Burhan: We will sit down with mediators in Jeddah talks

Yesterday, Thursday, the Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, confirmed his commitment to the implementation of the Jeddah Declaration and expressed his willingness to sit with the mediators of the Jeddah talks.
Talks on Sudan, which began in Geneva on Wednesday without the participation of a government delegation, continued on Thursday, with Washington announcing that the first day had yielded “concrete ideas” on how the warring parties could implement commitments contained in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Declaration.
The sovereign council said in a statement that Burhan received a call from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the Geneva talks.
Burhan insisted on “Sudan’s firm position represented by the implementation of the Jeddah Declaration Agreement in accordance with the vision presented.”
According to the United Nations, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been waging war since mid-April 2023, killing about 18,800 people and leaving nearly 10 million displaced people and refugees.
In May 2023, the two sides reached the Jeddah Declaration under the mediation of Saudi Arabia and the United States, pledging “not to carry out any military attacks that may cause harm to civilians.”
The declaration also stressed “protection of civilians” and “respect for humanitarian law and international human rights law”, but it has not been implemented, several ceasefire agreements have been violated, and mutual accusations have been made. This has led to a freeze in mediation. Burhan stressed in a conference call that “there is no objection to sitting down with the coordinators of the Jeddah platform to discuss how to implement the platform, while confirming his refusal to expand the list of coordinators.” On Wednesday evening, the United States, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, the United Nations and the African Union said in a joint statement that they are working in Geneva to reach an agreement to stop hostilities in Sudan and ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those affected.
According to the US State Department, Blinken stressed in a statement the need to justify the government delegation’s participation in the Geneva talks to implement the Jeddah Declaration on the protection of civilians.
“Our diplomatic dialogue on Sudan continues for the second day,” U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Pelelio said on the “X” platform.
He added: “We will continue to work diligently with our international partners to save lives and ensure tangible results building on the Jeddah process and implementation of the Jeddah Declaration.”