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CNN —Time is running out to prevent starvation in Darfur, in western Sudan, a UN agency has warned, as escalating violence devastates the African nation. People have been forced to consume “grass and peanut shells,” the regional director for Eastern Africa of the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. More than 8.7 million people have been displaced by the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF, according to the UN. At least 500,000 of those sheltering in the city have been displaced from violence elsewhere in Sudan, according to the UN’s children’s agency (UNICEF). More than 8.7 million people, including 4.6 million children, have been displaced by the war in Sudan and 24.8 million need assistance, according to OCHA.

Persons: ” Michael Dunford, Cross, Dan Kitwood, Toby Hayward, Hayward, Fasher, Catherine Russell, ” Russell, El Fasher Organizations: CNN, UN, Food Programme, Rapid Support Forces, ICRC, UNICEF, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, WFP Locations: Darfur, Sudan, Eastern Africa, South Darfur, Chad, Adré, North, El, El Fasher, Chad’s Tine, –, ”, Port Sudan

☆ Sudanese RSF Brings Down Telecoms Networks Across Sudan - Sources
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The RSF did not comment, while an RSF source said the paramilitary had nothing to do with the outages. The two telecoms sector sources said the RSF was able to shut down the networks without causing permanent damage. The RSF has also forced Sudan's third main provider, Kuwaiti-owned Zain Sudan, to stop service in River Nile state and Port Sudan city, both controlled by the army, the sources and SUNA said. "MTN Sudan is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders to minimise the duration of this interruption," it said. The war has made Sudan the world's biggest internal displacement crisis and both sides have been accused of war crimes.

Persons: Nafisa Eltahir, SUNA, Sudani, Sudan's, Zain, Aidan Lewis, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Communications, Rapid Support Forces, MTN Sudan, MTN, Facebook, MTN Group, Reuters, Medical Locations: Nafisa Eltahir CAIRO, Darfur, Khartoum, Kuwaiti, Zain Sudan, Nile, Port Sudan, Sudan, Zamzam

☆ Agencies Consider New Aid Route Into Sudan as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Aidan Lewis(Reuters) - Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Monday, nine months into a war that has caused a major humanitarian crisis. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising. Aid agencies lost access to Wad Madani, a former aid hub in the important El Gezira agricultural region southeast of Khartoum, after the RSF seized it from the army last month. Diplomats and aid workers say that the army and officials aligned with it have hampered humanitarian access as both sides pursue their military campaigns. They say the RSF does little to protect aid supplies and workers, and that its troops have been implicated in cases of looting.

Persons: Aidan Lewis, Rick Brennan, Madani, Brennan, We've, Martin Griffiths, Christina Fincher Organizations: Reuters, Rapid Support Forces, World Health Organization, WHO, ., Diplomats Locations: Sudan, South Sudan, Port Sudan, Cairo, Khartoum, El Gezira, South Kordofan, Chad, Darfur, Kordofan

☆ A slew of new conflicts could erupt in 2024, analysts say — while the world is watching Gaza and Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

- | Afp | Getty ImagesWith the eyes of the world on the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, an unprecedented number of potentially "catastrophic" conflicts are going under the radar, analysts have warned. The U.N. estimated in October that more than 114 million people were displaced by war and conflict worldwide. There is good reason for that — it is currently the most dangerous place in the world to be a civilian." The political turbulence comes amid ongoing armed conflict in eastern DRC and widespread poverty, and precedes further regional elections early next year. If you look at Myanmar, of course you've got this huge population in Bangladesh of displaced Rohingyas, and also displaced within Myanmar itself," she said.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, David Miliband, Miliband, Isabelle Arradon, Rapid Support Forces —, Gen, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, Khalifa Haftar —, Arradon, Félix Tshisekedi, U.N, Antonio Guterres, you've, We've, It's Organizations: Afp, Getty, Rescue, Crisis, CNBC, Rapid Support Forces, UAE, IOM, UN's, Organization for Migration, Sudanese Armed Forces, Democratic, Government Locations: Red Sea, Port Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libyan, Khartoum, Darfur, METEMA, Ethiopia, Metema, AFP, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of, Congo, DRC, Goma, North Kivu, Kigali, Kinshasa, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Shan, Sagaing, Kayah, Rakhine State, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal

☆ Sudan refugees detail second wave of ethnic purge by Arab forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

After seizing swathes of Khartoum, it has forced retreats by the Sudanese army in parts of the Darfur and Kordofan regions. When they were ambushed by Arab militiamen and came under fire along the route, the vehicle’s occupants scattered. In return, the Arab forces would guarantee the safety of the camp’s occupants and allow safe passage out of El Geneina for those who wanted to leave. He said he watched the Arab forces from his hiding place behind a wall at his home. Multiple eyewitnesses said that RSF and Arab militia forces rounded up hundreds of Masalit men, some of whom were executed.

