Army negotiating delegation returns to Sudan for consultations
July 27, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese army announced on Thursday that its negotiating delegation had come back from Jeddah for consultations, revealing significant progress on various issues.
For the past two months, Jeddah has been the location for indirect negotiations between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
On May 11, the two sides signed the Jeddah Declaration for the Protection of Civilians. However, they failed to implement it, leading to a resumption of armed confrontations with even greater intensity, despite multiple truces being signed.
“The delegation of the armed forces in the Jeddah process returned to Sudan yesterday, Wednesday, for the purpose of consultation and preparation to continue the talks when they resume after overcoming obstacles,” stated the Sudanese army spokesman.
The official mentioned that the army delegation engaged in indirect negotiations with the RSF after the Eid al-Adha holiday and reached initial understandings regarding the declaration of general principles for negotiation and the ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism led by Saudi Arabia.
He confirmed that the delegation discussed a draft cessation of hostilities, stressing, “Many points were agreed upon, but the disagreement still persists on some essential points, including the evacuation of rebels from civilians’ homes throughout the capital, and their evacuation from service facilities, hospitals, and roads.”
The RSF on Thursday issued a statement denying that its fighters occupy hospitals and public facilities saying that these allegations are “an attempt to lift the siege on the military headquarters located in residential areas, especially the General Command”.
The Sudanese army says the RSF troops should leave Khartoum to cantonment sites in another region to carry out the disarmament and demobilisation process.
Since April 15, Sudan has been witnessing fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, resulting in the death of more than three thousand civilians and the displacement of over three million people internally and externally.
The war has also caused extensive destruction to the infrastructure in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and Darfur states.
(ST)