Sudan's paramilitary RSF 'welcomes' US President Trump's peace initiative
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has come under severe criticism for atrocities committed in the war with the army, on Friday announced “a full and serious response to peace initiatives” pledged by U.S. President Donald Trump this week.
Sudanese news outlet, Sudan Tribune, quoted an RSF spokesman as saying in a statement on Friday that they are following the intensive international movements regarding the situation in Sudan “with great interest and appreciation”.
President Trump, in response to a request by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohamed bin Salaman, during talks in The White House, last Wednesday that immediate work would begin to end the war in Sudan, in response to the Saudi Crown Prince’s request.
Sudan Tribune said the RSF statement thanked President Trump and leaders of the Quad countries – US. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt – working to end the war, for their appreciated efforts and good offices to mediate in the Sudanese conflict to stop what it called “the war imposed upon them” and end the suffering of the Sudanese people.
“As we announce our full and serious response to these initiatives, we confirm to the Sudanese people and the international community that the real obstacle to achieving peace is the gang controlling the decision of the armed forces—composed of remnants of the defunct regime and leaders of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organisation—who ignited this war with the aim of returning to power over the innocent’s remains,” the statement said.
The RSF pledged that the “Rapid Support Forces will move forward toward addressing the roots of the crisis and building a new Sudan with a single, professional national army free of extremist ideologies”.
The Sudanese government has already welcomed President Trump's pledge to initiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the East African country.
“The Government of Sudan welcomes the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America to achieve a just and equitable peace in Sudan,” a statement from the Sudanese collective presidency led by Lieutenant General Abdul Fatah al Burhan said on Wednesday.
The statement said Sudan commends both leaders “for their continued concern and efforts to stop the bloodshed in Sudan”.
It affirmed the government's readiness to engage seriously with the US and Saudi Arabia to achieve the peace that Sudanese people await.
President Trump, in a post on social media, said “tremendous atrocities" were taking place in Sudan, adding that ”it has become the most violent place on Earth and likewise the single biggest humanitarian crisis". He said food, doctors, and everything else are desperately needed.
He said Arab leaders, including the Saudi Crown Prince, have asked him to use the power and influence of his presidency to bring an immediate halt to what is happening in Sudan.
“We will work with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other Middle Eastern partners to get these atrocities to end while at the same time stabilising Sudan,” the US President wrote.
Sudan’s civil war pits the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – once allies who turned their weapons on each other in April 2023. Fighting has displaced more than ten million people, destroyed large parts of Khartoum and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The RSF faces accusations of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, including recent atrocities reported in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in March this year that both sides were responsible for "a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week severely criticised RSF for the “terrible” things it has been doing in the war and called for a cut off of its weapons supply.
“…I think something needs to be done to cut off the weapons and the support that the RSF is getting as they continue with their advances. I think it’s telling – the humanitarian groups are telling us that some of the levels of malnutrition and suffering that they’re seeing from some of these people who have been able to flee is unprecedented, they’ve said,” Mr. Rubio said
The Quad has proposed that a three-month humanitarian truce should be followed by a ceasefire agreement between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The RSF has announced that it has agreed to the humanitarian truce “in response to the aspirations and interests of the Sudanese people”.
It said in a statement that the humanitarian truce is in order to address the “catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and to enhance the protection of civilians”.
Lt. Gen. al-Burhan has, however, again set conditions for truce: the surrender of RSF.
In another tough speech last week, he called on everyone who can carry a weapon to join the fight against the RSF and their collaborators who “have no place in Sudan”. The Sudanese government is against the involvement of the UAE in the peace efforts because it claims it has been arming the RSF.
-0- PANA MA 22Nov2025
