National Umma Party head: ‘End hostilities against Hemeti’

El Sadig El Mahdi, chairman of the National Umma Party, called for an end to hostilities against Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, deputy chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) government militia.

El Mahdi told his followers in Ed Damazin, capital of Blue Nile state, on Saturday that “Hemeti’s actions in response to the people’s demands regarding the ousting of the Bashir regime must be seen as positive, and sufficient to accept a role for him in rebuilding Sudan”.

On December 13, 2018, the first anti-government protests broke out Ed Damazin, which led to the nationwide uprising that ousted Al Bashir in April this year.

RSF militia

The RSF militia, under the ruthless command of Hemeti, was notorious as an organ of the Al Bashir regime, and is accused of a litany of abuses and atrocities in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. Elements of the militia are also accused of participating in the deadly suppression of the popular uprising that began last year.

In an interview with the US National Public Radio (NPR) during his visit to Washington earlier this month, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok stated that “anybody responsible for atrocities in Sudan must be held accountable”. When pressed by the interviewer whether that includes ‘Hemeti’, Hamdok replied: “Absolutely.”

Sudanese army

El Mahdi said that there is a need to reform the Sudanese army, which was “deformed by the tyrant Al Bashir, to ensure that he remained in power”.

The charges against the RSF, that supported the Al Bashir regime, will be investigated and addressed through transitional justice mechanisms, he said.

Islamists

El Mahdi described the form of Islam as presented by the Sudanese Islamists as “false”. The Green March held by supporters of the deposed dictator in Khartoum on Saturday, “was not carried out for love of the Islam but rather for fear of losing money and property smuggled out of the country, to Malaysia, Dubai, and London”.

“The leaders of the former regime should apologise to the Sudanese people for the atrocities and crimes they committed during the past 30 years”, he concluded.

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