Sudan’s warring sides began talks on Saturday aimed at cementing a shaky ceasefire after three weeks of fierce fighting
Posted Date – 11:59 PM, Sat – 5/6/23
AFP photo
Aswan (Egypt): The United States and Saudi Arabia say Sudan’s warring sides began talks on Saturday aimed at cementing a faltering ceasefire. Three weeks of intense fighting have killed hundreds and pushed the African nation to the brink of collapse.
The first talks between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since fighting broke out on April 15 took place in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah, according to the Saudi Arabian news agency. US statement.
The talks are part of a diplomatic initiative by the kingdom and the United States aimed at halting the fighting that has turned Sudan’s capital Khartoum and other urban areas into a battleground and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
In a joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the United States urged both sides to “actively engage in negotiations to achieve a ceasefire and end the conflict that will spare the people of Sudan suffering”.
The statement did not provide a timetable for the talks, which come as Riyadh and other international powers work together to bring Sudan’s warring sides to the negotiating table. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan welcomed the rival sides to Jeddah, saying on Twitter that he hoped the talks would restore “security and stability” in Sudan.
The kingdom has been mediating between the ruling general and the pro-democracy movement since a coup in 2021 upended Sudan’s transition to democracy. Jeddah has become the hub for evacuations from Sudan’s main seaport, Port Sudan, after two of Sudan’s top generals – the commanders of the army and paramilitary forces – turned on each other after months of tension and the latest fighting erupted in April. distribution center.
Military and Reporters Without Borders officials said the talks would discuss opening humanitarian corridors in Khartoum and the neighboring city of Omdurman, which have been at the center of fighting.
They will also discuss protections for civilian infrastructure, including already overwhelmed medical facilities with severe shortages of personnel and medical supplies, a military official said.
RSF officials will also discuss a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire, one of a series of ceasefires that have failed to halt the fighting. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks in Jeddah.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s pro-democracy movement said the talks would be a “first step” in preventing the country from collapsing, and called on military leaders and the Rapid Support Forces to make “bold decisions” to end the conflict.
The movement, a coalition of political parties and civil society groups, has been negotiating with the military for months to restore the country’s democratic transition following a 2021 military coup led by Army chief General Abdul Fattah Burhan, He is also the Chairman of the ruling Council of Sovereigns, and his deputy in the Council, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
In his first comments on the talks on Twitter on Saturday, Dagalo welcomed the initiative to establish a firm ceasefire and open humanitarian corridors. “We still hope that the discussions will lead to desired outcomes,” he said.
At least 550 people, including civilians, had been killed and more than 4,900 others wounded as of Monday, according to Sudan’s health ministry. The United Sudanese Doctors Organization, which tracks only civilian casualties, said on Friday that 473 civilians had been killed and more than 2,450 wounded in the violence.
The fighting ended months of tension between Burhan and Dagalo. It plunged the country into further chaos and forced foreign governments to evacuate their diplomats and thousands of foreigners from Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have been displaced within Sudan or crossed into neighboring countries as fighting in urban areas continues.
The United Nations refugee agency estimates that 860,000 Sudanese will flee to neighboring countries, and aid agencies will need $445 million in assistance.
At least 36 Sudanese, including women and children, and two Egyptians were injured when a bus carrying Sudanese fleeing fighting overturned in Egypt’s southern Beni Suif province on Saturday, local authorities said.
Tens of thousands of Sudanese have crossed into Egypt since the fighting broke out.
