Speaking during a closed roundtable discussion that was organized by the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS) on Saturday - and attended by Ahram Online, Agar said the TSC was not party to the AU initiative, describing it as “prescribing medicine without asking the patient about their problem."

He also rejected the IGAD initiative, “particularly those provisions related to the imposition of disarmament zones and the deployment of forces east of Khartoum.”

On a related note, Agar said the Jeddah initiative was “born dead” because “the three parties to the initiative were not reading from the same page."

Face-to-face?
 

The deputy head of the TSC affirmed during the roundtable discussion that negotiations remains the primary means to achieve peace in Sudan.

"This war like all wars must end through negotiations,” Agar said.

In response to a question from Ahram Online regarding the failure to organize a meeting between the Head of the TSC General Abdel-Fattah and Head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, Agar said holding such a meeting would be important in order to address three crucial points: reaching a ceasefire, facilitating humanitarian efforts and establishing a framework for the political process.

"We have no objection to continuing in the current way of negotiations but there must be clear mechanisms to do so.”

“There are no alternatives to sitting across from one another on the negotiating table,” he said but without elaborating on how the two rivals will be brought together after two months of armed conflict.

Agar also rejected all the attempts to revert to the status quo prior to the outbreak of the armed conflict.

"The Sudanese people will not accept separate armed forces as proposed by the IGAD initiative, for example. We must arrive at a new formula or a new relationship. But we must have a unified army,” Agar said.

The second-ranking figure in the TSC described the situation in Sudan as “catastrophic.”

“The RSF has built a military and economic empire and it exercises control over residential areas,” he warned.

He also warned against a “potential collapse of the Sudanese state,” which would have “dire ramifications for neighbouring countries, including Egypt.”

Agar is scheduled to meet with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday.

This meeting is expected to focus on current developments and the dealing with the humanitarian situation as per the Egyptian-Qatari initiative, according to a senior Sudanese diplomat who is accompanying Agar on his visit to Cairo.