US envoy meets Sudan's army chief in Egypt in rare push to end the war

CAIRO — A senior envoy of President Donald Trump met Sudan’s army chief in Egypt over the weekend in a rare diplomatic push to end the war that has created what many describe as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. (Al Arabiya, Reuters)

Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, met Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Saturday at a luncheon hosted by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on the sidelines of the African Union’s mid-year coordination meeting, Al Arabiya reported. Boulos disclosed the meeting in a post on X on Monday. (Al Arabiya, Reuters)

“We also reaffirm the United States’ continued efforts, alongside our Egyptian partners and our other regional and international partners and allies, to advance a political solution to the crisis,” Boulos wrote. “The United States stands ready to support all efforts leading to a comprehensive dialogue among the Sudanese political forces, leading to a preliminary road map of the future of the Sudan,” he added. (Reuters)

The meeting came less than two weeks after Sudan’s foreign minister accused Washington of denying Burhan a visa to attend the UN General Assembly’s high-level week in New York, calling it a betrayal of US host-country obligations. The State Department declined to comment at the time. (Al Arabiya)

Sudan’s army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023. The war has displaced more than 14 million people, according to Reuters, and killed at least 59,000, Al Arabiya reports, pushing many parts of the country into famine. Washington has accused the RSF of genocide and the army of war crimes; both have denied the abuses. (Reuters, Al Arabiya)