Sudan’s foreign ministry has rejected a communiqué by East African regional mediators that claimed army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had agreed to a ceasefire and political dialogue to end hostilities.
The landlocked nation has been embroiled in eight months of deadly fighting between rival factions, leaving more than 12,190 people dead and 6.6 million displaced, according to the UN.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African alliance mediating the conflict, announced on Sunday, following a summit in Djibouti the day before, that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander had committed to “an unconditional ceasefire.”
General Burhan also agreed to a “one-on-one meeting” with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, IGAD said in a statement.
The paramilitary forces’ chief, General Dagalo, also accepted a proposal to resolve the conflict through talks with his rival, General Burhan, according to the bloc.
On Monday, Hemedti said the RSF supports the outcomes of the IGAD summit and is willing to cooperate to end the conflict. However, he added that acceptance of the proposed meeting was conditional on General Burhan not attending in his capacity as president of the transitional government.
However, the Sudanese foreign ministry declared on Sunday that it did not recognize the IGAD statement, citing inconsistencies and inaccuracies.
Reuters quoted the ministry as saying that it did not include notes it had made in the published statement, particularly that the army chief's meeting with General Dagalo was contingent on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of RSF troops from the capital, Khartoum.
The IGAD summit communique “was not based on consensus, nor was it legally binding,” the army-aligned ministry said in a statement quoted by Sudanese broadcaster Radio Dabanga.
The Sudanese government's protests against the participation of UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Al Nahyan in the summit “were not included,” it added.
Sudan declared 15 UAE embassy staff persona non grata on Sunday, ordering them to leave the country within 48 hours. The move came after the Emirati government reportedly expelled three Sudanese diplomats from Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Late last month, a senior Sudanese army official, General Yassir al-Atta, accused the UAE of supplying arms to the RSF to fight against the national military forces.
Abu Dhabi has denied the allegations. One of its officials was quoted by Reuters as saying that the UAE has “consistently called for de-escalation, a ceasefire, and the initiation of diplomatic dialogue” in Sudan since the conflict began.