Sudan to send delegation to Cairo for talks with Saudi and U.S. officials

August 18, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan will send a government delegation to Cairo for talks with U.S. and Saudi officials on implementing a deal aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan, a government source told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

The Sudanese Sovereign Council confirmed in a statement on Sunday that it would be sending a delegation to Cairo following contact with the U.S. government and the Egyptian government.

The delegation will be led by the Minister of Minerals, Mohamed Bashir Abu Namo, and will include Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Salwa Adam Bania, as well as military negotiators.

The talks in Cairo are expected to take place on Tuesday.

The announcement comes after the head of Sudan’s ruling council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told reporters on Saturday the U.S. had agreed to a Sudanese request for a meeting to discuss the implementation of the Jeddah Declaration, a ceasefire deal signed between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in May.

Officials also said the delegation had already been on its way to Geneva.

The discussions follow consultations in Jeddah last week between the Sudanese government and U.S. officials that failed to reach an understanding on the agenda and participants in the Geneva process.

In a related development, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister discussed efforts to end the conflict in Sudan in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, according to the Saudi foreign ministry.