Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF since April 15….reports Asian Lite News
Sudan’s army Chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has said the army would not sign any peace agreement that does not include the withdrawal of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from public facilities and citizens’ homes.
Al-Burhan, also the chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, made the remarks when addressing officers and soldiers in eastern Sudan’s Red Sea State, the sovereign council said on Thursday in a statement as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
South Sudanese troops arrive in Congo under EAC regional force mandate.(Photo:Twitter)
“We will not sign a peace agreement that embodies humiliation for the armed forces and the Sudanese people,” Al-Burhan added.
“Any agreement must include a ceasefire and withdrawal of the rebels from public facilities, hospitals, and citizens’ homes,” he noted, adding that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) would keep fighting to defeat the “rebel militia”.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF since April 15. More than 12,000 people have been killed in the fighting, according to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in early December.
Air raids and gunfire continued to rock Khartoum, showing no indications of abating despite attempts at a lasting ceasefire
Sudan’s army has sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah for ceasefire talks as part of a joint Saudi Arabia and the United States initiative, Al Jazeera reported citing an army statement.
The development came after both the army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said they will only discuss humanitarian ceasefires and not hold negotiations on ending the conflict in Sudan. According to the Sudanese army, the army delegation will speak about the “details of the truce in the process of being extended” with its paramilitary foes. The Saudi Arabia Foreign Ministry in a statement on Friday said that the joint initiative aims at reducing tensions in Sudan, as per the Al Jazeera report.
Sources in the Sudanese army have said that a delegation departed for Jeddah, Al Jazeera reported. According to sources, the delegation included three army officers which include a general and an ambassador.
Air raids and gunfire continued to rock Khartoum, showing no indications of abating despite attempts at a lasting ceasefire. Regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had supported the weeklong ceasefire brokered by South Sudan on Wednesday.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday said they were extending the ceasefire brokered under US-Saudi mediation by three days. Multiple truces have been agreed to since the fighting between the rival security forces started on April 15. However, none of them has been respected.
So far, about 700 people have been killed in the conflict. Most of them have been killed in Khartoum and the western Darfur region, Al Jazeera reported citing Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. The United Nations Human Rights Council has announced that it will hold a special session on the situation in Sudan on May 11.
Smoke rising in Khartoum, capital of Sudan. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir_Xinhua)
The gathering will take place in Geneva after a request submitted by the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway and the United States on Friday which 52 countries have so far supported, according to UNHRC, as per the Al Jazeera report.
Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned on Friday that “the situation in Sudan has become fatal for a frighteningly large number of children,” as per the news report. A spokesman for the UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Friday warned the conflict could cause hunger and malnutrition for 19 million people in the coming months.
Since a 2021 coup that upended Sudan’s transition to democracy, the kingdom has been mediating between the ruling generals and a pro-democracy movement. After Sudan’s top two generals — commanders of the military and the paramilitary — turned on each other after months of tensions and the latest fighting broke out in April, Jeddah became a hub for those evacuated by sea from Sudan’s main sea port of Port Sudan.
Officials from the military and the RSF said the talks would address the opening of humanitarian corridors in Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman, which have been the centers of the battles.
They would also discuss providing protection to civilian infrastructure, including health facilities that have been overwhelmed and suffer from dire shortages of both staff and medical supplies, one military official said.
An RSF official they would also discuss a mechanism to monitor the cease-fire, which is one of a series of truces that failed to stop 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” to stop the country’s collapse and called on leaders of the military and the RSF to make a “bold decision” to end the conflict.
Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Force’s (RSF).(Photo:Instagram)
The movement, which is a coalition of political parties and civil society groups, had negotiated with the military for months to restore the country’s democratic transition after a 2021 military coup led by army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who also chairs the ruling sovereign council, and his deputy in the council Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
On Saturday, Dagalo tweeted his first comment on the talks, welcoming the initiative to establish a firm cease-fire and open humanitarian corridors. “We remain hopeful that the discussions will achieve their intended goals,” he said.
At least 550 people have been killed, including civilians, and more than 4,900 have been wounded as of Monday, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry. The Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks only civilian casualties, said Friday that 473 civilians have been killed in the violence and more than 2,450 have been wounded.
