Sudan.. The UN Security Council truce is at stake

Highlights: The UN Security Council resolution demanding a halt to the fighting in Sudan, even for a short period during Ramadan, came in support of numerous calls, decisions, and communications. The truce remains at stake, waiting for it to be declared by one of the two parties to the war. Al Jazeera Net reveals the backgrounds of the decision, its effects, and the possibility of its success, surveying the opinions of diplomatic sources and others in the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry anticipated the resolution by agreeing to the flow of humanitarian aid through Chad.

The Security Council resolution, the first of its kind, demanding a halt to the fighting in Sudan, even for a short period during Ramadan, came in support of numerous calls, decisions, and communications, but the truce remains at stake, waiting for it to be declared by one of the two parties to the war.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry anticipated the Security Council resolution by agreeing to the flow of humanitarian aid through Chad (Reuters)

Khartoum -

After the UN Security Council issued, on Friday, Resolution No. 2724 stipulating a “comprehensive, immediate and without preconditions ceasefire” in the war that has been raging in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces for nearly a year, many questions have arisen about the importance of the resolution. The extent of the commitment of both parties to the war to it, and its impact on the recent progress made by the army, especially in the axis of the city of Omdurman, one of the three largest cities of the capital, Khartoum.

Al Jazeera Net reveals in this report the backgrounds of the decision, its effects, and the possibility of its success, surveying the opinions of diplomatic sources and others in the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, in addition to the opinions of independent experts.

The nature of the decision and its backgrounds

The resolution taken by the UN Security Council was originally a British project. It was consulted and voted on on Friday afternoon (March 8 of this year) and was approved by 14 members and Russia abstained, which justified its position by “the Security Council’s slowness in taking a decisive position on the Gaza tragedy,” according to Press reports.

One of the most important provisions of the resolution that Al Jazeera Net reviewed was the Security Council’s strong commitment to Sudan’s sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity. It also indicated the Council’s concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, which has exceeded human rights, including sexual violence.

The Council welcomed the Sudanese authorities’ announcement of their decision to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid through the Al-Tina and Renk border crossings, as well as via air transport to reach the Sudanese airports in El Fasher, Kadugli, and El Obeid.

He urged the Security Council to continue and strengthen the coordination of regional and international efforts to facilitate an end to the conflict and restore a comprehensive and lasting civilian-led democratic transition. He called for an immediate cessation of hostilities during the month of Ramadan, and for all parties to the conflict to seek a sustainable solution to the conflict through dialogue. He also called on them to ensure Remove any obstacles and enable full, rapid and safe access for humanitarian aid, including the protection of civilians and civilian objects, in accordance with the Jeddah Agreement signed between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.

This is the first resolution of its kind related to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as the Council had previously limited itself to issuing three press statements regarding the war, and according to a Sudanese diplomatic source who spoke to Al Jazeera Net, this is the first time that the Security Council has issued a resolution regarding the war in Sudan, as the Council decisions are stronger than presidential and press statements, which are subject to a vote and are considered official documents.

Sudanese Foreign Ministry: We were not surprised by the decision

According to an informed diplomatic source in the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs who spoke to Al Jazeera Net, his country was not surprised by this decision, and has taken a number of steps to mitigate its severity, as the Sudanese government agreed to the arrival of humanitarian aid through Chad, and also pledged to facilitate the granting of entry permits for workers in the field. Humanitarian, and these steps were echoed in the text of the resolution itself, which welcomed the Sudanese government’s approval to transport relief materials through neighboring countries.

According to diplomatic sources, the last attempt to address the resolution was in an email sent by the President of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council and Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan to Sudan’s representative to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idris, where Al-Burhan anticipated the Security Council’s decision to announce his country’s acceptance of a truce during the month of Ramadan, provided that the forces committed Rapid support with the decisions of the Jeddah Agreement signed on November 7, and the Sudanese representative read Al-Burhan’s message to the audience at the same session, but the message did not change anything in the content of the decision.

A senior source at the head of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Al Jazeera Net that his country "is still studying the Security Council resolution, which needs study by the ministry and specialized experts, and it is too early to determine an opinion or issue an official comment on it."

While another senior diplomatic source explained to Al Jazeera Net Khartoum’s point of view, and said, “What was contained in the Sudanese Foreign Ministry’s statement about the necessity of implementing the decisions of the Jeddah Agreement are not preconditions as much as they are objective requirements, to ensure that there is actually a humanitarian truce that benefits civilians and is not merely A repetition of the previous truce, which the Rapid Support Forces benefited from and deepened human suffering by occupying many cities.

Crowds supporting the Sudanese army in the Nile River State (social networking sites)

Preconditions

The former Sudanese ambassador, Al-Sadiq Al-Maqli, told Al-Jazeera Net, "The response to the appeal of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the presence of members of the Security Council cannot be a conditional response, and the Council and the United Nations General Assembly should not be dealt with in the same way as dealing with bilateral platforms such as the Jeddah platform."

Al-Muqli added, “Al-Burhan’s message to the representative of Sudan, which he read before the Security Council, did not contain any explicit reference to the preconditions included in the Foreign Ministry’s statement later, which enumerated the same conditions that he kept pushing for the resumption of the Jeddah platform, which is the withdrawal of rapid support from the homes of citizens and civilian objects.” .

