President Donald Trump's Africa envoy on Tuesday said neither of Sudan's warring sides had accepted a new ceasefire proposal, urging both to agree to the plan presented by Washington on behalf of mediators without preconditions.
Renewed efforts for a truce come after Trump said last week he would move to help end the war in Sudan, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged him during a visit to Washington to get involved.
"We appeal to both sides to accept the humanitarian truce as presented without preconditions," the US envoy Massad Boulos told reporters in the Emirati capital.
"We would like them to accept the specific text that was presented to them," he added.
He spoke at a joint media briefing with UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash in Abu Dhabi, days after Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan slammed the latest proposal presented by Boulos and accused the envoy of parroting the UAE's talking points.
The UAE has been widely accused of arming the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who are at war with the army-backed government.
The UAE denies the accusations.
On Monday, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces announced a unilateral three-month ceasefire, a day after Burhan slammed the latest plan as the "worst yet".
- 'Overlook those comments' -
The plan was presented by the Washington on behalf of the Quad -- which in addition to the US includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Burhan said it was "biased", citing Abu Dhabi's participation.
Boulos denied Burhan's accusations.
"He was making reference to something that does not exist, that has never been presented by us. So we have no idea what he is talking about," said Boulos.
"We have to overlook those comments and remarks and focus on the heart of the matter which is the humanitarian crisis," he added.
In recent weeks, reports of atrocities in Sudan have shocked the world after the RSF seized El-Fasher at the end of October, the last major city that remained outside of their control in the vast western region of Darfur.
Earlier Tuesday, rights group Amnesty International accused the RSF of committing war crimes in El-Fasher, and said the United Arab Emirates had "facilitated" their action.
On Monday, the UAE lambasted Burhan, accusing him of rejecting the truce proposal presented by Washington.
On November 6, the RSF announced they had agreed to a proposal for a humanitarian truce put forward by the Quad mediators.
The army-aligned government had rejected an earlier plan in September, which excludes both the military and the RSF from Sudan's post-war political process.
That proposal included a three-month humanitarian truce, followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to civilian rule.
Mediation has so far failed to halt the fighting between Burhan's forces and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, as both sides seek a military breakthrough.