The civil war in Sudan is distracting attention from the desperate plight of its southern neighbour with its own stalled peace process, Many of us who are accustomed to the prevarication of the parties in the South Sudanese peace process think they are using the outbreak of civil war in their country s northern neighbour as an excuse to do nothing. That was the harsh view of one long-time observer of the continuing failure of efforts to bring peace and unity to South Sudan.
Riyadh s and Washington s peace efforts are ignoring the politics at the centre of this devastating war, Ceasefire talks between Sudan s warring generals sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia, are set to resume in this week, Al Arabiya TV reported on Tuesday (6 June). This follows an escalation of the war in the wake of General Abdel Fattah al Burhan s withdrawal from the peace talks in Jeddah citing serial violations by his adversaries, last week.
With back-up, the latest truce could open the door for a general return to Khartoum and the restart of civilian negotiations on the transition, The agreement of a short-term ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements in Jeddah on 21 May with monitoring capacity, after six failed such accords, may be a step forward despite the high risk of another false dawn.
As the generals are deadlocked in battle, a humanitarian disaster is building with refugees fleeing for neighbouring countries, Prospects for a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan have improved since the opening of talks between representatives of the warring factions open in Jeddah on 6 May, according to United States Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. To reporters in Washington DC, she sketched out a process in which a declaration of a temporary ceasefire and agreement on humanitarian principles could provide a platform for expanded talks for longer-term truce and resumption of negotiations for the transition to civil rule.
The outbreak of all-out war in Khartoum has produced an indelible conclusion – that the armed forces are incapable of governing the country, In full view of diplomats and international organisations in Khartoum, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had been preparing for battle for several months in the run-up to the outbreak of fighting on 15 April. The most surprising point about the clashes was how quickly they escalated into full-scale conflict in the capital. In little more than a week, most diplomats, many international officials and dual nationals have fled the country, reinforcing Sudanese people s sense of abandonment and fears, once more, that the warring factions would have impunity for mass slaughter of civilians.