A second American died in the Sudanese unrest, despite the temporary ceasefire that was mediated by the U.S.
On Monday, Secretary Antony Blinken said that rival Sudanese Generals had agreed to a 72-hour truce to allow for the continued evacuations of foreign nationals out of the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the rival generals in Sudan have agreed to extend a shaky cease-fire for another three days as foreign nations continue to evacuate their nationals from the country. https://t.co/FYHUcw7hxH
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 24, 2023
KHARTOUM (Sudan) (AP).- As foreign governments evacuated hundreds of diplomats and other civilians, Sudanese sought desperately to escape Monday’s chaos, for fear that the two rival generals would escalate their battle to take power after the evacuations were complete.
United States Secretary Antony Blinken announced that he helped broker a cease-fire of 72 hours to start late Monday. The cease-fire would be a continuation of a nominal truce that has not stopped the fighting but has helped to facilitate evacuations.
On Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokeswoman John Kirby confirmed a second American had been killed during the fighting. She told reporters via a virtual conference call:
Our deepest condolences are extended to the family. We continue to tell the leaders of the Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces at the highest level of our government that they have a responsibility to ensure the protection of noncombatants and civilians, including those from third-country countries and human rights workers who are trying to save lives.
Kirby continued:
We’re happy to see the overall level of violence has decreased significantly, despite some reports of violence. We encourage both sides to uphold and extend the ceasefire.
The violence must stop. We have said it many times. It’s our duty to do right by the Sudanese. They want peace and security to return in Khartoum, as well as throughout the country. We must continue to work on this.
Kirby reports that, despite the State Department’s announcement on Saturday, they will not be evacuating American Citizens from Sudan, the U.S. facilitates the departure of those citizens who want to leave the country. He said:
We are continuing to move naval assets in the area to provide support off the coast of Port Sudan and along the coast. We are assisting American citizens who are arriving at Port Sudan with their travel arrangements.
Kirby stated that despite the turmoil, the U.S. will not cut diplomatic ties with Sudan.
I want to emphasize that although we’ve suspended the operations of the embassy, we haven’t dismantled diplomatic relations with Sudan or the mechanisms for conducting diplomatic relations. We are simply moving embassy staff out of the country. John Godfrey is still our ambassador to Sudan. He’s done an excellent job and will continue to perform his duties outside of the country.
We fully intend to bring the embassy up and running and get the personnel back to Khartoum to continue looking after the long-term relationship and the needs of the Sudanese. This is something that we will not forget.
