Sudan's Army Rejects US Call to Return to Peace Talks

War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's Army Rejects US Call to Return to Peace Talks

War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
War-torn Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits casualties receiving treatment at a hospital in the southeastern Gedaref state, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's army on Wednesday rejected a call to return to peace talks with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces following a conversation between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than 9 million have fled their homes in the war between the army and RSF that erupted in April 2023 over a transition to free elections, said Reuters.
"We will not go to Jeddah (venue for talks in Saudi Arabia) and whoever wants us to should kill us in our country and take our bodies there," said Malik Agar, a former rebel leader and Burhan's number two on the country's Transitional Sovereign Council.
Intense fighting continued in northern areas of the capital Khartoum on Wednesday, with residents reporting heavy aerial bombing and artillery fire.
On Tuesday, the State Department said Blinken discussed with Burhan the need to end the war and to resume talks sponsored by the US and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, which have been stalled for months after failing to achieve a sustained ceasefire.
On Wednesday, Sudan's army-aligned foreign ministry welcomed an Egyptian invitation for a summit of civilian political groups, but placed conditions on the types of groups and foreign actors invited.
In his statement, Agar suggested that a separate summit for civilian political parties taking place in Addis Ababa was a distraction from the aim of ending the war.
The RSF has said previously it is open to talks, though neither side has abided by commitments made in prior rounds.
In Tuesday's call, Blinken also discussed the need to defuse hostilities in al-Fashir, the North Darfur capital where fighting has escalated since May 10, killing at least 145 people and displacing over 3,600 families, most of them this week, according to UN and Medecins Sans Frontieres aid group reports.
The RSF has surrounded al-Fashir and raided civilian neighborhoods, while the army, fighting to maintain its presence in its last stronghold in the Darfur region, has carried out costly air strikes in the area.
Residents say projectiles from either side have fallen and destroyed homes, while few people are able to reach hospitals and water and electricity services have been cut off.

 



German, Austrian Ministers Break Off Planned Syria Trip Because of Possible Threat

27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
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German, Austrian Ministers Break Off Planned Syria Trip Because of Possible Threat

27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
27 March 2025, Jordan, Amman: Nancy Faeser (L), Germany's acting Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, and Gerhard Karner, Austrian Minister of the Interior, inform the members of their delegations a hotel in Amman that their trip to Syria has been canceled. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

The German and Austrian interior ministers broke off a planned trip to Syria on Thursday because of a possible threat to their delegation, German authorities said.
Germany's Nancy Faeser had planned to visit Damascus with Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, and a German military plane was supposed to fly Faeser's delegation into Syria from Jordan on Thursday morning.
But her ministry said that the trip was broken off before the flight could depart from Amman “because of concrete warnings by German security authorities of a terrorist threat,” German news agency dpa reported. It added that a threat to the delegation couldn't be ruled out, and that it wouldn't have been responsible to travel in view of that possible threat.
The trip hadn't been announced ahead of time. The two ministers had planned to speak with ministers in the interim government and with representatives of UN aid organizations, The Associated Press said.
Germany in particular has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus and reopened the German Embassy, 13 years after it was shut in the early days of Syria’s civil war.
Baerbock, who met interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and others, said Europe needs “eyes and ears” on the ground as it follows the Syrian political transition. It was her second visit since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December.