CHARLES MOLELE
FORMER President Thabo Mbeki has called for an immediate end to the ongoing violent conflict in Sudan.
Thus far, 185 people have been killed and a further 1,800 injured in three days of fighting between rival factions in Sudan, according to the United Nations special representative for Sudan.
In a media statement on Tuesday, Mbeki appealed to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to return to the negotiations to reconstitute the transitional Government and ensuring that it is civilian-led.
“Accordingly, I appeal to Generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo immediately to end the fighting which, among others, is imposing serious negative consequences on the civilian population,” said Mbeki.
“The two immediate steps that are required are an immediate end to the
current unacceptable violent conflict and a return to the negotiations to
reconstitute the transitional Government, ensuring that it is civilian-led.”
Mbeki said he has been following with great concern the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
“I have been following with great concern the current armed conflict in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). I have had the privilege of working closely with the Government and people of Sudan for almost twenty years as they sought to address their most fundamental problems,” said Mbeki.
“Many of those problems remain to this day. The current violent conflict by the official armed Sudan formations will not solve any of these problems but will, instead, further postpone their resolution.”
The fighting broke out after bitter disagreements between al-Burhan and Dagalo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army, a key condition for a final deal aimed at ending a crisis since the 2021 coup.
The two sides accuse each other of starting the fighting, and both claim to be in control of key sites, including the airport and the presidential palace – none of which could be independently verified.
The RSF was created under Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir in 2013.
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