ደቂ ሰባት ኣብዛ ሰናይን ግናይን ዝበራረዩላ ዓለም ኴንና፡ ዓመት መጸ ምቅይያራት ርሑስ በዓል ክኾነልና ወትሩ፤ ካብ ምምናይ ኣቋሪጽና ኣይንፈልጥን። እዚ ትምኒት‘ዚ ንዝጅመር ዓመት ብሓጎስ፡ ብሰላም፡ ብቅሳነትን ራህዋን ተፋቒርናን ተሓጒስናን ከነብዕሎ ዘመልክት፡ ሰናይን ጽቡቕን ድሌት‘ዩ። ይኹን‘ምበር ብመንጽር እቲ እንደልዮ ክዕቀን ከሎ፡ ንእኡ ዝቀራረብ ውጽኢት ስለ ዘይተረኽበሉ፡ ነፍስና ተመሊስና ክንሓትት ዘመልክት ውሽጣዊ ምስጢር ምህላዉ ዝሕብር ኣምር‘ዩ።

በዚ መሰረት፡ ሎሚ እንምነዮ ርሑስ ልደት፡ ከምቲ እግዚኣብሄር ዝሃበና ሰብኣዊ ተፈጥሮ ክብረትና ከይተተንከፈ፡ መሰልና ከይተጋህሰ ሰብ ኴንና፡ ከም ኩሉ ሰብኣዊ ፍጡር፡ ከምቲ ልሙድ ካብ ወለድና ዝወረስናዮ ባህላዊ ኣገባብ ንመዓልቲ ደስታ ብሓጎስ፥ ንመዓልቲ ሓዘን ከኣ ብሓባር ከነብዕሎን ከነሕልፎን ንምነ ኣሎና። እዚ ከኣ ናብቲ ኣብ ሂወትና ጎዲሉ ዘሎ ዕዮ-ገዛ ከነተኵር፡ ዓይንኻ ዓሚትካ ዘይሕለፍ እዋናዊ መልሲ ዘድልዮ ሕቶ‘ዩ ዘእትወና፤ ማለት፡ ወዲ ሰብ ክፍጠር ከሎ ካብ ኣዳም ብዝወረሶ ሓጥያት ምኽንያት፡ ነዛ ዓለም‘ዚኣ ብዘለዎ ዓቕሚ ጽዒሩን ደኺሙን ብሃፈ-ጻምኡ ርሂጹን ዝግባእ ዋጋ ከፊሉን፡ ሰባኣዊ ክብሩ ሓልዩ ክነብራ እምበር ከም ኣዕዋፍ ሰማይ፤ ብኮፉ ክበልዕ ኣይፈጠሮን። እዚ ማለት፡ ሰሪሕካን ኣፍሪኻን ክትበልዕን፡ ነቲ ብተፈጥሮ ዝተዋህበካ ክብሪ ሓሊኻን ተኸላኺልካን ቀሲንካ ክትነብር ዝብል መልእኽቱ፡ በቲ “ ስራሕ ክምሰለልካ፡ ኳሕኵሕ ክኽፈተልካ፡ ለምን ክወሃበካ „ ክብል ዝመሃረና፥ እዚ ኣብ ህዝብና ተጻዒኑ ዘሎ ሕሰምን መከራን እምበኣር፡ ባዕልና ሰብ ጉዳይ እምበር፡ ካልእ ክፈትሓልና ዘይንጽበዮ ዋኒን ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ብሓባር እንለዓለሉ መድረኽ ካብ ምዃን ሓሊፉ፡ ሓደን ዝሓምመሉ ካልእ ከኣ ዝዛነየሉ እዋን ኣይኮነን።

