The US is working with regional and international partners on a diplomatic push to secure a humanitarian truce in Sudan, which has been engulfed in a three-year civil war, a senior White House adviser has said.
US President Donald Trump's adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, spoke to Sky News Arabia about Washington's efforts with fellow Quad countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – as well as Turkey, Qatar and European nations to establish a new path towards a ceasefire.
"Today we are striving, together with our brothers in the Quad, namely Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as our brothers in Qatar and Turkey and in Europe, towards a new peaceful path," he said in an interview broadcast on Saturday.
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has devastated the country of 50 million people and battered its economy. International efforts aimed at ending the war have struggled to secure a lasting cessation of hostilities.
Asked whether the US could force open humanitarian corridors, Mr Boulos said Washington was working with international and regional partners on the issue. He said the goal remained to secure a humanitarian truce as the first step towards a wider political settlement.
Mr Boulos said the US continued to support the "comprehensive peace plan” he announced in February. The plan is centred on five pillars – an immediate humanitarian truce; sustained humanitarian access and civilian protection; a permanent ceasefire; a political transition to a civilian-led government; and postwar reconstruction.
"There is no military solution in Sudan," he said. "The only solution is a peaceful solution."
A UN fact-finding report revealed this month that the SAF used foreign-supplied drones in operations that harmed civilians. While the reported repeated that external players had supported the RSF by enabling the transfer of weapons, it cast a harsher light on the SAF's actions.
Arms embargo push
As part of its efforts to end the war, the US has also been working to expand an existing UN arms embargo in Darfur to cover the entire country, especially over the use of drones, which Mr Boulos described as a defining feature of the war. "It is fundamentally a war of drones," he said.
The UN Security Council this month gave members one month to discuss the US proposal. Washington pushed for that short-term extension to allow further negotiations to widen the embargo, rather than simply renewing the existing sanctions regime for another year.
Mr Boulos said Washington did not view the move as a failure and would use the additional time to negotiate with members of the Security Council, including Russia and China, which had opposed the expansion of the measures.
He said the US and its partners wanted to end foreign military support for both sides in Sudan. Washington has also imposed sanctions on people, groups and foreign companies accused of supporting either side. Mr Boulos said other measures in addition to the arms embargo included action against the illicit gold trade and use of chemical weapons.
He said the administration of President Donald Trump, as well as the previous administration, had reached the conclusion that chemical weapons were used in Sudan. The issue, he said, must now be addressed through the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons rather than directly by Washington.
The US has offered technical assistance to help resolve the issue, he said, adding that the SAF "must address this matter with the [OPCW]."
This month, the SAF faced new evidence over its use of chemical weapons. Reports published by The New York Times, The Washington Post and Euronews revealed the SAF had not only used chemical weapons in the devastating war but also built a stockpile that it has since sought to conceal. A dossier provided details of how the SAF tested bombs in Sudan’s desert and built up its chemical weapons operation piece by piece, before attempting to cover its tracks.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes and the US has increased pressure on the country's warring commanders – SAF leader Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF chief Gen Mohamed Dagalo – maintaining that neither can have a role in governing the country after the war. While the RSF has said it accepts a 90-day humanitarian truce, it has rejected aspects of the proposed withdrawal arrangements. Gen Al Burhan, meanwhile, has vowed to continue fighting until the RSF is defeated.
Civilian-led peace
Mr Boulos said the opposition to both sides was part of the roadmap agreed to by the Quad and that it was up to the Sudanese people to decide on their post-war government. He stressed that the US does not formally recognise the SAF-backed government but has dealt with it as a de facto entity.
"At the same time, we do not recognise any parallel governments and we oppose partition," he said, adding that the US supports a unified Sudan and warned against a "repeat of the Libyan scenario in Sudan". Libya has also been divided by civil war, with two rival governments in place.
Dialogue for a political solution must be inclusive, but concerns remain over the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist groups that should be excluded from the process, he said.
"Apart from that, there must be very broad national participation," he said. Sudan's diverse civil society groups, political parties and other entities need to be included, he added.
