The tweet is timestamped William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) 2:12 PM July 16, 2023The IGAD and Jeddah processes must work together to facilitate the realisation of a permanent ceasefire in Sudan. They must also push for the free movement of humanitarian assistance, the protection of refugees and the reactivation of the Political Process.
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) July 16, 2023
Held a telephone call…
Report at The EastAfrican - theeastafrican.co.ke
Dated Thursday 15 June 2023 - full copy:
Igad sticks to mediation roadmap amid Sudan rejection of Ruto's lead role
Kenya President William Ruto when he met Sudan army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan special envoy Malik Agar Nganyoufa (left) on May 29, 2023, and, right, the paramilitary RSF Mohamed Hamdani Daglo ‘HemedtI's political advisor Youssef Ezzat on June 3, 2023. PHOTOS | PPU | RSF TWITTER
Summary
Sudan has rejected the appointment of Kenyan President William Ruto as head of a quartet to facilitate peace under the regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad)
The junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan accused Nairobi of having “harboured” sympathies for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo Hemedti was once his deputy, but is now an arch-enemy.
The latest statement on Thursday [15 June] came as Sudan had also rejected the Igad mediation schedule, which would have seen Ruto arrange for a face-to-face meeting, for the first time, between the two warring generals.
Igad had insisted it would stick to the mediation quartet led by Kenya in the search for peace in Sudan, even after Khartoum rejected the proposals, in spite of Sudanese protests.
According to officials familiar with the decision, resolutions publicised in an official Igad communique remain in force until formally revised by the heads of state and government of the eight-member bloc.
On Monday, Igad had named Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti as members of a quartet to help Sudanese warring generals seek peace.
Sudan said, after the meeting, that Igad announced the mediation plan without consent from Burhan.
Governor assassinated
The rejection portends early problems with the ‘roadmap’ to help achieve long-term ceasefire and came as the governor of West Darfur was assassinated.
On Monday [12 June], just two days after the Igad summit in Djibouti, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed it had rejected any mention of mediation and also opposed being replaced as chair of Igad. The summit had appointed Djibouti to replace Sudan for the next one year, under the new rules that follow an alphabetical order of members.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Foreign Affairs ministry said it “expressed its disagreement and objection to a number of paragraphs that were mentioned in the draft final statement of the summit due to the fact that they were not discussed and agreed upon, and the delegation called on the Igad Secretariat to delete them.”
“These paragraphs relate to changing the chairmanship of the Igad committee, as the delegation demanded that South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit retain the chairmanship of the committee and demanded the deletion of any reference to the subject of mediation.”
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Korir Sing’oei said there had been no official protest from Sudan but did suggest only the Summit can revise the decisions.
“Both the inclusion of the Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to the Troika mandated to seek peace in Sudan Crisis and the appointment of President William Ruto to lead the quartet was arrived at by the Igad Summit and can only be vacated by the Summit,” Dr Singoei said.
Incidentally, a Sudanese representative Malik Agar, who is also the Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of the Republic of the Sudan, chaired the summit. Agar replaced Mohamed Hamdani Daglo ‘Hemedti’, the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has since April 15 been fighting Burhan’s Sudan Armed Forces.No official communication on this yet. But both the inclusion of PM @AbiyAhmedAli to the Troika mandated to seek peace in #SudanCrisis & appointment of @WilliamsRuto to lead the Quartet was arrived at by the IGAD Summit & can only be vacated by the Summithttps://t.co/ePhMqqbUzh
— Korir Sing'Oei (@SingoeiAKorir) June 15, 2023
Sudan says it notified Igad regarding the need for Kiir “to continue chairing the Quartet Committee that was approved by the summit in accordance with the objective considerations mentioned by Uganda President Yoweri Museveni in the Igad Emergency Summit that was held online on April 16, 2023.” At the time, Juba led Uganda and Kenya in the earlier troika that sought to travel to Khartoum but failed.
During the summit attended by leaders from the eight member states and officials from associated organisations, Sudan is said to have rejected proposals for dialogue with Hemedti.
