The United States reiterates its strong support for the combined efforts of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), the African Union (AU), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to facilitate a political process to restore a civilian-led transition to democracy in Sudan.  We welcome the outreach and progress made to date.

As the process moves forward and the facilitators begin conversations with stakeholders on the substance of a solution, we are convinced that the UNITAMS-AU-IGAD facilitated process is the most inclusive mechanism to achieve an urgently needed agreement on a civilian-led transitional framework.  We continue to encourage all Sudanese civilian and military actors to utilize this process to achieve democratic progress and national stability.

In recent phone calls with Sudanese civilian and military leaders, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Molly Phee welcomed the release of political detainees in the past few weeks.  At the same time, she pressed for the full implementation of promised confidence-building measures by the Sudanese military including lifting the state of emergency and the release of the remaining political detainees.  She stressed the need for all stakeholders to participate constructively in the UNITAMS-AU-IGAD facilitated process and to make rapid progress on the framework for a civilian transitional government.  She underscored the need for the military to transfer power to a civilian government established under such a framework to enable the resumption of international financial support and development assistance.