ብዘይካ‘ዚ፡ ዘሎናዮ ግዜ ከምቲ ዘበነ ምጅማር ሰውራ ወይ ዕጥቃዊ ቃልሲ፡ ሌላ ብረትን ኣፍልጦ በረኻን ዱርን ዘለዎም ተበዓት ዜጋታት ዘይኮነስ፡ ምዕቡል ዘበናዊ ፖለቲካውን ማሕበራውን ትምህርቲ ዝቐሰሙ፡ ብፍትሕን ፍትሓዊ ምሕደራን ዝበሰሉ ምሁራንን፥ ንመሰሉ ክጣበቕ ዝኽእል ብቑዕ ግንዛበን፡ ንለውጢ ዝብገስ ኣፍልጦ ዘለዎ መንእሰይ ወለዶ እዩ ዘድሊ። ኣብዚ መዳይ‘ዚ ድማ ግደ ምሁራን ኤርትራውያን፡ መተካእታ ዘይብሉ ረዚን ሓላፍነት ምዃኑ፡ ኣብ ሃገርና ዘሎ ድሕረት ዝፈጠሮ ጸገም ዝምስክሮ ዘሎ ሓቂ‘ዩ። ካብ‘ዚ ረማሲ ናይ ድሕረት ዓዘቕቲ ክንወጽእ፡ ውዳበን ቀጻሊ ኣስተምህሮን ማዕዳን ተበግሶን ምሁራን ዜጋታት ኤርትራ በዂሩ ኣሎ ምባል ንምብርባር ዝዓለመ እምበር፡ ከም ነቐፌታ ክውሰድ ዘለዎ ኣይመስለንን። ብነቐፌታዊ ዓይኒ ንዝርእዩዎ ድማ፡ ዘይግባእ ኣይኮነን ዝብል እምነት‘ዩ ዘሎኒ። እዚ ክብል ከለኹ፡ ነቲ ሓሓሊፉ ብጽሑፍ ይኹን ብመልክዕ ቃለ መሓትት ግዲኦም/ኤን ዘበርከቱን ዘበርከታን፣ ገና ዘበርክቱ ዘለዉን ዘለዋኣን፣ ብኣብነት ዝጥቀስ የለን ማለት ኣይኮነን። እዚ ግን ብመንጽር‘ዚ ኣብ ሃገርናን ህዝብናን ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ቀይዲ ኣልቦ ሸብዳዕዳዕ ክርአ እንከሎ፡ ኣበርክቶ ምሁራንና ካብ ማይ ባሕሪ ብጭልፋ ኣብ ርእሲ ምዃኑ፤ ውልዕ ጥፍእ ዝብልን ቀጻልነት ስለ ዘየብሉን፡ ኣብ ዕትሮ ዝተቐመጠት መብራህቲ ካብ ምዃን ሓሊፉ፡ ክንድ‘ቲ ዝግበረሉ ትጽቢት ምሉእ ብርሃን ኣይሃበን ዝብል እምነት‘ዩ ዘሎኒ። ኣብዚ ከይትሓጸርኩ ካብ ምሁራን ዝጽበዮ ኣበርክቶ ብምህላዉ፡ ገለ ምኽሪ ሓዘል ሓበሬታ ምቕራብ ጠቓሚ እመስለኒ።

ከም እንፈልጦ፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝኸፈሎ ዋጋ፡ ኣብ ነጻ ሃገሩ ከቢሩን ኮሪዑን ብሕጊ ክመሓደርን ብሰላም ክነብርን‘ዩ። ነጻነት ብልጭ ኢላ ክትዓርብ ከላ ድማ፡ እዛ ኤርትራስ እምበርዶ ህዝቢ ብሓፈሻ ምሁራን ድማ ብፍላይ ኣለዉዋ እዮም ዝብል ሕቶ ዘልዕል ጥራሕ ዘይኮነስ፡ ንዓለም ዘዛርብ ዘሎ ጉዳይ‘ውን እዩ። እዚ ማለት ከኣ በብሞይኦም ኣብ ዓለም ተበታቲኖም ኣብ እንዳማቶም ሃገር ልዑል ኣበርክቶ ዝህቡ ዘለዉ ምሁራንና፡ ዝግባእ ክብሪ ከይረኽቡ ዝገትእ ኣብ ርእሲ ምዃኑ፡ ናይ ሕልና ቅሳነትን ድቃስ ለይቲ ዘይህብን በሰላ ዝገድፍ ዘሎ ስንብራት‘ውን እዩ። ካብ‘ዚ ንምውጻእ ከኣ ብፍትሒ እትመሓደር ሃገር ኣረጋጊጽና፡ ኣብ ዲያስፖራ ድማ ብኤርትራዊ መንነትና ኮሪዕናን ርእስና ኣቕኒዕናን ክንነብር መታን ክንክእል ፡-

