Sudan army absent as talks aimed at ending civil war begin in Switzerland
Al Jazeera
Army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s about-face on joining talks dampens hopes they will lead to the end of 16-month war.
A new round of talks aimed at ending a 16-month civil war in Sudan that has sparked a humanitarian crisis in the Northeast African country has begun in Switzerland despite the army’s absence.
Army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s reversal on joining the United States-led negotiations dampened hopes that Wednesday’s proceedings would lead to a breakthrough with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.
The two sides have been fighting in a bloody civil war since April last year.
“The talks have started,” a spokesman for the US mission in Geneva told the AFP news agency, adding that there was “no change” to the nonparticipation of the Sudanese army.
Al-Burhan has struck a defiant tone after the military said the general survived a drone attack on a military celebration in eastern Sudan last month.
