Sudan slams Uganda for hosting RSF chief

Sudan’s army-aligned government on Sunday criticized Kampala for hosting rival paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, slamming his reception by Uganda’s president as an “affront to humanity.”

Since April 2023, the Sudanese military, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by al-Burhan’s former deputy, commonly known as Hemedti.

Hemedti on Friday met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at Entebbe’s State House, a day after a United Nations probe found his forces had committed acts of genocide in Darfur.

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Sudan’s foreign ministry on Sunday criticized the meeting, saying the RSF’s atrocities had been “documented by the international community and condemned by regional organizations of which Uganda is a member,” including the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Daglo, speaking during his visit, said he travelled to Uganda after President Museveni was approached by the Sudanese army seeking his mediation.

His visit came a week after Museveni hosted Malik Agar, al-Burhan’s deputy in his ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council.

Addressing supporters on Friday, Daglo called for Africa-led mediation.

“From the first day of the war, we said negotiations must be African. Peace should be made in Africa: IGAD and the African Union,” he told the gathering.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire have repeatedly collapsed.

In January, Sudan’s army was studying a new proposal from the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Talks mediated by the Quad – comprising the US, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – have stalled for months. The UAE is accused of arming the RSF, which Abu Dhabi denies.

Friday’s meeting was the RSF commander’s second with Museveni. His first in December 2023 came during a regional tour, when analysts said Hemedti attempted to rally legitimacy with African leaders.

He has since declared a rival administration in Darfur, which has received no international recognition.

In his speech on Friday, Daglo described the conflict as an “existential war” and vowed victory.

He said his forces would have already captured the capital Khartoum and Port Sudan on the Red Sea “if it weren’t for drones from neighboring countries.”

On the other side of the country, Daglo assured his supporters their “brothers were moving well in the Blue Nile,” where fighting on the border with Ethiopia has raised concerns of a new front opening.

He also claimed his forces had swelled from 160,000 at the start of the war to half a million.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 11 million people and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

With AFP

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