AU withdraws from UN-led Sudan negotiations

The African Union has ceased taking part in the negotiations to resolve the political unrest in Sudan that are being supported by the UN.

Its participant in the negotiations claimed a lack of transparency and the absence of crucial political figures from the process.

According to the state-run Sudan news agency, Mohamed Belaish, the AU envoy in Khartoum, "the African Union cannot participate in a process that is not based on transparency, honesty, and non-exclusion."

AU "would not engage in a process that does not respect all the actors and treat them with full respect and on an equal basis," he declared.

The UN-led intra-Sudanese discussion process got under way on June 8 with support from the African Union (AU) and the regional group Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad).

However, once the former government Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition declined to attend its meetings, the conversation was abruptly suspended.

The FFC wants the military out of power and a civilian transitional government in charge.