The former ambassador pointed out that “Al-Burhan called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to establish a mechanism to monitor the cessation of violations during the month of Ramadan to ensure that they are not committed by any party, and he did not request a mechanism for the rapid exit of support from citizens’ homes.” Al-Muqli stressed that the Security Council or the Secretary-General do not accept Preconditions for the cessation of hostilities.

But the former Commander of the Navy in Sudan, Lieutenant General Fath al-Rahman Mohieddin, sees otherwise, as he confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that his country had set conditions for a ceasefire, including “the withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces from citizens’ homes, especially since the invasion was the basis of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.” Pointing out that the Security Council resolution is not binding on Sudan because it did not come under Chapter VII.

A Sudanese diplomatic expert working in New York spoke to Al Jazeera Net, saying, "The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs anticipated the UN Security Council resolution with a package of conditions with steps towards good intentions, by agreeing to the flow of humanitarian aid across the border with Chad, despite the danger that this would have on the course of military operations."

But the second problem, according to the expert, lies in “the difficulty of implementing the condition for Rapid Support to leave civilian institutions and homes, and to stop their spread in the villages of the island. This is difficult from an objective standpoint because these forces have no supplies, so they seize the stocks of citizens and the government.”

Army position

According to a senior source in the Sudanese army who spoke to Al Jazeera Net prior to the issuance of the decision, he said that he did not expect any truce during the month of Ramadan, indicating that experiences had taught them not to trust what he called the “Rapid Support Militia.” The same source reaffirmed this to Al Jazeera Net that The position of the Sudanese army is that they will not fall into the trap, and the statement of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs fully expresses their position.

Muhyiddin also stressed that "there is no truce without the conditions stated by the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and expressed in detail by the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

He pointed out that the truce "is not in the interest of the army, especially since the enemy is in its weakest state, and that all previous truces benefited the Rapid Support Militia through rearmament and military mobilization, and that their leaders admitted this publicly in the media," as he put it.

He added, "The Rapid Support Command lost control of its forces and began fighting among themselves, as happened recently in the state of Al-Jazira, and for this reason it is not even able to withdraw its members from citizens' homes."

In turn, Indian journalist and political analyst Ezz El-Din believes that “military public opinion in the Sudanese army does not want a truce before liberating Al-Jazeera and Khartoum after its successive victories in Omdurman.” He added to Al-Jazeera Net that “the Rapid Support Forces are at their weakest, and they are besieged on Al-Jazeera and searching for... This truce is to maintain its positions of control in the states to impose a fait accompli and negotiate on this basis.”

Rapid support position

The Rapid Support Forces announced their welcome of the UN Security Council resolution, and said in a statement, “The response of our forces to this resolution comes from the reality of their moral responsibility towards our great people, and is consistent with our principled position rejecting war, and is consistent with our desire to alleviate the suffering of our people, and to accelerate the arrival of humanitarian aid to those who deserve it in all countries.” All parts of Sudan.

Youssef Ezzat, the political advisor to the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, told Al Jazeera Net that they "welcome every effort to stop the war that the Sudanese people have suffered from for nearly a year," but he believes that the army chose the option of war, and therefore evaded the UN Security Council's request for a ceasefire, and said. "The Jeddah platform did not reach an agreement, and what they kept repeating (referring to the Sudanese army) about what they call civilian objects are just illusions with which they evade the entitlements of a ceasefire."

The Sudanese diplomatic expert residing in New York believes that "both parties will announce their approval of the truce and will welcome it, but the devil lies in the details of how it will be implemented, especially since there are no oversight mechanisms on the ground to control violations, and the truce is for one month, after which the war could return."

An informed Sudanese diplomatic source also said, speaking to Al Jazeera Net

that “the army will try not to initiate the attack, but the behavior of the other party (the Rapid Support Forces) may force it to respond, making this decision useless,” agreeing with the diplomatic expert’s statement that “the absence An effective monitoring mechanism makes the ceasefire depend on the good faith of the parties.”

Consequences of non-compliance

It seems that the UN Security Council resolution will face obstacles on the ground. According to the same Sudanese diplomatic source, “the resolution lacks binding because it was issued under Chapter VI and not VII of the UN Charter, which imposes sanctions on anyone who violates Security Council resolutions,” but he added that the resolution The Secretary-General is requested to submit reports to the Council on the extent of implementation of the resolution, and the Council may take other steps if it is not implemented.

However, the spokesman for the Civil Forces Coordination “Progress” Osama Saeed told Al Jazeera Net that “the Security Council’s decision to achieve a truce and ceasefire before the month of Ramadan is very important, and it constitutes a basic platform for the Council to take over the entire Sudanese situation, and the most important thing that distinguishes it is that it was issued by a majority of 14 votes.” The reason for the decision is the humanitarian situation that has reached its extreme.”

Saeed accused the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs of blatantly showing its obstruction of any effort to stop the war by announcing impossible conditions that “put the Sudanese army in a position of rejecting the ceasefire, and thus obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people who are suffering from the threat of famine.”

It is noteworthy that the call to stop the war in Sudan was not limited to the UN Security Council resolution. The American envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, announced an African tour, aiming to hold meetings to discuss ending the war, while the Chairman of the African Union Commission called for stopping the fighting during the month of Ramadan.

Source: Al Jazeera