Sudan: Sudan’s rival factions have arrived in Saudi Arabia for direct talks after three weeks of clashes in the capital, Khartoum, and the south-western region of Darfur that have killed and wounded hundreds of civilians.
Representatives of the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were in Jeddah on May 6 for “pre-negotiation talks” aimed at establishing a durable ceasefire that would allow aid to reach millions of desperate civilians trapped by the fighting. The RSF is commanded by Mr. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is now in conflict with the de facto leader of Sudan, Mr. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the regular army.
A joint statement by the US and Saudi governments, which have brought the two sides together after a number of fruitless attempts, remarked that “the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States urge both parties to take into consideration the interests of the Sudanese nation and its people and actively engage in the talks towards a ceasefire and end to the conflict.”
The US-Saudi statement noted the efforts of other countries and organisations behind this weekend’s talks, including Britain, the United Arab Emirates, the League of Arab States, the African Union, and other groups.
The Sudanese army confirmed that it had sent envoys to Saudi Arabia to discuss “details of the truce in the process of being extended,” but Burhan’s special envoy, Dafallah Alhaj, stated that the army would not sit down directly with any delegation sent by the “rebellious” RSF.
The RSF, however, confirmed that it would be sending a representative to the talks with the aim of finding a way to allow aid to reach civilians. The conflict has already claimed hundreds of lives and wounded many more, with most of the casualties occurring in Khartoum and the western Darfur region.
The conflict has killed about 700 people, mostly in Khartoum and the western Darfur region, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
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