Africa

RSF leader accepts US invitation to new round of talks in Switzerland with Sudanese army

RSF leader accepts US invitation to new round of talks in Switzerland with Sudanese army

Jul 24. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, has accepted on Tuesday the invitation of the United States to carry out a new round of indirect talks with the Sudanese Army and mediated by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

“I welcome the invitation announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and announce our participation in the upcoming ceasefire talks on 14 August 2024 in Switzerland,” Hemedti posted on his X social media account.

He also expressed his willingness to participate “constructively” in what he hopes will be “an important step towards peace, stability and the establishment of a new Sudanese state based on justice, equality and federal governance.”

The RSF leader stressed that the “magnitude of the suffering” of the country’s population and the devastation of its territory is “immense”, and he therefore “reiterated his firm position” to “save lives and end the fighting” in the face of a political and negotiated solution.

“I appreciate the efforts of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland to organize these important talks. We share with the international community the goal of achieving a comprehensive ceasefire throughout the country, facilitating humanitarian access to all those in need, and developing a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure the implementation of any agreement reached,” he added.

The latest indirect negotiations took place on July 11 and ended without an agreement on the table, although the UN special envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, said they represented “an optimistic step in a longer and more complex process.”

The military abandoned the talks, initially initiated in Jeddah and mediated by the United States, after denouncing that the RSF were deployed in civilian homes and public spaces that they refused to evacuate in violation of the so-called Declaration for the Protection of Civilians signed on May 11 by both sides less than a month after the outbreak.

The war, which broke out on April 15 following sharp disagreements between the army and the RSF over the integration of the paramilitary group into the armed forces, derailed the transition process that began following the overthrow of Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019 after 30 years in power.

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