New York, (SUNA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ambassador Mohi-Eddin Salem affirmed that achieving comprehensive, lasting, and just peace in Sudan requires ending the growing foreign interference, flows of weapons, ammunition, and mercenaries into the country, dismantling the terrorist Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, and stopping its attacks on civilians, cities, civilian objects, infrastructure, dams, medical centers, and hospitals. In Sudan’s address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Foreign Minister stressed the need to disarm the militia and ensure that weapons are exclusively in the hands of the state and its legitimate national institutions, and to support the progress being made by the Sudanese government in protecting civilians and advancing the peacebuilding process. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that peace and stability cannot be discussed in Sudan as long as the devastating war imposed by the Dagalo family militia continues, noting that the war is fueled by foreign interventions targeting Sudan’s strategic position, geopolitical standing, natural resources, and precious minerals. The minister criticized the international community’s silence and failure to take deterrent measures in response to the atrocities and violations committed by the militia in Sudan, despite the availability of documented evidence, as well as its disregard for calls to designate it as a terrorist organization and its failure to take decisive measures to curb the flows of weapons, military equipment, and mercenaries supporting it across Sudan’s borders. He said that the continuation of these flows contributes to prolonging the war and encourages the militia to continue what he described as aggression, affirming that responding to these demands by the Sudanese government represents one of the fastest ways to end the war and protect civilians. In this context, Ambassador Mohi-Eddin Salem criticized selectivity and double standards regarding the continued presence of weapons in the hands of rebel militias, saying that equating the national army with the militia operating outside the authority of the state is one of the reasons for the escalation of the war in Sudan. He noted that it is not possible to call for an end to the war and the protection of civilians while, at the same time, turning a blind eye to the transfer of weapons and military equipment to the militia, failing to act to halt and condemn these flows, and failing to respond to the call for its designation as a terrorist organization.The Foreign Minister said that silence over the atrocities committed by the militia in Sudan is not merely a shameful and unethical position, but also constitutes a betrayal of civilian victims, particularly women and girls, who are enduring immense suffering while demonstrating great resilience, as well as a betrayal of the Sudanese people as a whole.BH/BH