Washington, May 5 (EFE).- The United States and Saudi Arabia celebrated this Friday in a joint statement the start of “pre-negotiation” talks between the parties to the conflict in Sudan, which will begin on Saturday in the Saudi town of Jeddah.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States encourage both parties to consider the interests of the Sudanese nation and its people and to participate in the talks for a ceasefire and an end to the conflict,” both governments said.
The message comes after a delegation from the Sudanese Army traveled to Jeddah to begin a possible dialogue with its rival, the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitary group, after three weeks of fighting.
In their statement, the powers also thanked the collaboration of the countries and groups that have promoted the talks, including the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates or the African Union, among others.
The two parties to the conflict in Sudan have already said that the leader of the Army, Abdelfatah al Burhan, and the commander of the FAR, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo alias “Hemedti”, will not meet face to face.
In addition, this planned dialogue will be carried out indirectly and will address humanitarian and non-political issues, according to comments from representatives of both factions in recent days.
Today is the second day of a one-week truce sponsored by the South Sudanese government, which asked the two military leaders to take advantage of these days to choose their representatives and the city in which they will hold the peace negotiations.
At least 551 people have been killed, including 190 children, and nearly 5,000 injured in the three weeks of fighting, according to the latest UN count.
