Truce begins in Sudan for 72 hours
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Following the breakout of turmoil in Sudan, the RSF agree to a 72-hour ceasefire.
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Smoke is seen rising from a neighborhood in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, April 15, 2023. (AP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire on humanitarian grounds starting at 6:00 am local time (4:00 GMT) on Friday.
US State Secretary Antony Blinken spoke with Sudan Army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Thursday, and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), the commander of the RSF, and urged the parties to the conflict in Sudan to uphold a nationwide ceasefire until the end of the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday on April 23.
As quoted by Reuters, the RSF said that "the truce coincides with the blessed Eid Al-Fitr ... to open humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens and give them the opportunity to greet their families."
Following the breakout of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday, the League of Arab States' (LAS) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit voiced his condemnation on April 15th of arms use and urged for an immediate ceasefire.
In its statement, the LAS said that "Aboul Gheit condemns the use of arms in Sudan and calls for an immediate ceasefire," adding that Aboul Gheit requested the stop of escalations and stressed that the organization is prepared to intervene and look into the situation.
Conflict was predictable
Muhammad Hasab al-Rasoul, a regional affairs analyst, told Al Mayadeen Net, "The conflict that occurred between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces was predictable since the [Rapid] support forces have been a tool of the Western colonial project in Sudan."
According to Al-Rasoul, the West seeks to seize authority in Sudan with the aim of subjugating Khartoum and recolonizing the country.
The analyst also pointed to the political wing of Western powers in his country, which he identified as the Forces of Freedom and Change, which along with the RSF, received aid and support from regional and global actors, or the "Quartet" that is comprised of Saudi Arabia, UAE, the US, and the UK.
Al-Rasoul said that the West created these groups to manage the conflict in Sudan and implement its neoliberal project.
