NAIROBI, Kenya
Kenya government says it has shut down its embassy in Khartoum to protect staff, in what could close the door on any further evacuation for civilians and signal bad days ahead in the Sudan war.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs
Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said on Monday that Nairobi’s diplomats in
Khartoum were facing safety risks, forcing the government to close the embassy,
and upending Kenya’s initial policy of staying around to help pursue peace.
“We continue to receive
disturbing news of the targeting of diplomatic officials by armed groups in
Khartoum, Sudan,” he wrote on Twitter.
“[The] Kenya Mission in
Khartoum which had remained open to facilitate evacuation of any Kenyans still
in the country is now closed,” he added.
After war broke out on April
15, Kenya said it had helped rescue as many as 900 nationals plus those of
other countries trapped in Khartoum. But officials said they would not close
down the embassy as part of efforts to stay in contact with warring parties;
the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
At a press briefing with
his host Antony Blinken in Washington, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs and Diaspora
Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua had said Kenya’s embassy would remain open as
part of regional efforts to have parties deescalate.
“As an African continent and
the AU and intergovernmental organisation called IGAD, we are trying to find
solutions for Sudan. I know you’ve pulled your teams out. Kenya is
not pulling its diplomatic offices. We’re not shutting them down because
we want to have a presence as we negotiate,” Mutua had said on April 24.
This move may both reflect the
escalating violence in Khartoum and the failure to have parties, at least
respect a ceasefire. There have been six ceasefire deals between the SAF led by
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his nemesis Mohamed Daglo Hemedti. In all occasions,
fighting continued. By Monday, UN agencies estimated that more than 1000 people
had been killed and over 800,000 displaced, either internally or forced to
neighbouring countries for refuge.
Last week, a mediation project
pursued by Saudi Arabia and the US, and known as the Jeddah Talks, was suspended after the US labelled the
parties unserious to end the war.
On Monday, however, mediators
in Jeddah said they were still engaging parties to see how to resume.
Despite the formal pause on
June 3 of the five-day ceasefire agreement, a statement from Jeddah said,
“facilitators continue to engage them daily.”
“Those discussions are focused
on facilitating humanitarian assistance and reaching agreement on near-term steps
the parties must take before the Jeddah talks resume.
“Facilitators stand ready to
resume formal talks and remind the parties that they must implement their
obligations under the May 11 Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the
Civilians of Sudan.”
Saudi Arabia’s influence on
the warring parties in Sudan was always seen as a crucial tool to help end the
war. But the fact that fighting continued even after ceasefire has illustrated
a possible breakdown in command structures.
Back in April, Mutua blamed unnamed Middle East countries for taking sides,
and fueling the war.
“We have been quite concerned
by some of our friends in the Middle East as (inaudible) Russia and others who
for a long time have been friendly to either one or the other side. And
we are just saying that at this particular time, it is not a time to take sides
in a war,” he said on April 24.
“We care about Sudan. As
part of the African Union, we want to silence the guns in Sudan, want to find
an African solution to African problems with the support of our friends.
But we can’t effectively do that if we are talking to groups that are being strengthened
every day by the parties who believe that all they need to do is to fight to
the end.”
Last week, the African Union
launched its ‘roadmap’ to attempt peace in Sudan by involving more political
and civilian movements. It is yet to gain traction.
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