Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has met Sudan’s armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan as regional and world powers seek an end to the conflict between the military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan has been racked by war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between forces loyal to al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.
Ahmed’s visit on July 9 to the Red Sea coastal town of Port Sudan, where the army-aligned government is based, is the highest-level state visit since the start of the conflict, which has threatened to destabilize the region, displaced millions of people and created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
The Sudan Sovereign Council said in a statement that the meeting was “a testament to the depth of relations” between the two countries.
Ahmed’s press secretary told Al Jazeera the purpose of the Ethiopian leader’s visit was to “achieve peace and security” in Sudan. Reporting from Port Sudan, Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall said, however, “it’s not clear” what Ahmed’s proposals are.
In a closed-door meeting, al-Burhan briefed Ahmed on what he called the “crimes and atrocities” committed by the RSF as part of its “rebellion against the state and its institutions”, the council said.
Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes by United Nations officials and international rights groups.
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