20 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The forces of Libyan General Khalifa Haftar, aligned with the parallel authorities established in the east of the country, have denied supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in their conflict with the Sudanese Army, which broke out on Saturday and which It has already left at least 270 dead.
The spokesman for the Libyan National Army (ELN), Ahmed al Mismari, has indicated in a message that he “categorically rejects the information from some paid media that the ELN is giving support to one party over the other”, before advocating ” the unity, stability and cohesion” of Sudan, according to the news portal Alsaa24.
“The General Command of the Armed Forces stresses the importance of an immediate cessation of hostilities,” he stated, while indicating that Haftar’s forces maintain “urgent contacts” with the parties. “We are willing to play a mediating role with the Sudanese brothers to immediately stop the fighting and open the way for dialogue,” he concluded.
Al Mismari’s words have come after the US newspaper ‘The Wall Street Journal’ indicated that Haftar has sent at least one plane with military supplies to the RSF and stressed that Egypt is giving support to the Sudanese Army, something that has also been rejected by the Egyptian president, Abdelfatá al Sisi.
The Army and the RSF agreed on a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday, although it did not come into force due to the continuation of the fighting, which led to an exchange of accusations regarding responsibility for what happened. The parties agreed again on Wednesday to a ceasefire that will be in force until 6:00 p.m. this Thursday, although the clashes have continued.
The hostilities broke out on Saturday in the context of an increase in tensions around the reform of the security apparatus and the integration of the paramilitary force — led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, who is also vice president of the Sovereign Council of Transition– within the Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition.
The talks process began with international mediation after the head of the Army and president of the Sovereign Transition Council, Abdelfatá al Burhan, led a coup in October 2021 that overthrew the then prime minister of unity, Abdalá Hamdok, appointed to the position as a result of contacts between civilians and the military after the April 2019 riot, which ended 30 years of the regime of Omar Hasan al Bashir.
