US to Convene Sudan Talks, Even Without Khartoum

US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello reacts during a press briefing about talks on Sudan at the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 August 2024. (EPA)
US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello reacts during a press briefing about talks on Sudan at the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 August 2024. (EPA)
TT

US to Convene Sudan Talks, Even Without Khartoum

US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello reacts during a press briefing about talks on Sudan at the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 August 2024. (EPA)
US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello reacts during a press briefing about talks on Sudan at the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 August 2024. (EPA)

The United States insisted Monday it would press ahead with convening ceasefire talks this week on the devastating conflict in Sudan, even if the Sudanese government is a no-show.

War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The US-mediated talks in Switzerland come with Sudan at a catastrophic "breaking point", according to the United Nations, with tens of thousands of preventable deaths looming due to multiple crises exacerbated by the conflict.

The United States last month invited Sudan's warring sides to ceasefire talks, co-hosted with Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.

The talks, at an undisclosed location in Switzerland, are scheduled to start on Wednesday and could last up to 10 days.

While the RSF swiftly accepted the US invitation, the Sudanese government has voiced concerns over Washington's approach, and has given no confirmation that it intends to join in.

"The RSF gave an unconditional agreement to participate," said Tom Perriello, the US special envoy for Sudan.

"We've had extensive engagement with the SAF (Sudanese armed forces), but they have not yet given us an affirmation" on coming to Switzerland.

However, "we will move forward with this event this week, and that has been made clear to the parties", Perriello told a press conference at the US mission in Geneva.

There cannot be "formal mediation between the two parties if SAF does not attend -- in which case, we continue to focus on the international and technical elements," he said.

"This is a tremendous gathering of experts and we are going to move forward. If SAF changes its mind and wants to participate, we will then be able to have... that mediated component."

 



Arab League Meeting Sets Aside Regional Issues to Focus on Gaza

The foreign ministers of the Arab League meet in Cairo on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The foreign ministers of the Arab League meet in Cairo on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Arab League Meeting Sets Aside Regional Issues to Focus on Gaza

The foreign ministers of the Arab League meet in Cairo on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The foreign ministers of the Arab League meet in Cairo on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The 162nd Ministerial Meeting of the Arab League Council set aside on Tuesday regional issues to focus solely on the war on Gaza.

The foreign ministers of the Arab League met in Cairo to offer support to Palestine.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a press conference that issues related to Somalia and the Renaissance dam have not been forgotten, but the participants opted to focus on the conflict in the Palestinian territories.

Other regional issues will be tackled on March 21, “but priority today will be given to Palestine”, he added.

The gatherers issued a resolution on the “developments in the Palestinian cause and Arab-Israeli conflict.”

The resolution places importance on the International Court of Justice’s landmark ruling on July 19 that declared as unlawful Israel's occupation of the Gaza strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The resolution called on the international community to act on the ICJ ruling.

It condemned Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, its forced displacement of Palestinians in violation of international law and its “declaration of war and violation of Arab national security.”

It warned that these actions will only undermine peace efforts and deepen the conflict in the region.

The resolution expressed its solidarity with Lebanon and its territorial integrity.

It tasked the Arab group in New York to kick off steps to suspend Israel’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly by submitting a request to that end.

Moreover, the resolution rejected Israel’s post-war on Gaza plans to seize control of the coastal enclave, calling for reopening the Rafah border crossing.

It also rejected Israel’s claims about the Philadelphi Corridor, saying it was attempting to hamper ceasefire efforts.

Speaking at the opening of the Arab League meeting, Aboul Gheit underlined the organization's support for Egypt’s stance that opposes the deployment of Israeli forces along the Corridor.

He noted that the past year has witnessed the international community’s “inability to stop the massacre in Gaza. Rather, some western powers have provided cover for the criminal activities and killings to continues.”

“The major powers of the world either don’t want to apply pressure on Israel or they are incapable of stopping this barbarism,” he remarked.

“A ceasefire is no longer an Arab demand, but a global one. It is a humanitarian and moral necessity and strategic goal to avert the spillover of the conflict into the region,” Aboul Gheit added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hailed Egypt’s role in organizing aid deliveries to Gaza. He also praised Cairo and Doha’s mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire.

He lauded Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's visit to Türkiye last week where he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We want to consolidate relations with Arab countries,” he stressed, while noting that Israel was exploiting the divisions.

“We must be more united, whether as Islamic states or members of the UN,” he added, while highlighting Ankara’s decision to suspend trade with Israel until the end of the conflict in Gaza.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad walked out of the conference hall as Fidan started his speech. He returned when it was over.

Speaking at the conference, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said: “Not only is there no pause in the war in Gaza. But what looms on the horizon is the extension of the conflict to the West Bank, where radical members of the Israeli government - Netanyahu’s government - try to make impossible to create a future Palestinian state.”

“A new front is being opened with a clear objective: to turn the West Bank into a new Gaza – in rising violence, delegitimizing the Palestinian Authority and stimulating provocations to react forcefully, and not shying away from saying to the face of the world that the only way to reach a peaceful settlement is to annex the West Bank and Gaza. Yes, without action, the West Bank will become a new Gaza. And Gaza will become a new West Bank, as settler’s movements are preparing new settlements,” he warned.

“Against this backdrop, it is clear that the prospect of a two-state solution – which we have been ritually repeating – is receding ever further whilst the international community deplores, feels, and condemns, but finds it hard to act,” he added.

On the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, Borrell said: “Some may say, ‘it is too old, it was 20 years ago and has not been implemented’.”

“In fact, many have forgotten about the Arab Peace Initiative. But I think that you could accelerate the slow - certainly too slow - changing perception of the Israel/Palestinian conflict by reaffirming the Arab Peace Initiative and by making it better known all over the world,” he continued.

On the Gaza conflict, he stated: “The situation is catastrophic both from a humanitarian and political point of view with no positive outlook in sight. Everything has been said about the situation: facts and figures are there.”

“The EU has given full support to the ongoing efforts of Egypt, Qatar and the United States. But the ceasefire agreement, prior to the implementation of the Biden plan, has still not been signed and does not seem likely to be signed in the near future,” he lamented.