Rift Over Sudan Army Role Delays Quad Meeting, Diplomat Says

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau (second from right) with (from left) Saudi Ambassador Reema bint Bandar Al Saud,UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, and Egyptian Ambassador Motaz Zahran, at the State Department on June 3, 2025. (State Department photo)

July 14, 2025 (ADDIS ABABA) – A high-level meeting of the Quad group of nations on the Sudan war has been delayed by a rift between Egypt, which insists on including Sudan’s army, and the United States, which opposes the move, a Western diplomat said on Monday.

The planned Washington meeting of the Quad — the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt — was intended to address the ongoing war in Sudan. However, Cairo’s insistence on the participation of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has stalled progress, the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

The U.S. has refused to host Sudanese military leaders, having imposed sanctions in January on several figures, including army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, for their role in the conflict. Washington instead proposed inviting members of the civilian government ousted by Burhan in a 2021 coup, a suggestion Cairo rejected, the diplomat added.

Meanwhile, in a separate diplomatic track, Sudanese political and civil society leaders were holding meetings with African Union (AU) officials in Addis Ababa on Monday.

The delegation presented the AU with what it called documented evidence of systematic violations in the war, including genocide and sexual slavery, according to a statement from the group. They described the war as “systematic foreign aggression” using the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a tool to dismantle the state.

AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat is seeking to convene a new round of talks in late July or August, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The AU suspended Sudan’s membership after the 2021 coup. Sudan’s military-led government has recently dispatched envoys to discuss the suspension and is planning a diplomatic tour of African capitals ahead of an upcoming AU Peace and Security Council meeting, the sources said.