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WASHINGTON: A US ceasefire proposal to pause Sudan\u2019s civil war could push the country towards a Libya-style partition in its current form, a top adviser to Sudan\u2019s army-led authorities told Reuters, in some of the strongest criticism by a Sudanese official of the plan so far.<\/p>\n
The remarks come a week after Reuters reported that army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan\u2019s visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York had been withheld because he had not yet accepted the proposal.<\/p>\n
Sudan\u2019s army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, when \u200cthe two fell \u200cout over issues including how to integrate their forces in a \u200cplanned transition to civilian rule.<\/p>\n
The proposal, put forward by US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos, would impose a 90-day ceasefire, followed by negotiations to end the war and resume the move to civilian rule.<\/p>\n
Amjad Farid, an adviser to Burhan on political and international affairs, told Reuters that the army-led government had presented its proposed changes to the deal, chief among them an internationally monitored withdrawal of the RSF from urban areas, but the US had appeared to ignore them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Boulos seems to be putting pressure on us to accept \u200ca de facto partitioning of the country similar \u200cto Libyan model,\u201d he told Reuters, speaking from New York where he attended the General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur concern \u200cis that the approach Mr Boulos continues to advance appears to accommodate the militia\u2019s \u200ccontinued existence and preserve a place for it in Sudan\u2019s political future,\u201d he added, referring to the RSF.<\/p>\n
A Sudanese delegation had been preparing to meet Boulos to discuss the ceasefire in Washington last week, but the meeting was cancelled after Burhan\u2019s visa was withheld, two Sudanese diplomats told Reuters, asking not \u200cto be named because they were not authorised to speak.<\/p>\n
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, it said neither the RSF nor the armed forces \u201crepresent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n
EFFORTS TO SET UP PARALLEL GOVERNMENT <\/strong><\/p>\n The US has accused the RSF of committing genocide and the army of carrying out war crimes, including the use of chemical weapons.<\/p>\n Analysts and officials have long raised fears that the conflict could lead to a de facto division of Sudan that resembles neighbouring Libya, which has been split into rival eastern and western administrations for over a decade. Since last year the RSF has been trying to establish its own parallel government in the city of Nyala in the western Darfur region. Ministers have been appointed and some police are active, though they have not set up public services or institutions such as schools, hospitals and courts.<\/p>\n Following recent battlefield defeats, the RSF has not made any recent statements on the US proposal and its leader has said its fighters intend to continue the war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n