Sudan – The Sudanese government said it will send a delegation to Cairo for talks with US and Egyptian officials on Monday, suggesting it may take part in peace talks aimed at ending the 16-month war.
The military-dominated government, which is fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for control of the country, says it will not participate in peace talks scheduled for Switzerland unless an earlier agreement reached in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is implemented.
The talks, led by the United States and involving the Rapid Support Forces, aim to end the devastating war that broke out in April 2023 and address a dire humanitarian crisis that has left half of Sudan’s 50 million people food insecure.
The ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council said in a statement, “Based on contact with the US government represented by the US envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, and a contact from the Egyptian government requesting a meeting with a government delegation in Cairo to discuss the government’s vision for implementing the Jeddah Agreement, the government will send a delegation to Cairo for this purpose.”
He added that the Jeddah Agreement stipulates that the Rapid Support Forces leave civilian areas.
Senior government sources told Reuters that the government had presented its vision on implementing the Jeddah agreement and other issues to American and Saudi mediators, and that its position on entering new talks would depend on their response.
The sources denied media reports that the government had already sent a delegation to Geneva.
The Sudanese army said on Thursday it would allow the use of a border crossing controlled by the Rapid Support Forces to bring aid into Darfur, an issue that was to be addressed in the talks.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sudanese military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had agreed to use the crossing during a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the previous day.
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2024-08-20 13:36:27