Khartoum — General Command of the Armed Forces issued Thursday a press statement stressing its belief in openness to all the initiatives aiming to find solutions that would lead to an end of the current crisis in the country.
Hereunder SUNA publishes the text of the statement:
In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful
General Command of the Armed Forces Thursday, 27th July 2023
Press statement
Our honorable people,
Out of interest by your armed forces to lift the suffering of all our people and in the belief in openness to all the initiatives aiming to find solutions that would lead to an end of the current crisis in the country, your armed forces on 5th May 2023 sent a delegation to the city of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in response to a joint initiative proposed by the United States of America and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The delegation engaged in indirect talks with facilitation by the facilitators which resulted in the Jeddah Declaration for protection of civilians in Sudan, signed on 11th May 2023, which stated that the rebels should vacate civilian homes, public service facilities and hospitals along with other stipulations which their lack of implementation presented an obstacle in front of subsequent understandings.
Our delegation while in Jeddah also worked on responding to the growing humanitarian needs of our people, which drove us to accept a truce agreement for a period of seven days on 20th May 2023, which was extended for another five days.
The talks were adjourned by the facilitators on 1st June due to the lack of any mentionable progress as a result of the rebels not abiding by the terms of the agreement. During that time our delegation, which remained in Jeddah through this period, continued to work on easing the flow of humanitarian aid in coordination with the facilitators and humanitarian actors. Following Eid Al-Adha, our delegation engaged in indirect talks with the Saudi side. A preliminary understanding on a declaration of principles on negotiations and monitoring and verification mechanisms through a joint center for ceasefire was reached to be led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our delegation also looked into a document on ending hostilities where many points were agreed upon, but the differences on major issues including the rebels evacuating civilian homes in the capital and public facilities, hospitals and roads, leading to lack of agreement on an end to hostilities. As a result, our delegation returned to Sudan on Wednesday, 26th July 2023 for consultations, with the readiness to continue talks once they resume after obstacles are overcome.
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In this regard, we highly appreciate the huge effort made by our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to make all the rounds of the talks successful and reiterate our desire to reach an effective and fair agreement that would end hostilities and set the ground for talks on post-war issues.
Heaven and eternity to all our glorious martyrs and speedy recovery to those wounded.
Office of the spokesperson of the armed forces
