Fighting has spread across Sudan, especially in Darfur

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00:00 Now for more on this story is France 24's International Affairs Editor Rob Parsons.

00:05 Hello there, Rob.

00:06 >> Hello.

00:07 >> A lot of the news that we're getting is coming out of the capital.

00:10 But the fighting has spread across Sudan, and especially in Darfur, which, as our viewers

00:16 know, has its own long, difficult history.

00:19 What can you tell us about the situation there?

00:21 >> Well, you know, it feels a little bit like another day, another ceasefire in Sudan.

00:26 Every day there's a ceasefire announced, and then it's almost immediately broken.

00:31 But in Western Sudan, in the province of Darfur in particular, the ceasefire never seems to

00:38 have held at all.

00:39 And over the last few days, the violence has been particularly bad, around the town of

00:44 El Jenainer in particular, where over three days of fighting, somewhere in the region

00:49 200 people are believed to have died, many more than that wounded.

00:54 And what people are concerned about, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission has

00:59 been talking about this in the last few hours, is that this could very quickly spread into

01:05 an inter-ethnic violence in Darfur and take off in the way it took off in the 2000s, when

01:12 300,000 people were killed in the fighting then, and millions forced from their homes.

01:18 That would be an absolute catastrophe, you know, all because of the naked ambitions of

01:22 two generals in Khartoum, who are fighting for nothing more than their own personal ambitions

01:28 and naked power, on the backs of the people of their country.

01:34 And in Darfur at the moment, the situation is becoming particularly bad.

01:39 Already there are signs that this is beginning to take on an inter-ethnic appearance, with

01:45 attacks from one ethnic group on the other.

01:48 Is that because of fighting over resources?

01:50 Well, in part that is, in part too because local militias which have allegiance to particular

01:57 ethnicities feel empowered now by the chaos that's taking over the country, and encouraged

02:03 in some cases in Darfur by the rapid support forces.

02:06 Remember the rapid support forces had their origin in Darfur with the Janjaweed militia

02:12 accused of genocide in Darfur during the 2000s.

02:17 And they seem to be picking up where they left off.

02:20 And the concern I think of everybody who's trying to have some sort of effect on what's

02:24 happening is that very soon it will spiral out of control.

02:28 Now there does not seem to be a lot of progress being made on getting these two sides, getting

02:33 these two generals to negotiate.

02:36 But who are the main entities that are trying to work out a resolution?

02:41 And what are their motivations?

02:42 Well, you know, everybody has got a different motivation, I think.

02:47 The big powers obviously are playing a part in this.

02:49 The United States has been trying without any success so far, but from the occasional

02:53 ceasefires despite the efforts of the State Department, Antony Blinken.

02:58 It's not really going anywhere.

02:59 Saudi Arabia is also involved.

03:03 It's got interest in the region.

03:04 Egypt, a major player in the region, very closely linked with the Sudanese Armed Forces

03:08 and Al Borhan, the general who was trained as an officer in Egypt himself, and is quite

03:15 close to al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

03:19 But other than that, we've heard that Al Borhan has been talking to the leaders of Ethiopia,

03:25 of Chad, South Sudan, countries which border Sudan, obviously anxious that the violence

03:32 that's beginning to spread inside Sudan shouldn't get out of control and then spread to their

03:37 own countries, either through refugees or through violence.

03:42 According to al-Borhan, he's also been talking to officials in Saudi Arabia and the United

03:46 Arab Emirates.

03:48 And among the things apparently that they've been talking about is making a transition

03:53 to that transitional civilian government again.

03:56 In other words, there's a suggestion there that in Saudi Arabia and particularly the

04:01 United Arab Emirates, which has had quite close links with the rapid support forces

04:05 over the last couple of years, that they're beginning to think that really there is no

04:10 future in military control in Sudan anymore.

04:14 The accent really has to be on the transfer of power to the civilian authorities as quickly

04:19 as possible.

04:20 For the part of Hameti, the leader of the rapid support forces, he says he's talking

04:24 to people outside of the country as well.

04:26 He mentioned the United Arab Emirates in particular.

04:29 But at the moment, despite all the talk on the ground, nothing is being achieved.

04:35 It doesn't seem like either side plans to give an inch.

04:39 Once again, this is Rob Parsons, thanks so much for your analysis.

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