Persons: Ardamata, Josep Borrell, ”, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Dagalo, Abdullah Omar Abdullah, Al Fadhl Abdullah, Khamis Hassan, ” Ibrahim Youssef, “, Youssef, Gamareldin Mohammed, Mohammed Ahmed Goma, ” Goma, Goma, Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, Abdul Rahman Juma, ” Dagalo, RSF, El Geneina, Hussein Fayez, Hassan, Hussein, Yassin Ahmed, Abdu Mohammed Ibrahim, Ibrahim, Reuters couldn’t, Adam Mohammed, Mohammed, Ibrahim Youssef, didn’t, Ben Lesser, Grant Smith, Maggie Michael, Ryan McNeill, Mohammad Kawoosa, Han Huang, Edgar Su, Catherine Tai, Peter Hirschberg Organizations: UNICEF, United Nations, European Union, UNHCR, Diplomats, South, Sudanese, Sudanese Alliance, Army, Reuters, Planet Labs Locations: El, Chad, El Geneina, Darfur, Adre, Chad’s, Sudan, Ardamata, “, West Darfur, Khartoum, Sudanese, Kordofan, Nyala, Port Sudan, South Sudan, U.S, Al Mashtal, El Geneina’s, New York

☆ Opinion: ‘Nothing prepares you to cover a war at home’: The vital mission to report on Sudan’s conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Nima Elbagir | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Port Sudan CNN —I have reported on conflicts around the world for over two decades, but nothing prepares you to cover a war at home. To so many Sudanese, though, they are instantly recognisable as the words of the people’s poet: Mahjoub Sharif. I was warned to never, ever play with any of the tapes in the cassette deck, especially the tapes of Sharif’s songs. Yet, the moment the war broke out earlier this year, home was the only place I wanted to be. Forty years after I watched my parents sing and cry and laugh to the Sudanese songs smuggled out to them, I find myself searching through Spotify for Sudanese playlists.

Persons: Port Sudan CNN —, –, “, Mahjoub Sharif, ”, We’d, Zohra Bensemra, Reuters Sharif’s, they’d, Omar al, Bashir, it’s, Nima Elbagir, Jake Tapper_00030428, Alex Platt, I’ve, Sharif, Mohammed Mekki Ibrahim, Mohammed Wardi, Abdelgadir Salim – Organizations: Port Sudan CNN, Red Cross, Reuters, Rapid Support Forces, Wagner, UN, CNN Locations: London, Geneina, Sudan's Darfur, Ourang, Adre, Chad, Russia, Khartoum, Cairo, Jeddah, Sudan, Sudan’s, Darfur

A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. But analysts and diplomats say it is unclear how the RSF could govern a breakaway territory. "(Governing) means you take on responsibilities for food, health, and security," said Suliman Baldo of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker. From late October the RSF took over army headquarters in Nyala, Zalingei and El Geneina, three of five Darfur state capitals. They say the RSF is seeking legitimacy in the talks, after public anger over looting, rape and detentions blamed on its troops.

Persons: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Yasir Arman, Abdelrahim Dagalo, Omar al, Bashir, El Geneina, Kholood Khair, Bashir loyalists, Jonas Horner, Nafisa Eltahir, Khalid Abdelaziz, Aidan Lewis, Gareth Jones Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, Darfur, South, Reuters, Armoured Corps, Confluence Advisory, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, Jeddah, CAIRO, Khartoum, South Sudan, Darfur, North Darfur, Port Sudan, Kordofan, Nyala, El Geneina, Jebel Awlia, Confluence, Saudi, West Darfur, Cairo, Dubai

