UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 The United Nations chief on Thursday urged the international community to mobilize and do everything possible to stop the war in Sudan, saying 鈥渨hat is happening is horrible.鈥
Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres said there is no military solution to the conflict between forces supporting that began in mid-April 2023, and he stressed that continued fighting 鈥渨ill not bring any solution so we must stop this as soon as possible.鈥
Guterres told a U.N. press conference that it鈥檚 time for the warring rivals 鈥 Sudan鈥檚 military, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 鈥 to start talking about ending the conflict, which has killed at least 12,000 people and sent over 7 million fleeing their homes.
The U.N. is working with the regional group IGAD, the African Union and the Arab League, and Guterres expressed hope he will meet with them at the upcoming AU summit on Feb. 17-18 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 鈥渢o see how we can converge our efforts to bring these two generals to the table鈥 and achieve a ceasefire and create conditions to get humanitarian aid into Sudan for people in 鈥渄esperate condition.鈥
told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday that the rival generals assured him very recently they would attend a meeting in Switzerland to discuss humanitarian issues and Sudan鈥檚 beleaguered civilians. 鈥淚鈥檓 still waiting to see when that happens,鈥 Griffiths said.
Sudan plunged into chaos last April with street battles between the generals鈥 rival forces in the capital, Khartoum, that spread to other areas. Western Darfur, which was wracked by bloodshed and atrocities in 2003, has been an epicenter of the current conflict, an arena of ethnic violence where paramilitary troops and allied Arab militias have been attacking African ethnic groups.
In 2005, the Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, which is charged under the Rome Statute that established the tribunal with investigating and prosecuting the world鈥檚 worst atrocities 鈥 crimes against humanity and genocide 鈥 and the crime of aggression.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told the council in late January it was 鈥渜uite stunning鈥 in visiting different refugee camps in Chad, which borders Darfur, that people who lived through the Darfur conflict from 2003 told him spontaneously that what is 鈥渋s the worst ever.鈥
鈥淏ased on the work of my office, it鈥檚 my clear finding, my clear assessment, that there are grounds to believe that presently Rome Statute by both the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces and affiliated groups,鈥 Khan said.
Secretary-General Guterres urged support for the ICC, saying its role in prosecuting those involved in 鈥渁trocities鈥 in Darfur 鈥渋s absolutely essential.鈥
Humanitarian chief Griffith and U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi appealed for $4.1 billion in international support for embattled civilians in Sudan amid signs that after nearly a year of war.
The agencies said that half of Sudan鈥檚 population, or around 25 million people, requires support and protection, and that the requested funds would go to help millions of civilians in Sudan and others who have fled abroad.
