US-sponsored Sudan peace talks open in Geneva without Burhan, army
Washington has insisted that the talks aimed at ending the war in Sudan begin despite the army's refusal to participate.
Peace talks aimed at ending the war in Sudan began in Geneva on Wednesday. The Sudanese Armed Forces, which has been engaged in a bloody conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for more than a year now, was not represented.
Delegations from the RSF, African Union, United Nations and Egypt convened in the Swiss capital for talks facilitated by the United States, US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello wrote on X.
Washington invited Sudan’s warring parties to the cease-fire talks last month.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield hailed the fresh round of negotiations as an important step to end the bloody war.
“This is a critical moment. The conflict in Sudan will not end on the battlefield. It will end at the negotiating table.” she wrote on X Tuesday. “The warring parties have a responsibility to the people of Sudan to participate in good faith.”
The SAF refused to attend the meeting as long as the RSF occupies Sudanese cities and villages, dashing hopes for a cease-fire deal. Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan reiterated this position on Wednesday, hours before the scheduled talks.
“Military operations will not cease until the last militia withdraws from the cities and villages they have violated and colonized,” Burhan said in a statement.
The RSF said in its own statement that its delegation had arrived in Geneva for the planned talks as part of its commitment to engage in “constructive and impactful discussions” aimed to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people and protect civilians.
The RSF further called on the army “to commit to fulfilling the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people.”
Opening session with our international and technical partners representing Switzerland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union, and the United Nations. We are focused on ensuring parties comply with their Jeddah commitments and… pic.twitter.com/RfsYggaEaN
— U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello (@USSESudan) August 14, 2024
The new round of talks, which is expected to last 10 days, comes as the war in Sudan approaches its 16th month. The country has been grappling with a devastating war since April 15, 2023, when a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF escalated into armed conflict.
Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed and the humanitarian situation has reached “a breaking point,” according to the International Organization for Migration. In the world’s largest displacement crisis, more than 10.7 million people have been displaced inside Sudan and nearly 2.3 million people fled to neighboring countries, the body said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Without an immediate, massive, and coordinated global response, we risk witnessing tens of thousands of preventable deaths in the coming months. We are at breaking point — a catastrophic, cataclysmic breaking point,” the UN agency added.
