Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) pledged Sunday to adhere to a newly agreed, short-term cease-fire with the Sudanese army.
"We affirm our full commitment to the cease-fire ... to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, open passages for civilians and provide everything that would alleviate the suffering of our people," the paramilitary group said in a statement.
"Today we are more insistent and determined ... to break this vicious circle that has been controlling the fate of our people unjustly and tyrannically,” it said.
The Sudanese army and RSF signed a weeklong cease-fire deal Saturday after talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The halt in fighting is set to take effect Monday evening with an internationally supported monitoring mechanism.
Several previous attempts to broker a sustained truce have failed, with both sides accusing the other of violating it.
The new agreement states, “Both parties have conveyed to the Saudi and U.S. facilitators their commitment not to seek military advantage during the 48-hour notification period after signing the agreement and prior to the start of the cease-fire."
A U.S.-Saudi statement said, "It is well known that the parties have previously announced cease-fires that have not been observed. Unlike previous cease-fires, the agreement reached in Jeddah was signed by the parties and will be supported by a U.S.-Saudi and international-supported cease-fire monitoring mechanism."
The Monitoring and Coordination Committee is to be made up of three representatives each from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and three representatives from each party.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
