Egypt's foreign minister visits Juba to discuss efforts to reach permanent cease-fire in Sudan

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived in South Sudan on Tuesday to discuss efforts to reach a permanent cease-fire in Sudan, which has been embroiled in a deadly conflict since April 15.

Shoukry, who met with President Salva Kiir in the capital Juba, said his visit is aimed at consolidating efforts and exchanging views on how to contain the crisis in Sudan.

He said the meeting is a follow-up to the conversation that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Kiir had “on the dramatic situation in Sudan a few days ago.”

Shoukry said the consequences of the military activity on Sudan and its people and its effects have been wide-reaching to both its immediate and most active neighbors.

“The relationship of Sudan with both Egypt and South Sudan necessitates that we consolidate our efforts and exchange views on the way forward to contain this situation and to relieve the difficulties that are being met by the Sudanese people and to continue to impress upon the importance of a sustained cease-fire and a return to political dialogue that can serve the best interests of Sudan at this juncture,” he said.

“We will continue to coordinate and cooperate and to contribute to relieving this very critical situation and to deal with the humanitarian consequences that both Egypt and South Sudan have had to bear related to the influx of a large number of Sudanese fleeing the conflict areas.”

Shoukry said that so far, Egypt has received more than 70,000 Sudanese on its southern border and South Sudan has provided shelter to many Sudanese fleeing the capital.

“We will continue dialogue with parties in Sudan. Not only with the military, but also with civilians and other groups concerned about the state of affairs in Sudan. The United States and the European Union contribute to deep dialogue for different stake-holders in Sudan to coordinate and to unify their stands to achieve the interest of the brotherly Republic of Sudan.”

South Sudan's Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Dau Deng Malek said that President Kiir is committed to seeing to it that the war in Sudan is brought to an end through a peaceful political settlement.

“There is a need for the Sudan conflict to be brought to an end. Any continuation of the war in Sudan will put more pressure on our countries because we are very close neighbors to Sudan.”

He said presidents Kiir and Sisi have the full determination to contain the situation and relieve the difficulties the Sudanese people are going through.

On April 15, fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and its surroundings. More than 550 people have been killed and thousands injured.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the Sudanese army and the RSF over the RSF’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."

Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.