1 - ኩሎም ምሁራንና ሓደ ዝጥርንፎም ሲቪካዊ ማሕበር ከቑሙ፤

2 - እዚ ኩሉ ሞያዊ ዓቕሚ ዝሓዘ ጥርኑፍ ማሕበር‘ዚ በብሞያኦም ኣብ ዘፍርዩሉ መደብ ዕዮ ክዋፈሩ ምግባር፤

3 - በዚ ሞያዊ መደብ ኣቢልካ ድማ ዝተፈላለየ መጽናዕቲ ምክያድ፤

4 - እዚ መጽናዕቲ፡ ሰብ ሞያ ሕጊ፡ ብሕጋዊ መገዲ ዝህሉ ተኽእሎታት ተጠቒሙ መሰል ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክሕሎን፡ ብዘይ ሕጊ ዝገዝእ ዘሎ ስርዓት ዘልግሰሉ መጽናዕቲ ከቕርብ ንትግባረኡ ክሳብ ዓወት ከማእዝንን፤

5 - ካብ ኤርትራ ተጋሒጡ ዝወጽእን መእተዊኡ ዘይተፈልጠ ጸጋታት ሃገር ዝከታተልን ጽጹይ መጽናዕቲ ዝገብርን፡ ንረብሓ ህዝቢ ዝውዕለሉ መገዲ ዝሕብር ኣካል ከቕውም፤

6 - እቲ ናይ ስነ-ሕብረተሰብ ሞያዊ ዓቕሚ ዝዓጠቐ  ክፋል ከኣ፡ ብመሰረት ሞያኡ ኣብ ዝነጥፈሎም ሕጋዊ ናይ መሰልን ክብሪ ደቂ ሰባትን ምስ ዝነጥፉ ማሕበራት ተኣሳሲሩ፡ ነዚ መሰል ህዝብና ብምግሃስ ዓለም ዝመስከረትሉ ኣሸባሪ ስርዓት፡ ብውሑድ ክሳራን ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜን ዝለግሰሉ ጽጹይን ውዱእን መጽናዕቲ ብምውዳድ፡ ጽባሕ ምቕያር‘ዚ ግፍዐኛ ውልቀ-መላኺ፡ ኣብቲ ወትሩ እንሓልሞ ፍትሓውን ሰላማውን ምስግጋር ደሞክራስያዊ ስርዓት ዘእቱ መደብ-ዕዮ ናይ ምድላው ሞያዊ ሓላፍነት ምሁራን‘ዩ።

