Sudan’s top general rejects US-led ceasefire proposal, calling it ‘the worst yet’

CAIRO AP Sudan s top general rejected a ceasefire proposal provided by U S -led mediators in a blow to efforts to stop a devastating war that has gripped the African country for over months In video comments disclosed by the military late Sunday Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan revealed the proposal was unacceptable and the worst yet accusing the mediators of being biased in their efforts to end the war Sudan plunged into chaos in April when a power struggle between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Promotion Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere in the country The devastating war has killed more than people according to U N figures but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be plenty of times higher It created the world s largest humanitarian situation with over million people forced to flee their homes fueled illness outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine The mediators known as the Quad have been trying for over two years to bring an end to the fighting and reestablish a path to democratic transition which was hampered by a military coup in They are comprised of the U S Saudi Arabia Egypt and the United Arab Emirates This month U S President Donald Trump commented that he plans to put greater attention on helping find an end to Sudan s war after being urged to take action by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the White House On Monday U N Secretary-General Ant nio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire and for both the military and the RSF to negotiate a settlement Writing on social platform X he also called for a safe unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid as well as an end to arms and fighters transfer to Sudan We need peace in Sudan Guterres announced Massad Boulos a U S adviser for African affairs reported The Associated Press earlier this month that the latest proposal calls for a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process The RSF noted it has agreed to the truce following global outrage over the paramilitaries atrocities in the Darfur city of el-Fasher In a video speech late Monday the paramilitary commander Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo reiterated the group s commitment to a three-month humanitarian truce and called for mediators to pressure the military to accept the proposal Burhan Sudan s top general revealed however that the proposal is considered the worst document yet since it eliminates the Armed Forces dissolves defense agencies and keeps the militia where they are referring to the RSF If the mediation continues in this direction we will consider it to be biased mediation he declared He lashed out at the U S adviser and accused him of attempting to impose chosen conditions on us We fear that Massad Boulos will be an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek Burhan announced without given further details about the plan In his comments Burhan also took aim at the UAE He revealed that since the Quad includes the Gulf country as a member the mediation group was not innocent of responsibility especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE s patronage for the rebels against the Sudanese State In a declaration Monday the UAE s Foreign Ministry disclosed Burhan through his rejection of the ceasefire proposal demonstrated obstructive behavior which it mentioned must be called out The UAE is widely accused by rights groups of arming the paramilitaries The AP broadcasted earlier this month that U S intelligence assessments for countless months have located that the Emirates a close U S ally has been sending weapons to the RSF according to a U S official familiar with the classified reports who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details The UAE denies backing the paramilitaries Burhan denied that the military is controlled by Islamists or that it used chemical weapons in its fighting against the RSF an accusation leveled by the Trump administration in May Burhan commented the military will only agree to a truce when the RSF utterly withdraws from civilian areas to allow the return of displaced people to their homes before embarking on talks for a political settlement to the conflict We re not warmongers and we don t reject peace he disclosed but no one can threaten us or dictate terms to us Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this review Source