A Worn-Out Record and a Truce to Save the Militia

As I See 

Adel El-Baz

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The country is adorned with festivals of celebration… public morale is high, and battalions of heroes are advancing — climbing mountain peaks and descending into valleys — to liberate what remains of Kordofan, while all eyes are fixed on Darfur.

At this very moment, the harbinger of ruin, Massad Boulos, reappears, replaying his usual worn-out record: a ceasefire, the quartet, humanitarian aid, and failed promises — one after another.

Unfortunately for him, at the very moment he was making his statements the day before yesterday, President al-Burhan was speaking on national television, issuing a brief statement that demolished all of Boulos’ claims. He said clearly: “There will be no ceasefire as long as the militia occupies cities.”

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What exactly did Boulos say?

He stated that “the quartet mechanism has reached a document to establish peace in Sudan that is acceptable to both parties to the conflict.”

He added that “the quartet has reached a peace agreement in Sudan, and coordination has been completed with the quartet committee on the final text of the agreement,” noting that “it will be submitted to the UN Security Council after the quartet ratifies it.”

So, according to Massad Boulos, there is a ready agreement, accepted by both sides (the militia and the Sudanese state).

What are the details of this remarkable agreement?

According to him, it includes:

• A humanitarian truce
• Opening safe humanitarian corridors
• Withdrawal of fighters from both sides from certain areas

That’s it — a three-point agreement, and what is hidden may be far greater.

To expose these maneuvers and falsehoods, we say:

First: The state leadership has repeatedly announced that it does not deal with what is called the “quartet” as long as the UAE is part of it. Negotiations are conducted only with the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and do not carry the “quartet” label that Boulos is trying to impose in line with the wishes of his patrons in Abu Dhabi.

Second: A truce has always been acceptable to the government — but under one clear, non-negotiable condition: the militia must withdraw from cities to its camps. What is new now — under military pressure — is that Boulos is trying to bypass this condition using deceptive language: “withdrawal of both sides from certain areas” — unspecified remote areas, not the specific cities occupied by the militia that the public demands be liberated.

Some mediators are reportedly speaking about withdrawal from El Fasher only… but what about Nyala, where campaigns of extermination have begun? What about Zalingei, Ed Daein, En Nahud, and Bara? Are these cities to be left prey to Janjaweed massacres?

The most important question: From where exactly would the army withdraw? And to where?

From Omdurman and El Obeid, for example? Or from its strategic positions, roads, and key areas outside cities?

And how can the army trust the commitments of a militia known for lying and reneging on every previous agreement?

The truth — as Amjad Farid said yesterday — is that the plan proposed under the Saudi-American initiative does not include withdrawing army forces at all. Rather, it proposes deploying Sudanese police and government civil administrations in areas from which the Rapid Support Forces withdraw, while the army remains in its barracks and national command positions.

The government has even proposed that it is ready to accept UN forces to guard militia camps if the militia fears being pursued by the army there. The army is already in its barracks, and what is required — as the government proposed in Washington — is a civilian administration from the internationally recognized legitimate government, alongside police forces to secure cities.

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The rest of the worn-out record revolves around aid. Boulos pledged to convene a conference to raise $1.5 billion “for the country.” How many times have we heard this nonsense at previous conferences, only for the outcome to be ashes?

At the Paris Conference 2025, donors pledged $4.2 billion — yet by year’s end, only 22% had been collected. Yesterday, the UN Secretary-General announced that the UN is on the brink of bankruptcy.

The United States has shut down USAID and suspended all its activities in Sudan.

Even at the Washington conference the day before yesterday, which Boulos called for, contributions were largely symbolic: the United States pledged only $200 million for what is described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, while the UAE pledged $400 million. Cameron Hudson said of the UAE contribution and the conference overall that it is viewed as part of “aid laundering” for UAE crimes, rather than a serious effort to mobilize real funding.

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The question that truly puzzles me:

What Boulos is proposing now was previously rejected by the army when the militia’s battlefield position was far stronger. At that time, its camps were not besieged, its cities were not encircled, and its allies were more numerous. Today, sieges have been broken in Kadugli, Dilling, and elsewhere. No camps remain under siege. Advanced weapons are flowing in. Powerful allies have openly declared their support. And the people — who stood with the army in its darkest moments — now categorically reject any ceasefire or negotiations with the militia.

At this precise moment, with this military and popular momentum, what would justify accepting a humiliating truce that would allow the militia to regroup and save it from imminent defeat?

The ceasefire Boulos is promoting is not peace — it is a lifeline thrown to a militia sinking in the mud of defeat.

The people will not accept it. And the army — whose commander-in-chief, al-Burhan, pledged yesterday in Al-Takina that he would not betray the blood of the martyrs — will not accept a truce imposed to save the militia.

Its forces are now advancing in all directions, chasing the remnants of the militia. The people are waiting to pray with them the dawn prayer of deliverance. Victory prayers in public squares are no longer a dream — but an appointment now being written by heroes.

Source: Elaph