“Igad underlined the importance of consultation and coordination with the Government of the Sudan regarding all-inclusive efforts aiming at solving the ongoing conflict,” a communique said.
Somalia or Djibouti?
But behind the scenes as a raging Khartoum felt the weight of the proposals by Igad, Ruto said a quartet of Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia would work with the AU to help achieve peace in Sudan. The official communique released, unusually more than 24 hours after the meeting, named Djibouti, rather than Somalia in the quartet.
“This group was supposed to arrange, within ten days, a face-to-face meeting between Burhan and Hemedti in one of the regional capitals, and, within 2 weeks, secure a commitment for humanitarian corridor. An inclusive political process towards a political settlement was to start within three weeks,” it said.
“We have taken the decision…so that we can speak to them directly on behalf of Igad, with the view of stopping the war that is raging,” said President Ruto at a press briefing in Djibouti, where the summit had gathered on Monday.
“Kenya commits to meet the two Sudan generals face to face to find a lasting solution to the crisis.”
A diplomat familiar with the discussions told The EastAfrican, Sudan had indeed opposed the clauses, and especially the inclusion of Ethiopia with which they have a decades-old unresolved border dispute. But was convinced South Sudan will still play a leading role on the committee, including hosting the meeting.
Traditionally, communiques have often been released only on the endorsement of the respective ambassadors of member states.
But the official said Sudan’s beef with Kenya in the lead is the fact that they already gave an ear to an envoy of the RSF earlier this month. On June 3, Ruto met with RSF political advisor Youssef Ezzat. But the RSF claimed the meeting was “part of a tour encompassing friendly nations, aimed to elucidate the evolving situation in Sudan.”
Burhan considers himself the definitive head of Sudan and has labelled Hemedti as a rebel.
“With a comprehensive understanding, Ezzat provided Ruto with an insightful explanation of the war's causes and the prevailing circumstances, backed by accurate information regarding its motives and the responsible parties,” RSF tweeted of the Nairobi meeting.
Since April 15, their clash has led to more than 1,200 deaths, 800,000 displacements and serious property destruction. The sides have signed seven ceasefire deals, all broken within hours of declaration.
On Wednesday, Khamis Abdullah Abakar, the Governor of West Darfur was murdered as the war continued to expand to key strongholds.
The late governor of West Darfur State Khamis Abdullah Abakar. PHOTO | SUDAN NEWS AGENCY VIA AFP
Burhan accused RSF of killing the governor hours after he had accused Hemedti's forces and its militia allies of committing genocide in his region.
But RSF, denying the claims, condemned his killing and accused the army of being responsible for arming one of the parties to the conflict.
Activists in Sudan had published videos and pictures of his earlier arrest, and later of him being killed.
The news of the killing comes days after the intensification of armed clashes in the city of El Geneina (the centre of West Darfur State), after the city "turned into something like a ghost town due to the continuous fighting," according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate statement.
The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (Unitams) said it was “deeply shocked by the killing of governor of West Darfur in El Geneina.”
Unitams in a statement “strongly condemns this heinous act. Compelling eyewitness accounts attribute this act to Arab militias and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), even though the RSF communicated a denial of their involvement to the mission”.
The UN Mission in Sudan called for the perpetrators to be swiftly brought to justice and the cycle of violence in the region to not expand further.
“The loss of Khamis Abdullah Abakar, a key interlocutor in the region and a signatory of the Juba Peace Agreement, is deeply regrettable for Unitams” the statement said.
Read:
Igad to hold direct talks with Sudan generals
Sudan: Burhan rejects direct talks with Hemedti
Kiir: Sudan rivals ‘ready’ for talks
Ruto: Sudan war atrocious, regional threat
UN warns of mass exodus from Sudan
UN Mission launches political transition talks in Sudan
View original: https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/rest-of-africa/igad-sticks-to-mediation-roadmap-amid-sudan-rejection-of-ruto-4271410
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Kenya closes embassy in Khartoum as violence worsens
Kenya’s Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua. Photo | Lucy Wanjiru | NMG
Kenya says it has shut down its embassy in Khartoum to protect staff, in what could close the door on any further evacuation for civilians and signal bad days ahead in the Sudan war.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said on Monday that Nairobi’s diplomats in Khartoum were facing safety risks, forcing the government to close the embassy, and upending Kenya’s initial policy of staying around to help pursue peace.
