Sudanese parties agree to push for end to conflict
Wednesday October 25 2023
Smoke billows behind buildings in Khartoum, Sudan on June 4, 2023. PHOTO | AFP
Sudan's transitional government led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and opposition parties which are signatories to the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement on Tuesday agreed to push for peaceful settlement of the ongoing conflict between rival military forces.
Malik Agar, the deputy chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, called on the various parties to find a solution to the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
"The war in Sudan is affecting the region and Horn of Africa, and ending this war depends on how we can address our internal issues by discussing ways to resolve them," Agar said during the two-day consultative meeting held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
Read: Region worries as Sudan rivals harden positions
He accused certain countries of fueling the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (Saf) led by Al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in order to occupy some of Sudan's territories.
"The war in Sudan is being supported by other countries that have an agenda and the agenda is about the occupation of our territories. Those countries have interest, and they do not want Sudan to be stable," Agar said.
The meeting attended by 14 political parties aims to review the Juba Peace Agreement signed in October 2020 and also seek ways to resolve the current crisis.
Tut Gatluak Manime, chairperson of South Sudan's presidential adviser on security who is in the mediation committee, said Juba initiated the consultative meeting to unify all Sudanese parties with the aim of resolving the conflict that broke out on April 15 in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
"Now we want peace and stability in Sudan, the government initiated this peace, and we do not want to see any group split; we want all of you to support the restoration of stability in Sudan," Gatluak said.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the Saf and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, which has resulted in at least 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to data released by the Sudanese Ministry of Health.
Read: Explainer: What caused Sudan military clashes
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), nearly 5.8 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan due to the prolonged conflict.