US Eyes April 18 for Possible Resumption of Sudan Peace Talks

Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)
Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)
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US Eyes April 18 for Possible Resumption of Sudan Peace Talks

Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)
Displaced Sudanese in West Darfur (The AP/FILE)

A US envoy voiced hope on Tuesday that Sudan’s warring generals will resume talks after Ramadan and work to prevent a broader regional war, despite the failure of previous negotiations.

Tom Perriello, a former congressman recently named to a new position of US special envoy for Sudan, said after a seven-nation trip that talks co-led with Saudi Arabia could start on or around April 18, according to AFP.

“Anyone who thought that either side had a path to outright victory should at this point be very clear that that’s not the case,” he told reporters after returning to Washington.

“A war of attrition,” he said, “is one that is not just a disaster for civilians, but actually easily becomes a more factionalised and regional war.”

War broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), killing tens of thousands, forcing millions to flee and pushing the impoverished country to the brink of famine.

Previous rounds of talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah failed to yield any more than general promises or to halt the conflict in Sudan, which had earlier been transitioning, if uneasily, toward democracy.

Perriello, while upbeat about resuming formal negotiations, added that it was important not to “fetishise the start of talks” and said the United States and other nations were looking at incentives to end the war.

The Rapid Support Forces has also allegedly received support from Russia’s Wagner mercenaries, while regional countries supported the Sudanese Army.

The United States has previously voiced alarm over reports that Iran is also working with the army, which could give Tehran’s clerical state, which also backs Yemen’s Houthi rebels, new access to the Red Sea.

Darfur

In this regard, the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur revealed on Tuesday that over 561 children have died from food shortages and malnutrition in just 11 months of war. This translates to a devastating average of 17 child deaths daily.

The voluntary civil group also reported a rising death rate among children in the displacement camps, which include some 6 million people, saying they were “in urgent need of food.”

Adam Rijal, spokesperson for the displaced people’s coordination committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday that the displacement camps have officially reached the emergency levels of hunger.

“Children are starving. We face severe food shortages, malnutrition, and a collapse of the healthcare system,” he said.

Basic necessities like fortified food for pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly are also critically lacking.

The spokesperson pointed to a critical shortage of life-saving medicines, adding that primary healthcare centres are shutting down due to a lack of personnel and supplies.

Additionally, 70% of the camps’ water sources are now inoperable, creating a severe water shortage, Rijal said.

He explained that the “newly displaced persons have no shelters, while the international and local communities have already ignored those displaced since 2003, estimated at about 3 million.”

Rijal said the number of internally displaced people in camps has reached 6 million, including over one million children who suffer from acute malnutrition.

Taqaddum

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum) launched a campaign to garner international support and pressure warring parties to allow aid access under the slogan “Save Sudan.”

Their move came in response to the recommendations of a Taqaddum meeting held last week under the presidency of former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Hamdok had emphasized the urgency of international attention to the crisis in Sudan.

In a statement, Taqaddum said it has launched, in cooperation with Sudanese parties, a humanitarian campaign through its platform, as of Tuesday, with the hashtag #Save_Sudan.



Rubio Pledges to Consider Reviewing Terrorist Designations in Call with Syrian FM

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a press conference with the Indo-Pacific Quad alongside, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (R) and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (L) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on July 1, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a press conference with the Indo-Pacific Quad alongside, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (R) and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (L) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on July 1, 2025. (AFP)
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Rubio Pledges to Consider Reviewing Terrorist Designations in Call with Syrian FM

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a press conference with the Indo-Pacific Quad alongside, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (R) and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (L) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on July 1, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a press conference with the Indo-Pacific Quad alongside, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (R) and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (L) at the State Department in Washington, DC, on July 1, 2025. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to consider further action to review domestic and United Nations terrorist designations related to Syria in a call with that country's foreign minister on Thursday, the US State Department said in a statement.

Rubio discussed with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani previous US moves to remove sanctions on Syria, and pledged to maintain sanctions on “malign actors,” including Bashar al-Assad, his associates, and others who threaten Syrian and international security, said a State Department statement.

Rubio hoped that “together, these steps will mark the beginning of a new chapter for both the Syrian people and US-Syria relations.”

The officials also discussed other matters of shared concern, including countering terrorism, Iran, Israel-Syria relations, and destroying any remnants of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons program, added the statement.