DOHA, Qatar
Sudanese army leader, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met Qatar’s Emir on Thursday during his third trip abroad since war broke out in April, after also visiting Egypt and South Sudan in recent days.
Al-Burhan, whose troops are
fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF, had spent months under
siege inside the military headquarters in Khartoum and stayed in conflict-hit
Sudan until late August.
In Doha, he received a red
carpet welcome and discussed “the latest developments in the situation and
challenges facing Sudan” with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said a
Qatari royal court statement.
Gen. Al-Burhan left Doha on
Thursday afternoon, the official Qatar News Agency said.
The war between Gen. Al-Burhan
and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, has killed at least
5,000 people, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict
Location & Event Data project.
Late on Wednesday, Gen.
Al-Burhan issued a decree dissolving the RSF, while the US slapped sanctions on
senior commander Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, the brother of the paramilitary
leader.
Sudan’s ruling Transitional
Sovereignty Council said in a statement the decree was “based on the
repercussions of these forces’ rebellion against the state, the grave
violations they committed against citizens, and the deliberate sabotage of the
country’s infrastructure.”
Rights campaigners have blamed
the RSF and allied militias for reported atrocities including rape, looting and
the mass killings of ethnic minorities, primarily in the restive western region
of Darfur.
The army has also been accused
of abuses, including reports of indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas with
RSF presence.
Al-Burhan made his first foray
outside the military headquarters last month and has visited regional allies in
recent weeks.
Since leaving the capital
Khartoum, he has been based in Port Sudan, an eastern city that has been spared
the fighting. Government officials and the United Nations have similarly
relocated to the coastal city which hosts Sudan’s only functioning airport.
Late last month, as rumors
swirled of negotiations aimed at ending the crisis, Al-Burhan flew to Egypt,
historically his closest ally, followed by a visit to South Sudan this week.
“The significance of (the
trips abroad) is to confirm the legitimacy of Al-Burhan with the international
community,” said Ashraf Abdulaziz, editor-in-chief of independent Sudanese
daily Al-Jarida.
Both Cairo and Juba have
sought to mobilize regional and international efforts to end the nearly
five-month conflict, after mediation attempts in the early stages of the war
had repeatedly floundered. Multiple truces brokered by the United States and
Saudi Arabia were systematically violated, before the two mediators adjourned
talks in June.
Announcing sanctions on
Wednesday, the US Treasury said that under Abdelrahim Hamdan Daglo, RSF
fighters “have engaged in acts of violence and human rights abuses, including
the massacre of civilians, ethnic killings and use of sexual violence.”
Many of the abuses took place
in the Darfur region of Sudan, it said.
Daglo called the sanctions
against him “unfair” in comments on Thursday to Sky News Arabia, a TV channel
based in the United Arab Emirates, which observers say is close to the RSF.
The US State Department also
placed the RSF’s West Darfur commander Abdul Rahman Juma on its blacklist for
what Washington called “his involvement in a gross violation of human rights.”
As well as leaving thousands dead, the war since April 15 has also forced 4.8 million people from their homes — 1 million of whom have crossed borders — according to the UN.
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