Local elections in Algeria are entering the stage of resolving issues

A delegation of Sudanese anti-war civil forces, headed by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, began a joint meeting on Monday with the five-member mechanism (the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union, the League of Arab States, and IGAD) at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, to discuss arrangements for a Sudanese-led peace process that begins with a humanitarian truce and leads to a permanent cessation of fighting and a democratic civilian transition.

The meeting comes after the “Sudanese Declaration of Principles Forces” and the “Resilience” coalition boycotted a previous round of consultations with the Quintet, in objection to the way it was managed and the criteria for participation in it, and following a joint meeting between the “Quintette” and the “Quartet” to coordinate humanitarian, security and political tracks.

The delegation includes representatives of the “Forces of the Declaration of Principles,” the “Popular Congress” Party, civil society organizations, and women’s and youth networks, in addition to public figures, united by an anti-war stance that is independent of both sides, according to their statements.

Participating on behalf of the “quintet”, which includes the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union, the League of Arab States and IGAD, are Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Becca Haavisto, Annette Weber, Lawrence Korbandi, and Zaid Al-Sabban, as representatives of the five organizations.

The Sudanese civil forces present a vision for an integrated peace process that begins with an immediate and unconditional humanitarian truce to protect civilians and ensure the arrival of aid, paving the way for a permanent ceasefire and a political path that addresses the roots of the crisis. It demands participation in designing and leading the process, according to fair standards that prevent the dominance of any party, while excluding the National Congress and the Islamic Movement and their facades.

The vision calls for unifying mediations and linking them to coordinated pressures, including expanding the arms embargo to all of Sudan, drying up sources of funding for the war, and holding perpetrators of atrocities and obstructors of peace accountable.

The spokesman for the “Resilient” coalition, Jaafar Hassan, said in statements on the eve of the meeting that the meeting is dedicated to consultation and presenting a vision for preparing for the political process, including agreeing on the participants in the Sudanese dialogue, its place and time.

In conjunction with the political movement taking place in Addis Ababa, the Sudanese army announced, on Monday, that its air defenses shot down a drone on Sunday evening, which it described as a “hostile strategy,” near the Wad al-Mahi area in Blue Nile State.

The Armed Forces spokesman said, in a press release, that the plane had been spotted since crossing the border “coming from the direction of Ethiopia,” without specifying who launched it or the target it was heading toward. The statement did not include a clear accusation against the Ethiopian authorities of operating or launching the drone.

On Sunday, the Algerian police announced the arrest of 61 Moroccans in the city of Oran, in the northwest of the country, on charges of planning to “commit acts of sabotage,” in a move that raises fears of an exacerbation of the existing tension between the two countries in light of severed diplomatic relations.

A statement by the General Directorate of National Security published by the official media in Algeria on Sunday stated that the police had at the beginning of this October “dismantled a Moroccan international criminal network whose members were active within the national territory, with the arrest of 61 people of Moroccan nationality who were in the process of preparing to commit acts of sabotage that would affect security and public order within the country.” In Morocco, the Algerian announcement sparked a wave of skepticism in media circles, amid the absence of an official response from Rabat so far.

Estimates of the number of victims of the aerial bombardment that targeted gold mining sites near the Sudanese-Egyptian border rose to more than 200 dead and dozens wounded and missing. Amid conflicts in the death toll and increasing ambiguity regarding the number of missing persons, the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council announced, on Monday, the formation of a committee to investigate the incident.