World News | UN Envoy: Humanitarian agreement between warring parties is first step towards ceasefire in Sudan

CAIRO, May 13 (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Sudan welcomed Friday an agreement between the country’s warring generals that promises safe passage for civilians fleeing the conflict and protects humanitarian operations in the east African country .

Special envoy Volker Perthes said the deal was an important first step towards a ceasefire as fighting enters its fourth week.

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Sudan’s military and the country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) signed an agreement late Thursday vowing to ease humanitarian suffering across the country, although a truce remains elusive.

The two sides also agreed to refrain from attacks that could harm civilians. The violence has killed more than 600 people, including civilians, according to the UN health agency.

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“The most important factor is the commitment of both parties to continue negotiations,” Potus said at an online U.N. news conference from his office in Port Sudan. He added that the international community had begun efforts to turn the agreement into a ceasefire.

The AP obtained a copy of the agreement, which outlines a series of shared pledges and pledges to “promote humanitarian action to meet the needs of civilians.”

The signing of the agreement, brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, was broadcast by Saudi state media in the early hours of Friday. Neither the military nor Reporters Without Borders issued an immediate statement acknowledging Thursday’s agreement.

It did not detail how troops on the ground would meet agreed humanitarian commitments. Previously, since fighting broke out on April 15, the two sides agreed to several short ceasefires, but all of them were violated.

In a post on Twitter, Amjad Farid, a Sudanese analyst and former aid to the country’s prime minister, said the deal was unlikely to bring about any real change on the ground. Other commentators have expressed similar skepticism.

It “consists of texts already in international humanitarian law and treaties related to the treatment of civilians in time of war,” Farid wrote.

Despite the agreement, residents in Khartoum said fighting continued throughout Friday morning.

“I woke up to an airstrike (landing) nearby,” said Waleed Adam, a resident who lives in the east of the capital.

Fighting has turned the capital Khartoum into an urban battlefield over the past few weeks and sparked deadly ethnic clashes in West Darfur. About 200,000 people have fled the country, said Olga Sarrado, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, who also attended Friday’s news conference.

The US State Department said late on Thursday that talks in Jeddah would now focus on arranging an “effective ceasefire of up to approximately 10 days”.

The United Nations and several human rights groups have accused both sides – the army led by General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces commanded by General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo – of repeated human rights violations. The military has been accused of indiscriminately bombing civilian areas, while the RSF has been blamed for widespread looting, mistreatment of residents and the conversion of homes into bases of operations. The two sides continued to point fingers at each other over the violations.

Potus, who received death threats and phone calls to resign, said he was committed to staying in Port Sudan and overseeing humanitarian work in the coastal city. He described those who threatened him as fringe “extremists” and said there was widespread appreciation for the UN’s efforts in Sudan.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the signing of the agreement, which could boost relief operations for millions of Sudanese in need, spokesman Stephen Dujarric said.

Dujarric said the UN chief reiterated his call for an end to the fighting but that the group would “continue to provide humanitarian assistance, with or without a ceasefire”. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)