Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the ceasefire declarations by the government of Sudan and the rebel movements in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

We welcome the Sudanese Government’s announcement of a cessation of hostilities for the Two Areas last month, and the opposition’s announcement in April. We are aware of recent allegations of breaches and our Ambassador in Khartoum raised this issue with the Chief of Staff for the Sudanese Armed Forces on 18 July who reiterated the government’s commitment to upholding the cessation of hostilities. We continue to call on all sides to ensure the declarations are respected and allow full humanitarian access.