Representatives of the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah for talks since Saturday as fighting continues in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
“We welcome the presence of representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF in the city of Jeddah, to engage in dialogue that we hope will lead to the end of the conflict and the return of security and stability to the Republic of Sudan,” Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Saturday on Twitter.
The United States and Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement welcoming the start of “pre-negotiation talks” between the two parties, urging both sides to “actively engage in the talks towards a ceasefire and end to the conflict.”
On Saturday, RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo praised the regional and international efforts to reach a ceasefire through social media and confirmed RSF’s participation in the talks in Jeddah.
On Friday, the Sudanese army said it had sent negotiators to Jeddah to discuss the humanitarian truce as part of the Saudi-American initiative.
According to local media, fighting continued in Khartoum’s capital on Saturday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that Türkiye has decided to relocate its embassy in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, to Port Sudan after the Turkish ambassador’s vehicle was targeted by gunfire.
The RSF and the army exchanged accusations over the incident. The RSF claimed that the area where the attack occurred was under military control and reiterated its commitment to protecting diplomatic missions in the country. Conversely, the army attributed responsibility to the RSF for the assault.
Sudan has witnessed a large-scale evacuation of foreign nationals and diplomats since the eruption of the deadly clashes between the army and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas on April 15.
So far, 550 people have been killed and 4,926 others wounded in the clashes according to the Sudanese health ministry.
