Arab League Calls for Sudan Cease-Fire During Eid al-Fitr Holiday

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit called on the warring sides in Sudan’s conflict to organize a cease-fire during Eid al-Fitr in a video released on Wednesday. Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, is set to begin later this week.

“Let the Eid days be a truce in which fire ceases on both sides in a comprehensive and complete way,” Aboul-Gheit said in the video.

Since fighting began in Sudan last Saturday, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have attempted two humanitarian cease-fires to various degrees of success.

A 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire was meant to go into effect on Tuesday evening following efforts by top diplomats, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but heavy fighting began almost immediately afterward. Both sides accused the other of violating the cease-fire.

Another 24-hour cease-fire was set to begin Wednesday evening. The Associated Press reported that in the hours after the cease-fire was meant to begin, the clashes have calmed, but sporadic fighting is still breaking out in the city center of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital and the site of the most intense conflict.

In his message to army Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and their forces, Aboul-Gheit noted that his message is “a purely humanitarian call, which has nothing to do with the political position on the crisis.”