Sudan’s army-backed government has rejected an invitation to attend a regional summit in Uganda, where it was expected to meet with the leader of a rival paramilitary group that has been waging war against it for nine months.
The government, headed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said on Saturday that the events in Sudan were “an internal matter” and accused the East African bloc IGAD of violating its credibility by inviting the paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemeti, to the summit scheduled for January 18.
Hemeti, who leads the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful militia accused of atrocities and war crimes, said on X, formerly Twitter, that he had accepted the invitation and would attend the summit in Uganda.
The RSF, which was initially allied with the army after the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019, has been fighting the army since April 2023, when Hemeti declared himself the leader of a transitional council and demanded Burhan to step down.
The conflict has killed more than 13,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, and displaced 7.5 million civilians, according to the UN. Both sides have been accused of indiscriminate shelling, torture, arbitrary detention, and rape.
The RSF has also been blamed for ethnically-motivated mass killings, especially in the western region of Darfur, where Hemeti’s militia originated as a proxy force for Bashir’s regime to quell a rebellion in the early 2000s.
The war has drawn international condemnation and calls for a peaceful resolution, but the army-backed government has resisted any external mediation or intervention, insisting that it has the legitimacy and the mandate to lead the country until elections scheduled for 2024.
IGAD, which comprises eight countries in the Horn of Africa and the Nile Valley, has repeatedly tried to broker a dialogue between the warring parties, but its efforts have been snubbed by Burhan’s government.
In contrast, Hemeti has been boosting his diplomatic profile by touring six African capitals in the past month, seeking support and recognition for his claim to power.
Burhan has reacted angrily to Hemeti’s diplomatic outreach, accusing the African leaders who hosted him of complicity in the RSF’s crimes against the Sudanese people.
On Saturday, Sudan’s acting foreign minister Ali al-Sadiq also rebuked the UN for engaging with Hemeti, saying that a phone call on Thursday between UN chief Antonio Guterres and the paramilitary leader served to “legitimize” him and his “terrorist militia”.
The UN has appointed a new envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, after the termination of its peacekeeping mission in the country last month at the request of Burhan’s government.
Lamamra, who arrived in Sudan on Friday, said he was committed to working with all parties to end the violence and facilitate a political transition.
Despite the escalating tensions and the humanitarian crisis, some Sudanese activists and civil society groups have expressed hope for a peaceful solution and urged the international community to pressure both sides to respect human rights and engage in dialogue.
Source: MSN
