A message to the army command on the humanitarian ceasefire
Yasir Arman
After many years in which I witnessed more than three wars – and took part in some of them from senior positions. Now, as ever before, I have nothing more than to spend my time speaking the truth and standing with our people alone, without personal motives, without desire for power or wealth, and without seeking favor from any authority. We make no distinction among the sons and daughters of our people in all their beautiful diversity. From this position, I extend this appeal to the Commanders of the Sudanese Armed Forces, firmly maintaining my stance against this war, calling to stop it, and urging that it should be stopped and ended. This war should have had its complex issues resolved by the tongue, not the spear. What matters most today is how to halt it before it destroys what remains of our people and our country.
To the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces I say: you surely know that waging war is far easier than stopping it, since the wars of ancient tribes, the feud of Dahis and Al-Ghabra, the tears of Al-Khansa’ over Sakhr and Mu’awiya, and the great counsels of Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, as well as the deep store of wisdom in our Sudanese tribes about ending conflicts. You are now in a critical and strategic moment, one that cannot be governed by emotions but by the coolness of reason and the interests of the people and the nation. And whatever serves the interests of the people and the nation must, logically, also be in the interest of the army.
The advocates of war, its brokers, and the architects of deceit – those who dream of sitting on the thrones of power and wielding the spear – are the ones opposing the humanitarian truce. I still believe that the horizon and interests of the army are broader than the narrowness of the Islamists’ shoes. These Islamists oppose stopping the war and call upon a hungry people worn down by conflict, with their long knives and rusty guns that have drunk only of the people’s blood, to mobilize for total war.
Why do I issue this Call?
The army suffers from structural and historical flaws and is facing unprecedented challenges. A humanitarian ceasefire, as much as it serves civilians – the displaced, the homeless, the hungry, the victims of violations, and those driven from their homes – also serves the army strategically and tactically. In the short term, the army needs a break; more accurately, the humanitarian ceasefire should be developed into a cessation and end of the war, replacing the spear with the tongue. War is costly, our beloved country is on the brink, and only a just peace can save it.
The army will not improve unless the Islamists leave it. Anyone who has a political party must exit its ranks. It should be rebuilt on professionalism, national consensus, reconciliation, and reflect Sudan’s diversity and the interests of all its regions.
Sudan is surrounded by geopolitical belts marked by instability in the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel. Today it is encircled by many who covet its land and wealth. Its only safeguard lies in restoring national cohesion and building enough consensus – the very path that protects and preserves the nation. The December Revolution nearly achieved this.
The Islamists are pushing the army toward fragmentation. Their experience of more than three decades has shown that they possess no solutions – one cannot give what one does not have. Our people will support a ceasefire and will support the army signing it. The army could then open the path toward a genuine national dialogue; instead of war, it could present a clear vision for ending the conflict and building a single national army committed to peace on firm foundations. If used well and with good intentions, the ceasefire will bring the army closer to the people and to regional and international communities, and it will strengthen Sudan’s unity and sovereignty.
In conclusion, I address the army’s leaders, officers, NCOs, and soldiers. What drives this appeal is my love for our people and our homeland. This country matters to us, and how often we have dreamed of seeing it take its rightful leading place among nations.