Sudan's government said it will send a delegation to Cairo for discussions with U.S. and Egyptian officials on Monday, keeping open the question of participation in peace talks aimed at ending a 16-month war.
A statement from the ruling Transitional Sovereign Council said the decision to go to Cairo came after contacts with the US special envoy and the Egyptian government, which is an observer in the talks, and was limited to discussing implementation of the Jeddah agreement, under which the RSF would leave civilian areas.
The Sudanese government, controlled by the army which is fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of the country, has said it would not attend the peace talks in Switzerland unless a previous agreement struck in Jeddah is implemented.
These US-led talks, which the RSF is attending, aim to end the devastating war that broke out in April 2023, and address the crippling humanitarian crisis that has left half of Sudan's population of 50 million facing food insecurity.
High-level government sources told Reuters that the government had presented its vision on talks and other topics to US and Saudi mediators, and that its approach to further talks would be based on their response.
The sources denied media reports that the government had already sent a delegation to Geneva.
UAE involvement
Another sticking point for the army is the presence of the United Arab Emirates, which it accuses of supporting the RSF in Sudan, a charge the UAE denies.
U.N. experts have found such accusations credible.
The army on Thursday pre-empted a key topic of the talks when it said it would allow an RSF-controlled border crossing into Darfur to be used for aid deliveries.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had agreed to the opening during a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken the day before.
Ongoing forgotten conflict
Since April 2023, the war between Burhan's forces and those loyal to paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions, and triggered a dire humanitarian crisis and warnings of famine.
Previous negotiations in Jeddah have failed to put an end to the fighting.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes - including deliberately targeting civilians - while the fighting has dealt severe blows to Sudan's already frail healthcare system and caused many humanitarian organisations to cease operations in the country.
Both the army and the RSF have also been accused of looting humanitarian aid.
(with Reuters)
