South Sudan, which had offered to mediate in the conflict, said the two generals, Sudanese army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support forces (RSF) leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, had consented to "name their representatives to peace talks to be held at any venue of their choice."
South Sudan’s government said it would continue to "explore the prospects of narrowing the gap between the two parties" to achieve a cessation of hostilities and "pave the way for an amicable political settlement."
The statement said South Sudan President Salva Kiir stressed the importance of a longer truce and urged the leaders to use the seven-day truce to propose a date to "commence talks as soon as possible."
Speaking to VOA, Pauline Adhong, spokesperson for South Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, said the nation and its president has the best chance to broker a peace deal between with warring factions of its northern neighbor, Sudan.
“One of the very obvious reasons is our experience as South Sudanese. We have gone through, more or less, the same as what Sudanese are facing today and it was through peace talks that we managed to resolve (our conflict) and we were able to get this nation where we are in,” she said.
Adhong added South Sudan was instrumental in brokering the October 2020 Juba Peace Agreement between Sudan’s transitional government and various rebel movements.
Previously announced cease-fires have failed with continued fighting and the Sudanese army and the RSF trading blame. Reported air strikes and shooting in the Khartoum region disrupted the latest short-term truce.
United Nations officials said on Tuesday Sudan's conflict has forced 100,000 people to flee over its borders and fighting now its third week is creating a humanitarian crisis.
The U.N.'s World Food Program (WFP) warned the continued unrest could plunge millions more into hunger with 15 million Sudanese already in need of aid to stave off famine.
VOA's Nabeel Biajo contributed to this report. Some information came from Reuters.
