Army stays away from meeting to resolve Sudan crisis
Published: Wednesday, Aug 14th 2024, 13:20
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Talks to resolve the world's biggest humanitarian crisis in Sudan have begun in Switzerland. The aim is to achieve a ceasefire in order to get a massive amount of humanitarian aid into the country for millions of people. However, only one of the two parties to the conflict has accepted the American invitation to the talks; the army is not represented. "It's high time for the guns to fall silent," wrote the US Special Representative for Sudan and head of the talks, Tom Perriello, on the X news service.
The army (SAF) and the paramilitary militia "Rapid Support Forces" (RSF) have been engaged in a bloody power struggle for around 16 months with no regard for the civilian population. More than ten million people have been forced to flee, both within their own country and to neighboring countries. More than 25 million people, over half the population, are threatened by acute hunger.
USA builds up pressure on army
Representatives of the RSF and delegations from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and representatives of the African Union and the United Nations traveled to Switzerland for the talks. The exact location of the meeting is being kept secret for security reasons.
"Our US delegation, many international partners technical experts, Sudanese civil society continue to wait for SAF," Perriello wrote on X. "The world is watching."
According to Perriello, in the absence of the army, the initial focus will be on technical issues such as how more humanitarian aid can be brought into the country. According to the UN, access is systematically hindered, partly due to high bureaucratic hurdles. UN convoys with food are often stuck at checkpoints for days. With the onset of the rainy season, roads are becoming increasingly impassable.
©Keystone/SDA
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