ኣብዚ‘ዩ ድማ እቲ ኣብ ዕትሮ ተቐሚጡ ዝነበረ ብርሃን ዝተመሰለ። ንምሉእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብ መዓሙቕ ጸልማት ኣውጺኡ ናብ ብርሃን ነጻነት ዘሰጋግርን ኣንጸባራቒ ዓቕሚ ምሁራንና ወሊዑ፡ ልዑል ክብርን መጎስን ህዝብና ብፍላይ፡ ህዝቢ ዓለም ድማ ብሓፈሻ ክረክብ ዝኽእል። ኣብ‘ዚ ሃገርና ኣብ ቃራና መገዲ እትርከበሉ ዘላ እዋን፡ ብሓባር ንድሕነታ ከይንቃለስ ሓሊኹ ሒዙና ዘሎ ሕዱር ሕማም፡ ድሕረት ምዃኑ ኩልና ዘይንስሕቶ ሓቂ‘ዩ። ነዚ ዘይርዳእ እንተልዩ ግን፡ ክርዳእ ድሌት ዘይብሉን ምስቲ ስርዓት ክጐሓፍ ዝመረጸን ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ኣብ ንቡር ሂወት ክሳብ ዝምለስ ከም ዘይመጓዕዝትና ክንቆጽሮ ናይ ግድን‘ዩ። ኣብዚ መዳይ‘ዚ እምበኣር፡ ንስድራ ቤት ኖህ ካብ ጥፍኣት ዘድሓነት መርከብን፡ በትሪ ሙሴ ዝዓተረ ካሪዝማቲክ መራሒ ከነለልን፡ ንእኡ ተኸቲልና ብምስዓብ፡ ኣብ ሓደጋ ኣትያ ንዘላ ሃገርናን፡ ተጋሂሱ ንዘሎ ክብርናን፡ ተሓምሪጉ ንዘሎ ባህልናን፡ ዳግማይ ከነምልስ ምርጫ ዘይኮነስ ግድነት‘ዩ። ነዚ ዘሎ ናይ ለውጢ ዕድል ንረብሓና ክንሓፍሶ እንተዘይክኢልና ግን፡ እንተሎና ብሕልና ክንክሰስ፡ እንተሞትና ድማ ዓጽሚ ሰማእታትና እሾዅ ኮይኑ ከም ዝወግኣና ምግንዛብ ከድልየና‘ዩ።

ኣብ‘ዚ መስርሕ‘ዚ ግደ ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ወሳኒ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ ነታ ፍልይቲ ግራት ኢሳያስ ኮይና ዘላ ሃገር፡ ንድሕነት ህዝባን ንልዑላውነታ ዝተረጋገጸ ሃገርን ትከላኸሉ ከም ዘየሎኹም፡ ካብ‘ዚ ስልጣን ሂበካ ኣለኹ ምርሓና፡ ቀዳምነታት ጉዳይ ዶብ ዘይኮነስ ምርግጋእ ኢትዮጵያ ዘገደሶ፡ ዕሸላዊ ኣዘራርባ ከረድእ ዝኽእል ንላዕሊ ዝተጋህደ ሓቂ ክህሉ ኣይክእልን‘ዩ። ካብ‘ዚ ተበጊስኩም እምበኣር፡ እትሕልዉዎ ዘሎኹም ዶብ ሰጊሩ ብነጻነት ኤርትራ ክጣላዕን ክዋገን እንከሎ፡ ንዘሎኩም ወተሃደራዊ ዓቕሚ ተጠቒምኩም፡ ከምቲ ሓይልታት ሰራዊት ምክልኻል ዚምባብወ፡ ነቲ 40 ዓመታት ዝገዝኦ ውሒዱዎስ፡ ስልጣን ንበዓልቲ-ቤቱ ከረክብ ምስ ወሰነ፡ ስልጣን ናይ ህዝቢ‘ምበር ርስቲ ናይ እንዳ ሙጋበ ኣይኮነን ኢሎም ዘውረዱዎ ኣብነት ክትክተሉ ምተገብአ። እዚ ብዘይምግባርኩም፣ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ብተግባር ዘዕግብ ሃገራዊ ኣበርክቶ ክሳብ ዘይረኣየ፡ ካብ መሳርሕቲ ጨቋኒ ስርዓት እንተቆጸረኩም፡ ከም ዘይተጋገየ ክርድኣኩም ይግባእ። በዚ ከኣ ነቲ ልዑል ኣኽብሮትን ተቐባልነትን ዝነበሮ ናይ ተጋዳላይ ስምኩም፣ ስም ናይቶም መሪሖምኹም ዝተዋግኡን ዘዋግኡን፡ ኣብ መወዳእታ ድማ ንጀግንነትኩም ኣሚኖም ስልጣን ንህዝቢ ክርከብ ዝሓተቱን፡ ዝተቓለስሉ  ነጻነት፥ ብርሃን ጸሓይ ተሓሪሙዎም ኣብ ኣረሜናዊ ማእሰርቲ ዝበለዩን ዝበልዩ ዘለዉን፡ እቕረ ዘይበሃሎ ዳግማይ ጥልመት  ይፍጸም ምህላዉ ክርድኣኩም ምተገብኤ።

