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Sudan rivals agree to seven-day ceasefire [1]

['Le Monde With Afp']

Date: 2023-05-02

A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, April 25, 2023. MARWAN ALI / AP

The warring parties in Sudan have agreed to a seven-day truce starting on May 4, in a phone conversation with South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, the foreign ministry in Juba said on Tuesday, May 2, raising hopes of an end to weeks of bloodshed.

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, "have agreed in principle for a seven-day truce from May 4 to 11," the ministry said in a statement. Burhan and Daglo fell out after a 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan's transition to elective civilian rule.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded in the fighting as air strikes and artillery exchanges have pounded swathes of greater Khartoum, sparking the exodus of thousands of Sudanese to neighboring countries.

The two sides have also agreed "to name their representatives to peace talks to be held at any venue of their choice", the statement from Juba said. Kiir was speaking to Burhan and Daglo as part of an initiative by the East African regional bloc IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development), which has been pushing for an end to the fighting, echoing calls by the African Union and the international community.

'Ready to start talks'

Discussions involving Saudi and US mediators were underway with the rival generals to firm up a truce, UN head of mission Volker Perthes said ahead of the South Sudanese announcement. The two sides "told us that they are ready to start talks on technical level over a ceasefire," Perthes told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television in an interview released on Tuesday.

Burhan's envoy, Dafaallah al-Haj, was in Cairo where he met senior Egyptian and Arab League officials. Haj told a press conference that he hoped the Arab League, African Union, Saudi Arabia and the US could play a role in such talks toward a more lasting truce.

While diplomats have tried to stop the fighting, foreign governments scrambled to evacuate their citizens, thousands of whom have been brought to safety by air or sea in operations that are now winding down. Russia's armed forces said on Tuesday they were evacuating more than 200 people from Sudan on four military transport planes.

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Le Monde with AFP

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[1] Url: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2023/05/02/sudan-rivals-agree-to-seven-day-ceasefire_6025184_124.html

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