Pope Francis appealed on Sunday to Sudan's warring factions to put an end to a 10-month conflict that has seen millions displaced and prompted warnings of famine.
Pope Francis, Reuters/Alberto Pizzoli
Pope Francis appealed on Sunday to Sudan's warring factions to put an end to a 10-month conflict that has seen millions displaced and prompted warnings of famine.
"I ask again the warring parties to stop this war, which causes so much damage to the people and the future of the country", Francis said during his Angelus message.
"Let's pray so that avenues of peace will soon be found for the future of beloved Sudan", he added.
Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the civil war in Sudan that pits the country's armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In his traditional Sunday address, the pope also mentioned conflicts in Mozambique, Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"Wherever there is fighting populations are exhausted, they are tired of war, which is always useless, inconclusive and will only bring death and destruction and will never lead to a solution to the problem," Francis said.
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters have said they will work with a planned new government to oversee territories they control, the starkest move they have made towards a partition of the country after 20 months of civil war.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday had a blunt message for countries providing military support to Sudan's warring parties or profiting from the conflict: "Enough."
President Joe Biden's administration will provide U.S. lawmakers an assessment by Jan. 17 on the credibility of assurances by the United Arab Emirates that it is not providing - and will not provide - weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.