PORT SUDAN, Sudan — Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with Sudan’s military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan on Tuesday in a renewed effort to advance a ceasefire plan, as Sudan grapples with a deepening humanitarian emergency following the paramilitary capture of a key Darfur city.
During the meeting, Abdelatty reiterated Cairo’s condemnation of atrocities in el-Fasher and emphasized the need to commit to the peace plan announced in September by a quartet of mediators including the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Ceasefire Proposal
The plan envisions:
- A three-month humanitarian truce
- Followed by a nine-month political process aimed at resolving the conflict
The war, which erupted in 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced 12 million.
Diverging Responses
The RSF announced last week that it had agreed to the humanitarian truce. However, the Sudanese army said it would only accept the proposal if the RSF withdrew from civilian areas and surrendered its weapons. The conflicting positions underscore the challenges facing mediators seeking to bridge the divide between the former allies, who initially collaborated on Sudan’s democratic transition before turning against each other.
El-Fasher Crisis
The diplomatic push comes amid escalating violence in North Darfur, where the RSF’s capture of el-Fasher triggered a mass exodus. According to the UN migration agency, nearly 90,000 people fled through unsafe routes without access to food, water, or medical assistance.
Aid groups and UN officials report hundreds of deaths and widespread atrocities committed by the RSF, describing the situation as one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies in the ongoing conflict.