Sudan's military leader ready to take any step to end paramilitary standoff - mediators

Sudan's military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stands at the podium during a ceremony to sign the framework agreement between military rulers and civilian powers in Khartoum, Sudan December 5, 2022. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's head of state and army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is prepared to take any step to solve an ongoing standoff with the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group of mediators including leaders of other paramilitary groups said in a statement early on Saturday.

"We reassure citizens that the crisis is on the way to being solved," they said.

Tension between the army and RSF escalated on Thursday after the RSF moved some of its forces near a military airport in the northern city of Merowe, following weeks of deployments, moves the army said happened without its consent.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Muhammad Al Gebaly)