The warring factions in Sudan have jointly committed to protecting civilians and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid. They signed a statement to that effect in the Saudi city of Jeddah late on Friday the United States Department of State know. The United States and Saudi Arabia are acting as mediators in the peace negotiations. International news agencies report that a new and final ceasefire has not been reached. “The two sides are quite far apart,” said a senior ministry official.
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The statement is a “first step,” the Americans said. “We are cautiously hopeful that their willingness to sign this document will create momentum.” The mediators hope that the Sudanese parties will then negotiate the specific security measures that must be taken to effectively protect civilians. One of the measures that will be discussed is a short-term ceasefire (of up to 10 days) to allow emergency humanitarian aid to be delivered and essential services such as water supply and electricity to be restored. Several ceasefires have been agreed since the fighting broke out, but the fighting continued.
The two sides in talks are the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). These two battle groups – led by their generals – have been engaged in an armed conflict since mid-April. Some 700,000 Sudanese have fled their homes and are staying elsewhere. The UN estimates that 150,000 people have fled across the border. Before the conflict between the generals broke out, 1.1 million foreign refugees were already living in Sudan.
African solutions
One of the issues underlying the conflict between generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (alias Hemedti) is how power is divided in Sudan. Leaders in the country almost always come from the Nile Valley around the capital Khartoum, which puts Sudanese in other parts of the country, such as in western Darfur. Army chief Burhan is from the Nile valley; General Hemedti from Darfur. In addition, even more groups are competing for power in the country, such as the civilian group Forces for Freedom and Change.
In addition to the negotiations led by the US and Saudi Arabia, the UN called a special session on Sudan after an ad hoc vote on Thursday, which was not supposed to take place until June. Although 52 countries voted in favor of organizing this special session early, none of the Arab or African countries did. Several representatives from these countries, including those from Sudan itself, wondered what the session would contribute, as talks are already being held in Jeddah. They urged “African solutions to African problems.”
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