“We continue to receive disturbing news of the targeting of diplomatic officials by armed groups in Khartoum, Sudan,” he wrote on Twitter.
“[The] Kenya Mission in Khartoum which had remained open to facilitate evacuation of any Kenyans still in the country is now closed,” he added.
After war broke out on April 15, Kenya said it had helped rescue as many as 900 nationals plus those of other countries trapped in Khartoum. But officials said they would not close down the embassy as part of efforts to stay in contact with warring parties; the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
At a press briefing with his host Antony Blinken in Washington, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua had said Kenya’s embassy would remain open as part of regional efforts to have parties descalate.
“As an African continent and the AU and intergovernmental organisation called IGAD, we are trying to find solutions for Sudan. I know you’ve pulled your teams out. Kenya is not pulling its diplomatic offices. We’re not shutting them down because we want to have a presence as we negotiate,” Mutua had said on April 24.
This move may both reflect the escalating violence in Khartoum and the failure to have parties, at least respect a ceasefire. There have been six ceasefire deals between the SAF led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his nemesis Mohamed Daglo Hemedti. In all occasions, fighting continued.
By Monday, UN agencies estimated that more than 1000 people had been killed and over 800,000 displaced, either internally or forced to neighbouring countries for refuge.
Last week, a mediation project pursued by Saudi Arabia and the US, and known as the Jeddah Talks, was suspended after the US labelled the parties unserious to end the war.
On Monday, however, mediators in Jeddah said they were still engaging parties to see how to resume.
Despite the formal pause on June 3 of the five-day ceasefire agreement, a statement from Jeddah said, “facilitators continue to engage them daily.”
“Those discussions are focused on facilitating humanitarian assistance and reaching agreement on near-term steps the parties must take before the Jeddah talks resume.
“Facilitators stand ready to resume formal talks and remind the parties that they must implement their obligations under the May 11 Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan.”
Saudi Arabia’s influence on the warring parties in Sudan was always seen as a crucial tool to help end the war. But the fact that fighting continued even after ceasefire has illustrated a possible breakdown in command structures.
Back in April, Dr Mutua blamed unnamed Middle East countries for taking sides, and fueling the war.
“We have been quite concerned by some of our friends in the Middle East as (inaudible) Russia and others who for a long time have been friendly to either one or the other side. And we are just saying that at this particular time, it is not a time to take sides in a war,” he said on April 24.
“We care about Sudan. As part of the African Union, we want to silence the guns in Sudan, want to find an African solution to African problems with the support of our friends. But we can’t effectively do that if we are talking to groups that are being strengthened every day by the parties who believe that all they need to do is to fight to the end.”
Last week, the African Union launched its ‘roadmap’ to attempt peace in Sudan by involving more political and civilian movements. It is yet to gain traction.
View original: https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/kenya-shuts-down-embassy-in-khartoum-as-violence-worsens-4259588
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Cartoon
By Omar Dafallah
Published at Radio Dabanga - dabangasudan.org
Dated June 2019
Saudi Arabia want El Burhan (the military) in power in Sudan
Credit: June 2019 cartoon by Omar Dafallah published by Radio Dabanga
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Secretary Blinken’s Call with Sudanese General Burhan.@SecBlinken spoke today with Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al Burhan regarding the ongoing talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. https://t.co/KElh3l9sO6
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) May 20, 2023
HOW YEARS OF IMPUNITY gave Sudan’s generals licence to destroy Sudan. This powerful op-ed was published in May at SudanTribune.com
Written by HALA AL-KARIB
@Halayalkarib https://twitter.com/Halayalkarib
Regional Director, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)
Impunity enabled generals to recklessly destroy Sudan
I haven’t looked at my face in the mirror since the morning of 15 April when Sudan got turned upside down by two generals battling for power, the culmination of decades of state failure, impunity, and the negligence of the international community.
