Sudan’s Three-Point Peace Plan Rejected by RSF, Deepening Three-Year Conflict

A blueprint for peace was presented, but the response was a swift declaration of defiance. Sudan's transitional Prime Minister, Kamil Idris, proposed a peace plan before the UN Security Council (UNSC), only for it to be immediately rejected by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The move dashes hopes for an end to the nearly three-year civil war that has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The Government's 'Homemade' Proposal

On Monday, Prime Minister Idris presented a three-point plan he described as "homemade" rather than imposed by outside powers. The proposal called for: an immediate ceasefire monitored by the UN, the African Union, and the League of Arab States; a complete RSF withdrawal from its territories; and the reintegration of RSF fighters not accused of war crimes. "This is not about winning a war," Idris said, "but about ending a cycle of violence."

The civil war, which erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, has displaced some 14 million people. According to Anadolu news agency, the RSF controls roughly 40% of the country, while the SAF holds the remaining 60%, including the capital, Khartoum.

A 'Fantasy' Proposal and International Division

The RSF's reaction was uncompromising. Al-Basha Tibiq, an adviser to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo, said in a Facebook statement that the plan was "nothing more than a recycling of outdated exclusionary rhetoric." He called the demand for withdrawal from RSF-controlled territory "closer to fantasy than to politics."

The international community remains divided. The 'Quad' group—comprising the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE—is pushing its own truce proposal. While the RSF accepted the Quad's plan in November, the SAF rejected it, citing bias due to the UAE's alleged support for the RSF. Meanwhile, the Arab League has welcomed the government's proposal, calling for "positive engagement."