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Sudan’s rival forces agree to protect civilians but no cease-fire

Sudan’s army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) signed a declaration after a week of talks in the Saudi port of Jeddah.
 More than 15,000 people have fled Sudan via Metema since fighting broke out in Khartoum in mid-April, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration, with around a thousand arrivals registered per day on average.
A man carries a child as refugees from Sudan cross into Ethiopia on May 4, 2023.Amanuel Sileshi / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: Reuters

Sudan’s warring factions early on Friday committed to protect civilians and the movement of humanitarian aid, but did not agree to a cease-fire and remain far apart, U.S. officials said.

After a week of talks in the Saudi port of Jeddah, Sudan’s army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) signed a declaration that they would work toward a short-term cease-fire in further discussions, they said.

“The two sides are quite far apart,” a senior U.S. State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A text of the declaration released after the talks said the two factions “commit to prioritizing discussions to achieve a short-term cease-fire to facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services.”

A U.S. State Department statement said the parties would focus on reaching a deal for an effective cease-fire of up to about 10 days.

Loud explosions rocked greater Khartoum, as fighting between Sudan's warring generals showed no let-up despite talks in Saudi Arabia.
Smoke billows in Khartoum amid ongoing fighting between the forces of two rival generals in Sudan, on Wednesday. AFP - Getty Images

Negotiators working with Saudi and U.S. mediators will next discuss specific security measures for safeguarding relief supplies, the U.S. official said. The State Department statement said measures “will include a U.S.-Saudi and international-supported cease-fire monitoring mechanism.”

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said in a post on Twitter that the talks and the commitment to protecting civilians were a first step, and “other steps will follow”.

“The most important thing is to adhere to what was agreed upon, and the Kingdom will work until security and stability return to Sudan and its brotherly people,” the Saudi minister said.

The army and RSF said in their agreement that they would schedule “subsequent expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.”

The U.S. official said it would be a long process to move from a temporary cease-fire, once agreed, to a permanent cessation of hostilities. But Washington hopes the two sides’ willingness to sign Friday’s declaration will build momentum.

Civilian groups are expected to participate later in the talks, the U.S. official said. The Forces for Freedom and Change, a coalition of political parties supporting democratic rule, called the declaration “an important first step towards ending the war” and urged the forces to abide by it.

Clashes rocked Halfaya, an entry point to the capital Khartoum, on Thursday as residents heard warplanes circling over Khartoum and its adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, but the fighting appeared calmer than on Wednesday.

Air strikes battered Sudan's capital on May 6, as fighting entered a fourth week only hours before the warring parties are to meet in Saudi Arabia for their first direct talks.
Sudanese soldiers on the street in southern Khartoum, on May 6, 2023.AFP via Getty Images

In public neither side has shown it is ready to offer concessions to end the conflict that erupted suddenly last month, threatening to pitch Sudan into a civil war, killing hundreds of people and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Previous cease-fire agreements have been repeatedly violated, leaving civilians to navigate a terrifying landscape of chaos and bombardment with failing power and water, little food and a collapsing health system.

The senior State Department official said the declaration signed early Friday seeks to improve the flow of humanitarian relief and begin restoration of water and electricity services.

Mediators hope it will be possible “to arrange for the withdrawal of security forces from hospitals and clinics, and to perform the respectful burial of the dead,” the official said.

The World Health Organization has said more than 600 people have been killed and more than 5,000 injured in the fighting. The Health Ministry said at least 450 people were killed in the western Darfur region.

Many have fled Khartoum and Darfur, uprooting 700,000 people inside the country and sending 150,000 as refugees into neighboring states, according to U.N. figures.

Western countries condemned abuses by both sides at a human rights meeting in Geneva, but Sudan’s envoy there said the conflict was “an internal affair.”