The heads of Sudan’s rival military factions gave competing addresses to the United Nations on Thursday (September 21, 2023), one from the podium at U.N. headquarters in New York and the other in a rare video recording from an undisclosed location.
Army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, speaking at the United Nations following a string of foreign trips, called on the international community to designate the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a terrorist organization and to counter its sponsors outside Sudan’s borders.
In a video message, Hemedti, the commander of the RSF, declared that his group was ready for both a cease-fire and extensive political negotiations to put an end to the violence.
Both sides held the other responsible for starting the conflict, which broke out in Khartoum in mid-April and has since expanded to other areas of the nation, particularly the western region of Darfur, forcing more than 5 million people to flee and endangering the stability of the area.
His whereabouts have been a subject of conjecture, as the majority of Hemedti’s most recent communications have been audio messages.
Hemedti was seen reading out his speech in the footage that was made public on Thursday just before Burhan spoke. He was dressed in military garb and sat in front of a desk with the Sudanese flag flying behind him. He didn’t say where he was.
“Today we renew our commitment to the peaceful process to put a halt to this war,” Hemedti said. “The RSF are fully prepared for a ceasefire throughout Sudan to allow the passage of humanitarian aid … and to start serious and comprehensive political talks.”
Previous declarations of a ceasefire by both the army and the RSF as well as claims that they are looking for a resolution to the war have not been able to halt the carnage and the worsening of a humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Burhan continued, “We are still reaching out for peace to put an end to this war and the agony of our people. The army is still dedicated to leaving politics in the transition to civilian administration.
However, he also demanded that the RSF be classified as a terrorist organization and claimed that it had regional and international sympathizers without naming any of them. He declared, “There is a need to aggressively address their sponsors.
Four years after former leader Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a popular revolt, preparations to formally integrate the RSF into the army as part of a political transition sparked the war in Sudan. In 2021, the army and RSF conspired to overthrow the government before exchanging blows.
Witnesses claim that the RSF has subjected people to rampant theft and sexual violence as well as participating in ethnically targeted attacks in Darfur, and that the army has utilized heavy artillery and air strikes that have resulted in casualties in residential districts of Khartoum and other towns.
A long-lasting truce in Sudan has been sought for by Saudi Arabia and the United States, but the effort has stagnated due to competing international initiatives in Africa and the Middle East.
Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Leslie Adler, Sandra Maler, and Grant McCool; Reporting by Khalid Abdeaziz, Yomna Ehab, and Enas Alashray; and
