Sudan's RSF open to talks on immediate ceasefire with army

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00:00 Next now to Sudan, where there has been a new move toward an immediate and unconditional ceasefire

00:05 to end the more than nine-month war. Sudan's paramilitary rapid support forces say they have

00:11 signed a deal with the civilian coalition. And for the very latest on this, let's bring in regional

00:16 correspondent Olivia Bizeau. Olivia, give us the latest on this recent peace agreement. What's

00:21 different this time? Yes, so this is the biggest commitment that the RSF has made yet to end the

00:31 war. In signing this so-called Addis Ababa peace agreement, the RSF leader, Hmeti, has said he is

00:41 open to an unconditional ceasefire. He's also said that he's going to help millions of people who've

00:48 been displaced return to their homes. He's also said he's going to open passages for civilians,

00:54 safe passages, and he said that he's going to include civilian movements into any peace

01:02 discussions. So why is this peace agreement different to the others? Well, this is the

01:08 latest in a series of attempted ceasefires. But while the other ones were brokered by the US

01:14 and by Dubai, this one has been led by former Prime Minister Hamdok. Now, he was ousted in the

01:23 2021 coup by, incidentally, Hmeti and his then ally, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Now, Abdel Fattah

01:34 al-Burhan, the head of the army, was not present during these peace talks. And analysts say that

01:41 it's crucial that he is and that both warring sides, the two men who are at war with each other,

01:47 sit on the same negotiating table. It's also important, they say, that all political movements

01:54 join these peace discussions in order to bring an end to this war that has been going on since

02:01 last April. Now, Olivia, this agreement also comes after Hmeti, the leader of the RSF,

02:06 has actually been on a regional tour. Yes, that's right. So Hmeti has been on a surprise,

02:16 a sort of unexpected regional tour in the past week. And that's highly unusual because since

02:23 the war broke out on the 15th of April of last year, Hmeti went into hiding. He's been nowhere

02:29 to be seen. No one's really been, no one's been aware of what he's been doing, where he's been,

02:33 apart from a few occasional videos that have been posted on social media. And then last week,

02:38 he started this foreign tour. He went to Uganda, where he was seen at a photo op with the president

02:46 Museveni. He was then in Djibouti and then in Ethiopia. And so it's highly significant because

02:53 it's unusual to see him abroad. But he says that he's started this foreign visit in order to find

03:00 solutions to the conflict in Sudan. But analysts say that the real reason is that he wants to

03:06 secure regional support and political legitimacy. In recent weeks, the RSF has made significant

03:14 gains. Last month, they captured the capital of the state of Jazeera, which is a breadbasket

03:20 of Sudan. So it's hugely significant. And the RSF is really trying to gain control to bring in

03:29 law and order to these regions that are now under their control. And in order to do that,

03:36 they need to have the support of regional powers. And so Hameti is trying to enforce that. But he's

03:44 trying to enforce this peace and order despite having committed crimes against humanity in Sudan,

03:52 and especially in the West Afro region. Now, our team in Nairobi recently published a report about

03:58 the violence that is going on which you can find on the France 24 website.

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