Between the army emissaries and the paramilitaries, a third camp discusses the truce in the conflict in Sudan. The head of UN humanitarian affairs is at the table of discussions this Sunday in Saudi Arabia, to obtain the passage of humanitarian aid after three weeks of deadly fighting. On Wednesday, it was from Sudan that Martin Griffiths called on the two rival generals to make “specific commitments” to let in humanitarian aid and get out civilians caught in the crossfire.
Sunday, and like every day since April 15, fighting resounds everywhere in Khartoum where the five million inhabitants survive, barricaded for fear of stray bullets, without water or electricity and with reserves of food and money soon to dry up. . While Americans and Saudis assure that the belligerents are negotiating a truce in Saudi Arabia, the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of rival General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo do not say anything about the discussions between their emissaries .
Saudi Arabia and the United States guarantors of the mediation
“The army delegation will only talk about the truce and how to properly implement it to facilitate humanitarian access”, limited itself to commenting General Nabil Abdallah, spokesman for the army. The FSRs have revealed nothing about this new mediation, after several “ceasefires” broken in the seconds following their announcement. For their part, Ryad and Washington “welcome” the opening of a dialogue and urge the belligerents to “be actively involved” but have announced neither the formal start of the talks nor their content. The war has already left 700 dead, 5,000 injured, 335,000 displaced and 115,000 refugees.
Ryad, ally and funder of both camps, and Washington, whose lifting of sanctions brought Sudan back to the concert of nations in 2020, want to take precedence over regional initiatives. At the Arab League, Egypt has joined this joint initiative by inviting itself to a liaison committee that is supposed to lead to a ceasefire and secure humanitarian corridors. Their main competitor remains Igad, the East African bloc led by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, historic mediator in Sudan. The African Union lost its leverage when it suspended Sudan after the 2021 putsch, experts say.