Washington tells UNGA neither Sudanese belligerent has constitutional legitimacy

The African Union Commission and the United States co-chaired a joint high-level meeting of the Quad and the Quintet on Sudan on Wednesday, September 23, on the margins of the UN General Assembly — the first time the two coordination formats have convened together. According to the AU Commission’s own readout, the meeting called for an immediate humanitarian truce, began work on a “humanitarian declaration,” urged states to address external military interference, and agreed to build a shared roadmap linking humanitarian action, a cessation of hostilities and civilian dialogue. Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said there is no military solution, rejected any fragmentation of Sudanese territory, and framed the test of the meeting as whether it produces “convergence & action.” Annette Weber, the EU’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, noted it was “the first time our two platforms – Quintet and Quad – came together at UNGA81.”

The sharpest language came from the American side. Sudan Tribune, filing from New York on September 24, quoted Massad Boulos saying “the Sudanese people deserve a humanitarian truce that facilitates Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue,” and, more pointedly: “Neither the SAF nor RSF represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan. We need to expand the UN arms embargo and raise the cost of conflict on all combatants.” The formulation was not new to New York — The National carried the same US line on September 22, the day before the meeting — but its delivery in a room co-chaired by the AU gives it standing. Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD’s Executive Secretary, said Sudan “needs the full weight of regional and international partners working together.” Neither the Rapid Support Forces nor the Port Sudan authorities responded in any material reviewed for this edition.

Assessment: A format is not a text. The AU readout promises a humanitarian declaration and a roadmap; neither exists. The benchmark for scepticism is on the record: in February a US advisor told Sudan Tribune the Quad had reached a peace deal for Sudan, and no ceasefire followed. The operative ask here is the arms embargo expansion, which is the one item that cannot be delivered by communiqué — it requires a Security Council draft, and nothing indicates one exists. Watch two things: whether Washington tables text, and whether Burhan’s office answers being told in public that it lacks constitutional legitimacy. Silence from both belligerents this week is itself the measure of the meeting’s weight.