Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, said on Saturday that the military was ready for talks to “end the war and restore Sudan’s unity and dignity,” Anadolu News Agency reported Sunday.
Speaking in Atbara, northern Sudan, he expressed his condolences to the family of Army Major Muzamil Abdullah, who was recently killed in fighting in El Fasher, and said negotiations with the Quartet (US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) and other political parties were not progressing.
Al-Burhan stressed that the army “will continue to fight the enemy wherever it is found” and denied targeting tribes or regions.
He said that people who truly seek peace are welcome, but “imposing peace or a government against the will of the people is unacceptable.”
His remarks came ahead of a planned meeting of the Quartet in New York to encourage a peaceful resolution to the Sudanese war.
Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia have been fighting a conflict since April 2023 that has left more than 20,000 people dead and 14 million displaced, according to the United Nations and local authorities.
However, a study by an American university estimates the death toll to be around 130,000.
In July, the Sudan National Alliance, an RSF-led coalition, announced the formation of a parallel government led by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.