ይኹን‘ምበር ሕጂ‘ውን “ድንክል በለ‘ምበር ኣይተኻዕወን“ ከም ዝበሃል፡ ትጽቢት ምሉእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጌና ካብ ዝሓለፈ ጕድለትኩም ተማሂርኩም ብዕጽፊ ክትክሕስዎ ተስፍኡ ኣይጸንቀቐን። ከምቲ “ተመን ኣብ እግርኻ በትሪ ኣብ ኢድካ ከሎስ ትገብሮ ምንጋር ኣድላይነት የብሉን“ ዝበሃል ምስላ፡ ካብዚ ንጀግንነትኩምን መሰል ህዝብኹምን እናበላሸወ ንዘሽካዕልል ስርዓት፡ በየናይ መገድን ኣበየናይ ግዜን፡ ናይ ምልጋሱ ስጉምቲ ትወስዱ፡ ማዕዳን ምኽርን ዘድልየኩም ኣይመስለንን። ነዚ መደብ‘ዚ ኣብ ትብገሱሉ ህሞት ድማ፡ ኣብ ውሽጥን ወጻእን ዘሎ ውጹዕ ህዝብኹም ዝድለ ደገፍን ልዑል ኣኽብሮትን ከም ዝገብረልኩም ኣይትጠራጠሩ።

ዝኸበርኩም መንእሰያት ኤርትራ ኣብ ደገን ኣብ ውሽጥ ሃገርን ዘሎኹም፡ እዚ ሰዊት ዕድመኹም ጅሆ ሒዙ፡ ሓንሳብ ይከኣሎ ሓንሳብ ዋርሳይ ቀጺሉ ጻጸ ፍልሖ ዝብል ኣስማት እናሃበ፡ ክትምዕብልሉ ዝግባእ ዕድልኩም ረሚሱ፡ ካብ ሃገር ሃጽ ኢልኩም ክትዓርቡ ዝገበረ ጨካን ስርዓት ክሳብ ዘሎ፡ መቐረት ዘለዎ ሂወትን ቀሲንካ ዝሕደር ለይትን ከም ዘየሎ ካባኹም ንላዕሊ ምስክር የሎን። ብእኡ ከየኽተመ እቲ ሰንካም መሓውሩን ሓሳድ ኣሰራርሕኡን ምስ ናብራ ስደት ተደማሚሩ፡ ርግእ ኢልኩም ሰላማዊ ናብራኹም ንምቕጻል ኩርኳሕ ኮይኑ፡ ብዘይሃገር ክብረት ብዘይሰላም መቐረት ዘለዎ ሂወት ምሕላፍ ከም ዘየሎ ተረዲእኩም፡ በብዝመስለኩም መልክዕ ውደባ ኣብ መሳርዕ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ትጽምበሩ ምህላውኩም ዝምስገን‘ዩ። እቲ ኣብ‘ዚ እዋን‘ዚ ተሪፉና ዘሎ ወሳኒ ቀዳማይ ዕዮ-ገዛ ግን፡ ኩሉ ፖለቲካዊ ኣማራጽታት ንመራጺኡ ዝግደፍ ኮይኑ፡ ብምሉኡ ዓቕምና ብሓደ ሓቢሩ፡ ኣንጻር ምልኪ ከጥቅዕ፡ ዝዓጠቐ ሓይሊ ክኸውን ከም ዘለዎ ምግባር‘ዩ። እዚ ማለት ከኣ ውደባ ንሓደ ውሱን ዕላማ ንምዕዋት ዝተጠርነፈ ቍጽሪ ሰባት ዝሓዘ መቃለሲ ባይታ‘ምበር ንባዕሉ ዕላማ ክኸውን ከም ዘየብሉ ኩልና ክንርድኦ ይግበኣና። ነዚ ተግባራዊ ንምግባር ከኣ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ቦታ ዝስራዕ፡ እቲ መኣዝኑ ጠፊኡ ዘሎ ባህሊ ምክብባርን ምድምማጽን ኣብ ንቡር ምምላስን፡ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ሓርጐጽጐጽ ዝመለለይኦምን ኣወንታውን ኣሉታውን ውጽኢቶም ብልቦና ገምጊምናን ከም ታሪኽ ሰኒድናን፡ ነቲ ኣዎንታ ኣማዕቢልና ክንሰርሓሉን፡ ነቲ ኣሉታ ድማ ከይደግሰና ክንጥንቀቐሉ ከም ዘሎና‘ዩ።

