US working to form negotiation committee in Sudan

The US State Department said yesterday that America continues to press for an extension of the ceasefire in Sudan, which includes “coordinating with regional and international partners and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.” Meanwhile, the White House said President Joe Biden’s national security team continues to talk to military leaders from both sides of the conflict in Sudan to support a permanent cessation of hostilities.

For his part, the State Department’s deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, told reporters that the US is willing to help the two warring parties find a path to a sustainable cessation of hostilities through its communication with the Sudanese military and civilian leaders.

Patel added that the State Department indicated in a note that if the Americans in Sudan are “able to make it to Port Sudan and get to Jeddah via ferry, we have consular offers in Jeddah available to assist them, should they need it.”

The fighting in Sudan subsided last night, after the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, but a witness said he heard gunfire yesterday, while Arab, Asian and Western countries rushed to evacuate their citizens from the country.

A power struggle broke out between the army and the RSF on 15 April resulting in the death of at least 427 people, hospitals are now low on supplies and other services have ceased, while residential areas have become battlegrounds.

READ: Sudan: foreign nationals evacuated as ceasefire fails