RIYADH / ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will hold a high-level meeting on Friday in an attempt to address Sudan's crisis and forge a political formula to end the war that has pitted the army against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than three years. Gulf sources familiar with the contacts have revealed this.
According to those sources, the purpose of the meeting is to bring closer the positions of the president of Sudan's Sovereign Council and commander of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, and the commander of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Hemedti, as a prelude to understandings that could end a conflict with profound humanitarian, economic and security consequences.
This is not the first such meeting. According to the same sources, it is part of a series of meetings and consultations held between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi—this would be the third—aimed at shaping a common vision of the political settlement. That framework rests on three pillars: an end to hostilities, the formation of a civilian government acceptable to the various Sudanese forces, and the military institution's withdrawal from executive management of the state.
From al Bashir's overthrow to open war
The origins of the crisis date back to growing tensions between the army and the RSF following the fall of President Omar al Bashir in 2019. After several years of fragile coexistence in transitional institutions, disagreements erupted over the timetable for integrating the paramilitaries into the armed forces and the scope of security sector reform. In April 2023, those differences led to open military confrontation that spread to Khartoum and several states across the country.
Since then, numerous regional and international initiatives to achieve a ceasefire and launch an inclusive political process have stalled in the face of both sides' firmness on their conditions, which has complicated the situation and prolonged the conflict.
Expectation of "a breakthrough"
The sources consulted anticipate a significant breakthrough in the political track in the coming weeks, in light of the diplomatic moves underway and the accelerating regional developments. Saudi Arabia, they note, is leading an intense round of contacts with both parties to prepare the ground for a broad reconciliation that restores stability to the country and clears the path towards the return of civilian rule.
Current efforts, they add, are concentrated on an agreement that preserves Sudan's unity and its institutions, ends the humanitarian suffering caused by war, and opens a new transition phase based on national consensus, capable of stemming the country's drift towards greater fragmentation.
