Sudan's government is refusing to join a regional meeting aimed at ending three months of brutal fighting, accusing Kenya, the chair of the talks, of favouring the rival paramilitaries.
A power struggle between Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) spilt, resulting in a war from mid-April that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
The East African regional bloc IGAD had invited the warring parties to a meeting in Ethiopia's capital on Monday while fighting still raged across Sudan.
Neither Mr Al Burhan nor Mr Dagalo personally attended the talks in Addis Ababa. The RSF sent a representative to the “quartet” meeting led by Kenya, South Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
Since April 15, around 3,000 people have been killed in the violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, but the actual death toll is believed to be much higher as parts of the country remain inaccessible.
A further three million people have been displaced internally or fled across borders, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Multiple diplomatic initiatives to halt the fighting have produced brief respites, with the UN warning on Sunday that Sudan was on “the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire region”.
Previous truce deals have been brokered by Saudi Arabia and the US, but the East African bloc has sought to take the lead.
However, Sudan's foreign ministry said on Monday its delegation would not participate until its request to remove Kenya as chair of the talks was met.
The ministry had asked for “Kenyan President William Ruto (to) be replaced … in particular because of his partiality”.
In a communique released after Monday's meeting, the quartet noted “the regrettable absence of the delegation of the Sudanese Armed Forces in spite of the invitation and confirmation of attendance”.
Mr Dagalo had sent a political adviser to the talks in Addis Ababa, while the RSF denounced “irresponsible behaviour” on the army's part.
The quartet agreed to “mobilise and concentrate the efforts of all stakeholders towards delivering a face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the warring parties”, it said.
It also called on the rival generals to “immediately stop the violence and sign an unconditional and indefinite ceasefire”.
IGAD said it would request the African Union to look into possibly deploying the East Africa Standby Force – usually tasked with election observer missions – in Sudan “for the protection of civilians and … humanitarian access”.
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
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3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
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6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
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8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
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Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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