Fresh peace talks aimed at ending Sudan’s 16-month war have begun despite one of the warring sides – the national army – refusing to attend.
The US, which is facilitating the discussions, insisted the event continued regardless as the millions suffering in Sudan “cannot afford for us to wait”.
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has claimed thousands of lives, and driven approximately 10 million people from their homes.
The army dashed hopes of a ceasefire deal by boycotting Wednesday’s talks, saying it would not attend as the RSF had not implemented “what was agreed upon” in Saudi Arabia last year.
The RSF had not met key conditions of the Jeddah Declaration, such as withdrawing its fighters from civilians’ houses and public facilities, the army said.
In a statement on social media platform X, the RSF said it had arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva for the talks and called on the army to “commit to fulfilling the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people”.
The army also rejected the talks as it objects to the presence as an observer of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which it accuses of backing the RSF.
Alongside UAE, delegates representing the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the African Union and the United Nations are in attendance.
According to the UN’s migration agency, tens of thousands of preventable deaths are looming in Sudan if the conflict and restrictions on humanitarian aid continue.
The United States said the crisis had reached an unprecedented level of severity with millions facing hunger and displacement.
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