Army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s U-turn in joining the talks dampens hopes that they will lead to an end to the 16-month war.
A new round of talks aimed at ending a 16-month civil war in Sudan, which has triggered a humanitarian crisis in the northeast African country, has begun in Switzerland, despite the absence of the army.
Army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s reversal in joining the US-led talks dampened hopes that Wednesday’s proceedings would lead to a breakthrough with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan.” Hemedti” Dagalo.
The two sides have been fighting a bloody civil war since April last year.
“Talks have begun,” a spokesman for the US mission in Geneva told the AFP news agency, adding that “there has been no change” in the non-participation of the Sudanese army.
Al-Burhan struck a defiant tone after the military said the general survived a drone strike at a military celebration in eastern Sudan last month.
He continued this path on Tuesday, saying: “Military operations will not stop without the withdrawal of all militiamen from the cities and villages they looted and colonized.”
The Sudanese army has repeatedly accused the RSF of failing to meet commitments to remove fighters from civilian areas and facilitate the delivery of aid. These were part of an agreement reached in direct talks last year in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in a brief lull in the fighting.
Mediators said both sides violated the terms of the agreement.
For its part, the RSF has repeatedly denied committing civilian abuses or looting, despite continuing to heavily bomb the cities of Omdurman, el-Obeid and el-Fasher. He sent a delegation to the talks in Switzerland and said he was open to a new peace agreement if the army became involved in talks.
Also present in Geneva on Wednesday were representatives from Egypt, the United Nations, the African Union, the East African body IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority for Development) and the United Arab Emirates, which has repeatedly denied accusations of being provide weapons and other military resources. support for RSF.
‘Cataclysmic breaking point’
Al-Burhan and Hemedti shared power tenuously after the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in 2021. However, tensions over plans to integrate their two forces exploded last year into a full-scale war.
Fighting initially began in the capital, Khartoum, and the RSF eventually took over most of the Darfur region and Gezira state. The army-led government has since set up shop in Port Sudan on the east coast.
Both sides have been accused of committing abuses, including targeting civilians, indiscriminately bombing residential areas and hindering the delivery of aid.
The UN said the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and internally displaced more than 10.7 million. Another 2.3 million refugees have fled the country, according to the International Organization for Migration.
This week, UN officials warned that Sudan is at a “cataclysmic tipping point” as they predicted tens of thousands of preventable deaths from hunger, disease, floods and violence in the coming months if the fighting does not end.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
