KHARTOUM: Sudan’s military and civilian political leaders have begun talks to integrate the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the army as part of a proposal to form a single army in the country’s transition to elections.
The RSF has been a central demand of civilian groups that helped overthrow longtime autocratic ruler Omar Al-Bashir four years ago and shared government with the military until an October 2021 military coup.
This week’s talks follow a framework deal agreed upon in December between the military and the civilian Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance, which aims to turn the page on the coup that led to mass protests and cut Sudan off from much international financial support.
The civil and military leaders are expected to formally adopt the agreement on April 6 and launch a new civilian government on April 11.
Power jostling between the army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo, along with uncertainty over how and when the RSF forces could be merged with the army, has been a source of recent tension.
Civilian-military leadership talks
Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo has put himself at the forefront of the planned transition toward democracy, unsettling fellow military rulers and recently triggering a mobilization of troops in the capital Khartoum.
“The process of military and security reform is not easy, but it is important and our goal is to form a single army,” Dagalo said at the launch of Sunday’s talks, adding that the RSF would not abandon “the choice of democratic transformation.”
Burhan, head of the council, asserted on Sunday that the Sudanese army would be brought under the leadership of a new civilian government, restating pledges that the military would withdraw from politics.
“The process of military and security reform is a long and complicated process and one that cannot be bypassed,” he said.
