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Representatives of the two generals fighting for power in Sudan are meeting in Jeddah on Saturday, Saudi Arabia and the United States said, opening the door to a truce in a conflict that has already left hundreds dead.
Washington and Riyadh congratulate themselves on the “beginning of the pre-negotiation dialogue” in this Saudi city between the representatives of the army of General Abdel Fatah al Burhan and those of the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States urge both parties to take into consideration the interests of the Sudanese nation and its people and to actively participate in the talks to achieve a ceasefire and end the conflict,” they said in a joint statement. .
This did not prevent the inhabitants of the capital Khartoum from waking up again on Saturday to the noise of explosions and shelling, as every morning since April 15. The 21 days of fighting between the two generals, allies in the 2021 military coup that removed civilians from power, have left 700 dead, 5,000 injured, 335,000 displaced and 115,000 refugees.
Both sides have agreed to multiple truces and extensions since the outbreak of violence, but none have been honored so far. The meeting in Jeddah should serve to “discuss details of the truce,” the army said. Political issues will not be addressed. The army confirmed the dispatch of negotiators. The paramilitaries will be represented by associates of Daglo and his powerful brother Abderrahim, who finances the FAR with its gold mines, according to Sudanese officials.
– Hunger lurks –
The UN emissary in Sudan, Volker Perthes, explained that both parties say they are “prepared to start technical discussions” on the modalities of a ceasefire. According to Perthes, a true truce is essential to return to the political negotiations on the country’s democratic transition that began in 2019 after the fall of the dictator Omar al Bashir and were cut short with the 2021 coup.
Beyond the direct victims, this new war is advancing hunger, which already affected one in three of the 45 million Sudanese. The UN says that between 2 and 2.5 million more people could suffer acute malnutrition if the conflict continues. Sudanese live entrenched in their homes, fearing stray bullets, and largely without a telephone network after the operator MTN announced the suspension of its services because it cannot power its generators.
Despite the “catastrophe” denounced by humanitarian organizations, the international community does not react in a coordinated manner, with a meeting on Sunday between Arab League ministers overlapping with Saudi-American efforts, and discussions by the African Union and of IGAD, the regional organization for East Africa. US intelligence services predict that the conflict will “prolong” because “both sides think they can win it militarily and have little reason to go to negotiations.”
– Exodus –
The UN warns that the exodus could reach 860,000 people in the coming months, both Sudanese and South Sudanese who had taken refuge in the neighboring country, and calls for around 450 million dollars to help the country, one of the poorest in the world. At the northern border, Afdal Abdel Rahim waits to be able to cross into Egypt.
“When the war started, with shelling and air raids, we left our homes and fled to Wadi Halfa,” he told AFP from the last Sudanese town before moving on to its northern neighbor, where thousands of Sudanese gathered. In Darfur, on the western border with Chad, civilians were armed to take part in clashes between the military, paramilitaries, and rebel and tribal fighters, according to the UN.
The NGO Norwegian Refugee Council reported “at least 191 deaths, dozens of buildings on fire and thousands of displaced” in this region devastated in the 2000s by a conflict that left around 300,000 dead, according to the UN. Generals Burhan and Daglo staged a coup in 2021 to oust the civilians with whom they shared power after the fall of Al Bashir. But their differing views on how the FAR should be integrated into the army ended in a clash.
