Sudan Envoys Begin Talks Amid Pressure To End Conflict

ASWAN: Sudan's warring sides began talks Saturday that aim to firm up a shaky cease-fire after three weeks of fierce fighting that has killed hundreds and pushed the African country to the brink of collapse, the United States and Saudi Arabia said.

The negotiations, the first between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, since the fighting broke out on April 15, were underway in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah, on the Red Sea, according to a joint Saudi-American statement.

The talks are part of a diplomatic initiative proposed by the kingdom and the U.S. that aims to stop the fighting, which has turned Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas into battlefields and pushed hundreds of thousands from their homes.

In their joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. urged both parties to "actively engage in the talks towards a cease-fire and end to the conflict, which will spare the Sudanese people's suffering.”

The statement did not offer a timeframe for the talks, though it was expected the initial session could last two-three days.

The talks come after concerted efforts by Riyadh and other international powers to pressure the warring sides in Sudan to the negotiating table. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan welcomed the rival sides to Jeddah, saying on Twitter that he hopes the talks would restore "security and stability” in Sudan.

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