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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council urged Sudan’s warring parties on Friday to halt hostilities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and allow desperately needed aid to reach 25 million people.
Ramadan is expected to begin on or around Monday, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
The vote on the British-drafted resolution was 14-0 with Russia abstaining.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides on Thursday to support a Ramadan cease-fire, warning that the nearly year-long conflict threatens the country’s unity and “could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions.”
Burhan welcomed the U.N. chief’s appeal, but the Sudanese foreign ministry issued a statement on Friday listing a number of conditions for the cease-fire to be effective.