Sudan army suspends peace talks with RSF

Khartoum, May 31 (EFE).- The Sudanese army said Wednesday that it has suspended peace talks being held in the South Arabian city of Jeddah with the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, accusing the RSF of failing to adhere to ceasefires that were agreed to as a precondition to the negotiations.

“The General Command of the Armed Forces has decided to suspend the talks underway in Jeddah,” the Army said in a statement, referring to negotiations taking place since May 6 between representatives of the two warring parties in the conflict that broke out on April 15.

The army added that the decision was taken because of “the lack of commitment of the rebel militias to implement the terms stipulated in the pact and because of the continuous violations of the truce”, the last of which was extended on Monday for five days.

But the military did not provide details on whether the measure would have an effect on the humanitarian truce in place, which was mediated on Monday by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

A Sudanese diplomatic source in Cairo told EFE that the suspension of negotiations “is not definitive” and that it has been decided to “engage in further consultations with (army) leaders in Khartoum”.

On Wednesday, the army and the RSF again accused each other of attacking each other’s positions in Khartoum and the center of the country and of not respecting the fragile humanitarian truce agreed in Jeddah.

So far, none of the nine ceasefires reached since the outbreak of fighting on April 15 have been respected by the two warring factions.

According to the United Nations, the conflict has left at least 850 people dead and more than 5,500 wounded, while more than 1.3 million people have been displaced. EFE

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