Sudan hails US-Saudi efforts to end war with paramilitary RSF

KHARTOUM/ISTANBUL

Sudan praised on Wednesday peace efforts by the US and Saudi Arabia to stop bloodshed in the country.

In a statement on the US social media company X's platform, the Transitional Sovereignty Council welcomed “the efforts of Saudi Arabia and the United States to bring just and equitable peace to Sudan.”

It thanked Washington and Riyadh for their “interest and continuous efforts to stop the Sudanese bloodshed” and affirmed Sudan’s readiness to engage seriously with the two countries “to achieve the peace that the Sudanese people have long awaited.”

The statement came shortly after President Donald Trump said that the US is “going to start working on Sudan” at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the council and army chief, also thanked the Saudi prince and Trump personally on his X account.

The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a devastating war since April 15, 2023. The conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions of others.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than 140,000 civilians have fled El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and North Kordofan state due to the RSF attacks since late October.

To date, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in western Sudan, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the nation’s capital of Khartoum.