Sudan's prime minister dissolves caretaker government
SUNA did not specify when a new government, the first since war broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, would be announced.
Kamil was appointed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's head of state. The RSF has said since earlier this year that it would form its own parallel government with allied parties.
Kamil took the oath of office on Saturday as the country's first prime minister since a military-led coup in 2021.
In a speech on Sunday, he vowed to remain at equal distance from all political parties and to prioritise stability, security, and reconstruction in Sudan. - Reuters
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Malay Mail
12 hours ago
- Malay Mail
As Sudan's war deepens, paramilitaries form a rival government — is a breakup coming?
CAIRO, Aug 1 — Sudanese paramilitaries are forming a parallel government to the one controlled by the country's army, pushing Sudan further towards de facto division, political analysts say. After more than two years of war that has caused waves of ethnic killings, famine and massive displacement, Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are currently fighting for control of al-Fashir – the army's last foothold in the western Darfur region, an RSF stronghold. A coalition led by the RSF announced the members of a parallel government last week. While it has not yet established institutions or been recognised, analysts say a potential breakaway of its territory could precipitate another split in Sudan, following the 2011 secession of South Sudan. How did this happen? Sudan's army and the RSF worked together in 2021 to oust the civilian politicians who took over from President Omar al-Bashir's toppled government two years earlier. But in April 2023, war broke out between them over a push to integrate RSF fighters into the armed forces. The RSF took over swathes of the country, though the army pushed them out of the capital Khartoum and towards the west earlier this year. Throughout the war, the RSF has called the internationally recognised army-led government illegitimate, and has taken steps to create its own, parallel administration. In May, the army installed a prime minister, Kamil Idris, who has in turn begun appointing ministers to a new 'Hope Government'. His cabinet's formation has been hindered by disputes between army leaders and the heads of former rebel groups who have joined the war against the RSF. Some cabinet members also have ties to Bashir's former party, reflecting the army's need for Islamist support. The war that has caused waves of ethnic killings, famine and massive displacement. — AFP pic What does each side control? From its wartime capital of Port Sudan on the Red Sea, Sudan's army has maintained control of Sudan's northern and eastern states. Earlier this year, it also regained its central states and Khartoum, where it says it will relocate. The RSF quickly seized most of Darfur with the exception of al-Fashir, where fighting continues, causing mass hunger. The paramilitary also allied with the SPLM-N rebel group, which controls swathes of South Kordofan state on the border with South Sudan. The oil-rich West Kordofan and North Kordofan states are also still being fought over. More recently, the RSF has taken control of the northern 'border triangle' with Libya and Egypt, expanding the international borders of the territory it controls. How did the RSF set up its government? In February, the RSF formed the 'Tasis' coalition with several Sudanese political factions and rebel groups, aiming to build what they said would be a single government for all of Sudan. In May, the coalition signed a constitution establishing a parliament and cabinet. Then in July, the coalition announced the formation of a presidential council led by RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, with the SPLM-N's Hilu as his deputy. The council also included regional governors and a prime minister, former government official Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi. What does this mean for Sudan? Analysts say the formation of the parallel governments could lead to a Libya-like stalemate or even worse fragmentation as other armed groups claim their own territories and follow the RSF's lead. Both governments could also struggle to secure the international cooperation they need to rebuild Sudan's shattered economy and infrastructure. No states have so far moved to recognise the RSF's parallel government, which the UN and African Union have condemned. Militias have also proliferated across RSF territory, helping the paramilitary push forward but also proving hard to control. The seat of the RSF government, Nyala, in southern Darfur, has seen growing crime, including kidnappings, as well as protests by residents and soldiers. It has also been targeted frequently by army air and drone strikes. The army's coalition, including former rebel groups and tribal militias, is similarly fragile. And while the army has international recognition, with support from regional powers such as Egypt, many countries remain hesitant to deal with it because of the 2021 coup and the influence of Islamists. Like Dagalo, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is under US sanctions. — Reuters
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Displaced Sudanese stream home from Egypt after army retakes Khartoum
CAIRO (Reuters) -Toting large suitcases and bags of belongings, the Sudanese families crowding into Cairo's main railway station hoped to be returning to relative stability after fleeing Sudan's civil war. They are among thousands of displaced Sudanese streaming back home from Egypt into territory retaken by the Sudanese armed forces from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary in Khartoum and its environs since the start of this year. "I miss every corner of Sudan, really. I'm very happy that I'm going back," one of the returnees, Malaz Atef, told Reuters. The families were waiting to board a free train to the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, from where they would take buses to the Sudanese capital Khartoum. A couple of young girls wore hats reading, "Thank you, Egypt" in Arabic. Over 4 million Sudanese fled to neighbouring countries -- including more than 1.5 million to Egypt -- after war broke out between the army and the RSF in April 2023, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migration, or IOM. Since the start of this year, over 190,000 people have crossed the border from Egypt into Sudan, more than five times the number who returned in all of 2024, an IOM report said earlier this month. Sudan's ambassador to Egypt, Emad el-Din Adawy, who visited the station on Monday, said the returns marked "an important stage for reconstruction and bringing back stability." Despite the relative calm in the capital, fighting between the RSF and the army is still raging in the central Kordofan region and al-Fashir in Darfur in the west. The war, triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule between the army and the RSF, has displaced over 12 million people and pushed half the population into acute hunger, according to the United Nations. Some Sudanese in Egypt have complained of difficulty finding jobs and discrimination, and Egypt has deported thousands of refugees it says entered illegally. Thousands of others have fled onwards to Libya. The weekly trains from Cairo to help Sudanese to return home voluntarily have been financed by Sudanese businessmen, according to Adawy. The Sudanese who have gone back so far have mostly headed to Khartoum, as well as to Sennar and El Gezira states to the capital's south, according to the IOM. (Reporting by Sayed Sheasha; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Ros Russell)
The Star
6 days ago
- The Star
Sudanese coalition led by paramilitary RSF announces parallel government
FILE PHOTO: Deputy head of Sudan's sovereign council General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo speaks during a press conference at Rapid Support Forces head quarter in Khartoum, Sudan February 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File Photo (Reuters) -A Sudanese coalition led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Saturday a parallel government, a move fiercely opposed by the army that could drive the country further towards partition as a two-year-old civil war rages. The government led by RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was announced west of the country. The RSF and its allies signed in March a transitional constitution outlining a federal, secular state divided into eight regions. The RSF controls much of the west of the country such as the vast Darfur region and some other areas but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the army, which has recently regained control over the capital Khartoum. The military led by career army officer General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had condemned the idea of the RSF creating a parallel government and promised to keep fighting until it controls all of Sudan, which has been plagued by conflicts, coups, poverty and hunger. In February, the RSF and other allied rebel leaders agreed in Kenya to form a government for a "New Sudan," aiming to challenge the army-led administration's legitimacy and secure advanced arms imports. Dagalo, a former militia leader and one of Sudan's wealthiest people, known as Hemedti, was hit with sanctions by the U.S, which accused him of genocide earlier this year. He had previously shared power with Burhan after veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir's ouster in 2019. However, a 2021 coup by the two forces ousted civilian politicians, sparking a war over troop integration during a planned transition to democracy. Burhan was sanctioned in January by the U.S. which accused him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. The ongoing conflict has devastated Sudan, creating an "unprecedented" humanitarian crisis in the country, with half the population facing spreading hunger and famine, according to the United Nations. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz, Writing by Jana Choukeir, Editing by Michael Georgy)
