Burhan and ‘Hemedti’ outline their conditions to avoid a civil war in Sudan

30 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The head of the Sudanese Army and president of the Sovereign Transition Council, Abdelfatá al Burhan, and his “number two” in the organization and leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias “Hemedti”, have exposed its conditions to avoid a civil war that the African country could reach if the fighting between the two factions does not stop.

Burhan told the Al Hurra chain on Friday that it is not possible to negotiate with ‘Hemedti’ for leading “a rebellion that must end” and that the RSF must be integrated into the Sudanese army.

In addition, he denounced that the RSF uses civilians as human shields and that they have no control of Sudanese territory beyond residential neighborhoods in Khartoum and other territories in Darfur, and that the Army would resolve the situation “in a short time”, but prioritizing the preservation of infrastructures and the protection of civilians, according to the Sudanakhbar portal.

For its part, the RSF has claimed control of 90 percent of Khartoum state.

“We do not want to destroy Sudan,” ‘Hemedti’ declared in an interview with the BBC, showing his willingness to negotiate and blaming Burhan for the violence, whom he has accused of introducing officials loyal to former President Omar Hasan Al Bashir into the government. , on which weighs an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.

The RSF leader has assured that his intention is to form a civilian government “as soon as possible” to protect the country from “the remnants of the government that existed during the last 30 years.”

START AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONFLICT

The clashes broke out on Saturday, April 15, after weeks of tensions between the Army and the RSF in the framework of talks with civil organizations with a view to the formation of a new transitional government.

During the clashes, which have been concentrated mainly in the city of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, 528 deaths and 4,599 injuries have been confirmed, a figure that could be much higher, in addition to causing the internal displacement of more than 75,000 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on April 25 of a “very high danger of biological risk” after one of the parties in the conflict took over the facilities of a laboratory that would contain various pathogens in the capital of the african country.

Due to the outbreak of violence, countries with diplomatic personnel and other nationals in the country began to evacuate throughout the week.

Despite pressure from the international community and the announcement of several truces, both parties have continued with their plans after accusing each other of not complying with the ceasefire, whose main objective was to allow evacuations and help the civilian population access to essential resources.

Numerous NGOs have warned of the violence against civilians, as well as the looting of civilian property, hospitals and humanitarian facilities.

The former Sudanese prime minister, Abdalá Hamdok, warned this Saturday that if the current conflict turns into an open war, this “would be a nightmare for the world”, and could be worse than the conflicts in Syria, Yemen or Libya due to the size of the territory and its diversity, in which several ethnic and religious groups coexist.

In fact, dozens of people have already died during clashes between Arab and Masalit tribes in the capital of the Sudanese state of Western Darfur, an area already punished for crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by both the Army and the RSF against certain ethnic groups accused of being rebels, according to Amnesty International’s report.

The UN also warned that the conflict could endanger the situation in the Sahel, a region where insecurity and political instability have led these countries to a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation that could get even worse.

BACKGROUND

The roots of the conflict go back to the “disastrous 30-year reign” of Al Bashir, in which he fragmented the different branches of the Sudanese Army, organizer of several coups, with the aim of not being overthrown, according to the organization Crisis Group. .

Thus, the RSF became a paramilitary militia to combat the insurgency in Darfur; ‘Hemedti’ came to lead them thanks to a local political base and links abroad created by his mercenary and gold mining activities.

Millions of people rose up in 2019 due to the bad economic situation and led to the fall of Al Bashir, for which the Army and the RSF collaborated so as not to lose power.

This collaboration was unstable from its inception, and it finally unraveled after Burhan’s coup attempt against the civilian government of then-Prime Minister Hamdok in 2021, who took office after an agreement between the military and civilians after the overthrow of Al Bashir.

The failure of the coup led the RSF leader to side with the civil demands against a Burhan more linked to the Islamists of the Al Bashir era.

In December 2022, the Sudanese Army and the RSF-supported civilian coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) signed a ‘framework agreement’ to relaunch the transition process with the aim of holding elections within the deadline two years old

In addition, the agreement maintained the independence of the RSF by depending on a civil head of state instead of the Army, although they had to be integrated within it.

Tensions between the two parties increased between February and March after a recruitment campaign by both forces, especially in Darfur, a stronghold of ‘Hemedti’. They finally calmed the situation down by creating a joint security committee.

However, they did not manage to reach the deadline to definitively agree on the integration of the RSF, which requested a period of ten years compared to the two required by the Army.

They then returned to recruiting and mobilizing troops in strategic areas and, on April 13, the Army accused the RSF of unauthorized movements, for which they issued an ultimatum for their withdrawal. The fighting began two days later.