I don’t know what I look like now. I don’t want to see myself. I don’t want to cry.
That Saturday morning was the turning point. Before then, life was about that next medical appointment, school exam, or job interview: the upcoming wedding, or baby’s naming ceremony, or funeral to attend; the savings plan, the friend to visit, the house or small room to build; the tuk tuk, motorbike, or car to buy.
But all that has vanished.
We woke up that Saturday to a new reality of killings, of bodies strewn on the streets, of artillery bombardment and burning buildings. We are now in a desperate period of fear, trauma, and – for those who can – exodus.
Khartoum is the capital of 45 million Sudanese. It’s also the home of at least 10 million of us – including more than two million refugees who came here for sanctuary. For Khartoum to be destroyed like this, by thugs and monsters, is shocking, and perplexing.
That Saturday it took me the whole day, scanning the news channels and communicating with friends and colleagues before my brain was able to recognise what was actually happening.
We had fallen into the hands of those with no mercy, without humanity.
The city was being torn apart by rival militaries: Those loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the armed forces chief, versus his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
It is behaviour that the people of Darfur have witnessed for years – where the RSF and other militias have protected their power by subjecting the people to intimidation and oppression, and where al-Burhan and the Sudanese army have also been accused of coordinating attacks against civilians.
The collapse
I came to Khartoum in early April to see my mother, and to check on an unwell brother and visually impaired aunt. I wanted to give my siblings – who had been looking after them – a break.
I planned to work out of the Khartoum office of my organisation, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), an African feminist women’s rights network.
I had so much to do. I was planning a trip to Blue Nile and North Darfur to launch one of our new projects. We were pushing on with our work, almost oblivious to the abnormalities all around us.
As Sudanese, we were witnessing the collapse of the country, its decay, following the military’s seizure of power in October 2021 – bitterly protested by street-based pro-democracy groups.
There was the economic pain of an ever-accelerating cost of living, which means most people dependent on a daily income cannot afford the basics. Even the salaries of teachers, nurses, doctors, and government public servants have only been paid a few times since the coup – stranding them for months without an income.
The international community saw the way out of the crisis as a power-sharing deal between civilian politicians and the military.
The intention was to repeat the coalition formula agreed upon after the collapse of the Omar al-Bashir regime in 2019, an arrangement the military subsequently tore up two years later.
The UN, the African Union, and the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) were supposed to coordinate the political process leading to a new coalition government – but it was naïvely and ineptly managed.
Fundamentally, power-sharing doesn’t solve Sudan’s deep-rooted structural problems, when seats at the political table are reserved for the men in uniform responsible for the violence and injustice we’ve long been forced to live with.
Power-sharing covers up war crimes and crimes against humanity. It entrenches the military elite based on the assumption that – for the sake of peace – they can’t be touched. The result is the weakening of human rights and justice frameworks, and the legitimisation of the warlords, who are rewarded with access to resources and positions.
The 2020 Juba power-sharing agreement that followed the fall of al-Bashir was supposed to lead to free and fair elections. Instead, the generals have since been competing among themselves, mobilising their forces to achieve their corrupt ends.
That is the root of the violence we are confronted with today on the streets of Khartoum – and just as bloodily in Darfur and Kordofan – as the army and the RSF battle it out for supremacy.
Civilian politicians have also played a role. Sudanese people have been exhausted by the divisions and lack of leadership among the parties. As a result, politicians lost their connection to the people and failed to cultivate popular support.
Solidarity and courage
Even on the eve of the collapse, Sudanese were still trying to manage life as best as possible. I drove to a relative’s funeral around the Reyad area on Friday night and could still see people taking their kids out to purchase their Eid clothes for the end of Ramadan.
The main roads were dark, and street lights and traffic lights hardly working.
I remember thinking Khartoum reflected the impoverished soul of Sudan’s military clique. After seizing power, they had no idea how to run the country beyond plundering, and killing and violating its citizens.
That weekend, we had 14 guests staying with us: two project auditors from SIHA’s Uganda office, two Ugandan consultants, and 10 colleagues from Darfur taking part in a training programme.
