UN official announces direct talks in Sudan, but details yet to be hammered out in continued volatile conflict

Sudanese Armed Forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo "Hemedti" have agreed to send representatives to start negotiations between the two sides, which have been locked in a deadly conflict since mid-April, Volker Perthes, Sudan's top UN official, told the Associated Press today.

The talks remain tentative at best, given that several announced ceasefires have not been adhered to by either side so far.

But, if the talks end up coming together, they would initially focus on establishing a “stable and reliable” cease-fire monitored by national and international observers, according to AP.

For his part, Perthes said negotiations are likely to be held in Saudi Arabia or South Sudan, adding that the former may be easier logistically because of its close ties with both sides.

When asked about the validity of the UN official's announcement, a source in the Sudanese military told Mada Masr that a "Sudanese representative" will travel to Jeddah soon.

Additionally, an RSF source who spoke to Mada Masr said that both sides agreed to negotiate a ceasefire, adding that the talks will likely take place in Jeddah, but did not specify the starting date.

A diplomatic source from the South Sudanese Foreign Affairs Ministry briefed on the negotiation process told Mada Masr that the Sudanese parties agreed to send envoys to discuss political solutions. However, there remain technical problems related to the ceasefire and the presence of representatives that have not yet been resolved, according to the source.

Shortly after the UN diplomat’s comments appeared in print, Hemedti took to national television to attack the military and Burhan, highlighting the animosity between the former partners in the coup that ousted the civilian wing of Sudan’s post-revolution transitional government. 

 “We will send them to justice or to the grave. There are only two options: justice or the grave,” Hemedti said. 

The RSF and the armed forces have been openly fighting on the streets of Khartoum and around the country since April 15. The fighting has taken a heavy toll on Khartoum, where RSF encampments and military infrastructure are stationed near and in residential areas, and, most prominently, in Darfur. As of April 29, the Sudanese Health Ministry stated that at least 528 people have been killed and nearly 5,000 injured across the country since the beginning of the clashes.

While both Perthes and Sudanese security sources pointed to the likelihood of Jeddah as a site for the potential talks, several Egyptian and Western diplomatic sources outlined to Mada Masr competing approaches to the negotiations around Sudan's future.

An Egyptian diplomat, on the one hand, said that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have held discussions with the United States over the possibility of reaching a final agreement that would exclude Burhan and Hemedti, allowing other figures in the Sudanese military and the RSF to take power.

On the other hand, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is also trying to steer negotiations, according to the diplomat, but through a long-term ceasefire and a deal that allows for military negotiations in the future and relaunching of a civilian government.

A European diplomat in Cairo who spoke to Mada Masr also pointed out the differences in diplomatic approaches to the crisis, stressing the absence of any consensus on approach between regional and international main players in the final settlement that Sudan urgently needs.

Saudi Arabia is the most obvious regional player able to mediate between both sides in the conflict, the European diplomat estimates, because it has put itself in a completely neutral position, unlike the UAE and Egypt.

Egypt has opened three channels of communication to try to steer the diplomatic process, another Egyptian official explained to Mada Masr, the first of which is with Sudan’s neighboring countries: South Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea.

The second channel of communications set up is with countries that have a direct on-ground presence in or around Sudan, such as France, which has many military bases in the region, and the United States. 

Egypt is also in talks with countries that have political influence in Sudan, such as the United Kingdom and Germany.

“If we don’t get a stable cease-fire, the humanitarian situation will worsen,” Perthes said, stressing the urgency of the situation.

The tension between Hemedti and Burhan had been building since the two ousted the civilian component of the transitional government in October 2021. The fractured post-coup government fueled competition between domestic and foreign actors looking to secure old and new footholds in a Sudan up for grabs.