German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno shake hands after a joint press conference on April 21, 2023 at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (Photo by Odd Andersen / AFP)
Berlin: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan to allow civilians to get to safety.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares in Berlin, Baerbock urged Sudan's two rival parties to stop fighting during the holiday of Eid Al Fitr.
"Allow civilians to get to safety. Let the people receive the humanitarian aid they urgently need. Resolve your conflict through negotiations, instead of devastating Sudan," she said.
For his part, Albares said that Spanish military aircraft are on standby and ready to evacuate about 60 Spanish citizens and about 20 civilians from other countries from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. On the other hand, he expressed his fear that the conflict in Sudan would extend to other areas in the Sahel region.
At least 413 people have died and more than 3,500 injured since the fighting erupted last Saturday between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and its surroundings.
Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sit atop a tank in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, on April 20, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
