Sudan army chief, British envoy discuss dialogue and UN rights report

September 12, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met British Special Envoy Richard Crowder on Saturday to discuss efforts to end the country’s civil war and address a bleak United Nations rights inquiry.

Britain prioritised halting the conflict and easing civilian suffering through a “Sudanese-led and Sudanese-owned dialogue”, Crowder said in a Sovereign Council statement.

He called for an inclusive, transparent political process reflecting Sudanese views both inside the country and abroad.

Crowder welcomed initiatives from domestic stakeholders and praised government guarantees protecting participants in planned consultations from prosecution.

A transitional committee has been tasked with consulting political and civil society groups to lay the groundwork for peace talks.

The meeting touched on a recent report from a UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission, which detailed widespread abuses and foreign interference, including the recruitment of foreign fighters.

The rights panel reported that UAE-based entities had recruited Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an issue under debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Britain has introduced a draft resolution to extend the mission’s mandate beyond its October expiry. Sudan’s military-led government opposes the move, contending existing UN human rights bodies in the country suffice.

Crowder warned that systematic damage to infrastructure and massive displacement to neighbouring states had compounded the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis.

The British diplomat expected the crisis to feature prominently at the upcoming UN General Assembly meetings in New York.