Warring Sudanese Generals Agree To Negotiate, UN Envoy Says

The warring sides in Sudan’s weeks-long conflict have agreed to negotiate, the UN’s top official in the country said on Monday.

Volker Perthes, the UN envoy for Sudan, told The Associated Press that the talks would focus on creating a lasting cease-fire.

Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have already agreed to two 72-hour extensions to the most recent cease-fire, which was declared last Tuesday, but clashes have continued, especially in the capital city of Khartoum.

Since the fighting broke out more than three weeks ago, the warring generals have consistently expressed a desire to fight to the end. Direct talks between representatives from the two forces would signify important progress in a conflict that has already killed at least 530 people and potentially significantly more.

RSF Gen. Dagalo told a Saudi television station that the group had chosen their representatives but said that talks should only be held after trust was established.

According to Perthes, one of the main challenges in holding talks is getting the representatives to a neutral location, likely either Saudi Arabia or South Sudan. Either location would require travel through enemy territory for both sides.