Sudanese army back in Saudi Arabia to 'resume negotiations' with RSF

Sudanese army representatives have returned to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for talks with their paramilitary foes, a government source said as the war between rival generals entered its fourth month.

"A delegation of the armed forces has returned to Jeddah to resume negotiations with Rapid Support Forces rebels," the source said on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to media.

The RSF has made no comment on returning to the Jeddah talks, which Saudi and US mediators adjourned last month after a series of repeatedly violated ceasefires.

Witnesses in the Sudanese capital Khartoum again reported clashes on Saturday after a day of heavy fighting on Friday left plumes of black smoke over several parts of the capital.

The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has claimed at least 3,000 lives and displaced more than three million people since it began on April 15.

Frustrated mediators

The delegation in Saudi Arabia signals a return to diplomatic efforts by the army, after it boycotted talks in Addis Ababa last week.

Khartoum's foreign ministry had objected to Kenyan President William Ruto leading a quartet from East African regional bloc IGAD, accusing Nairobi of siding with the RSF.

Before the Jeddah talks were suspended, US mediators had grown increasingly frustrated with both sides' reluctance to work towards a sustained truce.

Experts believe that both Burhan and Dagalo have opted for a war of attrition instead, hoping to extract more concessions at the negotiating table later.