US announces Sudan ceasefire talks

WASHINGTON: The United States announced Tuesday that it has invited Sudan’s warring sides to hold ceasefire talks next month.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has invited Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to start US-mediated negotiations August 14 in Switzerland.

“The United States remains committed to working with partners to end this devastating war,” Blinken said in a statement.

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The talks will include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations as observers, the statement said.

For more than a year, war has raged in the northeast African country between the regular military under army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The war has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and uprooted more than 10 million people inside the country, while two million more have fled across borders, according to the United Nations.

“The talks in Switzerland aim to reach a nationwide cessation of violence, enabling humanitarian access to all those in need, and develop a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure implementation of any agreement,” Blinken said.