Sudanese Army Conditions Support for U.S. Peace Plan on RSF Withdrawal

AP

Sudanese civilians who fled Darfur's El-Fasher city after it was overrun by paramilitary forces receive food at a camp in Tawila on 2 November 2025.

The Sudanese army has made the full withdrawal of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from cities under its control a key condition for broadly accepting a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the country's three-year civil war, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The documents, whose contents were confirmed by senior Sudanese officials, show that the US proposal, presented last month, calls on both sides to agree to an immediate 90-day humanitarian truce. The ceasefire would create the conditions for negotiations on a permanent peace agreement and a transition to civilian-led rule, culminating in national elections.

It also called for a UN-led mechanism to ⁠support limited withdrawals by the RSF, prioritising North Darfur, where the RSF recently took over the city of al-Fashir in a violent attack, and North Kordofan, a current target of RSF drone strikes.

The army-led Sudanese government accepted most of the proposal but objected to only a limited withdrawal, saying the plan must include "the withdrawal of (the RSF) from all the cities it has occupied since 11 May 2023," the documents showed.

The army demand for broad RSF withdrawal has been a repeated stumbling block in previous peace efforts.

The U.S. proposal also called for a unified national army with disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration arrangements, as well as ‌a ⁠Sudanese civilian-led political process excluding the Muslim Brotherhood or militia elements that committed atrocities.

After initially telling the UN Security Council that Sudan had rejected the proposal, U.S. Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos said in a social media post last week that he was "extremely pleased" to hear that Sudanese army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan "has apparently accepted — rather than rejected — the latest peace proposal".

The U.S. has led previously ⁠unsuccessful attempts to end the conflict, which has displaced millions, killed hundreds of thousands by multiple estimates, and spread hunger and disease.

UN experts have accused the RSF of committing genocide in the Darfur region, an area the size of France where it retains control and has begun ⁠setting up a parallel government. The RSF denies targeting civilians.

A senior official from the RSF told Reuters that the group had received and welcomed the latest peace proposal and had submitted a written response, but declined to provide further details. The RSF has previously expressed support for peace initiatives while continuing its military offensive.

The paramilitary force is currently carrying out a drone-led campaign in the Kordofan region, which lies between Darfur and the army-controlled eastern half of Sudan.

The conflict erupted in April 2023 after relations between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF collapsed over plans to integrate their forces as part of a transition to civilian-led democratic rule.

Source: Reuters



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