KHARTOUM: Sudan’s warring army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary would resume talks tomorrow (Sunday). Saudi Arabia, being host of the talks aimed at securing a truce, has also invited army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan to Arab League summit in Jeddah, a senior diplomat stated.
Hundreds of people have been killed, injured and over 200,000 displaced due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan. According to Reuters, despite having an invitation to Burhan to attend the Jeddah summit, it seems difficult for him to leave Sudan for security reasons.
Burhan was invited as he is head of the Sovereign Council of Sudan that was meant to be overseeing a planned transition to civilian rule before the war broke out, the Saudi diplomat added. His rival RSF chief known as Hemedti, is deputy head of the council. The diplomat added that they have not yet received the names of the delegation, but they were expecting Sudan to have representation in the summit.
Despite Conflict, Talks Helpful to Affect Sudan’s Crises
On Thursday, both sides agreed to a “declaration of principles” to protect civilians and permit humanitarian access. In talks in Jeddah, both sides would start by discussing mechanisms to implement Thursday’s agreement comprising plans for aid delivery, safe corridors, and the removal of forces from civilian localities.
Later talks would focus on ending of the conflict to pave way for a civilian government. “The nature of the conflict fears to affect the dialogue. Yet I found a very good spirit from both sides,” the Saudi diplomat said.
Publicly neither side has shown any sign to show willingness to compromise, and they battled through previous truces. Although the RSF has pledged to uphold Thursday’s agreement, the army has not yet responded to this.