ኣብ ዘሎናዮ እዋን፡ ዘሪእና ከይነፍሪ ወሊድና ከይነዕቢ፡ ሕማም አይድስ ኮይኑ ደኒሱና ዘሎ ስርዓት ኣብ ምልጋስ ዓቢ መልእኽቲ ዝሓዘት እዋናዊ ደርፊ ምዑት ድምጻዊ ስነ ጥበባዊ ተኽለሚካኤል ገብሩ ተኸቲልና፡ ነታ ምስ ምሉእ ጸጋኣን ህርኩት ህዝባን ጽማልያ መሲላ ዘላ ሃገርና ኤርትራ ብስርዓተ ሕጊ ትምራሕ ክንገብራን ኣብ ሓምላይ ክንቅይራ ዘብዘብ ክንብልን ይንገረና ኣሎ፡ ሃየ ንስዓቦን።

ኣብ መደምደምታ፡ እዛ እንጅምራ ዘሎና ዓመት፡ ኩሉ ጻህያይ ግራትና ኣሊና ነጻን ዲሞክራስያዊትን ኤርትራ ኣረጋጊጽና ከም ሰብ ኮሪዕናን ከቢርናን ብሓጎስ ኣብ እነብዕላ ዓመተ - 2020 ከተሰጋግረና ድማ እምነ።

ምልኪ ይፍረስ፡ ፍትሒ ይንገስ!

29.12.2018

January 9, 2019 Martin Plaut Ethiopia, News

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Eritrea’s President Isaias and Gedu Andargachew, President of the Amhara region, were in the Ethiopian town of Omhager to open the Ethiopia-Eritrea border checkpoint at Omhager-Humera on Monday.

But reports from the area suggest that the ceremony didn’t go to plan.

The event was apparently forced to move into Eritrea after local people protested at the presence of Gedu, since the Amhara region doesn’t have a border with Eritrea.

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Tigrayans are angry that thousands of people have been displaced from the Amhara region and are now camping in Humera.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Ethiopian army in the nearby city Shire started to move 50 heavy trucks of armaments from a military depot. The people blocked the roads with cars and forced them into the Shire stadium.

The soldiers, who seemed to share the views of the people and were sympathetic to their concerns that heavy equipment was being transported away from Tigray, ended up eating lunch there and holding discussing with local elders.

January 9, 2019 Martin Plaut News

 Source: Martin Plaut,  The Conversation

The regime’s survival cannot simply be seen as a domestic issue. He has strong international allies. The West once reviled Omar al-Bashir as an indicted war criminal. However, more recently they have begun to view him as a source of stability and intelligence in a troubled region. The president also has the backing – both political and financial – of key Arab allies.

Date: 09/01/2019Author: Martin Plaut

How foreign backing is keeping Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir in power

January 8, 2019

Day after day Sudanese are taking to the streets to protest against the rule of Omar al-Bashir. The president, who himself seized power in 1989 when he led a coup, is facing the most serious challenge in his three decades in power. Fury at sharp rises in the cost of bread and fuel, and allegations of corruption, have fuelled the protests.

