South Sudan’s President H.E. Salva Kiir on Thursday joined leaders from six other countries neighbouring Sudan in endorsing an Egyptian initiate to end the ongoing conflict in the Sudan.
Fighting erupted in mid April between Sudanese government forces under Gen. Abdel Fatah Al Burhan, chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and commander in chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Since then, South Sudan has had regular contacts with the leaders of the warring parties in an effort to end the fighting that has left thousands dead and forced millions of people to flee their homes.
The Cairo meeting was the most high-profile since fighting erupted across Sudan in mid-April — was hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and attended by the leaders of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, the Central African Republic and Libya.
Thursday’s meeting in Cairo came just weeks after talks brokered by Saudia Arabia and the United States in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah broke down after the two warring sides failed to stop fighting and violated cease-fire agreements, including at least one mediated by President Kiir.
In his opening address, Egyptian President Gen. Abdel Fatah el-Sissi said that his vision for the crisis’ end includes a lasting cease-fire agreement, the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors and a dialogue framework that would include all of Sudan’s wide-reaching political forces. The Egyptian leader called on both parties to commit to cease-fire negotiations organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, an eight-member East African bloc, currently headed by Kenyan President William Ruto.
