A senior Saudi source revealed that representatives of the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces will hold a new round of talks in Jeddah, tomorrow (Sunday), based on the mechanism for implementing the Jeddah Declaration, according to what was reported by Reuters today (Saturday). The source stated that the negotiations will focus on a plan for the delivery of humanitarian aid, guarantees of opening safe passages, and the removal of forces from civilian areas. He pointed out that the Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, was invited to the Arab summit scheduled for May 19 in Jeddah.
Yesterday (Friday), the UN Special Envoy for Sudan, Volker Peretz, expected the talks to resume in the coming hours. And he considered that the agreement on the terms of the cease-fire is not supposed to take a long time, referring to the short truce that is supposed to extend for 10 days, in order to allow the implementation of what was stipulated in the initial principles agreement that was signed at dawn on Friday in Jeddah between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. .
Representatives of the army and the Rapid Support Forces signed an agreement of initial principles that included 7 items, most of which stipulated the protection of civilians, securing the passage of humanitarian and medical aid, arranging the withdrawal of military forces from hospitals and clinics, and burying the dead in a proper manner. The two sides pledged to pursue talks with a view to reaching a short ceasefire for a period of 10 days, in order to secure these requirements.
And Saudi Arabia and America announced that other rounds would be held later, in order to establish a long truce, followed by subsequent negotiations that might bring together the civil forces alongside the military forces, in order to reach a solution that would return the country to the democratic path.
The clashes that began on April 15 resulted in more than 600 deaths, while more than 5,000 were injured. While the Sudanese Ministry of Health reported that at least 450 died in the western Darfur region alone. The conflict caused the displacement of 700,000 people inside the country, and 150,000 sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to United Nations statistics.
