Sudan army chief says ready to cooperate for peace; EU sanctions RSF official for ‘atrocities’
Sudan’s sovereign council, headed by army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has said that it was willing to cooperate with the United States and Saudi Arabia to seek peace in the country.
In a statement, the council thanked Washington and Riyadh for “their continued efforts to stop Sudanese bloodshed,” and expressed its “readiness to seriously engage with them to achieve the peace that the Sudanese people hope for.”
It came after US President Donald Trump said he would work with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to end the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.
In the Belgian capital, the European Union on Thursday imposed sanctions on the deputy head of RSF over “grave and ongoing atrocities” after the capture of the city of El-Fasher.
The paramilitary RSF, at war with the regular army for more than two years, took control of El-Fasher on October 26, dislodging the army’s last stronghold in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
In the wake of the city’s capture — which came after 18 months of siege, bombardment and starvation — survivors reported executions, pillaging, rape and other atrocities, sparking an international outcry.
The EU said it was imposing a visa ban and asset freeze on RSF second-in-command Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, whose brother Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo is the group’s leader.
“The European Union condemns in the strongest terms the grave and ongoing atrocities perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, including following the seizure of the city of El Fasher,” the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.
It said ethnically motivated killings and systemic sexual violence “may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Since breaking out in April 2023, Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million, creating what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would start “working” on the war in Sudan after visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked him to help end the conflict.
The Sudanese government, UN experts and international groups have accused the United Arab Emirates of fueling the war by supporting the RSF, accusations denied by Abu Dhabi.
Kallas said the EU has agreed to step up its outreach to countries acting as “enablers” of the conflict to try to help stop the flow of weaponry.
