests the postponement of the CoM Extraordinary meeting. The new date, after due consultations with the secretariat and the host country will be communicated in due course,” the statement reads.
“The recent developments in Sudan since the 15th of April led to the closure of Khartoum International airport. Due to that, Sudan as Chair will not be able to participate in its full capacity in the above mentioned meeting.”
The fighting, which started on Saturday, April 15, is between Sudan armed forces led by General Al Fattah Al Burhan and Rapid Support Forces of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
