The US imposed sanctions on Sudan’s Central Reserve Police on Monday over their crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.

Qatar has expressed its willingness to contribute to the success of Sudan’s transitional period on Tuesday, as Khartoum’s news agency (SUNA) reported.

This came during a meeting between Qatar’s Ambassador to Khartoum Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Kubaisi and member of the Sovereignty Council, Shams El-Din Kabbashi in Sudan.

The two officials also discussed the importance of reaching a national consensus through dialogue. Qatar and Sudan’s bilateral ties were also on the agenda.

Sudanese Army Chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan led a military coup on 25 October last year, where he dissolved the government of Prime Minister Abdala Hamdok. Burhan had placed Hamdok on house arrest along with other members of his administration.

Qatar renews calls on Sudanese parties to achieve political consensus

Qatar was amongst the countries that had rejected the military power grab by Burhan.

In November, Burhan named a new transitional council and Hamdok was briefly reinstated before resigning on 3 January.

The power grab sparked ongoing pro-democracy protests in the country, with demonstrators being met with excessive violence by Sudanese security forces. The military have also been accused of reinstating Al-Bashir’s loyalists.

The US imposed sanctions on Sudan’s Central Reserve Police on Monday over their crackdown on peaceful demonstrators. Washington accused the Sudanese entity of arresting, beating and shooting protestors.

“Since the October 25 military takeover, Sudan’s Central Reserve Police has used excessive force and violence intended to silence civilian activists and protesters,” said the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson.

The Central Reserve Police was previously used during the Darfur war in the early 2000’s, where at least 300,000 people were killed. Ousted President Omar Al-Bashir, who was deposed during the 2019 revolution, is facing charges for war crimes committed in Darfur.

In 2011, Qatar had sponsored a negotiation process that led to the Darfur Peace Agreement, which brought together the government of Sudan and the armed movements to end the six-year-long Darfur conflict.

According to Reuters, at least 88 people were killed over the past months amidst the crackdown on protestors.

Before the coup, Sudan was ruled by a sovereign council, Government of National Unity, since 2020 for a transitional period until the 2023 elections.

Qatar has long called on sudanese parties to reach a political consensus that meets the aspirations of the people of Sudan, stressing the need to reach an inclusive resolution.

The Gulf state had participated in the final signing ceremony of the peace agreement in 2020 between the transitional government of the Republic of Sudan and the Sudanese Armed Movements.

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