Sudan’s military-aligned government on Jan. 13 rejected an invitation to an East African summit and rebuked the United Nations for entanglement with the commander of rival paramilitary forces.
Nine months after war broke out between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, the army is losing ground as paramilitary leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo tours African capitals to boost his diplomatic profile.
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Rejecting an invitation from the East African bloc IGAD to a summit in Uganda on January 18 that Mr Daglo will also attend, Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, insisted: ” The events in Sudan are an internal matter.”
The bloc has repeatedly tried to mediate between Sudan’s warring generals, but its efforts have been coldly met by Mr. Burhan’s government.
Instead, Mr. Daglo, fresh from a tour of six African capitals, told X, formerly of Twitter, that he had accepted the invitation from IGAD and would attend the summit in Uganda.
Sudan’s foreign ministry said Mr Daglo’s invitation was a “flagrant violation” and “destroys the credibility of IGAD” as an institution.
“Not only is IGAD silent as a grave on the atrocities of the terrorist militia, it has also sought to lend legitimacy to the militia by inviting it to a meeting attended only by heads of state and government of member states,” he charged.
Mr. Burhan reacted angrily to Mr. Daglo’s rising diplomatic status, accusing the African leaders who hosted him on his recent tour of complicity in atrocities against Sudanese civilians.
Analysts say the army chief is increasingly isolated diplomatically as his troops fail to halt the RSF’s advance.
UN call
The war has killed more than 13,000 people, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project. About 7.5 million civilians have fled the fighting, according to UN figures.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, torture and arbitrary detention of civilians.
The RSF has also been specifically accused of ethnically motivated mass killings, rampant looting and the use of rape as a weapon of war.
In the eastern city of Port Sudan, where Mr Burhan’s government is now based, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq told newly arrived UN envoy Ramtane Lamamra that Sudan “rejects” a recent contact between UN chief Antonio Guterres and of Mr. Daglo. According to a statement carried by the official SUNA news agency.
Mr Sadiq said he informed Mr Lamamra that the UN chief’s phone call on Thursday served to “legitimize” Mr Daglo, “the leader of a movement that has committed horrific violations that have been condemned by some UN institutions as well as by the majority. of the international community”.
Mr Lamamra was appointed as Mr Guterres’ envoy to Sudan, after the UN mission in the country was terminated last month at the request of Mr Burhan’s government.
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