US, UK urge ‘immediate cessation of violence’ in Sudan

Karuizawa, Japan (AFP):

Britain and the United States have called for an “immediate cessation” of violence in Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed nearly 100 people.

“There is a shared deep concern about the fighting… the threat that it poses to civilians, to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement alongside his British counterpart James Cleverly.

He said the fighting had been discussed with allies in the Middle East and Africa and there is “a very strongly shared view about the need for generals… to ensure the protection of civilians and non combatants as well as people from third countries.”

There was agreement “on the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks”, he added on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in the Japanese town of Karuizawa.

“The immediate future lies in the hands of the generals who are engaged in this fight,” Cleverly said.

“We call upon them to put peace first, to bring an end to the fighting, to get back to negotiations. That’s what the people of Sudan want, that’s what the people of Sudan deserve.”