Burhan, Hilu Sign Declaration of Principles

Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)
Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)
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Burhan, Hilu Sign Declaration of Principles

Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)
Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, and Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan (File Photo: Reuters)

Sudan's Sovereign Council chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrived in Juba Saturday for a meeting with South Sudan President Salva Kiir to discuss bilateral relations and the resumption of peace negotiations with Abdelaziz al-Hilu’s Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-N al-Hilu).

Burhan and Hilu discussed in a closed session the declaration of principles which will help launch their formal peace negotiations.

Burhan was accompanied by the Justice Minister, Nasreldin Abdelbari, who participated in the closed session with Hilu and his accompanying delegation.

Kiir's security advisor Tut Gatluak said that the closed session was positive, and the dialogue advanced within the framework of the common understandings on the declaration of principles.

Gatluak announced that the government and the movement will sign the declaration of principles on Sunday, witnessed by Kiir who also sponsors the Sudanese peace talks.

He said that after signing the declaration, the mediation committee will set a schedule for the negotiations.

Official sources revealed that the talks between Burhan and Hilu failed to overcome the differences over the secular issues and security arrangements, which prevented SPLM-N from engaging in previous peace talks.

In March, Burhan and Hilu met in Juba and agreed on the need to resume negotiation to reach solutions accepted by all parties.

SPLM-N rejects the Sudanese government's proposal to separate religion from the state and adheres to its demand of a secular state and the right to self-determination for the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions.

The sources indicate that the SPLM-N refuses to integrate its forces into the Sudanese army unless the issue of secularism is resolved.

Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and Hilu signed a joint agreement in September last year that included the separation of religion from the state in the constitution of Sudan.

The workshop between the government and the SPLM-N in October 2020 failed to yield positive results on controversial issues.

The SPLM accused the head of the government delegation, Shams El-Din Kabbashi of failing the workshop for rejecting the recommendations.

The Juba agreement was signed last October between the Sudanese government and representatives of armed movements within the Revolutionary Front, while the SPLM-N and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nouri (SLA-AW) in Darfur did not participate.



Dozens Die of Mysterious Illness in Besieged Sudan Town

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
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Dozens Die of Mysterious Illness in Besieged Sudan Town

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese people, displaced from Jezira state due to RSF violence, sit under a tree in New Halfa, Kassala state, Sudan, November 3, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

At least 73 people have died of mysterious causes in the Sudanese town of al-Hilaliya, besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese Doctors Union said late on Wednesday.
It is one of dozens of villages that have come under attack in eastern El Jezira state since the defection of a top RSF commander to the army, which prompted revenge attacks that have displaced more than 135,000 people.
The war between the two forces has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 11 million and plunging more into hunger while drawing in foreign powers and prompting fears of state collapse, Reuters said.
While high death tolls in other parts of Jezira came as a result of RSF shelling and gunfire, in Hilaliya people have fallen ill with diarrhea, overwhelming a local hospital according to the union and three people from the area.
A network blackout enforced by the RSF has made it difficult to determine the exact cause.
One man who spoke to Reuters said three of his family members had died of the same illness, but he only found out days later when others escaped to an area with internet access.
Those who wish to leave must pay high sums at RSF checkpoints, said another man.
According to pro-democracy activists, the siege began on Oct. 29 when the RSF raided the town, killing five and surrounding residents inside three mosques.
Hilaliya is home to the family of defected commander Abuagla Keikal, which locals say may explain the siege of a previously stable trade hub that had housed 50,000 people, including many displaced from other areas.
The town's markets and warehouses were looted, witnesses said.
Satellite imagery from a Yale Humanitarian Lab report showed rapid increase in cemeteries in several Jezira towns since the latest revenge attacks began in late October. It also showed evidence of the burning of agricultural fields in the village of Azrag.