Sudan’s top general says US-led ceasefire proposal ‘worst yet’

Sudan’s top general has rejected a ceasefire proposal by US-led mediators as “the worst yet”, in a blow to efforts to stop a devastating war that has gripped the African country for more than 30 months.

In video comments released by the military, Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the proposal was unacceptable, accusing the mediators of being “biased” in their efforts to end the war.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes, fuelled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.

Known as the Quad, the mediators have been trying for over two years to bring an end to the fighting and re-establish a path to democratic transition which was hampered by a military coup in 2021. They are comprised of the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

This month, US president Donald Trump said that he plans to put greater attention on helping find an end to Sudan’s war after being urged to take action by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the White House.

Massad Boulos, a US adviser for African affairs, said earlier that the latest proposal calls for a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process. The RSF said it has agreed to the truce, following global outrage over the paramilitaries’ atrocities in the Darfur city of el-Fasher.

Gen Burhan, however, said the proposal “is considered the worst document yet”, since it “eliminates the Armed Forces, dissolves security agencies and keeps the militia where they are” – referring to the RSF.

“If the mediation continues in this direction, we will consider it to be biased mediation,” he said.

He lashed out at the US adviser and accused him of attempting to “impose some conditions on us”. He added: “We fear that Massad Boulos will be an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek.”

In his comments, Gen Burhan also took aim at the UAE. He said that since the Quad includes the Gulf country as a member, the mediation group was “not innocent of responsibility, especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE’s support for the rebels against the Sudanese State”.

The UAE is widely accused by rights groups of arming the paramilitaries. It was reported earlier this month that US intelligence assessments for many months have found that the Emirates, a close US ally, has been sending weapons to the RSF, according to a US official.

The UAE denies backing the paramilitaries.

Gen Burhan denied that the military is controlled by Islamists or that it used chemical weapons in its fighting against the RSF – an accusation levelled by the Trump administration in May.

He said the military will only agree to a truce when the RSF completely withdraws from civilian areas to allow the return of displaced people to their homes, before embarking on talks for a political settlement to the conflict.

“We’re not warmongers, and we don’t reject peace,” he said, “but no-one can threaten us or dictate terms to us.”