UPDATE - Sudan's neighbors agree in Cairo summit on ministerial instrument to end conflict

UPDATES WITH MEETING'S CONCLUSION, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Anadolu staff

CAIRO (AA) – Sudan's neighboring countries on Thursday agreed in a meeting held in Cairo to establish a ministerial mechanism to stop the fighting between the Sudanese belligerent parties.

It came in the final statement of the summit read by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"It has been agreed on establishing a ministerial mechanism that will convene for its first meeting in Chad to set an executive action plan to stop the fighting and to reach a comprehensive settlement to the crisis in Sudan," said the statement.

It also urged full respect for Sudan's sovereignty and its territorial integrity.

Earlier on Thursday, a summit of the neighbors of conflict-torn Sudan's began in Egypt’s capital to help settle the ongoing crisis in the North African country that erupted in mid-April.

At the opening session, al-Sisi said the summit is being held at a "historic moment," urging the halt of all military operations in Sudan, according to Egyptian daily Youm7.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said "top officials" are taking part in the summit but did not specify their names or the number of countries attending.

Sudanese diplomatic sources, however, told Anadolu that the summit is being attended by al-Sisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan.

The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, added that the summit is also being attended by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Chad's transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby, Libya's Presidential Council Chair Mohamed Menfi, and Faustin-Archange Touadera, the president of the Central African Republic.

Sudan has been ravaged by clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April in a conflict that has killed some 3,000 civilians and injured thousands, according to local medics.

Several cease-fire agreements brokered by Saudi and US mediators between the warring rivals has failed to end the violence in the country.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that nearly 3 million people have been displaced by the current conflict in Sudan.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar