DAccording to US information, the parties to the conflict in Sudan have agreed on guidelines for enabling humanitarian aid. Representatives of the army and the paramilitary RSF militia signed a “declaration of commitment to protect civilians in Sudan” on Thursday evening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to a US official involved in the talks. The talks on a ceasefire continued.
The declaration committed both sides to allowing humanitarian aid into the country to enable the restoration of electricity, water and other basic services. In addition, security forces are to be withdrawn from hospitals and “respectful burials” of the dead are to be initiated.
Conflict parties “rather far apart”
Negotiations for a temporary ceasefire are still ongoing, the US official said, who wished to remain anonymous. “This is not a truce. This is a commitment under international humanitarian law, particularly in relation to the ‘treatment of civilians’ and the need to enable humanitarian workers to do their work.
“We are hopeful, cautious, that their willingness to sign this document will create some momentum for them to make the space” for aid shipments, she said. In the negotiations, however, the two parties to the conflict were “quite far apart”.
More than 750 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the fighting in Sudan since mid-April between the troops of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Representatives of the two generals have been negotiating in Jeddah since Saturday in “preliminary talks” with the participation of the USA and the United Nations. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has put forward proposals in which both sides guarantee safe framework conditions for humanitarian aid.
