MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 28, 2025 - RESTRICTION: USERS MUST CREDIT “SUDAN'S SOVEREIGN COUNCIL” HANDOUT, —EDITORIAL USE ONLY— Saudi Arabia and Sudan on Friday agreed to establish a coordination council to enhance relations between the two countries. According to the official Saudi news agency SPA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received the chairman of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in the holy city of Mecca. During their meeting, both leaders discussed the latest developments in Sudan, and the efforts made to achieve security and stability in the war-torn country. On Thursday, Al-Burhan met with a Saudi delegation in Khartoum to discuss the kingdom's efforts to rebuild Sudan. His visit to the kingdom came one day after Al-Burhan declared the capital Khartoum “free” after his army forces expelled paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the city. The army and RSF have been fighting a war since mid-April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000. The international community and the UN have called for an end to the war, warning of an impending humanitarian catastrophe as millions face famine and death due to food shortages. The conflict has spread to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states.