Among the protest movement delegates he met were opposition politician Mohamed Esmat and a leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Ismail Jalab. During his visit, Abiy met separately with Sudan's ruling generals and protest leaders in a bid to revive negotiations. He met Friday with Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of the ruling council, as well as protest leaders before leaving Khartoum in the evening. Abiy is seen as having good relations with the West, which has cheered his reforms, as well as with powerful Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, that have influence over Sudan's military. The African Union, based in Ethiopia, suspended Sudan on Thursday and threatened "punitive sanctions" if the military doesn't quickly relinquish power.

Source: Ethiopian News June 08, 2019 09:11 UTC