Sudan: Conflicting Statements over the Jeddah Negotiations

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al-Saud stands along with other officials as representatives of the Sudanese army and rival Rapid Support Forces sign an agreement for a seven-day ceasefire in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 20, 2023. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al-Saud stands along with other officials as representatives of the Sudanese army and rival Rapid Support Forces sign an agreement for a seven-day ceasefire in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 20, 2023. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
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Sudan: Conflicting Statements over the Jeddah Negotiations

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al-Saud stands along with other officials as representatives of the Sudanese army and rival Rapid Support Forces sign an agreement for a seven-day ceasefire in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 20, 2023. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al-Saud stands along with other officials as representatives of the Sudanese army and rival Rapid Support Forces sign an agreement for a seven-day ceasefire in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 20, 2023. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

The Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) issued conflicting statements over the talks in Jeddah, while the Saudi and American mediators are running the process very discreetly.

The army denied reaching any new truce, describing the statements about progress made in this regard as inaccurate.

Reports by sources, who are informed of the course of negotiations, had confirmed that the two sides reached understandings that could lead to the cessation of hostilities and a lasting truce in Sudan.

Sudanese Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah said that reports about an “alleged truce” were incorrect, pointing that the Army negotiating team was still in Sudan and that the talks were still halted.

His comments came in response to statements by the Freedom and Change coalition, about an imminent ceasefire between the two sides, which would last for 60 days.

Last week, the Sudanese Army announced that its delegation has returned from Jeddah on July 26, and that it was ready to resume the talks when obstacles are removed, pointing to ongoing disputes over essential points, including the evacuation of citizens’ homes, services facilities, hospitals and roads.

For its part, the RSF stressed that its delegation would stay in Jeddah, attributing the faltering of the agreement to the army delegation’s condition to open a safe passage for the exit of its commanders besieged in military headquarters in Khartoum.

The city of Jeddah has been hosting for three months direct and indirect talks between Sudan’s warring parties, with Saudi-American mediation.

The negotiations led to the signing of a number of agreements, including a humanitarian declaration, which the parties failed to implement.

The conflict has seen more than 3 million people uprooted, including more than 700,000 who have fled to neighboring countries.



Türkiye Says it Kills 15 Kurdish Militants in Syria, Iraq

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
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Türkiye Says it Kills 15 Kurdish Militants in Syria, Iraq

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)

Türkiye said on Tuesday it had killed 13 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and two in Iraq, a sign that Ankara has pressed on with its campaign against fighters, some with possible links to US allies, since Donald Trump took office in the White House last week.

The Turkish defense ministry said the Kurdish fighters it had "neutralized" in Syria belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

Türkiye considers the PKK and YPG to be identical; the United States considers them separate groups, having banned the PKK as terrorists but recruited the YPG as its main allies in Syria in the campaign against ISIS.

Türkiye has long called on Washington to withdraw support for the YPG, and has expressed hope that Trump would revise the policy inherited from the previous administration of President Joe Biden.

Tuesday's report of major clashes was the second within days: Türkiye also reported having killed 13 Kurdish militants on Sunday. Turkish forces and their allies in Syria have repeatedly fought with Kurdish militants there since the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad last month.

Türkiye has said that the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed umbrella group that includes the Kurdish YPG, must disarm or face a military intervention.

Under the Biden administration the United States has had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.