Sudanese civic leaders on Friday welcomed a humanitarian ceasefire for the besieged city of El Fasher proposed by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, urging SAF chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to sign on.
In a statement, the group said Guterres should “extend his outreach” to RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and called on the Sudanese force to “respond positively to this humanitarian initiative to save civilians and ease their suffering.”
The appeal followed Thursday’s meeting of an international contact group—including the European Union, African Union, IGAD, Arab League, United Nations, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States—that warned the cost of allowing Sudan’s 14-month war to continue would be “intolerable” in human, economic and security terms.
“Global pressure is no substitute for a free and united national will to silence the guns,” the statement said, urging Sudanese factions to embrace a peaceful political path.
The activists pressed for the El Fasher truce to be implemented “swiftly, credibly and in good faith,” then widened to the rest of Sudan to permit aid deliveries and open the door to a comprehensive peace deal.
