PREVIEW
The gulf between Saudi Arabia’s and the United Arab Emirates’ positions prevented the formation of a contact group
Disagreement among the regional sponsors of the main combatants in Sudan’s civil war, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led to the collapse of a summit in London on 15 April aimed at boosting efforts to end the two-year-old conflict.
British diplomats pushed the idea of creating a contact group. The theory was that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates could use the group to pressure their proxies in the war. That meant the SAF in the case of Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and the RSF for the UAE. Yet the Gulf states refused to sign a joint communique after a day of talks London.
In the absence of representatives from the SAF or RSF, or, indeed, any of Sudan’s civilian leaders, British officials hosting the ministerial summit on the second anniversary of the civil war’s start had hoped to focus on the Middle East states who were providing funding and weapons to the warring factions.
The failure left the UK and its co-hosts, the European Union and African Union, to promise to support ‘efforts to find a peaceful solution and reject all activities, including external interference, that heighten tensions or that prolong or enable fighting’.
The statement also called for a solution that did not lead to Sudan’s partition after RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemeti announced on Tuesday the establishment of the Government of Peace and Unity, a parallel government (AC Vol 66 No 4, The generals choose partition over peace).
The meeting ended up as little more than a pledging summit for humanitarian aid, and one which ended with meagre new commitments. In February, the United Nations estimated that around US$6 billion would be needed in 2025 to support around 20 million people in Sudan or neighbouring countries who have been displaced or need humanitarian aid. The London summit, however, generated around $750m in new commitments from the UK and the EU (AC Vol 66 No 8, Cash, platitudes but no peace).
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