US eyeing April 18 for possible resumption of Sudan peace talks

US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello stated on Tuesday that Washington is looking towards April 18 for a potential restart of peace negotiations on Sudan in Saudi Arabia, as Washington seeks a settlement to the conflict that has resulted in millions of people being displaced and the greatest humanitarian disaster in history.

According to Perriello, Washington has made it plain that all parties-including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the African Union, and the regional East African grouping IGAD-must be included in any peace negotiations with the warring parties in Saudi Arabia.

Perriello stated that it would be a reasonable time for discussions to continue following the holy month of Ramzan and a donor meeting in Paris scheduled for April 15. However, the negotiations may or may not begin around April 18, and it was uncertain whether the opposing parties would agree.

“I’d like the talks to start tomorrow, but I think that realistically we’re looking at after Ramzan. But I think in the meantime, we want to use that period between now and the start of talks to be exploring every angle we can that it’s teed up for success,” Perriello said.

“That would be a good timeline to do it. But it’s not firm.”

One of the army’s top commanders, General Yasir al-Atta, declared on Sunday that there will be no talks or ceasefire with the RSF.

Heavy violence broke out between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April of last year, following long-simmering tensions.

Last year, in an attempt to bring about a truce, Saudi Arabia and the US held fruitless negotiations in Jeddah.

In addition to pushing portions of the 49 million people in Darfur into starvation, the conflict has resulted in the worst displacement catastrophe in history and has sparked waves of sexual violence and ethnically motivated massacres in the western half of the country.

Perriello said that the United Arab Emirates – which has been accused of supplying the RSF with military support, a charge the UAE denies – and others in the region are aware the situation is “quickly hurtling out of control and that the RSF is not in a position right now where it’s marching to either military or diplomatic victory.”