On Thursday a message of peace was delivered from Egypt, where a summit of Sudan’s neighbouring states was held to discuss how to end the ongoing conflict and its repercussions on these countries.
The summit intended to set frameworks for a peaceful settlement to the Sudanese crisis in co-ordination with other regional and international efforts.
Egypt’s hosting of the summit shows the keenness of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to formulate a joint vision for Sudan’s neighbours, to take steps to resolve the crisis, to end the bloodshed among Sudanese people, and to spare them from repercussions.
This step also reflects the desire of Egypt’s leadership to protect the Sudanese state and its resources and limit the grave consequences of the crisis on neighbouring countries, and the security and stability of the entire region.
This summit is a golden chance to mobilise efforts to resolve the crisis that has plunged the country into disarray over the past three months. It is a chance to save Sudan from an all-out civil war, leading inevitably to destruction and displacement of its citizens.
The summit came in at a critical time now that the situation in Sudan has reached catastrophic levels, needing integrated regional and international efforts, not rivalry. The conflict in Sudan will end only when the two warring parties agree to a permanent ceasefire and work towards peaceful political solutions.
Egypt has taken a balanced position since the beginning of the conflict in Sudan. It stands at an equal distance from both sides in the conflict and is only keen on settling the crisis peacefully.
This position has won the respect of the two warring sides in Sudan, and this qualifies it to play an important role in supporting a political process that brings together both parties and to work with all serious regional and international efforts to save Sudan from this destructive conflict.
The summit is the latest in a series of initiatives Egypt has launched since the outbreak of the conflict in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), leading to the death of 2,800 Sudanese and the displacement of 3 million people, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Of those, 600,000 Sudanese have fled to neighbouring states, the IOM said, adding that around 40 per cent of this number has come to Egypt.
The summit is expected to succeed in achieving its objectives since Egypt is working only to safeguard the interests of Sudanese citizens and the preservation of Sudanese unity.
Egypt, with its great people army, has worked, and will continue to work, for peace through the settlement of crises across peaceful means.
Mohamed Fahmy is the editor-in-chief
of The Egyptian Gazette and
Egyptian Mail newspapers
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