GCC chief His Excellency Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi meets with Ambassador Dafalla Al Haj Ali, Special Envoy of the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council in Sudan to neighbouring countries and the African Union. (Photo@GCCSG)
The Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have announced their commitments to a new 72-hour humanitarian truce effective as of midnight Sunday, reports Asian Lite News
The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has urged for calm, giving priority to the national interest, and stopping all forms of military escalation in Sudan.
People wait to be evacuated near an airport in Omdurman, Sudan. (Xinhua)
His Excellency Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi has met with Ambassador Dafalla Al Haj Ali, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Sudan and the Special Envoy of the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council in Sudan to neighbouring countries and the African Union, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh.
His Excellency Albudaiwi stressed the GCC’s keenness to preserve Sudan’s security, safety and stability and protect the cohesion of the state and its institutions as well as support the country in facing all challenges to accomplish the aspirations of its brotherly people.
Furthermore, he praised the humanitarian role played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all GCC countries in the current crisis in Sudan, praising the efforts of the Arab League, the Quartet Group, and all international and regional efforts aimed at reaching a consensus among the political forces in the country, putting an end to the crisis and achieving security and stability in Sudan.
Smoke rising in Khartoum, capital of Sudan. (Photo by Mohamed Khidir/Xinhua)
The meeting was attended by His Excellency Dr Abdulaziz Hamad Aluwaisheg, Assistant Secretary General for Political and Negotiation Affairs at the General Secretariat of the GCC.
Truce extended
The Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have announced their commitments to a new 72-hour humanitarian truce, effective as of midnight Sunday.
“Based on the endeavours and request of the Saudi-American mediation, the Armed Forces agreed to extend the truce for extra 72 hours, to begin at the end of the current one,” the Army said on Sunday in a statement.
The Army expressed hope that the other party would abide by the truce, Xinhua news agency reported.
For its part, the RSF said in a statement on Sunday that “in response to international, regional and local calls, we declare an extension of the humanitarian truce for an additional 72 hours, starting today midnight”.
The RSF said that it agreed to the truce extension to open humanitarian passages, facilitate the movement of the citizens and enable them to get their needs and reach safe areas.
People fleeing from Sudan arrive at a bus station in Aswan, Egypt, on April 25, 2023. Many people crossed into Egypt through the border crossing between Egypt and Sudan, as conflict in the latter country continues. (Photo by Radwan Abu Elmagd/Xinhua)
The statement stressed the RSF’s commitment to the terms of the humanitarian truce and complete ceasefire.
On Sunday, Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority said the closure of the country’s airspace will be extended to May 13.
Flights for humanitarian aid and evacuation are excluded after obtaining a permit from related authorities and the approval of the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Sudan has been witnessing a large-scale evacuation of foreign nationals and diplomats by air, land and sea since the eruption of the deadly clashes between the Army and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas on April 15.
So far, the clashes have left more than 500 people dead and more than 4,000 others wounded, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.
Sudan violence: Indian embassy asks citizens to stay indoor in fresh advisory(grab)
This initial phase of diplomacy to establish a process to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.
The Trilateral Mechanism on Sudan, which brings together the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the UN, have called for the full implementation of the ceasefire in Sudan.
Members of the Trilateral Mechanism made the call in a joint statement along with the Quad on Sudan that brings together Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US, according to a joint statement issued on Friday.
“Members of the Trilateral Mechanism and the Quad welcome the announcement by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to extend the current ceasefire for an additional 72 hours and call for its full implementation,” the statement said.
They also welcomed the readiness of the two Sudanese warring factions to engage in dialogue toward establishing a more durable cessation of hostilities and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access, Xinhua news agency reported.
People fleeing from Sudan arrive at a bus station in Aswan, Egypt, on April 25, 2023. Many people crossed into Egypt through the border crossing between Egypt and Sudan, as conflict in the latter country continues. (Photo by Radwan Abu Elmagd/Xinhua)
This initial phase of diplomacy to establish a process to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements will contribute to action on the development of a de-escalation plan as outlined in the April 20 African Union release, the statement says.
Since mid-April, Sudan has been mired in military clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF following days of tension between the once-allied leaders of both sides.
The country has been suffering a political crisis since the Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency in October 2021 and dissolved the Sovereign Council as well as the government.
