The Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul Gheit, has called on the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), protagonists since Saturday of fighting that has left at least 270 dead, to agree to a cease-fire on the occasion of Eid al Fitr, the date marking the end of the month of Ramadan, which will be celebrated this Friday.
I call on the Sudanese brothers, the army and the RSF, in the name of Arabism, Islam and humanity, to declare a cease-fire during the days of Eid so that the population can breathe and deal with critical and urgent humanitarian cases,» he said, according to a statement published on the organization’s website.
He said »it is a source of great sadness that the blessed Eid al-Fitr finds the people of Sudan terrorized in their homes, fearing for their lives» and warned that the fighting only »increases the suffering of the population». During the last hours I have received many appeals from people from Sudan who are suffering from stressful and dangerous conditions and I am transferring them to the warring parties,» he said.
Abul Gheit reminded the army and the RSF that »Ramadan is a holy month» and asked them »not to turn it into a period of sadness for the people of Sudan». »Let the days of Eid be a truce in which the firing from both sides stops completely so that people can get food and the sick can get medicine,» he said.
»This message is a purely humanitarian appeal. It has nothing to do with a political position on the crisis or whose responsibility it is for these clashes. The priority now is the people of Sudan», he said, while stressing that »chivalry in the area obliges to respect the weak, those who do not carry weapons, and religion requires that, even in times of war, human values and moral principles be respected».
The army and the RSF agreed on Tuesday to a 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire, although it did not go into effect due to continued fighting, which led to an exchange of accusations about responsibility for what had happened. The parties agreed again on Wednesday to a cease-fire that will remain in force until 6 p.m. on Thursday and is being partially respected.
Kenyan President William Ruto also called for an immediate ceasefire and «unrestricted» access for humanitarian aid. Ruto, one of the African heads of state scheduled to travel to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, to undertake mediation work, also warned of the danger that an escalation of hostilities could lead to the involvement of regional and international actors.
The deterioration of the situation in Sudan is of great concern to the region and the continent,» he said in a message to the nation, before blaming the fighting on »a misunderstanding over the last point of the Political Framework Agreement: the timetable for the integration of the RSF into the army».
This point was one of the most thorny because of the refusal of the RSF – led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’ – to integrate into the Army without a restructuring of the chain of command and other reforms within the Armed Forces, led by Abdelfatá al Burhan.
Ruto has indicated that »the indiscriminate deployment of lethal weapons and aerial potential by the RSF and the Army have hit military and non-military targets, causing devastating damage to properties as well as strategic public infrastructure, including roads, bridges and airports».
»We are deeply concerned that members of the diplomatic community have been targeted and that civilians have been caught in exchanges of fire,» he said, before warning of the emergence of »a pattern of systematic violations of established norms and principles of humanitarian law.»
As such, he reiterated that »there is a real danger that the escalation of hostilities in Sudan will involve external actors, regional and international, and degenerate into a humanitarian and security crisis on a disastrous scale». It is time to silence the guns in our region and on our continent so that we can focus on the urgent work of enabling our people to pursue opportunities and fulfill their aspirations, in peace and tranquility,» the Kenyan president concluded.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