On Saturday 16 April, three of our guests were at the airport, checked in and preparing to board their flight home, when the RSF began shelling. No one was allowed in or out of the airport for hours.
As we tried to figure out what to do, one by one their phone batteries died. They had to use the phones of other passengers, who pleaded for us to take them too if we came to collect our colleagues.
Then, in the afternoon, the RSF began ordering everyone to leave the airport, and hundreds of passengers were ushered out onto the main road.
I cannot be grateful enough to Adla from our Khartoum office, and her husband. They jumped into their old car and drove through the back streets to the airport. They picked up, thank God, our friends and managed to find lodgings for them.
When the hotel they stayed in ran out of food and water, Neimat – another SIHA colleague – and her husband managed to keep them fed. After four days, we were finally able to evacuate them home to Uganda via South Sudan.
Meanwhile, our friends from Darfur were struck at a hotel on Africa Road. It was among the first targeted by the RSF, who broke in and took the safe and then robbed the residents of their money and phones.
Coming from Darfur, our colleagues understand how the RSF operates – what triggers them, and how to negotiate. It took days, but they finally managed to leave the hotel on foot, although without their belongings.
When we spoke later, they told me how the RSF soldiers had made daily demands for money, terrifying the hotel guests by firing into the air.
It was the same story at the Acropole Hotel, where the last of our consultants from Uganda was staying. There was no power and water for the first three days, while the RSF ransacked every corner of the landmark hotel, again robbing guests and workers at will.
After days of being held, the hotel’s guests were dropped off at the grand mosque in the middle of Khartoum. Our colleague told a horrific story of picking his way through the dead bodies scattered on the streets.
Finally, he reached Omdurman, where he was picked up by Mayada, a SIHA staff member, and her husband. He stayed for two nights with Mayada before she managed to put him on a truck to South Sudan.
The courage, thoughtfulness, and endurance of our guests contributed to their safety in a situation where we couldn’t do much for them if it all had gone wrong.
Staying behind
SIHA has 32 staff in Sudan, the majority of us are scattered throughout rural Sudan, but many of us are also in Khartoum. Sudan is our home, and we are committed to staying, to care for our loved ones – we cannot abandon them.
So when the shelling and shooting started, I barricaded my family inside our house. The main gate was blocked with cars and piles of bricks. We closed up the windows and doors. Our bright open home became like a cave.
I was, however, obsessed with making sure that my girls – my daughter and two nieces – got out. Over the next few days, I sat with my sister and we thrashed out a plan. The girls are now safe outside the country.
As I write this article, three weeks after the violence began, I’m sitting beside my mother and aunt, somewhere safe and quiet near Khartoum.
My brother has just come in and said I look tired. Yes, I am. All I want to do is sleep and find space to think.
Looking at what has happened to my country, I can tell you that this violence is not random or a reaction to political tension. I believe this is a well-planned and well-funded vile act in support of the RSF.
The question is, how come all those high-powered bodies that were supposed to be coordinating the political process – the UN, the regional groupings, the international financial institutions, the donor governments – utterly failed to see it coming? What a shame!
In the meantime, I still don’t dare to look at myself in the mirror, and I don’t want to cry.
View original: https://sudantribune.com/article273883/
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SW Ed: The above op-ed by Hala al-Karib was published at The New Humanitarian 3 May 2023 entitled ‘How years of impunity gave Sudan’s generals licence to destroy my country’ - see copy here: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/first-person/2023/05/03/impunity-sudan-licence-to-destroy-my-country
Regional Director, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)
Stringer/Reuters. People fleeing the fighting in Khartoum between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army on 28 April 2023.
Read more by Hala al-Karib:
‘Sudan should not settle for anything other than true democracy’
https://sudantribune.com/article269336/
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NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: I have just visited the archives of this site Sudan Watch 2004. The news headlines at that time seem to show we've gone full circle over past 20 years and are now back to square one. Here is an excerpt from one of the first reports reprinted here in 2004, followed by a recent report featuring the Arab tribal chief Mr Musa Hilal now aged 63.
