By CHIMPREPORTS
Sudan warlord, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, dodged a crucial meeting with Sudan’s military leader, Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan at the last minute, undermining regional leaders’ efforts to end the devastating war in the country.
Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry told ChimpReports on Wednesday morning that the President of the Sovereignty Council, Gen Burhan “agreed to meet with the militia leader (Dagalo), facilitated by the IGAD organization.”
It was agreed that Djibouti would host the meeting on December 28, 2023.
“But hours before the head of the Sovereignty Council left for Djibouti, the IGAD presidency informed Sudan of the postponement of the meeting for reasons related to the rebel leader that are not yet known,” said the Ministry.
Dagalo has not explained why he chose to avoid the meeting which the regional and international community have been rooting for as the first step to ending the civil war in Sudan.
According to the United Nations, more than 12,000 people have been killed in war-torn Sudan since fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on 15 April 2023.
More than 7.3 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan and the number of people displaced in Sudan has increased by about 500,000 in one month, mainly due to the conflict-induced displacement from parts of Aj Jazirah and other states.
Ethiopia trip
Interestingly, on the day of the planned meeting with Burhan, Dagalo instead traveled to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where he was met by the deputy prime minister.
Dagalo’s office said he held talks with Ethiopia officials, “addressing the recent developments in Sudan and his efforts to bring a swift end to the war and restore peace and stability in the country.”
Dagalo has since met other African leaders including Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Kenya’s William Ruto, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Djibouti’s Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.
While Dagalo sought to project an image of a peacemaker, his actions show a man determined to seize power by force of arms.
For example, Dagalo has continued to expand the war including the recent attack on Wad Madani, which was home to the largest concentration of people displaced from the war and the main center for humanitarian operations.
The United Nations had appealed to Dagalo to avoid shelling Wad Madani in vain.
General Dagalo gave President Ruto an overview of the RSF’s vision, which includes initiating a ceasefire and negotiations to secure a lasting and equitable peace in Sudan.
As the meeting was taking place, RSF were fighting government forces to take full control over Gezira State.
Dagalo has also continued to recruit thousands of fighters.
On December 28, 2023, he integrated 612 government soldiers of the 92 Brigade in, Mayram Locality, West Kordofan State into the Rapid Support Force.
Dagalo also cut a deal with the Sudan Liberation Army which led to the integration of 23,000 fighters in RSF.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq said in recent days, “the Janjaweed militia and its supporters inside and outside Africa have initiated a false propaganda campaign to try to re-market the leadership of the terrorist militia, which is responsible for the worst violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law on the continent, since the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.”
He said “this campaign is based on deception and hypocrisy. The campaign included the militia leader’s visit to a number of African countries and talks attributed to him about his readiness to establish a ceasefire, start peace negotiations.”
“In this context, it must be recalled that there is already a binding legal and political framework to address the humanitarian issues, a ceasefire, and the start of the peace process. It is the Jeddah Declaration of Humanitarian Principles signed on May 11, 2023, which would have brought an early end to the crisis if the militia had adhered to what it signed at the time. But it not only disavowed the declaration’s obligation to evacuate civilian houses and areas including hospitals, universities, public facilities, places of worship, and the homes of ordinary citizens, but also expanded its occupation of more of them in new areas in Sudan.”
The government further said RSF’s commitment to implementing the Jeddah Declaration was not fulfilled and the expansion of new areas has led to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of citizens to their homes and civilian districts that the RSF has occupied and is using them as military centers.
“The evacuation of civilian cities and villages is a necessary condition for starting new talks with the RSF because it is the only guarantee for implementing what is agreed upon,” said al-Sadiq.
Government says RSF continues to commit atrocities of ethnic cleansing, massacres and sexual violence even after the public appearance of its leader.
“The rural areas that were recently invaded by the militia, especially in the state of Al-Jazira, received their share of this. The ethnic cleansing operations carried out by the militia in Darfur extended to Gezira State, targeting members of the same tribal groups. The militia is currently imposing a siege on entire residential areas in the capital and preventing food and humanitarian needs from reaching civilians trapped there, in clear violation of what was signed on November 7 at the Jeddah Forum regarding humanitarian aid.”
As the fighting continues, the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in Sudan.
“Nearly 25 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2024. But the bleak reality is that intensifying hostilities are putting most of them beyond our reach. Deliveries across conflict lines have ground to a halt,” said the UN on July 4, 2024.
Dagalo is the former leader of the Janjaweed militia responsible for the death of millions of people in Darfur.
His Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are mainly led by Darfurian Arabs known as Janjaweed.
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