Sudan Sovereign Council President Meets UK Envoy on Civil War, UN Rights Inquiry

Sudan's sovereign council president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met British Special Envoy Richard Crowder on Saturday to discuss efforts to end the country's civil war and address a bleak United Nations rights inquiry. Britain prioritised halting the conflict and easing civilian suffering through a "Sudanese-led and Sudanese-owned dialogue", Crowder said in a Sovereign Council statement. He called for an inclusive, transparent political process reflecting Sudanese views both inside the country and abroad. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines Crowder welcomed initiatives from domestic stakeholders and praised government guarantees protecting participants in planned consultations from prosecution. A transitional committee has been tasked with consulting political and civil society groups to lay the groundwork for peace talks. The meeting touched on a recent report from a UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission, which detailed widespread abuses and foreign interference, including the recruitment of foreign fighters. The rights panel reported that UAE-based entities had recruited Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an issue under debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Britain has introduced a draft resolution to extend the mission's mandate beyond its October expiry. Sudan's military-led government opposes the move, contending existing UN human rights bodies in the country suffice. Crowder warned that systematic damage to infrastructure and massive displacement to neighbouring states had compounded the world's most severe humanitarian crisis. The British diplomat expected the crisis to feature prominently at the upcoming UN General Assembly meetings in New York. 'Famine looms across West Kordofan' Meanwhile, an imminent famine threatens six localities across Sudan's West Kordofan state amid severe drought, ruined harvests, and soaring prices, local aid volunteers said on Saturday. Conditions have deteriorated sharply across the region under the control of the RSF, with residents reporting widespread looting, destroyed livelihoods, and a worsening farm crisis fueled by scarce rainfall. Accusations of widespread abuses by RSF fighters have forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes toward neighbouring North Kordofan. The Dar Hamar Emergency Room, an informal volunteer network providing frontline relief, warned of an unfolding catastrophe across the state's northern belt, naming Wad Banda, El Nuhud, Ghebeish, Abu Zabad, Al Odaiya, and Al Khiwai as affected localities. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "We are sounding the alarm and warning of a humanitarian disaster and certain famine engulfing all northern localities," the group said in a statement. Living conditions have reached life-threatening levels after drought scorched fields and caused total crop failure across the area, the group said, accusing RSF fighters of stripping residents of their remaining assets and savings. The price of a single sack of sorghum, a staple food, has soared to roughly 10 million Sudanese pounds (around $1,300) due to severe supply shortages and transport blockades. Tight movement curbs enforced by the RSF, including a ban on commercial trucks carrying food supplies from North Kordofan, have exacerbated the crisis. Hunger and illness are escalating, hitting children and the elderly hardest, the emergency room said, adding that deaths have already been recorded amid a near-total absence of international humanitarian assistance. Read the original article on Daily Trust . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and indi