US envoy urges Sudan warring sides to accept truce proposal “without preconditions”

• US Envoy Massad Boulos urged both the Sudanese Army and the RSF to accept the latest cease-fire proposal presented by Washington "without preconditions."
• The call came days after Army chief Al-Burhan publicly accused the US envoy of being biased and "speaking for the UAE," which is accused of arming the RSF.

Trump's Africa envoy Massad Boulos said on Tuesday neither warring side in Sudan had accepted the latest ceasefire proposal, urging both to agree to the truce presented by Washington on behalf of mediators without preconditions.

"We appeal to both sides to accept the humanitarian truce as presented without preconditions," he told reporters in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi.

Diplomatic Tensions and UAE Allegations

Boulos's remarks came during a joint press briefing with UAE Presidential Adviser Anwar Gargash in Abu Dhabi.

This public appearance came just days after Sudanese Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused the American envoy of being biased and "speaking for the UAE" and parroting its positions.

The Sudanese Army accuses the UAE of arming the paramilitary RSF. Abu Dhabi has consistently denied these accusations.

The RSF unilaterally announced a three-month humanitarian truce on Monday, following earlier statements from Al-Burhan describing the proposal submitted by Boulos, on behalf of the international Quad mediation group (US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt), as the "worst so far."

Last week, US President Donald Trump, during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington, announced his intention to help end the "atrocities" in Sudan.

Focus on Humanitarian Crisis

Boulos dismissed Al-Burhan's accusations that the Quad mediation group is "not neutral" due to the UAE's membership.

"He was making reference to something that does not exist, that has never been presented by us. So we have no idea what he is talking about," said Boulos.

"We have to overlook those comments and remarks and focus on the heart of the matter which is the humanitarian crisis," he added.

In recent weeks, particularly since the fall of El Fasher, there have been continuous reports of mass killings, ethnic violence, abductions, and sexual assaults.

Human rights organizations have noted the occurrence of ethnically based killings in areas controlled by the RSF.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International accused the RSF of committing war crimes against civilians in Sudan, particularly in El Fasher, and said that the UAE's support for the RSF "fuels the continuous violence" in the war, which has lasted over two years.

Abu Dhabi, for its part, criticized Al-Burhan's rejection of the truce proposal on Monday, accusing him of obstructing the peace effort.

Mediation efforts have so far failed to achieve a permanent end to the war that erupted in April 2023 between the SAF, led by Al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by his former ally Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.