Sudan peace talks resume in Cairo as war nears three-year mark
Cairo: Sudan peace efforts resumed in Cairo on Wednesday as Egypt, the United Nations and the United States called for the warring parties to agree to a nationwide humanitarian truce, as the war between the army and its rival paramilitary nears the three-year mark.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Egypt wouldn’t accept the collapse of Sudan or its institutions, or any attempt to undermine its unity or divide its territory, describing such scenarios as “red lines.”
Abdelatty said during a joint news conference with Ramtane Lamamra, the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan, that Egypt won’t stand idly and won’t hesitate to take the necessary measures to help preserve Sudan’s unity. “There is absolutely no room for recognising parallel entities or any militias. Under no circumstances can we equate Sudanese state institutions, including the Sudanese army, with any other militias,” he said on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Consultative Mechanism to Enhance and Coordinate Peace Efforts.
Lamamra said that the fifth such meeting demonstrated that diplomacy remains a viable path toward peace.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the military have been at war since April 2023.
The conflict that has seen multiple atrocities and pushed Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Although repeated attempts at peace talks have failed to end the war, Abdelatty said that there’s a regional agreement to secure an immediate humanitarian truce, including certain withdrawals and the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors.
Massad Boulos, the US senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs, said Wednesday that more than 1.3 metric tonnes of humanitarian supplies entered el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Wednesday, with the help of American-led negotiations, marking the first such delivery since the city was besieged 18 months ago.
“As we press the warring parties for a nationwide humanitarian truce, we will continue to support mechanisms to facilitate the unhindered delivery of assistance to areas suffering from famine, malnutrition, and conflict-driven displacement,” Boulos posted on X.
