Port Sudan – Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Sunday rejected the proposal by the Quad Committee to end the war in Sudan, describing it as “unacceptable” and accusing the committee of lacking neutrality due to the participation of the United Arab Emirates, which he accuses of supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Speaking at a meeting with armed forces officers, in a video released by his government, Al-Burhan said that “Sudan does not view this Quad as beyond reproach, especially since the whole world has seen that the United Arab Emirates is the one supporting the rebels against the Sudanese state.”
He added that the mediation effort, which also involves the United States, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, “will be considered non-neutral if it continues along this path.”
Al-Burhan described the proposal conveyed by U.S. envoy Massad Boulos as “the worst paper ever submitted,” arguing that it “abolishes the existence of the armed forces, calls for the dissolution of all security agencies, and allows the rebel militia to remain in its areas.”
“We tell him that this paper of yours is unacceptable,” he said.
He stressed that “there must be a withdrawal of what he called the militia and its regrouping in areas that can be agreed upon with the mediator,” adding that “there is no objection to a ceasefire on the condition that the militia withdraws from every area it entered after the Jeddah agreement.”
Al-Burhan reiterated that the proposal “abolishes the existence of the armed forces and calls for the dissolution of all security agencies while keeping the rebel militia in its areas,” and warned that “if the mediation proceeds in the direction outlined by Boulos, we will regard it as non-neutral.”
The army chief said, “We fear that Massad Boulos may become an obstacle to the peace sought by all the people of Sudan,” arguing that “the statements he makes are nothing more than an echo of the propaganda of the ‘Steadfastness and Restoration’ alliances and the militia.”
The proposal provides for “a three-month truce” during which both sides would be encouraged to hold talks aimed at reaching a permanent peace agreement, and stipulates that the current government and the RSF would both be excluded from the post-conflict political scene.
Separately, Sudanese army sources told Al Jazeera that the army had repelled a major attack launched by the RSF on a strategic city in the south of the country, while Sovereignty Council President Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan sharply criticized the U.S. mediation paper.
Sudanese army repels major attack in Babnousa
The sources said the army thwarted a large-scale attack on the city of Babnousa, the most prominent city in West Kordofan State in the south of the country, inflicting heavy losses in personnel and equipment on the attackers.
In other battlefronts in Kordofan, a military source in the Sudanese army told Al Jazeera that the army and its allied forces had achieved significant gains and that the fighting was progressing well in line with pre-established plans.
An earlier military source in the Sudanese army had told Al Jazeera that at dawn on Sunday, the army combed the strategic Um Sumaymah area, which links North and West Kordofan, before advancing toward the town of Al-Khuwei in West Kordofan.
Humanitarian situation
On the humanitarian front, the Chairperson of the African Union Peace and Security Council Commission, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, warned of a deteriorating situation and called for urgent, immediate action to halt the escalation of violations, particularly in the city of El Fasher in the Darfur region in the west of the country.
Adeoye stressed, during a meeting with African civil society organizations, that protecting civilians and strengthening accountability mechanisms remain priorities for the African Union, emphasizing that Sudan will remain a standing item on its agenda.
He renewed his commitment to continuing joint efforts to achieve a ceasefire, protect civilians and ensure that the voices of Sudanese people are heard in all peace and security tracks.
For its part, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that violence in Sudan’s North Kordofan State has displaced about 40,000 people between October 26 and November 19, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The office added that more than 600 people have been displaced from two villages in North and South Kordofan States, and noted that access to many areas in Kordofan remains severely restricted.
Catastrophic conditions
Mohamed Al-Nayer, spokesperson for the “Sudan Liberation Movement / Abdel Wahid Al-Nur faction,” said that the humanitarian situation in areas under the movement’s control is catastrophic and warns of a looming humanitarian disaster that requires urgent international intervention.
Al-Nayer told Al Jazeera that 80% of the displaced are at risk of famine, and called on the European Union and the United Nations to increase humanitarian aid and support.
He reiterated the movement’s support for all regional and international efforts aimed at ending the war in Sudan, stressing the need for an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire under international monitoring that includes the army, the RSF and all armed revolutionary movements.
Medical sources in the Tawila area called for expanding medical services, noting that there is only one hospital providing care to more than 1.5 million displaced people.
Maawiya Mohammed, Director of the Emergency Department at the Humanitarian Aid Commission in White Nile State, said the state has received more than 16,000 new displaced people arriving from North Kordofan in central Sudan and from the Darfur region in the west.
He pointed out that White Nile State is receiving steadily increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict zones, bringing the total number of displaced persons there to more than two million.
Source: Al Jazeera + AFP + Al-Yurae
