Egypt urgently assembles leaders over Sudan crisis

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi convened counterparts from Sudan’s neighboring countries in Cairo on Thursday for an “important” summit aimed at finding a workable framework to end the hostilities that erupted in Khartoum over three months ago.

The meeting was attended by the leaders of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, the Central African Republic and Libya, regional states that claim they’ve been hit “hardest” by the consequences of the crisis.

Sisi laid out a four-point peace plan, including calls for “warring parties to stop the escalation and start, without delay, serious negotiations aimed at reaching an immediate and lasting ceasefire.”

Sudanese independent political analyst Mekki Elmograbi told RT that Cairo is concerned about the implications for Egypt of Sudan’s possible collapse as a state.

“Egyptians think that if Sudan collapses, Egypt will bear the price,” he said, adding that the number of people fleeing Khartoum to North Africa may increase in the future.

“If other parts of Sudan are not welcoming refugees because of the war, that means all Sudanese will go north, [to] Egypt,” Elmograbi noted.

According to the UN, approximately 170,000 refugees from Sudan have sought shelter and asylum in Egypt, making it the largest host nation in the region.

Cairo’s initiative comes weeks after talks backed by the US and Saudi Arabia broke down following repeated failures by the rival forces to observe cease-fire agreements.

Meanwhile, on Monday, a quartet committee of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-nation African trade bloc, met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the implementation of a peace roadmap for Sudan.

The military-led Sudanese government has objected to Kenyan President William Ruto’s chairmanship of the mission, claiming that Nairobi lacked neutrality and sided with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of Sudan.

A delegation from the Sudanese army was in Addis Ababa for Monday’s meeting but refused to participate, Arab News reported.