Mohamed Dagalo, the commander of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has said RSF is ready for a fresh round of talks with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which is led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
This comes as intense fighting between the rival forces continue more than a year later, resulting in the deaths of at least 16,000 people and the displacement of more than 10.2 million others.
Dagalo said in a statement on Monday that SAF's leadership recently set new conditions for a fresh round of talks, a move he describes as SAF's gesture to indefinitely delay a "cease" to the fighting.
Dagalo further said RSF was committed to new talks, brokered by the United Nations, or the joint-partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
'Solid commitment'
"I once again renew our acceptance of the American invitation to hold ceasefire talks in Geneva on August 14. This is our firm and solid commitment to the Sudanese people to approach the upcoming negotiations with a genuine will to stop the war immediately and without delay, hoping to end the suffering of millions of Sudanese," Dagalo said in a statement on X.
"We take this chance to call upon the other party (SAF) to respond to the call for peace to alleviate the suffering of our people, and we make this appeal with courage despite our victories on the battlefield," he added.
Dagalo also said RSF had formed a special force "dedicated to maintain security and to protect civilians."
Last week, Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, demanded that the US address its concerns before any peace negotiations with RSF could be held.
Blinken phone call
"I received a call from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and spoke to him about the necessity of addressing the concerns of the Sudanese government before starting any negotiations," Burhan, who is the chairperson of the country's Transitional Sovereignty Council and head of its army, said on X on August 6.
The discussion came ahead of a later phone call between Blinken and Dagalo before the US-backed peace negotiations between the two sides, set to begin in Switzerland on August 14.
The talks will aim to end months of war between SAF and RSF that broke out in April 2023.
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