battle with the commander of the paramilitary rapid support force, general dagalo — better known as hemedti was his former ally. my guest is one of sudan's most distinguished diplomats, nureldin satti, who was ambassador to washington until last year. did the transitional civilian government which he represented let down the people of sudan, allowing the current horrors to be unleashed? nureldin satti in nairobi, welcome to hardtalk. the united nations humanitarian chief, martin griffiths, has described sudan as "a place of great terror". give us a brief overview on how bad the situation is across the country for civilians. the situation is really bad. it's dramatic in the sense that, as you just mentioned, more than four million, you know, were displaced within the country. there have been reports about gang rape, about mass killings, cleansing, you know, ethnic cleansing in darfur, forced evacuation of homes by the rsf in khartoum, and, really, the majority, i would say, of the sudanese population now exposed to a looming, you know, famine because of the imminent failure of the agricultur

are you prepared to sit down and talk with the rsf leader, hemedti? translation: absolutely.it to resolve this problem. at those talks injeddah, in saudi arabia, during the summer, both sides agreed to protect civilians — something both sides have failed to do. the sudanese armed forces have been accused by the un and charities of targeting civilians with indiscriminate air strikes on residential parts of khartoum. why are the civilian casualties so high? why are your forces deliberately targeting civilians? this is not correct. they are fabrications of some stories by the rebel forces. they bomb civilians and film it as if it was the armed forces. we are professional forces. we work with precision and select our targets in areas where only the enemy is present. is the future of south sudan a failed state like somalia or a divided state like libya? well, the sudan will remain united. the sudan, because of its zones, will remain a state intact, not a failure state. but right now, it looks like one, with a humanitarian crisis and millions fleeing their homes, many into neighbou

are you prepared to sit down and talk with the rsf leader, hemedti?re to return to its senses and pull its troops out of the residential areas and return to its barracks, then we will sit with any of them. but, in principle, are you ready to sit down and talk with him? absolutely. whenever he commits to what we agreed injeddah, we will sit and resolve the problem. are you confident of victory? definitely. if you are so confident of victory, why have you relocated and moved to port sudan, effectively giving up khartoum? in khartoum, the diplomatic missions, the ministries, and all government organs cannot carry out their duties as normal because it is a war zone. there are snipers and military operations taking place. your army is accused of killing civilians, by the united nations, by ngos. why are the civilian casualties so high? why are your forces deliberately targeting civilians? this is not correct. there are fabrications of some stories by the rebel forces. they bomb civilians and film it as if it was the armed forces. we are professional forces

are you prepared to sit down and talk with the rsf leader hemedti? has - the desire to return to its senses, and pull its troops out of the residential areas, and return to its barracks, then we will sit with any of them. but in principle, are you ready to sit down and talk with him? translation: absolutely. whenever he commits to what we agreed injeddah, we will sit to resolve this problem. the comedian and actor russell brand has made his first public statement since sexual assault allegations were made against him a week ago. in a video posted on his youtube channel, he did not directly address the claims but thanked his supporters for questioning the media reports. he also criticised the government and technology companies. simonjones has this report. hello there, you awakening wonders! back on social media for the first time in a week. obviously, it's been— an extraordinary and distressing week, and i thank you very much. for your support and for questioning the information that you've been presented with. - july 1st, 2012, was when my rape happ