The United States insisted Monday it would press ahead with convening ceasefire talks this week on the devastating conflict in Sudan, even if the Sudanese government is a no-show.
War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The US-mediated talks in Switzerland come with Sudan at a catastrophic “breaking point”, according to the United Nations, with tens of thousands of preventable deaths looming due to multiple crises exacerbated by the conflict.
The United States last month invited Sudan’s warring sides to ceasefire talks, co-hosted with Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.
The talks, at an undisclosed location in Switzerland, are scheduled to start on Wednesday and could last up to 10 days.
While the RSF swiftly accepted the US invitation, the Sudanese government has voiced concerns over Washington’s approach, and has given no confirmation that it intends to join in.
“The RSF gave an unconditional agreement to participate,” said Tom Perriello, the US special envoy for Sudan.
“We’ve had extensive engagement with the SAF (Sudanese armed forces), but they have not yet given us an affirmation” on coming to Switzerland.
However, “we will move forward with this event this week, and that has been made clear to the parties”, Perriello told a press conference at the US mission in Geneva.
There cannot be “formal mediation between the two parties if SAF does not attend — in which case, we continue to focus on the international and technical elements,” he said.
“This is a tremendous gathering of experts and we are going to move forward. If SAF changes its mind and wants to participate, we will then be able to have… that mediated component.”
Quibble over UAE
Talks in recent days in Saudi Arabia between a Sudanese delegation and US mediators on conditions for the government’s participation ended “without agreement”, Sudan’s Minerals Minister Mohammed Abu Namo, the head of the delegation, said Sunday.
The Sudanese government added that “more discussions” were needed to join ceasefire negotiations.
Sudan’s Media Minister Graham Abdelkader said the Sudanese government “rejects any new observers or participants” — notably after Washington “insisted on the participation of the United Arab Emirates as an observer”.
The Sudanese army has repeatedly accused the UAE of backing the RSF.
“Having Egypt and UAE at the table is an incredibly important potential tool for ensuring not just there’s a deal on paper… they can become more like guarantors,” said Perriello.
He said the talks would focus on cessation of hostilities, civilian protection and humanitarian access.
The envoy said they were not the place for political dialogue, which would “waste hours and hours on things that have nothing whatsoever to do with ending the violence”.
‘Cataclysmic breaking point’
The talks come as the UN’s migration agency said Sudan was on the brink, with famine and floods adding to a catalogue of crises in the country.
“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,” said Othman Belbeisi, the International Organization for Migration’s Middle East and North Africa director.
The conflict has left tens of thousands dead, according to the UN.
The IOM said new figures showed more than 10.7 million people are internally displaced within Sudan, with many uprooted several times over.
Meanwhile 2.3 million have fled across the borders into neighbouring countries.
Red Cross chief Mirjana Spoljaric said she hoped the talks will result in agreements that will unlock a surge in humanitarian assistance and access to fragile communities.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross called for “very concrete humanitarian steps that will help build the trust, and will help remove some of the immediate obstacles for a ceasefire agreement”.
A spokesman for Antonio Guterres said the UN chief wants “an immediate cessation of hostilities and lasting ceasefire”.
“He urges the parties to return to political dialogue as the only path to a negotiated settlement,” the spokesman said.
