Sudan paramilitary leader plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland hosted by US, Saudi Arabia

GENEVA (AP) — Sudan’s paramilitary leader has announced plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland next month arranged by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces fighting Sudan’s army, expressed hope on social media late Tuesday that the talks would become “a major step” toward peace and stability in Sudan and create a new state based on “justice, equality and federal rule.”

“We share with the international community the goal of achieving a full cease-fire across the country and facilitating humanitarian access to everyone in need,” he said on the social media platform X.

The talks are expected to begin Aug. 14 at an as-yet unspecified location in Switzerland.

When asked by the Associated Press if the military, which is led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, would send a delegation to the talks, the office of the spokesperson for the Sudanese army had no comment.

The U.S. State Department said the talks will aim to build on discussions between the two sides that broke down late last year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It said the African Union, Sudan’s neighbor Egypt, the United Arab Emirates — which has been accused of supporting Dagalo’s forces with weapons, a claim UAE officials have denied — and the United Nations would act as observers.

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“The talks in Switzerland aim to reach a nationwide cessation of violence, enabling humanitarian access to all those in need, and develop a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure implementation of any agreement,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday announcing the talks.

Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions including Darfur. The U.N. says over 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured. Rights activists say the toll could be much higher.

The war has also created the world’s largest displacement crisis with over 11 million people forced to flee their homes, as well as allegations of rampant sexual violence and possible crimes against humanity. International experts recently warned that 755,000 people are facing famine in the coming months.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the invitation for the talks went out Tuesday. He decried the ongoing “horrific human tragedy” and “humanitarian crisis” in Sudan that has put civilians at risk.

He said it was important for the United States, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland to try to get a ceasefire in Sudan through the resumption of talks between the two sides.

“I can’t give you any assessment on the likelihood of a deal, but we just want to get the parties back to the table,” he told reporters in Washington.

Last week, the U.N. secretary-general’s envoy for Sudan hosted a series of indirect talks in Geneva between the two sides centering on issues of humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians across Sudan.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the office of the spokesperson for the Sudanese army had no comment when asked if it would send a delegationto the talks.