CAIRO — The notorious paramilitary group (RSF)and its allies in Sudan have formed a parallel government in areas under the group’s control, which are mainly in the western region of Darfur where allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity are being investigated.
The move, which was announced Saturday, is likely to deepen the crisis in Sudan, which plunged into chaos when tensions between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, exploded into fighting in 2023 in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
The RSF-led Tasis Alliance appointed Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the paramilitary group, as head of the sovereign council in the rival administration. The 15-member council serves as head of the state, it declared.
The RSF grew out of the notorious janjaweed militias, mobilized two decades ago by then-President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur. The janjaweed were accused of mass killings, rapes and other atrocities.
In the current war, the RSF too has been accused of numerous atrocities. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Dagalo, saying the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide, a charge the group has denied.
Alliance spokesman Alaa al-Din Naqd announced the new administration in a video statement from the Darfur city of Nyala, which is controlled by the RSF and its allied janjaweed.
Mohammed Hassan Taishi, a civilian politician who was a member of a military-civilian sovereign council that ruled Sudan after the 2019 overthrow of Bashir, was named prime minister in the RSF-controlled government.
Rebel leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu, who commands the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-N, which is active in the southern Kodrofan region, was appointed as Dagalo’s deputy in the council. The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighboring South Sudan.
The announcement came five months after the RSF and its allies signed a charter in February in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, with the aim of establishing a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas.
At the time, many countries, including the United States, rejected the RSF efforts and condemned the signing at the Nairobi conference of what the paramilitary group and its allies called a “transitional constitution.”
The Foreign Ministry of Sudan’s internationally recognized government in Khartoum condemned the announcement of a parallel government. It issued a statement calling it a “fake government” and urged the international community to not engage with the RSF-led administration.
The RSF-led move was likely to deepen the division in Sudan. Yasir Arman, a rebel leader, said the move is likely to prolong the conflict and divide Sudan between two rival administrations — similar to neighboring Libya.
AP/Al-Yurae.
