Sudanese Delegates Depart for Addis Ababa Pre-Berlin Preparatory Talks; Boycott Factions Confirm Withdrawal

Sudanese political factions and civil society representatives began departing for Addis Ababa on April 9 ahead of the April 10–12 preparatory meeting for the Third Berlin Conference on Sudan, co-organized by Germany and the African Union. The Addis Ababa session, sponsored by a quintet mechanism of the AU, UN, EU, Arab League, and IGAD, is intended to finalize the conference agenda and participant list before the ministerial conference in Berlin on April 15. Simultaneously, the National Forces Coordination formally confirmed its boycott of both the Addis Ababa preparatory meeting and the Berlin Conference, joining the National Forces Alliance (NFA) in rejecting participation. Both bodies cited imbalanced invitation distribution, exclusion of the SAF-aligned Port Sudan government from a substantive seat, and accusations that the conference framework had been crafted to disadvantage Sudan's internationally recognized government. Sudan Horizon reporting noted significant behind-the-scenes disputes about representation and funding that have deepened the boycott crisis, with analysts warning that the legitimacy of the Berlin process is severely undermined if the SAF-aligned government's civil supporters remain absent from both the preparatory and main proceedings.