Egypt launches new Sudan mediation bid at neighbours' summit

Egypt on Thursday embarked on a fresh bid to halt fighting between Sudan's warring factions and contain the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed, using a summit of neighbouring states to try to revive international efforts to contain the war.

The leaders of Sudan's seven neighbours in a joint statement called on the warring parties to commit to a ceasefire, appealed to regional states not to interfere in the conflict, and agreed to facilitate delivery of aid.

They also warned of the possibility of Sudan's fragmentation or "descent into chaos that could lead to the spread of terrorism and organised crime" and called on the international community to meet aid pledges made last month.

Conflict between Sudan's army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in the capital Khartoum in April and has triggered a sharp surge of violence in the troubled Darfur region as well as fighting in North and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

More than 3 million people have been displaced, including 700,000 to neighbouring countries, most of which have been struggling with poverty and conflict. The United Nations has warned of a growing hunger crisis.

Using air strikes and artillery, the army has struggled to dislodge the RSF from positions across Khartoum.

The United States and Saudi Arabia had negotiated a series of ceasefires, but suspended talks in Jeddah after violations. Earlier this week, Ethiopia hosted a regional East African summit, but Sudan's army boycotted it, claiming lead sponsor Kenya was biased.

Priorities for Egypt, which has maintained close ties to Sudan's army, include reasserting itself on a file it feels excluded from by other regional efforts, and preventing cross-border support for the RSF, diplomats said.

Its plan aims to achieve a three-month ceasefire and open aid pathways by convening meetings with military and tribal leaders, taking advantage of long-term ties, two Egyptian security sources said.

"All of our brothers in Sudan must uphold the supreme interest and keep Sudan's politics and unity away from external interference that seeks to achieve narrow interests," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the summit.

DAM NEGOTIATIONS

Representatives of the RSF and Sudan's army did not appear at the summit. But Sudan's ruling council, headed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said it welcomed the outcomes and that the army was ready to stop fighting if the RSF halted attacks on civilian and government sites, and stopped blocking roads and looting.

Some of the leaders attending also said they welcomed the Egyptian initiative but hoped it could be coordinated with other diplomatic efforts.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for the Cairo and Jeddah processes to align with the regional IGAD initiative announced earlier this week.

"I would like to underline that such processes, including today's summit, need to align with the IGAD-laid, and African Union-supported, existing initiative," Abiy said.

Abiy could be seen in animated conversation with Sisi and other top Egyptian officials as a closed session of the summit began.

Speaking on Wednesday, U.N. special envoy Volker Perthes described mediation attempts as "emergency diplomacy", and said factions had used previous ceasefires to re-position.

"The two warring parties still think they can win the war so they accept diplomatic initiatives when they think it can help their aims," he said.

Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia, Sudan's two biggest neighbours, have been strained in recent years by a dispute over the giant dam Ethiopia has constructed on the Blue Nile.

But the two leaders met on Wednesday ahead of the summit, after Abiy last week said he would slow the fourth filling of the dam and ensure Sudan and Egypt received enough water, a conciliatory move.

After the summit, Egypt and Ethiopia issued a statement saying they would launch urgent negotiations to finalise an agreement on the dam within four months.

** At least 87 buried in Sudan mass grave, including women, children, UN says

The U.N. human rights office said on Thursday at least 87 people including women and children had been buried in a mass grave in Sudan's West Darfur, saying it had credible information they were killed by the country's Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

RSF officials denied any involvement, saying the paramilitary group was not a party to the conflict in West Darfur.

Ethnically motivated bloodshed has escalated in recent weeks in step with fighting between rival military factions that erupted in April and has brought the country to the brink of civil war. In El Geneina, witnesses and rights groups have reported waves of attacks by the RSF and Arab militias against the non-Arab Masalit people, including shootings at close range.

"According to credible information gathered by the Office, those buried in the mass grave were killed by RSF and their allied militia around 13-21 June...," the U.N. statement said.

Local people were forced to dispose of the bodies including those of women and children in the shallow grave in an open area near the city between June 20-21, it added. Some of the people had died from untreated injuries, it said.

"I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individuals, and I am further appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in the same statement, calling for an investigation.

An RSF senior official who declined to be identified said it "completely denies any connection to the events in West Darfur as we are not party to it, and we did not get involved in a conflict as the conflict is a tribal one."

Another RSF source said it was being accused due to political motivations from the Masalit and others. He reiterated that the group was ready to participate in an investigation and to hand over any of its forces found to have broken the law.

It was not possible to determine exactly what portion of the dead were Masalits, a U.N. spokesperson added.

The ethnic killings have raised fears of a repeat of the atrocities perpetuated in Darfur after 2003, when "Janjaweed" militias from which the RSF was formed helped the government crush a rebellion by mainly non-Arab groups in Darfur, killing some 300,000 people. Sudanese civilians have fled the area on foot, some having been killed or shot as they escaped.

"This report is a good first step, but more efforts are needed to uncover more violations," said Ibrahim, a refugee in neighbouring Chad, who asked to withhold his last name for fear of retribution.

Army spokesperson Brigadier General Nabil Abdullah told Reuters the incident "rises to the level of war crimes and these kinds of crimes should not pass without accountability."

"This rebel militia is not against the army but against the Sudanese citizen, and its project is a racist project and a project of ethnic cleansing," he said.

Reuters