US Treasury sanctions SAF leader Burhan, SAF weapons supplier Abdalla, and RSF leader Hemeti

"AS a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked." Read the full story in breaking news, just in:

From The Sentry

Dated Thursday 16 Jan 2025, 21:09 GMT. Full copy:

US Sanctions Sudan’s Armed Forces Commander Burhan

January 16, 2025 (Washington DC) - Today, the US imposed sanctions on Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), citing actions including “indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure, attacks on schools, markets, and hospitals, and extrajudicial executions.”
 
The new sanctions designations by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) follow the designation of the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa (known as “Hemedti”), and an official designation of genocide taking place in Sudan.

  

John Prendergast, co-founder of The Sentry, said: "Having recently sanctioned the leader of the paramilitary RSF, General Hemedti, it was critical that the US also sanction the leader of the Sudanese army, as they have both overseen massive human rights violations and deep-seated corruption.  In the end, when the death tolls are tallied, General Burhan may be responsible for more deaths than anyone in Sudan due to his obstruction of humanitarian aid as a famine has unfolded. Now the European Union, UK and others concerned about Sudan's plight should follow the US lead and impose sanctions on Hemedti and Burhan as well."

  

Brian Adeba, Senior Advisor at The Sentry, said: “The sanctioning of the leader of the Sudan Armed Forces is a significant move in the right direction. Sadly, as atrocities committed by the Sudan Armed Forces continue in offensives in central Sudan now, it is a stark reminder that such errant military leaders are still at work committing mass murder. This action should cajole the international community to activate international mechanisms designed to hold war criminals accountable as well as doubling efforts to bring the war in Sudan to a quick end to protect civilian lives.”

  

In addition, OFAC also sanctioned one company and one individual involved in weapons procurement in the Sudan conflict.

  

Read the US Department of Treasury’s sanctions announcement: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2789
  

For media inquiries, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, gh@thesentry.org

  

About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption.”)

The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts. Learn more at: https://TheSentry.org

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Sudan: Shells hit Khartoum killing 10+ civilians

From BBC News
By Yussuf Abdullahi
BBC Monitoring
Dated Friday, 12 January 2024, 6:58 - here is a copy in full:

Shells hit Sudan capital killing civilians

AFP Copyright: AFP Image caption: Many civilians have been killed in indiscriminate shelling in Khartoum (file photo)

At least 10 civilians have been killed after Sudan's army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group exchanged artillery fire in the south of the capital Khartoum.

Activist Muhammad Kindasha told Sudan Tribune news website that some of the victims died when an artillery shell hit “a house where a social event was being held” on Thursday.

He added that there were “fierce confrontations” between the army and the RSF in residential areas, describing the situation as “catastrophic”.

Shells also reportedly hit a local market.

Many civilians have been killed in indiscriminate shelling in Khartoum since the war between the army and the RSF began in April 2023.

Clashes between the two sides have intensified over the past week in the capital and the adjacent cities of Omdurman and Bahri, with the army claiming advances.

The conflict has killed at least 12,000 people and displaced more than seven million others, according to the United Nations.

Click here to view original. 

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Sudan: Janjaweed RSF militia chief Hemeti met with South Sudanese officials from Abyei in Nairobi Jan 3

ACCORDING to this article, the primary purpose of the meeting cited was to follow up on previous discussions held in Khartoum regarding the final status of Abyei and the repatriation of Abyei citizens who had sought refuge in Sudan prior to the Sudanese crisis. Who is giving Hemeti such confidence and authority to attend to such matters? Who is in charge of Sudan? Let's not forget, in 2020 Russia signed a deal with Sudan for a naval base in the Red Sea, in return Russia will provide arms and training for Sudan's military.

Read more from Sudan Tribune
Dated Sunday, 07 January 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudanese RSF leader pledges safe passage for Abyei and South Sudan returnees

Hemetti met with several South Sudanese officials from Abyei area in Nairobi on January 3, 2023 [2024?]

January 7, 2024 (JUBA) – General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo “Hemetti”, the head of the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Force (RSF), has reaffirmed his commitment to facilitate the safe return of Abyei natives and South Sudanese nationals who have fled the conflict in Sudan.