☆ Forced to flee war, Sudanese band spreads musical message
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( El Tayeb Siddig | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] General Kidi, a member of the Nuba Mountain Sound band, trains children to dance, in Port Sudan, in Sudan, September 26, 2023. One day they hope to tour the whole country to spread their message, said General Kidi, 29. "We want to deliver the voice of the people of the Nuba Mountains to the rest of the people in Sudan, through music," he said. "We show the world that this is Sudan, Sudan is not just war, Sudan has diverse traditions and music. Reporting by El Tayeb Siddig; Writing by Mai Shams El-Din; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kidi, El Tayeb, General Kidi, Ganja Farmer, Omar al, Bashir, Mai Shams El, Aidan Lewis, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Rapid Support Forces, Ganja Farmer, Thomson Locations: Port Sudan, Sudan, El, PORT SUDAN, Red Sea, Ganja, South Kordofan, Khartoum

☆ ‘It brought back memories of Syria.’ For refugees in Sudan, war is a reminder of the terror they left behind
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Nadeen Ebrahim Celine Alkhaldi | Sana Noor Haq | Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

It brought back memories of Syria,” Abad reflected. After settling in Khartoum, Shadi fled to Port Sudan in April when the conflict started – almost exactly six years after he first stepped foot in Sudan in search of stability. We have not received any confirmed report of casualties among Syrian refugees due to the conflict,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The agency has received reports of many Syrian refugees who self-relocated to safe areas, including over 2,000 in Port Sudan, the spokesperson added. But when I sit still, I start getting thoughts about (the war) in Khartoum and Syria,” Shadi, who works as a barista in Port Sudan, said.

Persons: CNN — Abad, ”, Abad, Bashar al, Assad, ” Abad, ‘, George Ourfalian, “, Uzair, ’, Stringer, they’re, Shadi, SANA, it’s, ” Shadi Organizations: CNN, UNHCR, Sudanese, Eritrean, Rapid Support Forces, Getty, “, ”, United, United Arab Emirates, Crescent, International Committee, UN, Port Sudan, Saudi Locations: Aleppo, Syria, Sudan, Sukkari, AFP, UNHCR, Khartoum, Port Sudan, Damascus, United Arab, UAE, Russia, Homs, Port, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt

☆ Sudanese paramilitary force backs ceasefire and talks on country's future
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Deputy head of Sudan's sovereign council General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo speaks during a press conference at Rapid Support Forces head quarter in Khartoum, Sudan February 19, 2023. The United Nations has warned of a "humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions", with rising hunger, collapsing healthcare, and wrecked infrastructure. Under his "Sudan Reborn" plan, Dagalo committed the RSF to previously floated principles such as federal, multicultural rule, democratic elections, and a single army. Pro-democracy politicians warned Burhan against announcing a new government, saying it would prompt the RSF to form a parallel authority. Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo and Khalid Abdelaziz in Dubai; Editing by Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Omar al, Bashir, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Dagalo, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Nafisa Eltahir, Khalid Abdelaziz, Giles Elgood Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, Rights, Sudan's, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Khartoum, Sudan, Rights CAIRO, West Darfur, Saudi, U.S, Port Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United States, Cairo, Dubai

☆ Far from fighting, doctor strikes aggravate healthcare collapse in Port Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"It is exhausting, there are many patients and there's a lot of suffering," said Omar al-Saeed, a striking nurse at Port Sudan teaching hospital. According to the UN, more than 100,000 have fled to Port Sudan, filling up the already dense city's hospitals and shelters, while fighting is focussed in Khartoum and the west of the country. Sudanese hospitals have long been under-funded, and strikes by medical staff have been frequent. The war, during which many hospitals in areas of fighting have been damaged, has brought the system to its knees. Doctors in Port Sudan have had to grapple with power cuts, intense humidity and medicine shortages, while patients are kept in close confines though many have respiratory illnesses, hospital officials say.

Persons: Omar al, Saeed, Bashir, Martin Griffiths, Ayat Mohamed, Dar Abnaa, Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak, Nafisa Eltahir, Conor Humphries Organizations: Sudanese, Rapid Support Forces, Port Sudan, UN, United, Dar, Thomson Locations: Port Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, PORT SUDAN, Red, United Nations

