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UN Envoy: Conflicting Parties In Sudan Agree To Negotiate

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UN Envoy: Conflicting Parties In Sudan Agree To Negotiate

According to the chief UN envoy in Sudan, the warring generals have agreed to send representatives to negotiations, maybe in Saudi Arabia.

The action was taken after fighting broke out between the two factions in the capital despite another three-day extension of the tenuous ceasefire.

According to Volker Perthes, the initial goal of the negotiations would be to achieve a “stable and reliable” ceasefire that would be supervised by “national and international” observers. Only some areas of the fighting have de-escalated following a series of brief cease-fires over the past week, while ferocious battles in other areas have continued to evict civilians from their homes and plunge the nation into a humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Perthes warned that arrangements for the talks were still being made. Only the military, and not its adversary, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has made a public announcement that it is ready to participate in negotiations so far.

Any talks would be the first significant sign of development since fighting broke out between the army, under the command of General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, under the command of General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, on April 15.

According to the Sudanese Health Ministry, since then, 4,500 people have been injured, including civilians and combatants, and around 530 have died.

In the meantime, the US carried out its first-ever evacuation of civilians from Sudan. capital, Khartoum, to the Red Sea port of Port Sudan while being closely monitored by US military drones.

According to Saudi officials, a US Navy fast transport ship transported 308 evacuees from Port Sudan to the Saudi port of Jeddah on Monday.

Residents of Khartoum and Omdurman, a neighboring city, reported hearing gunfire and explosions on Monday. The nominal truce that had been in place for the previous week would now be extended for another 72 hours, the two sides said on Sunday.

To deter the generals from fighting so that more in-depth negotiations can begin to end the crisis, the United States and Saudi Arabia have organized a concerted worldwide campaign.

“It’s still important to connect both sides and have both sides commit to a ceasefire so that it is clear that fighting and taking action and moving forward and trying to gain ground is a violation of the ceasefire,” he said.

Speaking from Port Sudan, UN envoy Mr. Perthes noted that persuading the two sides to abide by the truce still presents significant difficulties.

One option, he said, was to set up a monitoring system for a truce with both Sudanese and outside observers, “but that has to be negotiated”.

He added that discussions on formalizing the ceasefire may take place in South Sudan or Saudi Arabia, with the former potentially offering logistical advantages due to its close relations with both parties.

However, he added, even negotiations in Saudi Arabia are difficult because they require safe passage through the other party’s territory.

“That is very difficult in a situation where there is a lack of trust,” he said.

Sudan has descended into turmoil as a result of the struggle for power among the generals.

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