almohagig – Report – Mariam Abshir
Media reports stated that the acting US Charge d’Affaires in Khartoum, Daniel Rubenstein, has been relieved of his duties in Sudan three months after his appointment.
The online platform “Al-Sharq” mentioned that Daniel Rubenstein’s tenure as the acting US Charge d’Affaires in Sudan ended after three months after his appointment, but it did not provide the reasons behind it. However, the US State Department neither confirmed nor denied the reports regarding the termination of the mission of the American Charge d’Affaires in Sudan.
According to information obtained by Almohagig, the US State Department placed Rubenstein on the list of outgoing ambassadors, and his removal from the position of Charge d’affaires in Sudan was just a matter of time. According to the information, he may have been assigned as an ambassador to another country.
Appointment Background:
According to observers who spoke to Almohagig, Rubenstein’s appointment as the acting US Charge d’Affaires in Sudan came from deep disagreements between the US Congress and the State Department regarding the US administration’s management of the war in Sudan. One result of these disagreements was the resignation of former US Ambassador John Godfrey and the departure of Ms. Molly Phee, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
The Wrong Start:
Analysts and observers who spoke to Almohagig indicated that Rubenstein seems not to have learned the lesson that led to the downfall of his predecessors (Godfrey, Phee, etc.). He began his mission by visiting many countries in the region and Sudan’s neighbours without bothering to visit Sudan itself, which is primarily concerned with providing a vision to end the war.
Rosenstein did not even stay at his workplace, the temporary residence of the US Embassy in Sudan in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. A diplomatic expert questioned how Mr. Rubenstein thought and how he could formulate a settlement plan for the crisis in Sudan without speaking to Sudanese officials after conveying his observations and impressions from his tours.
Expected Outcome:
The termination of the mission of the American Charge d’Affaires in Sudan, Daniel Rubenstein, does not seem surprising to diplomatic circles. They see it as not strange for him not to stay long in his mission because, logically, wrong beginnings must lead to endings such as what happened.
Different Direction:
A diplomatic expert believes that the terminated mission of the American Charge d’Affaires may be contrary to the US policy and direction towards Sudan. Ambassador and diplomatic expert Turfi Karmeno believes that Washington does not want to create a safe situation for Sudan, pointing out that it previously imposed sanctions on companies providing food (Zadna) and others providing weapons (Tasneea).
He wondered how a country could stabilise without food and weapons! The expert pointed out that the United States, if it wanted, could stop the war in Sudan in a short time, as it controls Jeddah’s platform along with Saudi Arabia, and confirmed that Washington can stop the war through Jeddah’s platform and force the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to implement the agreement and prevent weapons from reaching them.
Karmeno noted, according to his conversation with the Almohagig, that the militia fights the Sudanese army with American weapons, besides its influence on the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is chaired by Saudi Arabia, a partner in Jeddah’s platform. Karmeno believes that Rubenstein’s direction may be contrary to the desire of the US administration, which equates between a national army and a rebel militia and has no desire to stop the war.
