NAIROBI: The UN chief said on Wednesday, “We failed” to stop the war from erupting in Sudan, where continued fighting between rival generals undermined efforts to agree on a truce.
Talking to media in Nairobi, Antonio Guterres said that the conflict in Sudan took the UN by surprise because the world body and others were hopeful that talks would be successful.
“To the extent that we and many others were not expecting this to happen, we can say we failed to avoid it from happening,” the secretary general said.
“A country like Sudan, which has suffered so much… cannot afford a struggle for power between two people.”
His remarks came as top UN humanitarian official Martin Griffiths was in Sudan one day after neighbouring South Sudan announced that the warring sides had agreed “in principle” to a seven-day truce.
UN Chief Fears Sudan Conflict Could Harm Entire Region
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was “very essential” that the crisis in Sudan not spread beyond its borders and risk democratic transitions and peace processes in the regional countries.
Sudan has been rocked by fierce fighting and violence since April 15 between the de facto leader of the country, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who commands the regular army, and his rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Both men have agreed to multiple ceasefires but failed to halt the fighting that has driven thousands over Sudan’s borders and caused fears of a humanitarian crisis engulfing the wider region.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry in South Sudan announced that the warring parties had agreed “in principle” to a seven-day truce from tomorrow until May 11, but neither side has formally confirmed the announcement. “The present situation is totally unacceptable.
A lasting ceasefire needs to occur,” Guterres told reporters in Nairobi. He was “very concerned” about the Sudan conflict spilling into neighbouring countries undergoing political and post-conflict troubles, particularly Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan. “It is absolutely essential to support Chad in the present situation.
On the other hand, other countries in the region have their own peace processes. Ethiopia is in a peace process,” he said. He said it is essential to avoid any spillover from Sudan to Ethiopia.
“South Sudan is in a difficult and slow process to implement the agreements made. Any disturbance concerning South Sudan would be extremely dangerous.” Over 100,000 people had fled as refugees into neighbouring countries since the beginning of the conflict, and the UN refugee agency UNHCR was making plans for around 800,000 more, Guterres said, underscoring the impact of the conflict on the entire region.
He said the United Nations was “taken by surprise” when Sudan exploded into intense fighting and violence because it was hoped that negotiations between the two generals would bear fruit. “We were not expecting this violence to happen,” he said.
