Breaking: Sudan’s El Burhan agrees to meet with ‘Hemedti’

Diplomatic sources say that Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, the commander-in-chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), has agreed to a meeting with Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This comes a week after the Sudanese Foreign Affairs Ministry denied that El Burhan would approve of such an agreement, and few days after the RSF took control of El Gezira.

The decision to hold the meeting, conveyed through a letter addressed by El Burhan to the head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on December 16, aligns with the resolutions of the IGAD summit on Sudan held in Djibouti a week before.

The IGAD summit decided to redouble efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the more than seven-months long war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, including a one-to-one meeting between rival commanders El Burhan and Hemedti.

Hours after the IGAD communiqué of the summit was released however, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied El Burhan’s agreement to meet with Hemedti without conditions, stating that the communiqué’s content “was not based on consensus nor legally binding.”

El Burhan’s letter also comes after reports that the RSF, which took control of El Gezira on Monday, may proceed to neighbouring White Nile state and Sennar. 

Taha Osman

Commenting on possibility of a direct meeting between El Burhan and Hemedti, prominent Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) member Taha Osman said that “the FA ministry has been exerting pressure on the army to prevent this meeting from taking place”.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga’s Sudan Files programme, Osman emphasised the political significance of the meeting between SAF and RSF commanders. “It could pave the way for a ceasefire, a cessation of hostilities, and a political process to finally bring an end to the ongoing war.”

Osman stressed the need for decisive action from SAF leadership, “particularly from El Burhan, to halt the conflict by engaging directly with the RSF commander and distancing himself from the agenda of the previous regime”.

As for the roots of the armed conflict, the FFC member attributed the war to “the Muslim Brotherhood, the National Congress Party (NCP), Ali Karti, and elements of the former regime”. “The true adversary is not the Sudanese army, particularly its honourable members within the SAF, but consists of the elements of the former regime within both the SAF and the RSF.”

He concluded by calling for a “united political confrontation by all Sudanese people against these elements, leaving no room for them to propagate their agenda and prolong the war”.