Sudan Rival Military Leaders Show Willingness to End Escalation, Mediators Say

Abdel-Fatah-al-Burhan (L) with his-deputy-Mohamed-Daglo-Hemetti at a military graduation ceremony on September 22, 2021

April 14, 2023 (Khartoum) – The two rival military leaders are ready to resolve the crisis that erupted between them following the deployment of militia forces in Merowe, northern Sudan, three mediators said.

Sudanese political forces call to avoid military escalation between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) when the latter deployed militiamen at a site near the military air base of the army and dispatched a large number of its elements in the capital, Khartoum.

Leaders of three armed groups signatory of the Juba peace agreement launched a mediation to calm the situation and prevent military confrontation.

In statements issued on Thursday and Friday, Malik Agar, Minni Minnawi and Gibril Ibrahim announced that they had met for the second time with RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Hemetti.

The three leaders also met with SAF Commander-in-Chief Abdel Rahaman al-Burhan on Friday evening according to a statement issued in the first hours of Saturday.

“After a frank and serious dialogue, the brother (RSF) leader assured us of his full commitment to non-escalation, and his readiness to sit down with his brother, the Chairman of the Sovereign Council, and Commander in Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces at any time and unconditionally, in order to reach a radical solution to the crisis that will stop the bloodshed and achieve security in the country,” they said on Friday.

The statement of meeting with the RSF leader was also co-signed by two Darfur Arab tribesmen namely Abdallah Ali Massar a close political adviser to Hemetti and Mohamed Issa Alyo  who is the deputy governor of the Darfur region.

In a separate statement released at 04.15 am on Saturday, the three former rebel leaders said they also held a successful meeting with al-Burhan.

” We found in the brother President a positive spirit and readiness to take any step that helps to resolve the emergency problem between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and restore normalcy,” read the statement.

We found in the brother President a positive spirit and readiness to take any step that helps to resolve the emergency problem between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and restore normalcy.

They further reassured that the current crisis will be resolved soon.

“Our leadership is more mindful than leading the country into a civil war in which the winner will inevitably lose,” stressed the statement.

The Sudanese military considers Hemedti’s uncoordinated deployment of troops near an air base 200 km north of Khartoum as a military provocation.

The army leaders called for its full withdrawal from that area saying any negotiations can take place after.

Diplomats from the Troika countries held a virtual meeting with Hemetti to prevent further escalation in Sudan.

The deployment of militiamen in northern Sudan has interrupted discussions between the two sides over the integration of the paramilitary forces into the regular army and has hampered efforts to sign a final political agreement paving the way for the formation of a civilian transitional government in Sudan

Revolution forces issue a joint statement

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and several Resistance Committees and civil society groups agreed in a joint statement on Friday that their differences on how to achieve the democratic transition should not turn into an obstacle to achieving the unity of the forces of the revolution.

The political and civil society groups further pledged to unite again and complete the democratic transition in the country.

“We will complete the path as we started with our unity and peaceful struggle until we achieve the full goals of the revolution and the civil democratic transformation that we aspire to,” read the statement.

They also stressed their rejection of the return of the ousted regime and the need to fight it.

The FFC accused the Islamists of being behind the ongoing crisis between the army and the paramilitary forces to trigger the collapse of the ongoing political process aimed at establishing a democratic civil system in Sudan.

(ST)