Sudan govt boycotts regional peace talks in Ethiopia

Officials from the IGAD Quartet Group of countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan)  met in Addis Ababa Monday (Jul. 10), to discuss the implementation of a roadmap for peace in Sudan.

The meeting chaired by Kenya's president, included regional (A.U Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security) and international guests such as representatives of the UN humanitarian agency, the EU, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the USA, and the UK.

Sudan's government refused to participate accusing Kenya of bias.

Sudan's Foreign ministry had asked for "Kenyan President William Ruto (to) be replaced... in particular because of his partiality", the statement said.

The RSF sent a representative to the "quartet" meeting. 

"We know that political leaders present in this meeting are by no means representative of the groups," William Ruto admitted early on, "but we believe that an open process, an inclusive process will bring onboard all political actors, civilian groups, civil society groups to be part of this great effort," William Ruto said.

Around 3,000 people have been killed. 

After nearly three months of conflict, the fighting between Sudan's two generals has concentrated mainly in Darfur, the capital Khartoum, in the Blue Nile state near Ethiopia, as well as in South Kordofan state.

No political solution has emerged despite initiatives and ceasefires that weren't systematically respected.

Abiy Ahmed, the PM of IGAD member country Ethiopia, called for an end of hostilities:

"The parties in the violence conflict will have to silence the guns and immediately put in place unconditional and indefinite ceasefire."

The deadly conflict in Sudan has created 2.2 million internal refugees.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa (IGAD) said it would concentrate the efforts of all stakeholders towards delivering a face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the warring parties Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.

The group resolved to request the East Africa Standby Force (EASF) to convene to consider a possible deployment of the EASF for the protection of civilians and guarantee humanitarian access.

The force is usually tasked with election observer missions.