It is one of the countries at the forefront of the fratricidal war currently taking place in Sudan. Egypt hosted a summit of Khartoum’s neighbors and representatives of various Sudanese military and civilian factions on Thursday, July 13. your ambition? Find ways to end the conflict that has raged since April 15 and has sparked a major humanitarian crisis in the region.
The goal of the summit is to “put an end to the bloodshed of the Sudanese people” and “end the negative impact on neighboring countries,” according to a press release from Egyptian authorities, concerned about the stalemate in the war between the loyal armies General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, at the head of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), a powerful paramilitary group.
Also readWho are the FSR, these paramilitaries as opposed to the army in Sudan?
“For security reasons, Egyptian leaders are concerned about the threat of terrorist infiltration along the border,” Alessia Melcangi, a researcher at the Atlantic Council, told Al-Jazeera. “This situation would put additional pressure on Egyptian security forces already deployed on the western border with Libya and on the border with Gaza to defend the Sinai Peninsula.”
Intensive trade between Cairo and Khartoum is also suffering from this crisis, which comes at the worst time for Egypt, which is struggling with a dire economic situation. In June, inflation hit 36.8% on a yearly basis as poverty rises and external debt soars.
According to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), fighting since the beginning of the conflict has caused 700,000 Sudanese to flee to neighboring countries, including more than 255,000 to Egypt.
Faced with this situation, Sudan’s seven neighboring countries gathered in Cairo called for help from the international community, which pledged $1.5 billion at a summit in June. The latter must “keep up on its promises” and “help neighboring countries,” stressed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
Competing Initiatives
After the failure of several ceasefires, Egypt, the mainstay of the Sudanese army, intended to regain the initiative, despite sometimes conflicting interests with its neighbors in Sudan. Starting with Ethiopia, whose prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, made the trip to Cairo.
Egypt and Addis Ababa have had strained relations for several years over the Grand Renaissance Dam, a mega-project Ethiopia wants but which Cairo says threatens the water resources of countries down the Nile. A case in which the two rivals try to ingratiate themselves with the Sudanese authorities.
Also Read: Sudan Torn Between Interests of Neighboring Powers
“The Ethiopians prefer Hemedti, but does that mean they will engage in the war? “There is no reason for Addis Ababa to take a fixed position today,” decodes Roland Marchal, researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). and specialist in Sudan.
Diplomatic efforts to end fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF have so far proved ineffective as competing initiatives create confusion about how to get the warring parties to negotiate.
Last month, talks that began in Jeddah under the auspices of Saudi Arabia and the United States have been suspended due to a lack of agreement. Neither Egypt nor the United Arab Emirates, one of Sudan’s main donors and allegedly close to the FSR, took part in the negotiations.
Battles without winners
A summit was also held in Addis Ababa on Monday 10 July at the suggestion of Igad, the East African regional bloc made up of Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and South Sudan. But the Sudanese army boycotted the meeting and denounced the “partisanship” of Kenyan President William Ruto, who chairs the organization.
“Hemedti and William Ruto knew each other before the crisis and get along very well. Hemedti invested in particular in Kenya, the major financial power in East Africa. Hence the distrust on the part of Al-Burhane”, specifies Roland Marchal.
Despite calls to silence the noise of gunfire, fighting on the ground continues unabated, particularly in Khartoum, where millions of people are still stranded, often without water or electricity and in sweltering heat.
“The problem is that we’re not seeing any fatigue in the fighting right now. At the moment there hasn’t been a real strategic victory on one side or the other, camps that each have existential reasons for wanting to win,” analyzes Roland Marchal.
Violence has also erupted in other parts of Sudan, including in the western Darfur region, where residents say Arab tribal militias and Sudanese security forces have targeted civilians because of their ethnicity.
See also ‘Catastrophic Situation’: Sudan Plunges into Civil War That’s ‘Getting Worse by the Day’
The United Nations on Thursday reported the discovery of a mass grave in Darfur containing at least 87 people allegedly killed by paramilitary forces and their allies in Sudan last month.
They were “victims of the violence that followed the assassination of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar on June 14, shortly after his arrest by the RSF,” according to the UN.
With Portal and AFP