☆ Sudan's military ruler Burhan begins tour as UN warns of war spreading
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Sudan's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stands among troops,in an unknown location, in this picture released on May 30, 2023. Burhan, who is also armed forces chief, plans to chair a cabinet meeting. The army circulated videos on Friday of Burhan visiting the Atbara artillery base, north of Khartoum in River Nile state. The $2.6 billion Sudan appeal is just 26% funded, a U.N. spokesperson told a Geneva briefing, calling on donors to speed up promised aid. These acts of brutality contribute to an emerging pattern of targeted ethnic violence," the department said in a statement.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Martin Griffiths, Griffiths, Susanna Borges, Khalid Abdelaziz, Emma Farge, Nafisa, Moaz Abd, Kirsti Knolle, Angus MacSwan, Mike Harrison, William Mallard Organizations: Sudanese Armed Forces, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Rapid Support Forces, Sans Frontieres, Washington, State Department, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Khartoum, Sudan, Port Sudan, Omdurman, Nile, Kordofan, Darfur, Geneva, Chad, West Darfur, Dubai, Cairo

☆ Sudan conflict: The US embassy destroyed passports when it fled the violence. Some Sudanese are now 'stranded in this war zone'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Sana Noor Haq | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Courtesy Ibrahim Khalid Ibrahim MohamedMany Sudanese have fled the fighting to neighboring countries like Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The embassy advised Sudanese visa applicants without passports to apply for a new passport with the Sudanese embassy in Cairo, despite Egyptian authorities issuing a raft of entry requirements for refugees from the country. Mohamed was among several Sudanese visa applicants who told CNN they witnessed violence while attempting to flee the country. “They had to leave because it’s a life or death matter if they stayed (in Khartoum).”Alhaj Sharafeldin, a 25-year-old university graduate, told CNN he is "stranded in this war zone." “I’m here stranded in this war zone,” he told CNN.

Persons: CNN — Ibrahim Mohamed, “, ”, Haitham Ibrahim, Ibrahim Mohamed, Ibrahim Khalid Ibrahim Mohamed, Mohamed, Fayez Nureldine, Arwa Idris, Idris, Alhaj, “ It’s, ” Sabah Ahmed, Zeyazen, Kareem, Renad, Sabah Ahmed, Madani, Ahmed, Ahmed’s, Abdelazim Alhajaa, ” Alhajaa, ” Ahmed Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Saudi, Hadath, Television, International Organization for Migration, American, Ministry, US State Department, Getty, UN, Sudanese Locations: Khartoum, Nuzha, Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, United States, Kabul, Cairo, Sudan, Saudi, Port Sudan, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, AFP, New York, “, Wadi Halfa, Iowa, Bahri, Omdurman, Columbus , Ohio

"The internal dynamic of this war is a bit beyond what an external actor can really influence". After the latest 24-hour truce expired on Sunday, residents in Khartoum and capital area reported fresh artillery fire and clashes. The United States and Saudi Arabia, which lies across the Red Sea from Sudan, have sponsored talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. EXODUSThe failure of talks has put the nation, which was already reliant on aid, in a perilous humanitarian state. It could take generations to try to put back together," said Alan Boswell, Horn of Africa Director for Crisis Group.

Persons: Magdi El, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Mokhtar, Hemedti, Mokhtar, Omar al, Bashir, Mahasin Ibrahim, Alan Boswell, Horn, Aidan Lewis, Khalid Abdelaziz, Daphne Psaledakis, Nafisa, Edmund Blair, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Rapid Response Forces, United Arab Emirates, Valley Institute, U.S . State Department, Reuters, Crisis, Thomson Locations: Jeddah, Khartoum, CAIRO, truces, United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi, UAE, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, African Union, KHARTOUM, Omdurman, Bahri, Darfur, North Kordofan, Port Sudan, El Geneina, Chad, Sudanese, Africa, East, Europe, Dubai, Washington

☆ Sudan's western cities under fire as war spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CAIRO, June 14 (Reuters) - Fighting rocked several vulnerable cities in western Sudan on Wednesday in an expansion of the country's almost two-month-old war as the number of people who have fled their homes rose above two million. The conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has caused a humanitarian crisis in Khartoum, as well as major cities in the Kordofan and Darfur regions. In a statement, the RSF called the fighting in El Geneina a tribal conflict, blaming the country's former regime for fanning the flames. The city of El Fashir, capital of North Darfur, has been quieter but has seen a wave of displacement from RSF-controlled Kutum. Meanwhile in El Obeid, a hub between Khartoum and Darfur in North Kordofan, residents said the army had begun launching air and artillery strikes against RSF positions.

