The United States is inviting parties to the conflict in Sudan to participate in ceasefire talks jointly organised by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
Blinken noted Washington has invited Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to begin US-brokered talks from August 14. He said in a statement:
“The United States remains committed to working with partners to end this devastating war.”
The commander of the RSF, at war with the army for over a year, said he “welcomed” Blinken’s invitation and that his side would join the negotiations. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo wrote on X:
“I declare our participation in the upcoming ceasefire talks on August 14, 2024, in Switzerland.”
Previous negotiations unsuccessful for parties
Previous talks in Saudi Arabia failed to end the fighting, which has displaced millions of people, threatened famine and reduced the capital Khartoum to rubble.
Subsequent attempts at mediation, including by the African Union, failed to get the warring parties in the same room as experts say both forces fought for tactical advantage on the ground.
A brutal war has been raging for more than a year in the northeastern African country between the regular military under the command of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy Daglo.
According to the United Nations, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 10 million, including two million who have fled abroad. Blinken also said:
“The talks in Switzerland aim to reach a nationwide cessation of violence, enabling humanitarian access to all those in need, and develop a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure implementation of any agreement.”
The State Department said the US-brokered talks will be held under the auspices of Saudi Arabia with the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations as observers.
No military solution
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that “there is no military solution to the conflict in Sudan.” He also added:
“Convening these national ceasefire talks and making clear that they are backed by key international stakeholders is the only way to prove to end the conflict.”
Asked about the chances of the talks succeeding, however, Miller also acknowledged that “we just want to get the parties back to the table,” calling it “the best shot that we have right now at getting a nationwide.”
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberate attacks on civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid, and the fighting has forced many humanitarian organisations to cease operations in the country.
Earlier, a UN-backed report said some 26 million people, or just over half the population, face high levels of “acute food insecurity.”
Indirect talks between RSF and the Sudanese military, held this month in Geneva by UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ personal envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, were described by the UN as an “encouraging” first step.
The talks focused on humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians, although neither side met directly with the other.
UN condemns gross violations in Sudan
A team of UN investigators said it met in Chad with victims of violence in Sudan’s brutal civil war and documented “disturbing examples” of gross violations.
The newly established UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Situation in Sudan said it spent three weeks in Chad meeting with survivors of the conflict in Sudan, members of Sudanese civil society and other observers.
The people they interviewed gave detailed first-hand accounts of ‘horrific acts of killings, sexual violence, including gang rape,’ the mission said in a statement.”These brutal acts must stop and the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” mission member Mona Rishmawi said.
