A U.S. ceasefire proposal could push Sudan toward a partition like Libya’s, Amjad Farid, an adviser to army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told Reuters on September 30. Farid spoke from New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly. His warning comes as a war enters its third year and five months, with no political settlement in sight.
“Mr Boulos seems to be putting pressure on us to accept a de facto partitioning of the country similar to Libyan model,” Farid said. He added that Massad Boulos, the U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, continues to advance an approach that “appears to accommodate the militia’s continued existence and preserve a place for it in Sudan’s political future.” Farid meant the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
What the Plan Would Do
Boulos’s proposal would impose a 90-day ceasefire. Negotiations would follow, aiming to end the war and resume the move to civilian rule. That matters. The fighting began in April 2023, when the army and RSF fell out over issues including how to integrate their forces during a planned transition to civilian rule.
Farid said the army-led government had submitted proposed changes, chiefly an internationally monitored RSF withdrawal from urban areas. The United States, he said, appeared to have ignored them.
A Withheld Visa and a Canceled Meeting
Diplomatic friction has been visible for more than a week. Reuters reported a week before this report that Burhan’s visa to attend the U.N. General Assembly had been withheld because he hadn’t accepted the proposal. A Sudanese delegation had prepared to meet Boulos in Washington the previous week to discuss the ceasefire. Two Sudanese diplomats told Reuters the visa’s withholding led to the meeting’s cancellation. They asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak.
The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The previous week, it said neither the RSF nor the armed forces “represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan.” Washington has accused the RSF of genocide and the army of war crimes, including using chemical weapons. Neither side comes to the table with clean hands.
A Parallel Government With Few Services
Analysts and officials have long warned the conflict could produce a de facto division resembling neighboring Libya, split between rival eastern and western administrations for more than a decade. Since last year, the RSF has sought to establish a parallel government in Nyala, in western Darfur.
The reality on the ground is thin. The RSF appointed ministers, and some police are active. But the group hasn’t established public services or institutions such as schools, hospitals and courts.
The RSF has made no recent statements on the U.S. proposal following recent battlefield defeats. Its leader has said its fighters intend to continue the war.
Why This Matters:
A ceasefire that freezes rival power centers in place could leave civilians living under authorities that haven’t built the schools, hospitals or courts people depend on. The Libya comparison, raised by officials and analysts, points to a split lasting more than a decade. The plan raises a hard question for international diplomacy, too: how do outside powers press for a halt to the fighting while keeping the promised return to civilian rule from slipping away? Washington has accused both the RSF and the army of serious abuses, including genocide and war crimes. Any settlement that leaves armed factions unaccountable or ignores calls for monitored withdrawals from urban areas will test whether a truce can protect people living through this war. That’s the perspective here. The facts so far leave it unresolved.