Sudan Watch - Sunday, August 22, 2004
Janjaweed Leader Moussa Hilal - interview with UK Telegraph and IslamOnline.net
Aug 22: UK Telegraph news report by Philip Sherwell in Khartoum, copied here in full:
Tribal leader accused over Darfur says he was acting for government
The sheikh accused by the United States of co-ordinating Janjaweed militiamen has admitted that he was "appointed" by Sudan's government to recruit Arab tribesmen to "defend their land".
In an interview with The Telegraph, Musa Hilal scorned calls for his arrest on the eve of this week's visit to Sudan by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and the United Nations' deadline for Sudan to begin its promised crackdown on the Janjaweed.
"I don't care what my enemies say about me," he said, jabbing his finger. "I have no concerns about being arrested. I don't think the Sudanese government would be stupid enough to take that decision."
Mr Hilal has been identified by the US State Department as the most senior of seven Janjaweed leaders allegedly responsible for the ethnic cleansing conducted against predominantly black African villagers by Arab militiamen in the province of Darfur.
Mr Hilal, 43, a tall man who has three wives and 13 children and leads a tribe of more than 200,000 people, denies the accusation. He was not an "agent" of the government, he said, but acknowledged allegations that the Khartoum government was using the camel and horse-riding Arab militia to suppress the rebellion.
"I am one of the tribal leaders responsible for collecting people for military service for the country," he said, claiming that he organised his followers to defend themselves against Darfurian rebels.
"I was appointed by the government to organise people to defend their lands but legally, not illegally. They were defending themselves against the mutineers."
Read full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2004/08/janjaweed-leader-moussa-hilal.html
Report from AlJazeera.com
By Mat Nashed
Dated 3 May 2023 - full copy:
Could an old tribal foe undercut Sudan’s Hemedti?
The RSF could be more vulnerable in its stronghold in Darfur, where a rival foe is challenging Hemedti.
PHOTO: Musa Hilal (centre right) celebrates with former President Omar al-Bashir (centre left) at the wedding of the former's daughter [File: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters]
After two weeks of armed conflict, Sudan’s feared paramilitary leader, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, has fought the army to a deadlock in the capital of Khartoum.
But his Rapid Support Forces could be more vulnerable in their stronghold in Darfur, where a rival has challenged Hemedti for tribal supremacy, analysts and residents told Al Jazeera.
Enter Musa Hilal, a respected tribal chief from the same Arab Rizeigat tribe that Hemedti hails.
Back in 2003, Hilal fought on behalf of the government against mostly non-Arab armed groups, who were rebelling against what they said was the state’s neglect and exploitation of Darfur. According to Human Rights Watch, Hilal’s forces – the Popular Defence Forces, called “Janjaweed” by the rebels – were accused of committing summary executions and using rape as a weapon of war.
Between 2003 and 2009, about 300,000 people were killed in the armed conflict, as well as from disease and famine brought on by the war. But while Hilal was scorned worldwide, he was rewarded back home.
In 2005, Sudan’s former leader, Omar al-Bashir, put Hilal’s fighters under the army’s control and tasked them with protecting Sudan’s frontiers.
Three years later, al-Bashir appointed him as his special adviser and even awarded him a seat in parliament in 2010.
“The thing with these militia leaders is that they start off as proxies [for the central government] and then they end up having their own political ambitions,” said Hafiz Mohamad, a Sudanese researcher for Justice Africa, which advocates for human rights across the continent.
Despite Hilal’s ascension in Khartoum, he eventually returned to Darfur after growing frustrated at the government’s continuing neglect of the region.
The fallout prompted al-Bashir to turn to Hemedti – then a little-known trader and a former fighter – to command a new armed group called the RSF. One of Hemedti’s early tasks was arresting Hilal for refusing to disarm his forces.
Now, Hilal could look to settle scores by helping the army weaken the RSF.
“When Bashir created the RSF, he gave all sorts of resources to Hemedti. That’s really when this rivalry started. Hilal started a rebellion against the government and one of Hemedti’s first tasks was to contain him,” Mohamad said.
Mobilising forces?
