UN envoy calls proposed truce ‘rare chance’ to halt fighting in Sudan, protect civilians

By Adel Abdelrheem and Rania Abu Shamala

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ISTANBUL (AA) – UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, called on all warring rivals on Friday to seize a proposal for a humanitarian truce in the country, describing it as a “rare chance” to stop the fighting and protect Sudanese civilians.

On Sept. 12, the Quad, which comprises the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, called for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan to enable the delivery of emergency aid to all areas as a step toward a permanent ceasefire.

“The humanitarian truce proposed by partners offers a rare chance to pause the fighting, protect civilians, and ease immense suffering,” Lamamra said in a post on US social media company X.

“The UN welcomes all genuine efforts that can bring relief and hope to the Sudanese people.”

The envoy urged “all parties to seize this opportunity to change the country’s trajectory. Such decisions are never easy in the fog of war — but they are essential to save lives and rebuild trust.

“Each day without restraint brings graver news — families fleeing in fear, atrocities that shock the conscience,” he said.

The UN envoy stressed that a “lasting pause could also open space for dialogue and a credible political process — the only route to a just and enduring peace.”

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said Thursday that it has agreed to a humanitarian truce in Sudan proposed by the Quad countries.

Khartoum has earlier set conditions for any political dialogue with the RSF, including the withdrawal of the rebel group from occupied cities and the exclusion of the rebel group from any future political role.

On Wednesday, the Joint Force of Armed Movements in Darfur, a coalition fighting alongside the Sudanese army, rejected any political solution that involves the RSF as an equal actor to the state.

The RSF captured El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and a strategic city in the region, on Oct. 26 and carried out massacres of civilians, according to local and international organizations, triggering warnings that the takeover could cement a geographic partition of the war-torn country.

Out of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF currently controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except some northern areas in North Darfur that remain under army control. The Sudanese army rules over most of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.

Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.