Algeria 'stands by Sudan' amid war, President Tebboune tells visiting al-Burhan

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed Sunday his support for Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who visited the North African country more than nine months into his war against rival paramilitaries.

Tebboune said Algeria "stands by Sudan to overcome the difficult circumstances and confront the forces of evil targeting it", without naming these forces.

Appearing before the media alongside Burhan, Tebboune spoke of the "centuries-old relations" that unite their "two brotherly nations".

Burhan and his forces have been fighting a vicious war in Sudan since April against the army chief's former deputy, paramilitary leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The two generals fell out after a joint 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan's fragile democratic transition.

"Sudan is facing a conspiracy with the complicity of international and regional partners," Burhan said.

He thanked Algeria, which he said had been present at "every Arab or regional discussion or negotiation".

The Sudanese government, loyal to Burhan, has suspended its membership of the east Africa regional bloc IGAD, after it invited Daglo to a summit on the Sudan conflict.

A former Algerian foreign minister, Ramtane Lamamra, has been the UN's special envoy for Sudan since November.

The war in Sudan has killed at least 13,000 people, according to a conservative estimate by the Conflict Location & Event Data project, and displaced more than seven million people, according to the UN.

Although Burhan's administration continues to put out statements as the Sudanese government, Daglo's Rapid Support Forces control the streets of the capital Khartoum and nearly all of the western Darfur region.

Since December, the paramilitaries have advanced rapidly southwards.

Daglo has turned to diplomatic efforts and in December undertook a tour of African countries and embraced Sudan's civilian politicians, in what analysts told AFP was likely a UAE-backed attempt to gain international legitimacy.