Thus far the president has managed to resist the anger of his people. But Sudanese have a long history of overthrowing unpopular regimes. Twice before – in 1964 and then again in 1985 – revolts led to changes of government. On each occasion the armed forces abandoned the regime and sided with the people. This has not occurred during the current protests for good reasons, as university lecturer and author of Civil Uprisings in Modern Sudan Willow Berridge points out:

Al-Bashir’s regime clearly learnt from the mistakes of its predecessors. It has created a much stronger National Intelligence Security Services (NISS) as well as a host of other parallel security organisations and armed militias that it uses to police Khartoum instead of the regular army. This set up, combined with various commanders’ mutual fears of being held to account for war crimes if the regime falls, means an army intervention will not occur easily as in 1964 or 1985. This is one reason the current uprising has already lasted longer than its precedents.

But the regime’s survival cannot simply be seen as a domestic issue. He has strong international allies. The West once reviled Omar al-Bashir as an indicted war criminal. However, more recently they have begun to view him as a source of stability and intelligence in a troubled region. The president also has the backing – both political and financial – of key Arab allies.

Arab support

Sudanese have traditionally been said to look North to Cairo for support. This crisis is no exception. In December Egypt’s foreign minister and intelligence chief visited Khartoum, pledging their support for Al-Bashir.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who flew to Sudan with intelligence chief General Abbas Kamel, confidently stated:

Egypt is confident that Sudan will overcome the present situation.

This was followed earlier this month during a reciprocal trip to Cairo by the Sudanese president at which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi commented:

Egypt fully supports the security and stability of Sudan, which is integral to Egypt’s national security.

But political support alone wouldn’t be enough to keep the Sudanese regime in power. There is also financial backing from across the Red Sea. In return for Sudan entering the Yemeni war Khartoum is reported to have received investments worth $2.2 billion. More than 10,000 Sudanese troops are fighting on the Yemeni frontline. Some are said to be child soldiers who were recruited by the Saudis, with offers of $10,000 for each recruit.

Other allies

The rehabilitation of al-Bashir in the US goes back to President Barack Obama’s era. As one of the last acts of his office, he lifted a range of US sanctions against the Sudanese regime. The CIA’s large office in Khartoum was cited as one of the key reasons for his policy shift.

Nor is Washington alone in this view. As Europe battles to restrict the number of Africans crossing the Mediterranean it has seen the Sudanese government as an ally. The ‘Khartoum Process’, signed in the Sudanese capital, is critical to this relationship. In November 2015 European leaders met their African counterparts in the Maltese capital, Valletta, to try to put flesh on the bones of this agreement. The aim was made clear in the accompanying EU press release which concluded that;

The number of migrants arriving to the European Union is unprecedented, and this increased flow is likely to continue. The EU, together with the member states, is taking a wide range of measures to address the challenges, and to establish an effective, humanitarian and safe European migration policy.

The summit led to the drafting of an Action Plan which has guided the EU’s policy objectives on migration and mobility ever since.

The plan detailed how European institutions would co-operate with their African partners to fight irregular migration, migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings.

Europe promised to offer training to “law enforcement and judicial authorities” in new methods of investigation and assisting in setting up specialised anti-trafficking and smuggling police units.

These commitments were an explicit pledge to support and strengthen elements of the Sudanese state. A Regional Operational Centre (ROCK) has been established in Khartoum whose chief aim it to halt people smuggling and refugee flows by allowing European officials to work directly with their Sudanese opposite numbers. The counter-trafficking coordination centre in Khartoum — staffed jointly by police officers from Sudan and several European countries, including Britain, France and Italy — will partly rely on information sourced by the Sudanese national intelligence service.

Finally there is some evidence of Russian involvement in the Sudanese crisis. Russian troops, working for a private contractor, are reported to have been seen on the streets of Khartoum, suppressing the uprising.

Given the range of support for President Omar al-Bashir it isn’t surprising that he’s managed to resist popular pressure to step down. Much depends on how long demonstrations can be maintained, and how much force the regime is prepared to deploy to crush its opponents.