Sudan: "Hemeti" refuses the integration into the army of his Rapid Support Forces

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo aka "Hemeti", leader of the janjaweed, the Sudanese rapid action force, Karthoum, May 18, 2019. REUTERS / Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

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In Sudan, the number two in the transition, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo known as “Hemeti”, has publicly refused the integration of his Rapid Support Forces into an army under a unified command.

A project however supported by the number one of the transition and the civil forces which co-direct the country.

This statement is above all revealing of the increasingly strong antagonism that is emerging within the armed forces.

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In private as in public, General "Hemeti" no longer hides his disagreement with his leader.

" 

Talking about integrating the Rapid Support Forces into the army could shatter the country,

 " he said on Friday during a tribute ceremony to a commander of the Darfuri rebel movement of Minni Minawi.

These forces " 

are instituted by a law passed by an elected Parliament,

" he said, according to the

Sudan Tribune

.

It is not a battalion or a company likely to integrate the army, it is an important force

 ”, he concluded.

Assumed refusal

This desire to unify the army is, however, a project led by the number one of the Sovereign Transitional Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and supported by the civilian forces who co-lead the transition.

But this refusal, "Hemeti" has long assumed it with his private interlocutors, indicates a source who met him recently.

He claims to be both a victim of personal antagonisms, given his Chadian origins and his lack of university education.

But also of unjust marginalization, given the role he says he played in

the fall of former President Omar al-Bashir

.

The fact that he was speaking to former rebels in Darfur on Friday, in any case, adds this source, indicates that he does not intend to be accused alone of all the ills of the country without resistance.

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• Sudan