Sudan’s army chief reaffirms rejection of negotiations with RSF

January 5, 2023 (PORT SUDAN) – Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, reaffirmed his refusal to negotiate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and harshly criticized its commander, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti, labelling him as a “traitor, a coward, and a hypocrite.”

In a speech to soldiers at the Jebeit Military Institute in Red Sea State on Friday, al-Burhan asserted that the RSF has perpetrated heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity in West Darfur and across Sudan, making any reconciliation or agreement with them utterly unacceptable.

“Therefore, there is no reconciliation or agreement with them. We must bring them to justice for their crimes against our people and the innocent civilians who were murdered, buried alive, and tortured,” he added.

Al-Burhan accused Hemetti of resorting to witchcraft, magical practices, and charlatans in warfare and of evading capture for eight months.

“The traitor was on the run for eight months, moving from house to house in Khartoum, from basement to basement, hole, and houses.”

Al-Burhan stated that during his hiding process, Hemetti repeatedly changed his name, once calling himself “Adam Al-Sayer” and bringing magicians to the capital, Khartoum, to achieve victory and deceive his family and some simple and poor people.

The army commander-in-chief dismissed Hemetti’s claims of religiosity and his assertion that he upholds religion, branding this as hypocrisy because he had killed, tortured, displaced, and violated people’s dignity.

He further expressed his dismay that some politicians supported Hemetti “with applause and applause” while his forces were murdering their families and violating their honour.

He noted that the only solution for Hemetti and his group is to leave the country.

Speaking about the army, he said they enjoy the support of all sectors of the Sudanese people who had expressed a desire to arm themselves and fight alongside the army to defend the country.

“We tell the youth in the Popular Resistance and everyone who can carry a weapon to come and join and fight with the army. We will empower everyone in their area to defend their home and money.”

He pointed out that the events in the Al-Jazirah state and Darfur region after its control by the Rapid Support Forces revealed that the target was the civilians, not the army. “Therefore, we welcome the Popular Resistance, and we will supply them with weapons, and we will not prevent those who support them,” he said.

The IGAD is leading efforts to bring together the army Commander-In-Chief and the RSF Commander in a direct meeting to reach an understanding to end the fighting, stop hostilities, and deliver humanitarian aid. The meeting is expected to take place this month in Djibouti.

Estimated statistics from local and international organizations indicate that at least 12,000 people have been killed and thousands wounded since the outbreak of the war in mid-April. There are no statistics yet on the number of soldiers killed.

(ST)