Jump to navigation

Sudan

Escalating the war in Darfur as they negotiate in Jeddah

Sparse results from the latest round of talks between the rival factions

None of the mediators and external parties – Saudi Arabia, United States, the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union – was able to exert significant pressure on Sudan's warring factions at the latest round of talks in Jeddah.

The US State Department said that the talks were narrowly focused on setting up ceasefires and humanitarian corridors but would not attempt to cover 'broader political issues'. These are the subject of a separate negotiation between civilian 'anti-war' groupings in Ethiopia.

Instead, reports are emerging of intensifying fighting in Darfur between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) under General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under the command of Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti' (AC Vol 64 No 22, Amid regional chaos, a glimmer of hope in Jeddah and Addis). Médécins Sans Frontières says that most of the 7,000 people who have fled across the border to Chad from Darfur in the last three days are women and children.

Perhaps in a bid to increase its leverage in the talks, Hemeti's RSF on 6 November announced the capture of El Geneina, the third town it claims to have taken in the Darfur region from the Sudan Armed Forces in recent weeks. But neither side has scored a decisive military win in more than six months of fighting.

But the RSF and its allied militias are seen as the most ruthless. They have been widely accused of running a genocidal campaign against the Massalit from West Darfur.

On 6 November, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir held talks on a peace initiative in Sudan with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in Cairo. The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was also on the agenda, according to the foreign affairs ministry in Juba.

In parallel to the Jeddah talks, Addis Ababa hosted a broader discussion on a political settlement in Sudan began in late October between civilian groups, civil society, trade unions and anti-war political parties.



Related Articles

Amid regional chaos, a glimmer of hope in Jeddah and Addis

As the devastating stalemate between Burhan's and Hemeti's forces continues, the pressure for a ceasefire is mounting

The resumption of peace talks in Jeddah between Sudan's warring factions on 26 October just as the Israel-Hamas war was escalating was more than a show of diplomatic...


Beijing, the rebels’ target

Threats against Chinese oil installations and peacekeepers are stepping up pressure on Beijing-Khartoum relations

Ever since the abduction of two Chinese oil workers by antigovernment rebels in Sudan three years ago, policy-makers in Beijing have wrestled with how best to manage strategic...


Darfuris face a global dereliction of duty

As the UN accuses the generals of 'verging on pure evil', the international system runs out of ideas and energy

As fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) edge near to total control of the five states of Darfur, the human cost in terms of ethnic killings and...


The countdown begins

Northern and Southern oppositionists have seized territory from the government and look capable of staying on the offensive

The battle for Sudan has begun (AC Vol 37 No 8). The opposition strategy is to follow military successes with a civilian uprising; against this is the National...


Changing times

The ruling National Congress Party warmly congratulated Libyans on ‘their victory against their long-term ruler’, recognising the Transitional National Council on 23 August. Yet, as South Sudan struggles,...