Egypt and South Sudan on Sunday offered to mediate between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces after clashes erupted yesterday and are still continuing in the capital Khartoum and other cities.

According to a statement issued today by the Egyptian presidency, Sudan's neighbors from the north and south appealed to all Sudanese parties to "give priority to the voice of wisdom and peaceful dialogue," during a phone call between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir.

At the same time, an emergency Arab meeting began this afternoon at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo to discuss the situation in Sudan, at the invitation of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

According to Anadolu Agency, the emergency meeting is being held at the level of permanent representatives (21 countries with Syria's membership frozen), according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry yesterday evening.

During the emergency meeting, Egypt's representative to the Arab League said that his country calls on both sides of the conflict in Sudan to ensure the safety of all Egyptian interests there.

Ambassador Mohamed Mustafa Orfi said, "The Arab Republic of Egypt affirms the centrality of preserving the security and safety of all Egyptian interests in Sudan. It stresses the responsibility of the Republic of the Sudan and its relevant organs to ensure the security and safety of the relevant interests."

The Rapid Support Forces had published videos they said were of the capture of a group of Sudanese army members, as well as a number of Egyptian soldiers and officers at Merowe airport. The video shows a person identifying himself as an Egyptian officer detained by the RSF.

Egypt responded through Egyptian army spokesman Gharib Abdel Hafez, who said in a statement that the army is closely following the situation in Sudan, and is coordinating with the authorities there to ensure that the Egyptian forces present to conduct exercises with their Sudanese counterparts, according to the statement.

The RSF said it was ready to hand over Egyptian nationals to their commanders as soon as security calmed down.

African Meeting

Separately, the African Union's Peace and Security Council said on Twitter that it had called for an emergency session to discuss political and security developments in Sudan on Sunday.

It is worth noting that the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces exchanged accusations that each began an attack on each other's headquarters, in addition to claims of controlling each other's positions, while the army described the Rapid Support Forces as "rebels", knowing that the commander of these forces is Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), who is the deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, while the army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan is the head of the Sovereignty Council.

Earlier on Sunday, the non-governmental Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors announced that clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces had killed 56 civilians and wounded 595 others, including soldiers.

Internally, the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change – Central Council on Sunday called on the leaders of both the army and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately stop fighting and return to the negotiating table to address the current crisis.

This marked the first comment by the coalition that previously held the government, which is the most prominent civilian force signatory to the framework agreement.

The secret of the dispute

According to Anadolu Agency, the Rapid Support Forces were formed in 2013 with the aim of supporting government forces in their fight against armed rebel movements in the Darfur region (west), and then assumed several other tasks, including combating irregular migration at the border and maintaining security.

The clashes erupted hours before a meeting between Burhan and Hemedti to discuss the point of contention over the proposal to integrate the RSF into the army, as Burhan wants to complete the process within two years, while Hemedti is sticking to 10 years.

Due to their disagreement, the signing of an agreement between the military and civilians was postponed twice, the last of which was scheduled for the fifth of April, to end the crisis that Sudan has been experiencing since Burhan imposed exceptional measures in 2021 that the rejectionists considered a military coup, while Burhan said that they aim to correct the course of the transitional phase.

International, Arab and regional capitals and institutions expressed concern about the repercussions of the fighting in Sudan, and called for an immediate cessation of clashes and the primacy of dialogue to address the current crisis.