Sudan: France closes embassy as UN warns conflict could engulf entire region – live

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Staying on France’s response, the country’s navy is sending a warship to Sudan to help pick up nationals being evacuated.

Two diplomatic sources told Reuters the French frigate Lorraine was heading for the port but had yet to reach Sudanese waters, one of the sources said.

European states, as well as China and Japan were racing to extract their citizens from Sudan on Monday as the UN chief warned of the risk of “a catastrophic conflagration” with wider repercussions.

France closing embassy in Sudan

The French embassy in Khartoum will be closed after the armed clashes between the army and paramilitary group.

The French mission in Khartoum will be shut “until further notice”, the foreign affairs ministry said, and would no longer serve as a rallying point for expatriates trying to leave the country.

France has airlifted 491 people from 36 countries, including 12 EU nations, to Djibouti since Sunday, according to the ministry, Agence France Presse (AFP) reports.

They included two Greeks and one Belgian who had been wounded, as well as the German and Swiss ambassadors, it said.

French nationals in Djibouti today were due to land in France in coming days.

The ministry however added that it had been unable to reach the few French people living outside the capital Khartoum.

France had to coordinate with both sides of the conflict to ensure successful evacuations, the ministry said.

The Sudanese armed forces led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan control the airport, while many of those needing to be evacuated were in areas held by the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, it explained.

President Emmanuel Macron was “able to speak to Gen Burhan to obtain the necessary assurances in order to evacuate our citizens by air,” the presidency said.

“He will stay in touch with actors in the region in coming days in order to contribute to peace efforts,” it added.

US raises concerns about Russian Wagner group operating in Sudan

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has raised concerns about the Russian mercenary force, the Wagner group, operating in Sudan.

Wagner, who were founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, have been heavily engaged in the conflict in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. There is now a suggestion the group is active in Sudan.

He told a press conference: “We do have deep concern about the engagement of the Prigozhin group – the Wagner group - in Sudan.

Blinken said the Wagner group has been active in Mali and Central African Republic.

Kenya’s foreign secretary, Alfred Mutua, also pointed the finger at Middle Eastern countries. He did not name them, but Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have been widely reported to have backed warring generals, Agence France Presse reports.

“We’ve been quite concerned by some of our friends in the Middle East as well as Russia or others who for a long time have been friendly to either one or the other side,” he said.

“At this particular time, it is not a time to be able to sides in a war,” Mutua said.

He added that foreign players were “trying to use Sudan as a playing field for whatever reason.”

“We are asking external forces to leave Sudan alone.”

After reports that evacuation efforts nearly “collapsed” on Sunday, Downing Street said it “did not recognise” the claims.

It has been alleged that there was a standoff related to the evacuation of a Sudanese citizen on a British flight.

Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said: “We don’t recognise the claim that the operation was in some way compromised or impacted by this.

“The plane left quickly, it left without any major incident with the rest of the party. The Sudanese national was later evacuated on a French plane, I understand.”

The decision not to evacuate the Sudanese citizen would have been made on the ground, Downing Street suggested.

The spokesperson added that lessons had been learned from the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. “It’s been a very fast-moving and complex situation. I think, as demonstrated over the weekend, we moved very swiftly in what was very challenging circumstances to safely evacuate the diplomats from Sudan” they said.

“Part of that has been informed by lessons learned from previous situations including Afghanistan.”

The British parliament has been discussing the situation in Sudan with a Foreign Office minister telling MPs that any British nationals who try to relocate or flee “do so at their own risk”.

Andrew Mitchell said that the international airport in Khartoum was not operational and added that the safety of British nationals in the country was “the utmost priority”.

Mitchell said that the government was still pushing for another ceasefire to be agreed and followed by the warring army and RSF group.

“Ending the violence is the single most important action we can take to guarantee the safety of British nationals and everyone in Sudan,” he said.

What is the situation in Sudan?

As the UK and other countries continue to evacuate its citizens out of Sudan, here’s what has happened so far as the country has descended in to war.

Fighting began less than a fortnight ago on 15 April as 25 were killed in clashes between rival military groups in Sudan. Fighting has since continued in the capital, Khartoum. Hundreds have been killed, with the number of injured in the thousands according to reports.

The warring factions make up the two main sections of the ruling military power.

The Sudanese armed forces are loyal to Abdulfatah al-Burhan, the current de facto leader of Sudan.

Meanwhile the paramilitary group Rapid Support Force (RSF) follow the former warlord Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also known as Hemedti.

Hemedti is deputy head of the transitional governing Sovereign Council, while al-Burhan is its head. There had been a planned shift to civilian rule which provides the backdrop to the conflict.

An internationally-backed ceasefire broke down after a matter of hours on April 19 as groups fought for control of key locations in the capital including the presidential palace, airport and general command of the Sudanese armed forces. Another truce around the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Ramadan fast, also failed.

In the days since thousands of people have fled the violence to neighbouring countries including Chad. British diplomats were evacuated on Sunday, although there were reports that the efforts nearly collapsed – in scenes reminiscent of the British withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Meanwhile the US removed some of its citizens in Chinook helicopters on Sunday, and nearly 500 French nationals have been evacuated by its government.

UN warns conflict could engulf entire region

Welcome to our coverage of the ongoing situation in Sudan as thousands of Britons remain trapped as they try to flee the north-east African country.

On Monday afternoon the secretary general of the UN, António Guterres warned that the situation could engulf the whole region. Guterres called for a ceasefire and said that humanitarian aid workers should be allowed in by both sides.

He said:

“Let me be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time.

“We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.”