Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaks during the UN Security Council meeting on maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine at the United Nations headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 6, 2023. (Credit: Eduardo Munoz/File Photo/Reuters)
The UN's top humanitarian official arrived in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah on Sunday for talks aiming for a cease-fire between Sudan's warring generals, a spokesperson said.
"Martin Griffiths is in Jeddah at the moment and the purpose of his visit is to engage in humanitarian issues related to Sudan," spokesperson Eri Kaneko said.
Fighting that broke out in Sudan on April 15 between army and paramilitary forces has killed at least 700 people, most of them civilians, wounded thousands and driven a mass exodus of Sudanese and foreign nationals.
A UN official said Griffiths would meet representatives of the two generals at the heart of the conflict, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
There was no indication that Griffiths would play a direct role in discussions about a possible cease-fire.
The warring generals have already announced multiple truces but none has taken hold
Sudanese and Saudi officials have provided scant details about what the Jeddah talks will cover and how long they will last.
A joint US-Saudi statement on Saturday described them as "pre-negotiation talks."
Saudi Arabia has assumed a high-profile role in evacuations from Sudan, dispatching naval and commercial vessels to bring thousands of civilians across the Red Sea from the Sudanese coastal city of Port Sudan.
On Sunday, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed $100 million to be donated for assistance, including medical aid and help for displaced people, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi officials will also organise a public donations campaign "to mitigate the effects of the conditions that the Sudanese people are currently going through," the agency said.
Riyadh's mobilization on the humanitarian and diplomatic fronts reflects its desire "to be seen as a key regional interlocutor and player," said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
"It can't effectively position itself to be a leading international force ... if it doesn't at least try to broker in very destabilizing nearby disputes," Ibish said.
"That said, it doesn't have to achieve success in any given field. It has to be seen as a key party involved in some or all of them."
"Martin Griffiths is in Jeddah at the moment and the purpose of his visit is to engage in humanitarian issues related to Sudan," spokesperson Eri Kaneko said.
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