President Kiir pleas for ceasefire in Sudan on phone

South Sudan minister of foreign affairs said president Salva Kiir is in continuous engagement on phone with the warring parties in Khartoum to ceasefire and grant safe evacuation of foreign nationals.

In a statement on Saturday, Deng Dau Deng said Kiir who heads the IGAD team for Sudan peace process is in communication with the parties to de-escalate the violence in the Sudan.

“President Salva Kiir had a telephone call yesterday  evening on 21 April … with AL Burhan, chairperson sovereign council and commander of Sudan armed forces on the current situation in Sudan. This morning, president kiir tried to reach out on telephone to Gen. Hamdan, leader of Rapid Suport Forces to convey the message of cessation of hostilities, opening of humanitarian corridors and safe evacuation of foreign nationals trapped in Khartoum,” the statement read.

The war in Khartoum began on April 15 between forces loyal to Sudan army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who commands Rapid Support Forces.

Over 400 lives have been lost and the fighting remain in continuity in some parts of the country.

On 17 April, IGAD heads of state and government agreed to send president Kiir of South Sudan, Kenyan President William Ruto and the president of Djibouti Ismail Omar to Sudan to mediate peace between the warring parties.

However, due to continuous clashes at the country’s airport, the IGAD delegation could not go to Khartoum resorting to phone calls as a mean of calling for cessation of hostilities.

The minister said the team will go to Khartoum once the ceasefire is observed.

“The high-level heads of state and government will take the earliest available to undertake its mission to the Republic of Sudan. This is dependent on the truce being fully observed as well as granting safe access to the Khartoum International Airport,” Deng said in the statement.

As the fighting enter second week, foreign countries including United States and French have started evacuating their citizens out of Sudan.

South Sudan whose president is leading the Sudan peace process said it has no plan to evacuate over 800,000 its citizen from Sudan but concerned citizens of South Sudan have taken the initiative to mobilize resources to evacuate their fellow South Sudanese in Sudan.