Today, Sunday, the Sudanese army announced that it is considering extending the truce with the Rapid Support Forces.
The Sudanese army reaffirmed its commitment to the short-term ceasefire agreement signed in Jeddah on 20 May.
A statement released today by the army said: “The Sudanese Armed Forces reaffirm their commitment to the Sudan Short Term Ceasefire and Humanitarian Action Agreement, signed in Jeddah on May 20, 2023. The Short-Term Ceasefire Agreement states that either party may notify the Monitoring and Coordination Committee no later than 21:45 May 27, 2023 of their readiness to agree to an extension. The Sudanese Armed Forces are still exploring the possibility of their readiness to agree to an extension of the current ceasefire, which ends at 21:45 on May 29, 2023, and will continue to observe it until then.”
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia and the United States called for an extension of the ceasefire, which contributed to some calm in the clashes that broke out six weeks ago between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, but did not lead to the delivery of a large amount of humanitarian aid to the civilian population.
The conflict that erupted on April 15 plunged the capital into fierce fighting and left it in peace with lawlessness and disruption of services, forcing more than 1.3 million people from their homes and threatening to destabilize the region.
The Saudi-U.S.-brokered truce in Jeddah is due to end tomorrow night, and the original agreement was to last a week. The two countries are watching the truce, which has been repeatedly violated, from afar.
Riyadh and Washington called on the army and the Rapid Support Forces to “continue discussions to reach an agreement on extending the ceasefire.” And they said in a joint statement on Sunday that while “the agreement is not finalized, the extension will facilitate the delivery of the humanitarian aid that the Sudanese people need.”
“In the absence of an agreement to extend the current ceasefire, both sides remain obligated to honor their commitments to a short-term ceasefire and to state their commitment to protecting civilians in Sudan,” they added.
The Rapid Support Forces declared their full readiness to continue negotiations “to discuss the possibility of reaching a renewal of a ceasefire and humanitarian agreements.” obligation of the other party to renew the agreement or not.
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