Persons: Khamis Abbakar, General Antonio Guterres, Volker Perthes, Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Salah Alamin, Abdelaziz al, Nafisa Eltahir, Khalid Abdelaziz, Adam Makary, Maggie Michael, William Maclean Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, UN, U.S . State Department, REUTERS, Darfur Bar Association, Sudanese Doctors Union, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Sudan, Khartoum, Kordofan, Darfur, El, West Darfur, El Geneina, United States, Saudi Arabia, Khartoum North, DARFUR, Nyala, South Darfur, Zalingei, Central Darfur, El Fashir, North Darfur, El Obeid, North Kordofan, Kadugli, South Kordofan, Omdurman, Port Sudan, Mecca, Cairo, Dubai

☆ US imposes sanctions on companies tied to Sudan forces as fighting rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. Sudan's army and the RSF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. said late on Thursday they were suspending the talks, a day after Sudan's army announced it was halting its participation. They target Sudan's largest defence enterprise, Defence Industries System, which the Treasury said generates an estimated $2 billion in revenue and manufactures arms and other equipment for Sudan's army. The companies, all key to the business and procurement activities of both forces, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Persons: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Nadir Ahmed, Joe Biden, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Antony Blinken, Omar al, Bashir, El, Cindy McCain, Cameron Hudson, Hudson, Khalid Abdelaziz, Tala, Nafisa Eltahir, Simon Lewis, Rami Ayyub, Daphne Psaledakis, Gladwys, Aidan Lewis, Christina Fincher, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, Darfur Saudi, U.S . Treasury Department, Residents, U.S, Defence Industries System, Treasury, Technology, United Nations, Food, Army, Centre, Strategic, International Studies, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, Khartoum, Darfur, Jeddah, KHARTOUM, WASHINGTON, United States, U.S, Nile, Omdurman, Bahri, Thawra, Saudi Arabia, Washington, El, Zalingei, Port Sudan, El Obeid, Russia, Dubai, Nafisa, Cairo, Oslo

☆ US questions Sudan parties' commitment to truce as clashes continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. In El Obeid, a regional hub to the southwest of Khartoum that has seen clashes, the World Food Programme said food and assets were being looted. REGIONAL CLASHESOutside Khartoum, clashes have flared in major cities in the western region of Darfur. The calm Red Sea coast city Port Sudan has served as a base for the United Nations, aid groups, and diplomats as well as some government officials. "The army is carrying out strict security procedures in the city, in particular at night," said resident Salah Mohamed.

Persons: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, El, Cindy McCain, Nadir Ahmed, Salah Mohamed, Khalid Abdelaziz, Tala, Nafisa Eltahir, Daphne Psaledakis, Aidan Lewis, Christina Fincher Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, REUTERS, U.S, Food, U.S . State Department, UN, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Khartoum North, Sudan, KHARTOUM, Washington, Khartoum, Saudi Arabia, United States, El Obeid, Saudi, Jeddah, U.S, Bahri, Omdurman, Thawra, Darfur, El, Zalingei, Port Sudan, Dubai, Nafisa, Cairo

☆ Sudanese army suspends ceasefire talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The RSF said in a statement late on Tuesday it was committed to the ceasefire "despite repeated violations" by the army. CHALLENGING NEGOTIATIONSCommenting on the Sudanese army's withdrawal from the Jeddah talks, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, African Union spokesperson on the crisis in Sudan, said: "It is not surprising. We hope the mediator will succeed to bring both parties for working on an expected ceasefire." Before the ceasefire deal was renewed, an army source said the army had demanded the RSF withdraw from civilian homes and hospitals as a condition for an extension. After the five-day extension was agreed, talks continued on the truce terms.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Hemedti's, Dagalo, Mohamed El Hacen, Hemedti, Omar al, Bashir, Khalid Abdelaziz, Nafisa Eltahir, Dawit, Michael Georgy, Edmund Blair, Mark Heinrich, Grant McCool Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, Nations, REUTERS, Union, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Khartoum, KHARTOUM, Saudi, Jeddah, Khartoum's Mogran, Omdurman, Bahri, Sudan, au, Saudi Arabia, United States, Darfur, Sudan's, Port Sudan, Dubai, Nafisa, Cairo, Addis Ababa

☆ Sudanese army suspends ceasefire talks, diplomatic source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, May 31 (Reuters) - Sudan's army suspended talks with a rival paramilitary force on Wednesday over a ceasefire and about enabling humanitarian access, a Sudanese diplomatic source said, raising fears of fresh bloodshed in the more than six-week-old conflict. Residents reported heavy clashes in southern Khartoum and in Omdurman across the River Nile until late on Tuesday. The RSF said in a statement late on Tuesday it was committed to the ceasefire "despite repeated violations" by the army. Before the ceasefire deal was renewed, an army source said the army had demanded the RSF withdraw from civilian homes and hospitals as a condition for an extension. After Bashir was toppled in an popular uprising, the army and RSF leaders staged a coup in 2021 before they due to hand leadership to civilians.

