UN envoy to press for Sudan dialogue
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is preparing to travel to Port Sudan and Addis Ababa next week to press for renewed political dialogue, the UN announced on Thursday.
He is expected to focus on the urgent need for civilian protection and unhindered humanitarian access across Darfur and Kordofan.
A top Sudanese General this week spelled out conditions to end the devastating war in the East African country that has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed infrastructure, brought the economy on its knees and caused the world's worst humanitarian crises and famine in many areas.
This is as efforts continue to bring the warring parties to the table to work towards ending the war.
Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta, assistant commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), in a speech in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, demanded the “surrender and withdrawal” of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), against which it has been fighting since 15 April 2023.
The Sudanese news outlet, Sudan Tribune, said he also repeated his accusations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is supporting “mercenaries” in the country.
Lt. Gen. Al-Atta rejected any negotiation not based on the RSF’s withdrawal.
Sudan Tribune said he detailed the SAF's preconditions for peace, asserting they represent the definitive “state’s decision”.
These requirements centre on the comprehensive dissolution of the RSF as a fighting force and the restoration of state control.
“The SAF demands the immediate withdrawal of RSF forces from all major urban centres and their confinement to specified encampments located exclusively within South and East Darfur states. Furthermore, all weapons and combat equipment currently in the possession of the RSF must be fully surrendered to the Sudanese Armed Forces. Lastly, full national sovereignty must be immediately re-established over all key infrastructure, including international border crossings and airports across the country,” Lt. Gen. Al-Atta said.
Lt. Gen. Al-Atta launched a sharp attack on the UAE, stating it is behind fuelling the conflict and financing mercenaries.
He accused the ruler of Abu Dhabi of bringing in mercenaries from Colombia, Ukraine, Libya, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Niger, and Somalia to fight alongside the RSF.
On Wednesday, the US said it expected the warring parties to commit to the humanitarian truce proposed by the Quad working to end the fighting.
This was stated in a post on X by Mr. Massad Boulos, US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs, after talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE, with senior government officials.
He said: “We expect the RSF and SAF to commit to and comply with a humanitarian truce without preconditions and allow full, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access. The truce is essential to saving lives and represents a critical step toward sustained dialogue, a transition to civilian rule, and a durable peace for the people of Sudan.”
The Quad, comprising the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, proposed a roadmap on 12 September to end the conflict in Sudan that calls for a humanitarian truce followed by a ceasefire and a political process leading to civilian rule.
The commander of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, announced last Monday his agreement to a humanitarian truce.
“In response to international efforts, led by the initiative of U.S. President Donald Trump, we announce the agreement of the RSF and its allies to a three-month truce and a cessation of military actions,” Daglo said in a video address
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the city of El Fasher remains dire as mass displacement accelerates and aid access stays restricted, amid warnings of widespread trafficking, sexual violence and the recruitment of children.
UN agencies say conditions are deteriorating further across North Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan, while independent human rights experts on Thursday warned that the collapse of protection following the city’s fall has sharply increased the risks facing women and children.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of El Fasher – the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state – on 26 October after an 18-month siege that cut residents off from food, medicine and other critical supplies. The city had been the government’s last major stronghold in the Darfur region.
According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), families who fled the fighting are now scattered across five locations surrounding El Fasher, including Tawila, while others have reached more distant areas such as Dabbah in Northern State and even the national capital, Khartoum.
Currently, 1,485 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies – enough for about 130,000 people – are en route to Tawila through the Dabbah Crossing, adding to ongoing assistance for those displaced earlier this year.
Meanwhile, renewed fighting in the Kordofan region is driving further large-scale displacement.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 1,800 people were displaced in South Kordofan on Tuesday alone, while in North Kordofan nearly 40,000 people were uprooted between 25 October and 18 November.
Sudan's war erupted in April 2023 following a power struggle between the RSF and the national Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). It quickly devolved into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, marked by famine, mass displacement and widespread atrocities.
Against this backdrop, independent human rights experts expressed alarm on Thursday at reports of trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery, and the recruitment of children as fighters, particularly since the RSF takeover of El Fasher.
“We are deeply concerned at the alarming reports of human trafficking since the takeover of El Fasher and surrounding areas by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF),” the experts said.
“Women and girls have been abducted in RSF-controlled areas, and women, unaccompanied and separated children are at elevated risk of sexual violence and sexual exploitation.”
Since the siege of El Fasher began in May 2024, more than 470,000 people have been displaced multiple times from camps including Shagra, Zamzam and Abu Shouk. Across Sudan, nearly 12 million people – about half of them children – are now forcibly displaced or have fled to neighbouring countries, with sexual violence reported in conflict zones nationwide.
The experts – who are mandated and appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and are not UN staff – cited multiple incidents of rape and sexual abuse near RSF checkpoints and at sites sheltering displaced people, including the reported gang-rape of 25 women near El Fasher University.
They urged all parties to immediately halt violations against civilians and called on Member States to take urgent action following the Human Rights Council’s recent special session on the situation in and around El Fasher.
-0- PANA MA 28Nov2025
