Envoys from Sudan’s warring military factions – the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – were in Jeddah for talks on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said, as international mediators pressed for an end to the three-week old conflict. The U.S.-Saudi initiative is the first serious attempt to end fighting that has turned parts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum into war zones and derailed an internationally backed plan to usher in civilian rule following years of unrest and uprisings. 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. Confirming his group’s attendance, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, said he hoped the talks would achieve their intended aim of securing safe passage for civilians. Sudan’s armed forces said they sent a delegation to the Red Sea city on Friday evening, but special envoy Dafallah Alhaj said the army would not sit down directly with any delegation that the “rebellious” RSF might send. Hemedti has meanwhile vowed to either capture or kill army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and there was also evidence on the ground that both sides remain unwilling to make compromises to end the bloodshed. Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan said in a tweet he hoped both sides would “engage in dialogue that we hope will lead to the end of the conflict

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon