[ad_1]
CAIRO (Reuters) – Sudan’s warring generals have agreed to send representatives to negotiations, possibly in Saudi Arabia, a senior United Nations official said on Monday, even as the two sides clashed in the capital Khartoum despite a fragile three-day extension of a ceasefire. If the talks come together, Volker Perthes told the Associated Press, they would initially focus on establishing a “stable and credible” ceasefire. But he warned of challenges in conducting the negotiations.
A series of temporary truces over the past week only eased the fighting in some areas while fierce battles continued in others, displacing civilians from their homes and pushing Sudan further into disaster. The United States conducted the first evacuation of American civilians from Sudan. On Monday, a US Navy express transport ship picked up 308 of the evacuees Port Sudan to the Saudi port of Jeddah, according to Saudi officials.
The direct talks, if they take place, would be a major advance since fighting broke out on April 15 between the army and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. For most of the conflict, the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, seemed determined to fight to the end. At least 436 civilians have been killed and more than 1,200 injured since the fighting began.
Speaking from Port Sudan, Perthes said there were still daunting challenges in getting both sides to commit to a genuine cessation of hostilities. One possibility was to set up a monitoring mechanism that would include Sudanese and foreign observers, “but that has to be negotiated.” He said talks on a continuing ceasefire could take place in Saudi Arabia or South Sudan.
A series of temporary truces over the past week only eased the fighting in some areas while fierce battles continued in others, displacing civilians from their homes and pushing Sudan further into disaster. The United States conducted the first evacuation of American civilians from Sudan. On Monday, a US Navy express transport ship picked up 308 of the evacuees Port Sudan to the Saudi port of Jeddah, according to Saudi officials.
The direct talks, if they take place, would be a major advance since fighting broke out on April 15 between the army and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. For most of the conflict, the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, seemed determined to fight to the end. At least 436 civilians have been killed and more than 1,200 injured since the fighting began.
Speaking from Port Sudan, Perthes said there were still daunting challenges in getting both sides to commit to a genuine cessation of hostilities. One possibility was to set up a monitoring mechanism that would include Sudanese and foreign observers, “but that has to be negotiated.” He said talks on a continuing ceasefire could take place in Saudi Arabia or South Sudan.
[ad_2]
