Donald Trump (file – AP)
United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he intends to turn his focus to helping find a resolution to the civil war in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).The announcement came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman used his first trip to Washington in seven years to urge the US leader to intervene in the conflict.According to Trump, the war, which began in 2023, “wasn’t on my charts” before the dialogue with the crown prince.”His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan,” he said at a business forum with the Saudi royal. In response, Sudan’s sovereign council, which is led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said it would be willing to cooperate with the US and Saudi Arabia to bring peace. In a statement, Fattah al-Burhan expressed a “readiness to seriously engage with them to achieve the peace that the Sudanese people hope for.”What did Trump say about helping to end war in Sudan?According to the Republican president, his belief — prior to the crown prince’s intervention — was that the war in Sudan “was just something that was crazy and out of control.”Although the conflict had apparently not made it onto Trump’s radar, behind the scenes, many within the US government had been making concerted efforts to find a way towards peace. As recently as November 14, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the UAE’s foreign minister to ask Abu Dhabi to back a Sudan ceasefire.The fighting for control of Sudan has killed over 40,000 people and is said to have displaced over 14 million people.At a lunch with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and a number of Saudi business leaders, Trump said the Middle Eastern country’s leader had told him ending the conflict “would be the greatest thing you can do, that would be greater than what you’ve already done.”Speaking to the crown prince, Trump added: “I see how important that is to you, and to a lot of your friends in the room, Sudan. And we’re going to start working on Sudan.”Saudi officials reportedly expressed concerns to Washington that continued unrest in Sudan could lead to instability in the Red Sea and Africa, while creating conditions for extremist groups to move into the Middle East.
