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	     In the meantime  small steps forward include a summit in Cairo attended by Sudan's neighbours  and a phone call between army chief General Abdel Fattah al Burhan  and Kenya's President William Ruto at the weekend...
	 
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	     Unlike the Saudi Arabia and US talks in Jeddah  the Addis meeting was attended by civilian activists and politicians who were in the power-sharing transitional government alongside the military before the 2021 coup led by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Hemeti (AC Vol 62 No 22  General Al Burhan's power grab)...
	 
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	     It would have been easier to persuade the warring factions under Gen Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Gen Hemeti to agree to a ceasefire in the region at that stage – a ceasefire in May and June in Darfur could have saved more lives than the shaky agreements reached in and around Khartoum (AC Vol 64 No 10  A war that hits everyone all at once & Vol 64 No 11  A ceasefire with monitors this time)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 64 No 14 | 
            - RUSSIA
 - AFRICA
 
        
        
		
        
        
    
        
	
	     Hemeti's RSF is reckoned to number around 100 000 while General Abdel Fattah al Burhan  Commander of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)  presides over about 200 000 soldiers and the air force...
 Should the SAF prevail  it is unthinkable that General Abdel Fattah al Burhan will offer any political or commercial accommodation to General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti'...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 64 No 12 | 
            - SOUTH SUDAN
 
        
        
		
        
        
    
        
	
	     Other peace initiatives  including those pushed by Saudi Arabia and the United States  have also foundered  and on 31 May all bets were off when Gen Abdel Fattah al Burhan announced that he was withdrawing from peace talks in Jeddah...
	 
    
    
    
			
        
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	     This follows an escalation of the war in the wake of General Abdel Fattah al Burhan's withdrawal from the peace talks in Jeddah citing serial violations by his adversaries  last week (AC Vol 64 No 11  A ceasefire with monitors this time)...
	 
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	     That was evident in a phone call by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to General Abdel Fattah al Burhan a few hours before the signing of the latest agreement...
  Outsiders criticised her for failing to sanction Generals Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti'  but they said less on the Biden administration's other missteps...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Generals Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti' had said they support a humanitarian ceasefire but have intensified the fighting over the past week (AC Vol 64 No 9  Regional states hold back  for now)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Despite multiple attempts to dampen the tensions after the SAF commander General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti' failed to reach agreement on integrating their forces by the 29 March deadline  preparations for a fight to the finish rumbled on (AC Vol 64 No 9  Mediators proliferate as fighting intensifies and more flee Khartoum)...
 General Abdel Fattah al Burhan is relying on other military operators  especially the successors to the Islamist Popular Defence Forces that had thrived under the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party regimes of Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir until his ousting in April 2019...
	 
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	    The feared internationalisation of the fight between the forces of Generals Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti' is contingent on how long it lasts and its outcome in Khartoum...