The Geneva peace talks to end the war in Sudan failed to achieve any progress to end the hostilities on the ground between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Head of the RSF’s negotiations team at the talks Omar Hamdan told Asharq Al-Awsat his forces were hoping to reach an agreement that would end the fighting.
The absence of the army at the talks, however, prevented an agreement from being reached and the opportunity was wasted, he added.
He called on the international community to pressure the army to dispatch a negotiations team to any future peace talks.
Failure to hold negotiations will keep the door open for the military option, Hamdan warned.
He also stressed that the RSF rejects attempts to divide Sudan. It has already been divided, which led to the birth of South Sudan after 38 years of war.
Sudan lost a third of its size, a fifth of its population and 70 percent of its oil and natural resources as a result of the division, he remarked.
“The voice of the Sudanese army has been usurped and its decision-making power lies in the hands of the Islamist movement, which has chosen to forge ahead with the war until the very end,” he warned.
Geneva talks
Returning to the Geneva talks, Hamdan said they did not meet expectations, but they were still a step forward because the international community has become more united and serious about ending the war in Sudan.
He stressed that the talks did make one major achievement, which was secure the delivery of humanitarian aid through two routes that are held by the RSF.
The so-called “Port Sudan government has prevented international organizations from delivering aid,” he added.
Ultimately, the talks in Geneva were “beneficial” and RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo will issue firm orders against harming civilians, Hamdan said.
He did not rule out the possibility of holding another round of negotiations and the mediators and partners in Geneva confirmed that they will work towards that.
“On our end, negotiations are a matter of principle as repeatedly stipulated by the RSF commander since the beginning of the war. We will be the first to meet the call to hold negotiations to end the suffering of our people. This is a strategic issue for us, not a tactic,” he stressed.
Army no-show
He dismissed the excuses the army presented to justify its absence from the talks and its dispatch of a government delegation instead.
He noted that all previous rounds of negotiations, which have been held Jeddah and Manama and others, have been held between the RSF and army.
“So their reasons for not attending the Geneva talks were not logical,” noted Hamdan.
Negotiations on ending the hostilities and implementing previous agreements demand the presence of the military, he declared.
“The only reason we can think of to explain their absence is that the Islamist movement had usurped their decision-making and prevented them from attending,” he added.
“We are fully aware that the movement has chosen war to the very end and the army has no voice in the matter,” he went on to say.
On army commander Abdel Fattah’s remarks that the military will fight for a hundred years, Hamdan said: “The Islamist movement is in control of the army, but the international community has the means to exert pressure.”
“With the necessary pressure, it can force the Islamist movement, its army and all of its followers to choose peace,” he continued.
Famine is happening in Sudan and the world cannot just idly stand by and watch this humanitarian catastrophe unfold, he said. “So strong international pressure is needed to make them opt for peace and end the war,” he urged.
Asharq Al-Awsat noted that international pressure failed in making ousted President Omar al-Bashir change his stances, so why should it succeed now?
Hamdan acknowledged the situation with Bashir, adding however that the “times are different now. Sudan used to be controlled by one party, which used to find international support, so it remained unyielding in its positions.”
“The Port Sudan gang now only holds less than 30 percent of Sudanese territories. We are in control of several sectors. They are weak and won’t be able to hold out for long. I believe they will be forced to negotiate,” he added.
Accusations against the RSF
On accusations that the RSF is deployed in people’s homes and the army’s demand that they withdraw before returning to negotiations, Hamdan said the war has taken place in cities and villages, not outer space, so major losses were going to be inevitable, especially with the army having had set up bases inside neighborhoods.
“The war forced millions of people to flee their homes. Is it possible that our forces were present at all of these homes?” he asked.
“What they really want is for us to leave the areas under our control,” he added. They want the RSF to withdraw from Gezira state. “We will not quit regions we controlled through force without reaching a final agreement. Their talk about leaving the people’s home is only meant to incite them.”
Military option
On the possible scenarios should the negotiations fail, Hamdan said that would leave Sudan with two options. Either the international community applies pressure to make the army attend the talks to end the war, “or we will continue to liberate the remaining territories and rid Sudan of the Islamist movement and remnants of the National Congress.”
“The RSF can decide the war in its favor,” he warned. “But this is the costliest scenario and we don’t want to go down that path.”
“We sense the hell the Sudanese people are enduring. But if Burhan and his group insist on fighting, then we will rid the Sudanese people of them militarily,” he went on to say, citing similar experiences in Rwanda.
“That scenario is very possible” in Sudan, he stated.
Parallel government
On the other escalation options at the RSF’s disposal, Hamdan said: “They are many, but the RSF commander hasn’t chosen one yet.”
On whether a parallel government is one of those options, he replied: “The RSF supports Sudan’s unity and we will not allow any division. We boast governments and civil administrations in regions under our control because of the urgent need to offer services to the people.”
“The decision to form a government in parallel to the one in Port Sudan is up to the RSF command,” he said. “But all options are on the table and we will not allow the division of Sudan.”
“Sudan must remain united. We are affected by a cancer called the Islamist movement and it must be eradicated,” he stressed.
Commenting on accusations that the RSF has failed in running regions under its control, Hamdan blamed the suffering on “the Port Sudan gang that has cut off internet and water from all of our regions in Khartoum, Omdurman and Gezira.”
“In return, we have been exerting massive efforts through civil administrations to allow them to carry out their roles. We will do everything we can and we will work with the international community to deliver humanitarian aid to our regions,” he went on to say.
RSF ‘violations’
Asked about accusations that the RSF had struck civilian areas in Omdurman, el-Fasher and Karrari, he said: “We have never hit civilian regions, but we have targeted military positions.”
He explained the military had deployed in civilian neighborhoods in Karrari, Wadi Seidna and al-Kadroo. In el-Fasher, he said mercenary groups led by Arcua Minnawi and Gibril Ibrahim were present in hospitals and had deployed snipers on mosque rooftops.
“We had previously suggested that armed forces withdraw from el-Fasher and that neutral armed groups remain, but the military refused,” Hamdan added.
Joining the RSF
Asked why he abandoned the army and joined the RSF, he explained that he joined the latter eight years ago and that he was recruited by the military itself.
On why he is siding with the RSF, he revealed: “This is the second army to wage a war against its own people.” He said the Myanmar army had been waging war against its people for 60 years.
“The military has been used to bring the Sudanese people to their knees. Some very bad parties have exploited the army to impose their will in killing the people,” he noted.
“So, I am in favor of the army permanently exiting politics and for the armed forces to return to their main duties of protecting the nation and civilians, not protecting ruling regimes,” he stated.
