By William Madouk
Sudanese leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Kenya’s William Ruto have agreed to work towards a framework for an all-inclusive dialogue.
The two leaders held talks on Monday at Kenyan State House in Nairobi, on finding a lasting solution to the conflict in the country.
Gen. al-Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the Kenyan President, Ruto, also reviewed the state of ongoing peace initiatives, including the Jeddah and the IGAD peace processes.
The two leaders emphasized the urgency to find a solution to the conflict in Sudan in the shortest time possible.
In a joint communiqué, Al-Burhan and Ruto agreed to recognize the slow progress in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“The Jeddah Process must be accelerated towards cessation of hostilities in the country,” the communiqué stated.
The leaders also agreed to work towards convening an urgent IGAD Summit to find ways to accelerate the Jeddah process to a cessation of hostilities in Sudan.
“The Summit will also agree on a framework for an all-inclusive Sudanese dialogue” the statement added.
Ruto, who leads the IGAD sub-committee tasked with mediating an end to the Sudan war, further committed to brief the Chair of the regional body, on the meeting.
The fighting in Sudan, between forces loyal to Gen. Al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo also known as Hemedti, has been concentrated around the capital city, Khartoum, and the Darfur region.
The United Nations reported in October that at least 9,000 people had been killed and more than 6,000 injured.
So far, more than 4.8 million persons are internally displaced and at least 1.3 million others have fled the country, as refugees.
The talks in Jeddah last week were faced with setbacks where SAF and RSF failed to agree on a ceasefire.
In a press statement released on Tuesday, IGAD said the co-facilitators regretted that the parties were unable to reach a deal adding that there is no acceptable military solution to the conflict.
The meeting between the President and al-Burhan signals hope considering that the latter had accused Ruto of favoring RSF.
However, Gen. al-Burhan had opposed Ruto’s appointment as the head of a quartet to facilitate peace under IGAD, stating that Kenya was not neutral and that it had sheltered leaders of the RSF rebels.
Meanwhile, during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact held in Paris in June, Ruto denied the allegations.
“The main accusation against Kenya is that we have Hemedti in one of our hospitals in Nairobi which is not true. It is a whole false narrative,” he said.