{"id":20065462,"date":"2024-01-03T12:50:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T11:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20065462"},"modified":"2024-03-28T16:23:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T15:23:08","slug":"20065462","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/20065462","title":{"rendered":"Sudan war: RSF \u2018ready for a ceasefire\u2019, signs declaration with Tagaddum civil alliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The meeting of the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Lt Gen Mohamed \u2018Hemedti\u2019 Dagalo, with a delegation of the Civil Democratic Forces alliance (Tagaddum<\/em>), headed by former PM Abdalla Hamdok, in the Ethiopian capital on Monday, concluded yesterday with the signing of an declaration. Hemedti said the RSF are ready to agree with the army on an immediate ceasefire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Addis Ababa Declaration, signed by Hemedti and Hamdok, the paramilitary RSF agrees \u201cto immediately and unconditionally stop hostilities\u201d in direct negotiations with the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), provided that the Tagaddum<\/em> coalition<\/a> of progressive parties and groups agrees with the army commanders \u201cto adhere to the same procedures\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the declaration text<\/a>, the RSF will open safe corridors for the transport of humanitarian aid in areas under their control. The paramilitaries will provide security in these areas through the deployment of police forces<\/a> and work on the restoration of civil services and production facilities, so that the millions of displaced people will be able to return to their homes in these areas. A national committee for the protection of civilians will be set up to monitor the procedures for this purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declaration also stipulates full cooperation with the fact-finding committee<\/a> formed by the UN Human Rights Council in October to ensure that \u201cthe facts are presented, victims are treated fairly, and violators are held accountable\u201d. An independent Sudanese committee will investigate human rights violations throughout the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RSF, as a goodwill gesture, will also release 451 prisoners of war and other detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both parties further agreed that the joint Declaration of Principles, and Tagaddum<\/em>\u2019s draft roadmap<\/a> for peace \u201cconstitute a good basis for a political process that ends the war in Sudan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Positive spirit\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rasha Awad, editior-in-chief of El Taghyeer<\/em> electronic newspaper and member of the Tagaddum<\/em> Executive Office, told reporters in Addis Ababa yesterday that \u201cextensive discussions about how to reach peace in Sudan took place during the meeting on Monday evening\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA positive spirit prevailed at the meeting,\u201d she told reporters on Tuesday morning. \u201cAll those gathered agreed that the war is a major disaster, and that all parties must strive to stop this war and achieve peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was agreed to immediately set up a joint technical committee between the RSF and Tagaddum<\/em> to further study the latter\u2019s roadmap and draft declaration of political principles. \u201cThe meeting will continue today, Tuesday, after the authorised technical committee has met,\u201d Awad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She further referred to the letter sent by Tagaddum<\/em> to the SAF command, requesting a similar meeting<\/a> with the army leadership. \u201cWe are still waiting for a response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Page<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Building block\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a joint press conference with the RSF commander after signing the Addis Ababa Declaration yesterday, Hamdok praised Hemedti\u2019s quick response to the meeting with Tagaddum<\/em>, and said he expects the SAF leadership also to respond to the request for a meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described the Addis Ababa Declaration as \u201cthe first building block for stopping the war in Sudan\u201d and appealed to the Sudanese \u201cto forget all their differences, big and small, and unite now to stop this war\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemedti said that he is ready \u201cto sign a cessation of hostilities today if the army agrees to the Addis Ababa Declaration to stop the war\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called on Tagaddum<\/em> to include the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu) and the Sudan Liberation Movement under the leadership of and Abdelwahid El Nour (SLM-AW) in the declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RSF commander said he welcomes \u201cany investigation into who started the war in Sudan,\u201d and stressed that \u201cthe RSF are not militiamen, but forces to be reckoned with\u201d. He condemned the killing of Sudanese by army soldiers under false accusations that they belong to the RSF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemedti further referred to the joint SAF-RSF coup d\u2019\u00e9tat that toppled the civilian government of Hamdok on October 25, 2021, and said that \u201cthe coup was determined to cause chaos\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said once again that \u201cthe Islamists [affiliates of the Al Bashir regime] were the ones who planned and ignited this war and destroyed Sudan and its infrastructure\u201d and affirmed his commitment to achieving \u201ca just and comprehensive peace that establishes a new Sudan in which the values \u200b\u200bof freedom, democracy and justice prevail\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemedti, who did not appear in public since the war started on April 15 last year, began touring<\/a> the countries of the Horn of Africa in end December, after SAF commander Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, following the fall of El Gezira<\/a> in central Sudan to the RSF on December 18, finally agreed<\/a> to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development\u2019s (IGAD) decision in a special summit on Sudan<\/a> in Djibouti in mid-December to organise a face-to-face meeting between the RSF and SAF commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting was supposed to take place in Djibouti on December 28, but was postponed to January for \u201ctechnical reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tagaddum<\/em> has been operating from the Ethiopian capital since October. Hamdok met with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir in A delegation visited Kenyan President<\/a> William Ruto in mid-December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speeches by El Burhan and by Hemedti to the Sudanese people on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the country\u2019s independence have been strongly criticised<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Burhan appeared to contradict himself. \u201cHe denounced advocates for stopping the war and at the same time he said that he supports calls for peace,\u201d lawyer Majdi El Naeem told Radio Dabanga on Monday. Journalist Shamayel El Nour called \u201cboth speeches contain an evasion of responsibility and a denial of reality in a way that hardly deserves comment\u201d.<\/p>\n