Egypt’s foreign affairs minister has clarified his country’s role in Sudan which is to broker a ceasefire between the warring sides and end the 20-month long conflict.
Speaking during a meeting with civil society activists in Port Sudan on Tuesday Badr Abdelatty said Egypt is not taking sides in the bloody conflict between the Sudanese regular army led by junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Thousands of people mostly civilians had died and over two million more have been displaced since the conflict began in April 2023.
Abdelatty said Cairo’s conviction is that Sudan’s future rests solely with the Sudanese people and that foreign interference will only serve to aggravate an already worsening situation for the country.
Speaking in the presence of Sudanese counterpart Ali Youssef, the head of Egyptian diplomacy his country;s only interest is to join the international effort to ensure that Sudan return to normality in the shortest possible time and facilitate state institutions to protect rights and national resources.
Earlier on Tuesday, Abdelatty had held talks with the head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, indicating his country’s efforts toward achieving security in Sudan.
He also said his trip to Sudan was to demonstrate ”brotherly solidarity” with Sudan in its desperate ”hour of need’.
His visit comes amid long-running suspicion that Egypt was siding with General Burhan, which it denies as reports also suggest that the United Arab Emirates backs his rival Dagalo.
Abdelatty assured Burhan that Egypt would stay true to its commitment toward a regionally brokered peace deal which would safeguard Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and allow for the full participation of the country in continental activities under the African Union in the near future.
Since the Sudanese unrest began in April 2023, Egypt has played a peace advocacy role which is to bring a definitive end to the fighting and prevent further bloodshed the brunt of which is borne by Sudanese civilians.
To this rather elusive end Egypt has been working closely with its allies, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Cairo had even hosted a Sudan Neighbouring States Summit in July 2023 in a bid to bring the region’s weight behind the global initiative for lasting peace in the country.
It was attended by heads of state and governments of the Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Sudan.
Meanwhile, as the belligerents fought to a stalemate, an estimated 14 million people, representing some 30 percent of Sudan’s population have been displaced both in and out of the country, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a report in October.
1.2 million Sudanese have fled to Egypt since April 2023, according to figures from the Egyptian government to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
WN/as/APA