Rubio says Trump to get involved in Sudan peace efforts as civil war rages

The Sudan war, which is currently in its third year of acute suffering for the civilian population, has been closely watched by President Donald Trump, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio claimed that Trump is “the only leader in the world capable of resolving the Sudan crisis” at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Trump made a month-long announcement that he would collaborate with regional partners to end the brutal 30-month conflict with members of the Quad, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump claimed at a US conference that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had asked him to intervene in order to put an end to the conflict in Sudan.

Trump called Sudan “one of the most violent places on earth” and “the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.” He added that he had been urged by international leaders to intervene and use his influence to avert violence.

In April 2023, Sudan’s government-controlled Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed to take control of areas including Khartoum, prompting the government’s government-controlled civil war.

Recent advances in RSF have made peace negotiations more difficult.

The RSF claimed earlier this week that it had taken control of West Kordofan, a significant city in central Sudan. This assertion has been refuted by the SAF.

The western Darfur region, which the RSF took total control of last month, and western Sudan’s entire region are connected by Babnusa.

After taking the city of el-Fasher, the army’s final holdout in Darfur, after an 18-month siege, the RSF’s assault on Babnusa strengthens the paramilitary group’s grip. In El-Fasher, the RSF have been accused of carrying out numerous atrocities.

The most recent fighting also appear to contradict the RSF’s decision to initiate a unilateral ceasefire following Quad mediation efforts.

The SAF has accused the RSF of continuing its attacks despite its declared truce, rejecting the terms of the Quad’s proposed ceasefire. Additionally, it claimed that the proposal for the elimination of the army was biased and that the UAE’s involvement in the Quad was biased.

The UAE has frequently been accused of providing money and weapons to the RSF, but it has vehemently refrained from participating.

Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights commissioner, expressed concern about fresh atrocities as a result of the fierce fighting between the SAF and the RSF on Thursday.

After the RSF seizes El-Fasher, the UN human rights council has already mandated a probe into alleged atrocities, including systematic mass murder, rape, torture, and forced displacement of non-Arab ethnic groups.

More than 40, 000 people have died as a result of Sudan’s war, according to UN statistics, but aid organizations claim that this figure is undercountable and that it could be much higher.