Washington, Nov 20 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said he will begin working to help end Sudan’s civil war after Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him to intervene, signalling a potential deepening of Washington’s role in a conflict that has killed at least 150,000 people and pushed the country toward famine.
Speaking at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington on Wednesday (local time), Trump said Sudan had not featured in his foreign-policy plans until the crown prince raised the issue during talks at the White House a day earlier.
“It was not on my charts to be involved in that. I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control,” Trump told the audience. “But I see how important it is to you and to a lot of your friends in the room…We have already started working on it.”
In a post on Truth Social minutes later, Trump described “tremendous atrocities” in Sudan and called it “the most violent place on Earth and… the single biggest humanitarian crisis.”
He said Arab leaders, “in particular the highly respected Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,” had asked him to use the influence of the US presidency to halt the fighting. He pledged to work with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and “other Middle Eastern partners” to stabilise the country.
The comments suggest a shift in tone from Trump, who implied the US had stayed on the sidelines of the conflict.
Earlier this month, the State Department announced that it was engaging with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group and the Sudanese army to bring an end to the hostilities.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on November 4 that the US has been coordinating with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others on a peace process to address humanitarian needs and long-term political issues. A United Nations-backed food security monitor warned that famine has already taken hold in several parts of Sudan.
The war, which erupted in April 2023, has left millions displaced and triggered allegations of genocide in Darfur. International mediation efforts have so far failed to halt the fighting.
–IANS
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