A U.S. proposal for a 90-day ceasefire in Sudan could set the country on a path toward partition like Libya, Amjad Farid, an adviser to army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, told Reuters on September 30. Under the plan, negotiations would follow the ceasefire, with the aim of ending the war and resuming the move to civilian rule. Farid said the proposal could accommodate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and preserve a role for the militia in Sudan’s political future.
What the Proposal Requires
Massad Boulos, the U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, put forward the proposal. It calls for a 90-day halt to fighting, followed by talks. The stated next steps are to end the war and resume the move to civilian rule.
Farid said the army-led government had submitted proposed changes. Its main request called for an internationally monitored RSF withdrawal from urban areas. He said the United States appeared to have ignored those changes.
“Mr Boulos seems to be putting pressure on us to accept a de facto partitioning of the country similar to Libyan model,” Farid said from New York, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly. He said the approach “appears to accommodate the militia’s continued existence and preserve a place for it in Sudan’s political future.”
The army and RSF have fought since April 2023. They fell out over several issues, including how to integrate their forces during a planned transition to civilian rule. Now the ceasefire dispute centers on whether the RSF would leave urban areas and what role it would retain in Sudan’s political future.
Diplomatic Pressure and the State
A week before Reuters’ report, the news agency said General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s visa to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York had been withheld because he hadn’t accepted the proposal. A Sudanese delegation had planned to meet Boulos in Washington the previous week to discuss the ceasefire. Burhan’s visa was withheld, and the meeting was canceled, two Sudanese diplomats told Reuters, asking 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.” The United States has accused the RSF of genocide and the army of war crimes, including using chemical weapons.
Partition Risk on the Ground
Analysts and officials have long warned that the conflict could split Sudan in practice, much like neighboring Libya, which has been divided 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 RSF has appointed ministers, and some police are active there. But the group hasn’t established public services or institutions such as schools, hospitals and courts. After recent battlefield defeats, it has made no recent statements on the U.S. proposal. Its leader has said the fighters intend to continue the war. The proposal’s next steps remain disputed: the army-led government wants an internationally monitored RSF withdrawal from urban areas, while Farid says the U.S. approach leaves the militia’s continued existence and political role in question.