Sudan’s army rejects US, UAE-backed peace proposal, calling it ‘worst yet’
The Cradle, November 24, 2025 —
The UAE backs the RSF militia, which has battled the Sudanese army for control of the country since April 2023.
Sudan’s military chief rejected a US-backed ceasefire proposal on 23 November, calling it “the worst yet,” amid international efforts to end the bloody civil war that has killed some 40,000 people in the east African country.
The proposal was put forward by the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, known as the “Quad” countries, to end the 30-month civil war.
Following a military coup in 2023, fighting erupted for control of the country between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which is backed by the UAE.
In a video statement issued late Sunday, Sudanese General Abdel-Fattah Burhan claimed the Quad’s proposal “is considered the worst document yet,” since it “eliminates the Armed Forces, dissolves security agencies and keeps the [RSF] militia where they are.”
The civil war has created a major humanitarian crisis. In addition to the tens of thousands killed, some 14 million have been displaced, while disease and famine have spread to large swathes of the country.
“If the mediation continues in this direction, we will consider it to be biased mediation,” Burhan stated, citing UAE involvement.
The mediation group was “not innocent of responsibility, especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE’s support for the rebels against the Sudanese State,” Burhan added.
Calls for a truce intensified after reports emerged in late October that the RSF had carried out mass killings of civilians during its capture of the town of El-Fasher in the Darfur region of southwest Sudan.
“Families hid in trenches, bodies lay in the streets, and children were killed in front of their parents as Sudanese paramilitaries advanced into the western city of El-Fasher,” AFP wrote after speaking with some of the 36,000 people who managed to flee.
Massad Boulos, the US advisor for African affairs, stated earlier this month that the latest proposal calls for a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process.
Burhan also lashed out at Boulos, saying he attempted to “impose some conditions on us.”
“We fear that Massad Boulos will be an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek.”
During his video statement, Burhan said the RSF must withdraw from civilian areas to allow the return of displaced people to their homes before the army would agree to a truce and move forward with talks for a political settlement.
“We’re not warmongers, and we don’t reject peace,” he said, “but no one can threaten us or dictate terms to us.”
The current civil war in Sudan began in 2023, when the army clashed with the RSF, led by Burhan’s former deputy, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), over plans to integrate their forces.
Both men were leaders of a 2019 counterinsurgency that ousted longtime Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.
Two years later, Burhan and Dagalo partnered to carry out a coup against the government of former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok before their partnership broke down and war erupted.
The UAE has supported the RSF in an effort to control Sudan’s gold and wheat production, as well as establish access to its strategic ports on the Red Sea, which are crucial to its rivalry with Saudi Arabia.