Sudan’s military chief in Saudi Arabia as calls for peace grow
Sudan’s military chief and de facto head of state, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, is currently holding talks in Saudi Arabia amid growing calls for an end to Sudan’s escalating civil war, according to The National on December 15th.
The military has been at war with the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023 after a power struggle turned violent. The RSF recently seized total control of the entire western region of Darfur and is now on the march eastwards, shifting the frontline to the Kordofan region.
On numerous occasions in the past few months, Al-Burhan has refused to agree to a ceasefire and vowed to continue fighting until his forces achieve an absolute victory over the rebels.
In late November, he slammed a ceasefire plan drafted by the Sudan Quad multilateral mediation group, comprised of the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as “the worst document ever submitted.”
Al-Burhan views the Quad as illegitimate due to the membership of the UAE, which is reportedly the principal backer of the RSF by supplying it with arms, funding, and intelligence.
Washington’s involvement may also prompt diplomatic uneasiness after it imposed sanctions on Al-Burhan following the discovery that his forces used prohibited chemical weapons in combat.
Despite the existing tensions, Al-Burhan publicly called for some form of US intervention in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal published on November 25th. In it, he wrote that “the Sudanese people now look to Washington to take the next step: to build on the US President’s honesty and work with us… to end this war.”
This appeal came just days after President Trump explicitly stated for the first time that he would use his position to “bring an immediate halt to the war” during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On December 11th, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed that both of Sudan’s warring parties are expected to meet with UN officials in Geneva, according to The New Arab plus agencies on December 12th. He did not disclose a date.
The National, Maghrebi.org, Wall Street Journal, The New Arab plus agencies
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