JUBA/ISLAMABAD: The warring parties in Sudan have agreed to a seven-day truce starting May 4, the foreign ministry of South Sudan said Tuesday, raising hopes of an end to weeks of bloodshed. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) annou­nced on Tuesday it was wrapping up evacuation operations of Pakistanis stranded in Sudan after over 1,000 citizens had been safely evacuated from the war-hit African country, Dawn.com reported. The FO also thanked Saudi Arabia and China for their assistance in repatriating Pakistani citizens stranded in the conflict zone.

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, “have agreed in principle for a seven-day truce from May 4th to 11th,” AFP quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.

Mediation from Juba

The two sides have also agreed “to name their representatives to peace talks to be held at any venue of their choice”, the statement from Juba said. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir spoke to Burhan and Daglo as part of an initiative by an East African regional bloc IGAD to push for an end to the fighting.

Pakistan winds up evacuations from Sudan

FO ends operation

According to the statement, the operation was successful, with over 1,000 citizens safely evacuated from the war-torn African country.

“By Allah’s grace and tireless efforts of our embassy in Khartoum led by Amb Regi, supported by Saudi Arabia and China and our teams in Jeddah and Islamabad, we have successfully & safely evacuated over 1,000 Pakistanis out of Sudan. With this our evacuation operations out of Sudan have ended,” the FO said in a tweet.

Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan specified in a separate tweet that the number of Pakistanis taken out of Sudan was 1,025. He also said repatriations from Jeddah would continue until the “last Pakistani is eventually brought back”.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the FO for the successful evacuation effort.

“Given the prevailing conditions there, it was certainly a herculean task which was made possible due to timely & coordinated response,” he said.

The prime minister also expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia and China for their “crucial help” in the evacuations.

Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Sajjid Hussain Turi had on Monday said the government bore all expenses to bring its citizens back home.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2023