In March 2021, Hilal was pardoned after spending six months in prison, before Hemedti and army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – the two generals now fighting each other – upended the country’s democratic transition through a coup in October 2021.
Hilal has kept a low profile since his release, yet some analysts believed that the army has been trying to co-opt him – and fighters from his tribe – to undercut Hemedti.
“Hilal has been under Military Intelligence protection since his re-emergence,” one expert, who did not wish to disclose his name for fear of losing important sources and access to Sudan, told Al Jazeera.
Signs of a warm relationship between Hilal and the military have been reported. In June 2022, Hilal and his Revolutionary Awakening Council participated in peace talks with a number of other armed groups from Darfur, according to the latest United Nations Panel of Experts report on Darfur.
Sudan’s army sent the head of military intelligence, Major General Mohamed Ahmed Sabir, to mediate talks between the factions under the auspices of Promediation, a French NGO that assists mediation efforts between state and non-state groups.
The discussion centred around the peaceful return of Sudanese mercenaries, many of whom are loyal to Hilal, from Libya.
Months later, in the lead-up to the war between the army and RSF, Arab activists in Darfur reported that the military was recruiting from their clan in order to form a new border force that could undercut Hemedti.
The military has not denied that it was recruiting from Darfur, yet it did refute that it was coveting fighters from a certain tribe or clan. However, Hilal’s role and whereabouts remain uncertain.
“Rizeigat leaders were warning against an ongoing campaign to recruit fighters. The mobilisation is ongoing, but where Hilal fits in is not clear,” said Suliman Baldo, the founder of the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, a think tank covering political affairs in the country.
“The fact that all these [Rizeigat] tribal leaders were complaining about [recruitment], shows that it was an intense activity,” he added.
From strongmen to politicians
While Hilal and Hemedti are both from the Rizeigat, they are from two different clans within it.
The former is from the Mahamid and the latter from the Mahariya.
But, similar to Hilal, Hemedti evolved from being a militia fighter to having his own political ambitions.
The difference is that while Hilal maintains a loyal following in North Darfur, Hemedti has been able to cultivate relationships with regional backers, such as the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Eritrea.
Those powerful friends give Hemedti and the RSF an outsized advantage against any attempt by Hilal to fight him, said Anette Hoffman, an expert on Sudan for the Clingendael Institute, an independent Dutch think tank.
“If there were no foreign players involved, Hilal would be able to mobilise through his tribal links, including whatever links he has in Chad,” she told Al Jazeera. “But with such powerful backers, Hilal just doesn’t compare any more to Hemedti.”
Despite Hilal’s disadvantages, Hoffman expected him to still try and mobilise fighters, which could make the fighting in Darfur significantly bloodier in the weeks and months to come.
“If we see Hemedti get killed at some point, then we could see a disintegration of the RSF and also of the Rizeigat as an ethnic group,” she said. “Hilal would then play a role that leads to more suffering and more fighting and access to arms. He would help to turn things uglier than they already are.”
For non-Arab communities in West Darfur, the scarier scenario is if Hilal and Hemedti put their differences aside in order to fight the army, said Zakaria Bedour, a local human rights monitor in the province.
She stressed that Mahamid militias and communities are already receiving support from the RSF in order to target non-Arabs in el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. The latest violence is due in part to a power vacuum in the region, prompting Arab militias to try and grab control over land and water resources.
The attacks have killed nearly 200 people, according to local doctors. Internally displaced camps sheltering non-Arab communities were also burned to the ground, while markets, hospitals and warehouses belonging to international relief organisations were looted.
“If [Hemedti and Hilal] get along, there will be consequences for the African tribes and the internally displaced people. [Hilal and Hemedti] remember the displaced people as being in opposition to them [in previous wars],” warned Zakaria.
“The consequence would make the [Arab] forces much bigger than the [armed non-Arab groups] in [West Darfur].”
Play Video - Duration 01 minutes 11 seconds
Video posted on social media documents destruction in Sudan
Play Video - Duration 01 minutes 13 seconds
Video shows destroyed Sudanese food market
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View original: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/3/could-an-old-tribal-foe-undercut-sudans-hemedti
