UN mission says pursuing efforts to stop hostilities in Sudan

By Bahram Abdel Moneim
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – The UN mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said Tuesday that it is continuing efforts and contacts with the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group to stop hostilities and restore calm.
“Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Volker Perthes, is continuing his good offices from Port Sudan,” UNITMAS said in a statement. “He is in contact with both sides urging for a cease-fire to enable urgent humanitarian assistance,” it added.
More than 550 people have been killed and thousands injured in fighting between the army and the RSF since April 15, according to Sudan’s Health Ministry.
The two military rivals held their first face-to-face talks in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, in an effort to resolve their conflict.
A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the two sides over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces — a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since fall 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."
The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.
*Writing by Ikram Kouachi