Sudan’s PM in Egypt on first foreign visit

CAIRO (AFP): Sudan’s Prime Minister Kamil Idris arrived in Cairo on Thursday morning for his first official foreign visit since assuming office in May, as his country’s army remains gripped by a brutal war with paramilitaries.

Idris, a career diplomat and former UN official, is expected to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, according to Sudan’s state news agency SUNA.

He will also hold expanded talks with his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly and “discuss ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in various fields,” according to a statement from Egypt’s cabinet.

Egypt has backed Sudan’s military leadership since war erupted in April 2023, when a fragile alliance between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) collapsed.

The RSF swiftly seized large parts of Khartoum, but after months of urban warfare, the army recaptured the capital in March this year.

Fighting has since shifted to other parts of the country — most notably the western regions of Darfur and Kordofan.

The conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 14 million and created what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.

Sudan is now effectively split, with the army in control of the north, east and center, while the RSF dominates nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.

The RSF has been working to establish a rival administration in western Sudan — a move the United Nations warned could deepen divisions in the already fractured country.

Critics meanwhile say the new civilian-led government under Idris risks serving as a facade for continued military rule.