The United States said Monday it plans to launch a process in Switzerland this week to discuss a ceasefire in Sudan, despite uncertainty over the Sudanese government’s participation in the talks.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a war between the regular army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of his former deputy, General Mohammed Hamdane Daglo.
Previous rounds of negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have failed. In late July, Washington invited the army and paramilitaries to talks in Switzerland to try to end the devastating war that has pushed the country to the brink of famine.
The talks in Switzerland are “an extension” of those in Jeddah, US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello said at a news conference in Geneva on Monday.
He also indicated that this round of negotiations, which is due to start on August 14, could last up to 10 days, but he did not specify the location for “security reasons.”
“The priority of this process is to achieve a cessation of hostilities” and to discuss “the protection of civilians, humanitarian access and law enforcement,” but “this is not the place to have a political dialogue,” he said, asserting that “when you bring politicians into the equation, you can waste hours and hours on things that have nothing to do with ending the violence or increasing humanitarian aid.”
Which participants?
The US special envoy said that “the FSR gave their unconditional agreement to their participation,” but “the FAS [forces armées soudanaises] have not yet given us confirmation.”
But “we will move forward with this event […] and this has been made clear to the parties,” he said, while acknowledging that without the government “there cannot be formal mediation,” but simple technical discussions.
The Sudanese government sent a delegation to Jeddah on Friday to discuss with US mediators the conditions for the Sudanese government’s participation.
The head of the delegation, Sudanese Minister of Mines Mohammed Abu Namo, announced on Facebook on Sunday “the end of the consultations, without an agreement on the participation of the Sudanese delegation.”
Late Sunday evening, Media Minister Graham Abdelkader said in a televised address that the Sudanese delegation had noted “the inability of the United States to push the rebel militias [NDLR, en référence aux FSR] to commit to implementing the Jeddah Declaration,” negotiated last year during a round of talks in Saudi Arabia.
The Jeddah negotiations produced only short-lived ceasefires last year, which were immediately broken by the army and paramilitaries.
Catastrophic “breaking point”
The Swiss talks, co-sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, will include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the UN as observers, according to Washington.
The Sudanese government “rejects any new observer or participant,” especially after the United States “insisted on the participation of the United Arab Emirates as an observer,” even though the army regularly accuses Abu Dhabi of supporting the RSF, Minister Abdelkader added.
For Mr. Perriello, “the presence of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates at the negotiating table is an incredibly important potential tool to ensure that there is not just an agreement on paper,” saying that these countries “can become guarantors” in the talks.
The war has left tens of thousands dead and caused a major humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
On Monday, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said she hoped talks on Sudan would result in “very concrete humanitarian measures”, while the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that the country is at a catastrophic “breaking point”, with a combination of crises that could leave tens of thousands dead.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a lasting ceasefire. He urges the parties to resume political dialogue as the only way to reach a negotiated settlement,” Farhan Haq, his deputy spokesperson, said on Sunday.