The pledge was made during a meeting with Abyei leaders Francis Mading Deng and Luka Biong Deng in Nairobi, Kenya on January 3, 2024. The meeting, which lasted for an hour, was characterized as amicable, open, and forward-looking by Francis Kuol, a former Sudan cabinet affairs minister.

The primary purpose of the meeting was to follow up on previous discussions held in Khartoum regarding the final status of Abyei and the repatriation of Abyei citizens who had sought refuge in Sudan prior to the Sudanese crisis. Francis Deng, who has also engaged in similar discussions with General Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, in New York, USA during his participation to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022, added that he had also held similar dialogues with General Malik Agar, the Deputy Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, during his visits to Juba.

The Abyei leaders expressed their appreciation to Daglo for his endeavours to bring an end to the brutal civil war in Sudan and his historic diplomatic initiatives to neighbouring African countries in pursuit of peace.

The meeting touched upon three critical issues: peace in Sudan, the potential role of South Sudan under the leadership of President Salva Kiir in facilitating Sudanese peace, and the repatriation of Abyei natives displaced and stranded in RSF-controlled areas.

Deng highlighted the pivotal role that South Sudan, under the leadership of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, could play in mediating Sudanese peace. He emphasized the urgent need to establish secure conditions to enable the return of Abyei citizens displaced by the conflict in Sudan and the crucial role of the RSF in securing transit routes for the return of South Sudanese citizens.

The authorization of the meeting by President Salva Kiir and members of his administration remains unclear. The South Sudanese ambassador in Kenya declined to comment when asked if he had been informed of the arrangement.

Hemetti, heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, which has been engaged in a war against the Sudan Armed Forces under the command of its chief and Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, since April 2023.

The RSF has been out of the public eye for several months. He utilized this period to embark on diplomatic missions to neighbouring countries and participate in global events and functions.

In late December 2023, the head of the Sudanese paramilitary group made his first wartime diplomatic trip to Uganda, where he met with President Yoweri Museveni. He also met with leaders from Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda. (ST)

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article281083/

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Further Reading

The Maritime Executive - 13 December 2017

Russia Moves Forward with Syrian Naval Base - excerpt:

"For Russia, a naval base in Syria . . . is always a place where Russian navy men can take a short rest and hold quick repairs, if necessary. Taking into account that the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions are of strategic importance for world security, Russian forces should stay here indefinitely," said Mikhail Nenashev, chairman of the All-Russian Fleet Support Movement, speaking to Pravda.

The base at Tartus has been under Russian control since 1971, and Russia finalized a 74-year renewal agreement with Syria in January with a 49-year lease followed by a 25-year automatic extension. The enlarged facility will operate outside of Damascus' legal jurisdiction, and Syria will not interfere with any military activities related to its operation. Separately, Russia has also renewed its lease on a military airbase in Western Syria for a period of 50 years. 

Full story: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/russia-moves-forward-with-syrian-naval-base

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The Maritime Executive - 09 December 2020

Russia Signs Deal With Sudan for Naval Base on the Red Sea - excerpt:

The agreement provides the Russian Navy with access to Port Sudan for a period of 25 years, with automatic renewal every decade thereafter. It may keep up to four naval vessels at a time at the port, including nuclear-powered vessels - an important consideration for Russia's submarine fleet. For logistics, Russian forces have permission to use Sudanese ports and airports to deliver any needed "weapons and equipment" to keep the port running. On-base manning is limited to 300 Russian personnel. 

In return, Russia will provide arms and training for Sudan's military, extending a role it already plays in the country. Last year, Russia and Sudan signed a seven-year agreement that provides the Sudanese government with military support, and Russian military advisors have participated in Sudanese public security operations. 

Full story: https://maritime-executive.com/article/russia-signs-deal-with-sudan-for-naval-base-on-the-red-sea

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Sudan's genocidaire bids for legitimacy in Africa tour

NOTE, this article doesn't mention or explain what Sudanese people want.

From AFP (Agence France-Presse)

By Bahira Amin

Dated Saturday, 6 January 2024; 10:54 am GMT - here is a copy in full:

Sudan paramilitary chief bids for legitimacy in Africa tour: analysts

Sudan's paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (L), with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (R) in Pretoria, has been greeted as if he were a head of state, analysts say (-)

Sudan's paramilitary chief spent the first months of the country's war in the shadows. Now he has emerged to embrace civilian politicians and tour African capitals in a bid for international legitimacy, analysts say.

