United Nations — On Monday, the Sudanese Prime Minister proposed a wide-ranging peace initiative to end the conflict A war that lasted nearly 1,000 days With a rival paramilitary force, but the United States urged both sides to accept the Trump administration’s call for an immediate humanitarian truce.
Kamel Idris, head of the transitional civilian government in Sudan, told… Security Council His plan calls for a ceasefire monitored by the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League, and the withdrawal of paramilitary forces from all areas they occupy, placing them in supervised camps and disarming them.
Sudan descended into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle broke out between the army and the powerful Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces The country exploded into open fighting, with widespread mass killings, rapes, and ethnically motivated violence. This has been reached War crimes And crimes against humanity, according to the United Nations and international human rights organizations.
It seemed highly unlikely that the RSF would support the prime minister’s proposal, which would hand victory to government forces and take away their military strength.
In an indirect reference to the truce backed by the United States and key mediators Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, known as the Quartet, Idris stressed to the UN Security Council that the government’s proposal was “homemade – not imposed on us.”
In early November, the Rapid Support Forces He agreed to a humanitarian truce. At the time, a Sudanese military official told The Associated Press that the military welcomed the Quartet’s proposal but would agree to a truce only when the Rapid Support Forces completely withdraw from civilian areas and give up their weapons, key provisions in the plan Idris put forward on Monday.
Idris said that unless the paramilitary forces were confined to the camps, there would be no chance of success in the truce. He called on the fifteen members of the Security Council to support his proposal.
The Sudanese Prime Minister said, “This initiative could represent the moment when Sudan steps back from the brink of the abyss and the international community – you! You! – stands on the right side of history.” He said that the Council “must be remembered not as a witness to collapse, but as a partner in recovery.”
US Deputy Ambassador Jeffrey Bartos, who spoke to the council before Idris, said the Trump administration had offered a humanitarian truce as a way forward and “we urge the warring parties to immediately accept this plan without preconditions.”
Bartos said the Trump administration strongly condemns Horrific violence across Darfur and the Kordofan region – and the atrocities committed by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which must be held accountable.
UAE Ambassador Mohammed Abu Shehab, a member of the Quartet, said that there is an immediate opportunity to implement the humanitarian truce and deliver aid to Sudanese civilians who are in dire need of it.
He warned, “The lessons of history and current facts make it clear that unilateral efforts by either warring party are not sustainable and will only prolong the war.”
Abu Shehab said that the humanitarian truce must be followed by a permanent ceasefire “and a path towards civilian rule independent of the warring parties.”
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs, reflected the Council’s escalating concerns about the war in Sudan, which were fueled by the war in Sudan. Continuing supply of increasingly sophisticated weapons.
He criticized the unnamed countries that refuse to stop supplying weapons, and both government forces and paramilitary forces for being unwilling to reach a settlement or stop the escalation.
“While they have managed to stop fighting to preserve oil revenues, they have so far failed to do the same to protect their populations,” Al-Khayari said. “Supporters of both sides should use their influence to help stop the carnage, not cause more devastation.”
The devastating war in Sudan has killed more than 40,000 people, according to United Nations figures, but relief groups say the real number may be much higher. The conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 14 million people, spreading disease and famine in parts of the country.