Президент Бурунди провел встречи с лидерами противоборствующих сторон в Судане для урегулирования конфликта

BUJUMBURA: Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye has stepped up African Union efforts to mediate Sudan’s war after holding separate meetings with representatives of the two rival sides in the conflict, seeking to bring the warring parties back towards negotiations. Ndayishimiye, who currently chairs the African Union, received a delegation representing Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, in Bujumbura on Sept. 4, according to a statement from the Burundian presidency. The meeting followed an earlier audience on July 10 with emissaries representing Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Ndayishimiye said he was satisfied to have received representatives of both sides, describing the engagements as an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to restoring lasting peace in Sudan. “These exchanges made it possible to reaffirm their commitment to restoring lasting peace in Sudan,” Ndayishimiye said, according to the statement. The meetings underline Ndayishimiye’s effort to use Burundi’s current leadership of the African Union to push for an African-led political solution to Sudan’s conflict. At an African Union extraordinary summit in Luanda in late August, Ndayishimiye called on African countries to give greater priority to dialogue, preventive diplomacy and African mechanisms for resolving conflicts. He cited Sudan among the continent’s crises requiring a political rather than solely military response. The war erupted in April 2023 after months of tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces, commanded by al-Burhan, and the RSF led by Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti. Fighting has devastated Sudan, displaced millions of people and created what humanitarian agencies describe as one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Both sides have been accused of serious abuses against civilians during the conflict, while diplomatic initiatives involving African and international mediators have struggled to secure a durable ceasefire. Ndayishimiye’s successive meetings with representatives of al-Burhan and Dagalo could give the African Union an opportunity to intensify contacts with the rival camps as it seeks to revive a political process. The Burundian president has repeatedly argued that African conflicts should be addressed through African-led mechanisms, with dialogue and preventive diplomacy playing a central role.