Sudan: Cairo Talks with the US Postponed Indefinitely

Port Sudan – Cairo – Sudanhorizon

The Sudanese government delegation postponed its travel to Cairo to hold negotiations with the US side, which was scheduled for today, on Wednesday, indefinitely. Identical diplomatic sources attributed this to the departure of the head of the US delegation from Egypt to return to Geneva, which has made the delegation’s travel, at present, of no practical value.

The US Special Envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, had flown to Egypt two days ago to meet with the US Secretary of State – who was visiting Egypt – and inform him of the results of the faltering Geneva talks, which the Sudanese government boycotted in light of the failure of its talks with the US side in Jeddah before that, and issued a statement in which it clarified the details of its position.

Diplomatic sources who spoke to the Sudanhorizon news website said that the US envoy Tom Perriello set a date for his meeting with the Sudanese side in Cairo without coordination with the government side and based on his own program at a time when the government delegation had not completed its travel arrangements, noting that when the government delegation was ready to travel, it learned that the envoy and the head of the US side had left Egyptian territory.

Press sources indicate that the US side, especially the envoy, wanted the Sudanese side to change the composition of its negotiating delegation and sent signals in this regard by requesting the removal of Minister Mohamed Bashir Abu Namu from the delegation’s leadership.

Press sources explained that the US request came because Minister Abu Namu’s positions were strict regarding the necessity of the Rapid Support Forces rebels’ commitment to implementing what they had previously signed in Jeddah in May 2023, which is to evacuate civilian facilities and citizens’ homes and stop targeting civilians, in addition to ensuring that humanitarian aid is allowed to flow to those in need.

The sources confirmed that the government side ignored the US signals in this regard and kept the composition of the official delegation as it was in the recent Jeddah talks with the US side.