Sudan ceasefire talks kicks off despite army's absence

Talks on securing a ceasefire in the devastating conflict in Sudan has kicked off in Switzerland despite the Sudanese government staying away.

The talks on Wednesday are being convened by Tom Perriello, the US special envoy for Sudan, who said after the opening session that it was "high time for the guns to be silenced".

The talks, which could last up to 10 days, are being held behind closed doors in an undisclosed location in Switzerland.

While the RSF delegation is taking part, the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) are unhappy with the format arranged by the sponsor of the talks, Washington.

"We have stressed that they have a responsibility to be there, and we'll continue to make that clear," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said of the Sudanese army.

Perriello earlier warned the army that "the world is watching" as it stays away.

Humanitarian access

Without the SAF, other attendees will press on with the talks' agenda.

"Our focus is to move forward to achieve a cessation of hostilities, enhance humanitarian access and establish enforcement mechanisms that deliver concrete results," Perriello said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the Sudan talks in a call on Wednesday with his Egyptian counterpart and called for both sides to participate, Patel said.

The brutal conflict has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The fighting has forced one in five people to flee their homes, while tens of thousands have died.

Over 2 million have fled the country, with their main destinations being Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and Central African Republic.

More than 25 million across the country — more than half its population — face acute hunger.

Vittorio Oppizzi, Sudan programme manager for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said both parties had "manipulated" humanitarian access, in violation of international law.

He told reporters MSF was well used to operating in conflict zones, and safe and unhindered access "should not be dependent on a cessation to hostility or a solution to the conflict".

Pressure on Burhan

Alan Boswell, the Horn of Africa project director at the International Crisis Group, said with the United States in charge, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt present, "that puts all the main outside actors with leverage over the warring parties in one room together", he told AFP news agency.

The government no-show could leave Burhan under mounting external pressure if he is seen as "the main obstacle to ending the war", said Boswell.

Previous talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah came to nothing.

Cameron Hudson, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Africa programme, told AFP that Washington had "tried to create the illusion of momentum" to force the army's hand, "but it was a bluff, and the SAF saw through it."

"The only way to get them to talk is through brute force: either the risk of losing the war on the battlefield, the risk of real diplomatic isolation and the risk of real economic devastation for them. None of that pressure currently exists."