Sudan's army and RSF agree to allow aid delivery, but no truce

Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have committed to allow the delivery of aid to millions of Sudanese affected by their six-month war. But they did not agree to a ceasefire in negotiations sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the US. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said late on Tuesday night that the two sides agreed after nearly two weeks of negotiations in Jeddah to several confidence-building measures. They included establishment of a means of communication between the two sides and toning down hostile speech to the media. They have also agreed to take "steps against those who are stoking the conflict", in a thinly veiled reference to loyalists of the former regime of dictator Omar Al Bashir. The two sides also agreed to apprehend those escaped from prison, who include key members of Al Bashir's regime. The former dictator, who ruled the country for 29 years, was toppled in 2019. The Sudan conflict errupted in April when differences between the army and RSF over Sudan's democratic transition reached a boiling point. At the heart of their differences is the future role of the army in a civilian-led Sudan and the assimilation into the armed forces of the RSF, whose forerunner was the Darfur-based militia called the Janjaweed. But six months after the fighting began, the war appears to be essentially a struggle for military and political supremacy between two generals: army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his one-time ally and deputy Mohamed Dagalo, commander of the RSF. The war has displaced nearly six million people, more than a million of whom found refuge in neighbouring countries. At least 10,000 people have died and millions are trapped in the Sudanese capital, struggling to stay safe and cope with soaring food prices, and scarce fuel and health services. "The mediators regret the failure by the two sides to agree on a ceasefire since there is no acceptable military solution to this conflict," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said. "The mediators urge the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces to put ahead the interests of the Sudanese people, put down their weapons and engage in negotiations to end this conflict." Instead, the two sides agreed to work with the UN humanitarian agency Ocha to resolve blocks to humanitarian aid access, the ministry said. Ceasefires mediated by the Saudis and Americans in the early stages of the war collapsed or were short-lived, with both sides apparently determined to fight on until victory. Fighting in Sudan's restive Darfur region and the capital Khartoum has surged since the two sides reconvened last month for talks, which were also brokered by regional African bloc IGAD, in what appeared to be an attempt to gain an advantage in the Jeddah negotiations. Refugees and witnesses arriving in Chad in recent days have accused the RSF of reviving bloody ethnic violence in the West Darfur town of El Geneina, which the paramilitary's fighters captured this week. Last summer, hundreds of ethnic Africans in El Geneina were killed, reportedly in ethnically driven attacks blamed on the RSF and its local allies. The International Criminal Court is investigating the allegations as possible war crimes.

Sudan's army and RSF agree to allow aid delivery, but no truce

Saudi Arabia urges the warring parties to put Sudan's interests first and lay down their arms