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- commonly known as Hemeti -- commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which the United States accused of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in Sudan's Darfur region during its war with the army.

The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, since April last year in the northeast African country where the US has also accused the army of war crimes.

Daglo had remained largely out of sight while Burhan emerged from a siege of military headquarters to make overseas trips and address the UN General Assembly as Sudan's de facto leader.

But since late December Daglo has been on his first wartime trip abroad, meeting government leaders in Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda.

It is part of a strategy analysts see as likely linked to the United Arab Emirates.

Daglo is "in the ascendancy," said veteran Sudan expert Alex de Waal.

So is the war's death toll, estimated conservatively at more than 12,190.

Clement Deshayes, a Sudan specialist at Sorbonne University in Paris, said Daglo had been "welcomed with the attributes of a head of state" on his visits.

The most important, said Deshayes, came in Addis Ababa where Daglo met with and embraced Sudan's former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was placed under house arrest after an October 2021 coup orchestrated by Burhan and Daglo, then allies.

Their putsch derailed Sudan's fragile transition to democracy.

After a brief reinstatement, Hamdok resigned in January 2022 and fled for Abu Dhabi. He remains Sudan's foremost civilian politician and has reemerged as part of a new coalition known as Taqadum.

- 'Kiss the ring' -

In embracing Taqadum, Daglo was making "the single most important move that he could to gain legitimacy," said Andreas Krieg, a security studies expert at King's College London.

Although Burhan's administration continues to put out statements as the Sudanese government, the RSF controls the streets of the capital Khartoum, nearly all of the western Darfur region, and in December pressed deeper into Al-Jazira state, shattering one of the country's few remaining sanctuaries.

The United Nations says the violence is "imperiling regional stability", having unleashed the world's largest displacement crisis that has uprooted more than seven million people, including around 1.4 million who have crossed into neighbouring countries.

Daglo, a former camel and sheep trader, rose to prominence under Sudan's former strongman Omar al-Bashir who unleashed Janjaweed militias after an ethnic minority rebellion began in Darfur in 2003. The militia campaign led to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

When security personnel attacked pro-democracy demonstrators in Khartoum in June 2019 after Bashir's overthrow, it was the RSF, descendants of the Janjaweed, that witnesses said were at the forefront of the bloodshed, killing at least 128 people.

However, Daglo's embrace of a civilian partner offers the chance to gain international legitimacy, particular from the West, analysts told AFP.

That, said Deshayes, was "despite the ethnic cleansing in Darfur (and) the systematic rape and looting in central Sudan and Darfur".

Kholood Khair, a Sudanese analyst, said rumours of a linkup between Hamdok and Daglo had been "rife even before the war" and were "kicked into overdrive" by the Addis meeting.

In videos of the Addis event, Hamdok and his fellow politicians line up to shake hands with Daglo, who wears a sharp suit instead of military fatigues.

"The optics of the meeting were that Hemeti is in charge," Khair told AFP, with Hemeti "holding court and them coming to him, taking turns to say hello and kiss the ring."

On social media, pro-democracy activists accused Hamdok of betraying civilians for political gain.

- The army isolated -

Hamdok has said he hopes for "an urgent meeting" with Burhan.

However, Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the general was now "highly unlikely" to agree.

Burhan reacted with fury to Daglo's tour, accusing the host nations of "partnering in the murder of the Sudanese people".

That "is precisely the intent," Hudson told AFP.

"It will make the army look opposed to peace and paint Hemeti as the more reasonable and responsible party," he said.

Multiple analysts, including Krieg and Hudson, told AFP the strategy was probably not Daglo's alone and likely originated with the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE, analysts say, already supplies the RSF with munitions via neighbouring African countries -- a charge the UAE has denied.

Krieg said the UAE was "engineering a narrative whereby Hemeti comes out as a potential political leader", with "Taqadum as a legitimate civilian umbrella for the RSF as the security sector".

The army has grown "more and more isolated," said Deshayes, with its military defeats pushing even close ally Egypt away and Daglo now able to "start (peace) negotiations from a place of strength".

But at the same time, Burhan's alienation "will only confuse and complicate the situation and create more time and space for fighting to continue," said Hudson.

bur/bha/dcp/it

View original: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sudan-paramilitary-chief-bids-legitimacy-105449551.html

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