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, RSF, Omar al, Bashir, Michael Georgy, Andrew Heavens, Edmund Blair Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, Residents, United Nations, Thomson Locations: JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Khartoum, Omdurman, United States, Darfur, Sudan's, Port Sudan

☆ Sudanese pin their hopes on talks in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia urged the warring parties to use the talks to move toward scheduling expanded negotiations on a permanent end to hostilities, the ministry statement added. Sudan's Forces of Freedom and Change, a political grouping leading the plan to transfer to civilian rule, welcomed the Jeddah talks on Saturday. Conflicts are not new to Sudan, a country that sits at a strategic crossroads between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the volatile Sahel region. Since the fighting erupted, the U.N. refugee agency has registered more than 30,000 people crossing into South Sudan, more than 90% of them South Sudanese. Aid agencies fear the influx will worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.

☆ Sudan's warring parties to hold talks in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Aziz El Yaakoubi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Saudi Arabia and the United States welcomed the start of the "pre-negotiation talks" between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and urged both to actively engage and come to a ceasefire, a joint statement said. The U.S-Saudi initiative in Jeddah is the first serious attempt to end fighting that has endangered Sudan's fragile transition following years of unrest and uprisings. Prior to the fighting, Hemedti had been taking steps like moving closer to a civilian party that suggest he has big political plans. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he is travelling to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with Saudi leaders. Saudi Arabia has had close ties to Burhan and Hemedti, both of whom sent troops to help the Saudi-led coalition in its war against the Houthi group in Yemen.

☆ Opinion: My family and I barely escaped from Khartoum. Here’s what we owe those left behind.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Opinion Mohamed Eisa | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

At my mother’s house in Khartoum, friends and family kept us company, mourning with us and exchanging stories late into the night. After all, my family lived on one of the busiest streets in a packed city. Only then did I realize that my family and I were trapped in the middle of a war zone in the heart of Khartoum. In 2019, an uprising by the Sudanese people spurred the SAF and RSF to remove longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir from power. The silence was haunting, a scene out of a horror movie: abandoned cars ablaze; scores of dead bodies rotting in the streets; RSF soldiers glaring and pointing their guns directly at us.

[1/3] A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. Riyadh and Washington earlier welcomed the "pre-negotiation talks" between the army and the RSF, and urged them to actively engage following numerous violated ceasefires. But both sides have made it clear they would only discuss a humanitarian truce, not negotiate an end to the war. Turkey's foreign minister said Turkey would move its embassy from Khartoum to Port Sudan following the attack. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was travelling to Saudi Arabia at the weekend for talks with Saudi leaders.

[1/3] Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. "It's been four days without electricity and our situation is difficult," said 48-year-old Othman Hassan from the southern outskirts of the city. Despite multiple ceasefire declarations, the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appeared to be fighting for territory ahead of proposed talks. The army and RSF, which had shared power after a coup in 2021, have accused each other of breaching a string of truces. The U.N. has pressed the warring sides to guarantee safe passage of aid after six of its trucks were looted.

☆ Warring Parties in Sudan to Hold Talks in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Edward Wong | Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Representatives of two warring Sudanese generals are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to discuss terms of a cease-fire and mechanisms for allowing humanitarian aid into the country, U.S., Saudi and Sudanese officials said on Friday. The U.S. State Department and the Saudi foreign ministry have helped organize the meeting, which would take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea across from Sudan. The Saudi government has been running evacuation ships between Jeddah and Port Sudan. The two generals have agreed to cease-fires in recent days, but their troops have violated those. The Sudanese army confirmed in a post on Facebook that its delegation left for Jeddah on Friday evening to discuss “specific details of the armistice,” which is aimed at “securing and creating appropriate conditions for dealing with the humanitarian situation of our citizens.”A senior State Department official said the discussions in Jeddah would not include negotiations over the volatile issues around integration of the armed forces and chain of command that led to the start of fighting on April 15 between Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who controls the Sudanese military, and Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

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