KHARTOUM, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday the postponement of a meeting between leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is slated in Djibouti on Thursday.
The ministry said in a statement that it was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Djibouti, the current chair country of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), that RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was unable to attend the meeting scheduled for Thursday with Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan due to technical reasons.
There would be coordination again to hold the meeting next January, added the statement.
It noted that Al-Burhan, out of his keenness to end the suffering of the Sudanese people caused by the "rebel militia," was prepared to leave Wednesday evening for the IGAD-proposed meeting.
The ministry further expressed regret over "the RSF's procrastination and its unwillingness to stop the destruction of Sudan and harming the people."
The IGAD has been leading intensive efforts to revitalize the faltering ceasefire talks between the SAF and the RSF, who initiated deadly clashes in Khartoum and other areas in Sudan since April 15.
The clashes have so far left more than 12,000 people killed, according to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in early December. ■
