ASWAN, Egypt (AP) – Sudan’s warring sides began talks on Saturday aimed at cementing a shaky ceasefire after three weeks of fierce fighting that has killed hundreds and pushed the African country to the brink of collapse. ·lapse, the USA and Saudi Arabia. said
The negotiations, the first between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since fighting broke out on April 15, took place in the coastal city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, according to a joint statement by Saudi- american
The talks are part of a diplomatic initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia and the US aimed at halting the fighting, which has turned Sudan’s capital Khartoum and other urban areas into battlegrounds and driven out hundreds of thousands of their homes.
In their joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the United States urged the two sides to “actively participate in talks for a ceasefire and an end to the conflict, which will save the suffering of the Sudanese people.”
The statement did not offer a time frame for the talks, which come after concerted efforts by Riyadh and other international powers to pressure Sudan’s warring parties to the negotiating table.
Army and RSF officials said the talks would address the opening of humanitarian corridors in Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman, which have been at the center of the fighting.
They would also discuss the protection of civilian infrastructure, including health facilities that have been overwhelmed and are suffering from severe shortages of both personnel and medical supplies, a military official said.
The RSF official would also discuss a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire, which is one of a series of truces that have failed to stop the fighting.
The pro-democracy movement said the Jeddah talks would be “a first step” to halt the country’s collapse and called on army and RSF leaders to take a “courageous decision” to end the conflict.
The movement, which is a coalition of political parties and civil society groups, had been negotiating for months with the military to restore the country’s democratic transition after a 2021 military coup led by army chief , General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who also presides over the ruling sovereign. council, and his deputy in the council General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
At least 550 people were killed, including civilians, and more than 4,900 others were injured on Monday, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry. The Sudanese Doctors Union, which only tracks civilian casualties, said on Friday that 473 civilians have died in the violence and more than 2,450 have been injured.
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 foreign nationals from Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese were displaced within Sudan or crossed into neighboring countries as the fighting dragged into urban areas.
The UN refugee agency estimates that the number of Sudanese fleeing to neighboring countries could reach 860,000 and that aid agencies would need $445 million to help them.
Close Modal
Suggest a correction
Suggest a correction
Source link
