Sudan warring sides make humanitarian pledge without truce

KHARTOUM - Warplanes roared overhead as explosions rocked Khartoum on Friday, just hours after Sudan's warring parties signed a commitment to respect humanitarian principles in their spiralling conflict, without a truce in sight.

Nearly one month after the outbreak of the fighting that has killed more than 750 people and displaced hundreds of thousands, the two sides signed the agreement late Thursday during talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

But already by the next morning the situation on the ground appeared unchanged, with the forces of two rival generals again exchanging fire in the Sudanese capital, which is home to five million people.

A witness in south Khartoum reported "fighter jets overhead and the sound of clashes and explosions", while another in the city's north reported "air strikes and the sound of anti-aircraft missiles".

Envoys in Jeddah representing the two generals -- army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- agreed to "affirm our commitment to ensure that civilians are protected at all times".

The agreement commits both sides to let in badly needed humanitarian assistance after looting and attacks targeting aid in the impoverished country, Africa's third largest in area.

The declaration calls for the restoration of electricity, water and other basic services, the withdrawal of security forces from hospitals and "respectful burial" of the dead.

The United States and Saudi Arabia, which together led the diplomatic drive, said talks were ongoing with a proposal on the table for a 10-day truce, which would lead, in turn, to negotiations on a longer-term end to fighting.

But as fighting and looting raged, US diplomats were frank about the obstacles in the nearly week-long talks in the Saudi port city.

"This is not a ceasefire. This is an affirmation of their obligations under international humanitarian law," said a US official involved in the negotiations, who called the two sides "quite far apart".

"We are hopeful, cautiously, that their willingness to sign this document will create some momentum that will force them to create the space" to bring in relief supplies, she said.