DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti
Kenyan President William Ruto will lead three other leaders in the Horn of Africa in an attempt to have direct talks with warring Sudanese generals, signalling the most concerted effort yet to resolve the conflict in Sudan.
The decision was reached on
Monday after the Ordinary Summit of the regional bloc, Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (Igad ), which created a quartet of countries to
seek Sudanese peace.
The quartet is an expansion of
three countries; South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti which had been attempting to
have direct sittings with Sudanese warring parties to no avail.
But as Djibouti will now chair
the Igad Summit, the new four countries will be led by Kenya and include
South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia.
“We have taken the decision
that the quartet of Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia, will, in the next
ten days, meet face to face with General Al-Burhan and General Daglo…so that we
can speak to them directly on behalf of Igad , with the view of stopping
the war that is raging,” said Kenyan President William Ruto at a press briefing
in Djibouti, where the Summit gathered on Monday.
“Kenya commits to meet the two
Sudan generals face to face to find a lasting solution to the crisis,” he
further said.
Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan
and his nemesis Mohamed Daglo Hemedti lead rival forces; the Sudan Armed Forces
and the Rapid Support Forces. Since April 15, their clash has led to more than
1200 deaths, 800,000 displacements and serious property destruction. The sides
have signed seven ceasefire deals, all broken within hours of declaration.
The latest ceasefire on Monday was also broken, according
to mediators in the Jeddah Talks, facilitated by Saudi Arabia and the US, even
though there was less reported fighting this time.
“The Sudanese Armed Forces
(Saf) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) demonstrated effective command and control
over their forces, resulting in reduced fighting throughout Sudan
that enabled delivery of vital humanitarian assistance and the
achievement of some confidence building measures,’ said a statement from Jeddah
talks.
“However, there were
violations, and, following the expiration of the short-term
ceasefire, facilitators have been deeply disappointed by the
immediate resumption of intense violence, which we strongly condemn.”
Igad’s move could fill a void
left a week ago after Jeddah Talks were suspended with mediators accusing
parties of lacking seriousness.
President Ruto said part of
the direct talks with the Sudanese generals will be on reopening a reliable
humanitarian corridor.
"But Igad will want
a permanent cessation of hostilities to allow the country hold discussions on
how to reform their governance," Ruto said.
“We have also agreed
that in the next three weeks, we also begin the process of an inclusive
national dialogue to get the people of Sudan to discuss, in their diversity,
the issues in their country. The generals will also have opportunity to send
representatives.”
The Igad group, however,
may be met with the old problem in Sudan: persistent violation of peace deals signed on by
representatives of both sides.
In fact, since the war broke
out, only Al-Burhan has come forth in public while Hemedti has kept his profile
low as bullets wheeze in the skies. Will he accept to attend meetings
physically? At the Jeddah Talks, both sides sent a representative but most of
the issues they agreed on were violated back home.
At the Igad meeting on
Monday, Burhan’s special envoy Malik Agar was present. In addition, Sudan
will now be vice-chair of the Summit.
When the war broke out, the
two forces had disagreed on what kind of reforms to take for the command
structure of the security forces. The Rapid Support Forces, an offshoot of the
feared Janjaweed militia, demanded autonomy.
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