Khartoum [Sudan], November 25: Sudan's de facto president Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan has strongly rejected a US proposal for a ceasefire between his Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebel group.
The document put forward by US advisor Massad Boulos "is considered the worst paper ever presented, considering that it cancels the presence of the armed forces, demands the dissolution of all security services, and keeps the rebel militia in its areas," the general said, according to an SAF statement on Monday.
He accused Boulos of seeking to impose obligations on the parties and said he feared that the advisor could be "an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek." The United States is seeking to mediate in the long-running conflict, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Al-Burhan seized power in Sudan in 2021 along with RSF head Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.
In April 2023, tens of thousands of RSF fighters rebelled against incorporation into the SAF and began attacking its troops and civilians.
The RSF now controls around half of Sudan's populated territory.
Al-Burhan's government accuses the UAE of supporting the RSF since the start of the civil war. The UAE rejects the allegation, which has been supported by UN officials and diplomats.
The RSF agreed to a ceasefire at the beginning of this month, but the conflict continues. According to UN figures, some 40,000 people have been displaced in the Kordofan region in the south of the country since the end of October.
"We are not advocates of war, and we do not reject peace, but no one can threaten us or dictate conditions to us," al-Burhan said, according to SAF statement. A ceasefire would only be conceivable if the RSF withdrew from all the towns it had occupied since May 2023, he added. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
