The United States and four Arab states have reportedly renewed their efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan, while the United Nations has launched its new appeal for an immediate cease-fire in the war-torn country amid warnings that civilians are paying a high price for the continued fighting.
According to an Egyptian source, who requested anonymity, a meeting took a place last weekend, attended by officials from the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, focused on boosting efforts to end the crisis. These four Arab countries had previously joined US-led peace negotiations in Geneva in August, but the talks stalled after the Sudanese government boycotted them. “It is long past time for the warring parties to come to the negotiating table,” the UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told a meeting of the UN security Council on Tuesday (12 November) as the world body renewed its an immediate cease-fire.
DiCarlo also noted that the rival leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been able to escalate their military operations and attacks across the country “thanks to considerable external support, including a steady flow of weapons into the country.” Egypt, the UAE and Russia are reported to be among the countries providing the SAF with arms and equipment. “To put it bluntly, certain purported allies of the parties are enabling the slaughter in Sudan. This is unconscionable, it is illegal, and it must end,” DiCarlo said. This situation has prompted the Human Rights Watch to call for the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Sudan, especially in response to the recent wave of attacks on civilians in Al Jazirah state largely blamed on the RSF.
Meanwhile, the US announced on Wednesday (13 November) new sanctions against Abdel Rahman Joma’a Barakallah, RSF’s commander, accusing him of being involved in gross human rights abuses in his country’s West Darfur region since April 2023. This comes as the paramilitary group has been accused of systematic violations against children, with the secretary general of the National Council for Child Welfare alleging that the “militia” has kidnapped over 2,500 children. Overall, due to the ongoing conflict, “we have more than 15 million children out of school,” Abdul Qadir Abdullah Abu added.