Antonio Guterres: UN chief in Kenya to discuss Sudan crisis
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has arrived in Kenya to discuss the Sudan war.
The two-day official visit by the UN head will be centered around the security situation in Sudan, according to Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
“The Secretary-General will hold talks with H.E President William Ruto. Top of his agenda is the security and humanitarian situation in Sudan as well as holding consultations with all the Heads of UN Agencies who are meeting in Nairobi this week,” Kenya’s Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua said.
Early this week, President Ruto said that Nairobi will be coordinating humanitarian assistance for Sudan, with over 800,000 expected to flee the country due to the ongoing conflict.
War broke out in Khartoum on April 15 after forces loyal to Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Rapid Support Forces) engaged the Sudan National Army, which plays allegiance to the Supreme Leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
On Tuesday, the two warring generals agreed to a seven-day ceasefire after regional envoys denounced repeated violations of previous truces.
South Sudan said diplomatic efforts had intensified to end the war that has ravaged Africa’s third-largest country for over two weeks now.
Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), “have agreed in principle for a seven-day truce from May 4th to 11th,” the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
Despite the truce, fighting still continues to be recorded in some parts of the Capital City –Khartoum.
According to the UN, more than 430,000 people have already been forced to flee their homes, while hundreds of others have been killed and thousands wounded.
South Sudan said the country receives more than 1,000 people crossing into the country.
Ruto said that the two generals would be held liable for the ongoing war.
“As a region, as a continent, and as a people, our message to the general in Sudan is clear and unequivocal. They have no business destroying a country that has been built painstakingly, by the people of this continent. We will hold them accountable,” Ruto said Tuesday.
