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Sudan’s armed rivals fight on another front, international legitimacy
Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo – brother of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo and his deputy – has had his assets frozen in the United States, while Abdul Rahman Juma, an RSF commander in West Darfur, was hit with a visa ban.
With that, the paramilitary force has lost hope of acquiring political legitimacy after the duo were sanctioned on September 6, according to analysts and activists.
Both were sanctioned over human rights abuses, specifically atrocities in Sudan’s West Darfur province. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Juma was sanctioned for ordering the June 15 assassination of West Darfur’s Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar.
“The sanctions really are a blow to the personal brand of the Dagalo family,” said Kholood Kair, a Sudanese expert and founding director of Confluence Advisory.
The importance of legitimacy
In 2019, the RSF started an extensive, and expensive, effort to rehabilitate its image from a violent militia responsible for numerous atrocities in the Darfur region to a benevolent force defending calls for democracy.
A popular uprising had removed Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir, and the RSF tried to ride the wave of popular discourse, co-opting human rights activists by paying them top dollar and hiring PR firms to transform its image.
The RSF stepped up its reputation laundering after a civil war erupted between the paramilitary and the army on April 15. But with the sanctions, its effort and money may have gone to waste.
“Abdelrahim and Hemedti have been very conscious about being sanctioned because they know that is the kind of thing that follows you around for the rest of your life,” Jonas Horner, an independent expert on Sudan, told Al Jazeera.
“They’ve always known that legitimacy is very important if they want to be relevant politically.”
Beyond rehabilitation?
In West Darfur, the RSF and allied Arab militias have been accused of committing summary executions, sexual violence and burying corpses in mass graves, according to rights groups, witnesses and the United Nations.
Yet Abdelrahim Dagalo denied the reports during an interview with Sky News Arabia on September 7. He claimed the violence in West Darfur was the result of a “tribal war” fuelled by the army.
“The military is behind these crimes [in West Darfur] because it gives weapons to the tribes. The army works with the tribes in the evening and allows them to kill each other during the day,” Abdelrahim claimed.
But Mohamad Sharif, a human rights lawyer who fled el-Geneina to Chad in May, said the Arab militias are being armed by the RSF, not the army.
“It’s natural that Abdelrahim Dagalo and the RSF would deny what they did,” he told Al Jazeera over the phone. “But all the witnesses from West Darfur know the crimes against them are the work of the RSF.”
Sharif referenced the assassination of Abakar, who was killed after saying a genocide was taking place in West Darfur during an interview with Saudi channel Al Hadath.
He added that a number of other human rights monitors and dissidents have been killed.
“All these targeted violations are being ordered by the RSF,” he told Al Jazeera.
Equal treatment?
The army has tried to frame the conflict as a war between the state and a rebel militia, rather than a battle between two sides of the security forces, analysts say.
As such, US sanctions against the RSF help the army’s narrative, according to Alan Boswell, an expert on the Horn of Africa for the International Crisis Group, but that does not mean Western diplomats have decided to assign more legitimacy to the army than the RSF.
“My understanding is that those debates are unresolved, so I wouldn’t read too much into the sanctions in that regard,” he said.
One Western diplomat, who was not authorised to speak to the media, told Al Jazeera both sides should be disqualified from governing Sudan and a civilian entity should assume power after the conflict. However, the diplomat said: “I am afraid that US realpolitik will kick in and that they will recognise the army as the government of Sudan.”
Confluence Advisory’s Khair said Washington has two main concerns: they don’t want the RSF to defeat the army nor for al-Bashir-era figures to return to prominence.
The latter hail from Sudan’s political Islamic movement and support the army.
“US officials are trying to balance both of these concerns,” she said. “They are worried about the RSF – a militia – establishing a government or parallel government in Sudan and they are worried about Bashir-era Islamists attracting or inviting Sahelian jihadists to the conflict.”
Emboldening the army
Sanctions against the paramilitary could make the army less amenable to peace talks, said Boswell.
“There is definitely a risk that the Sudanese army … may think the tide of global opinion is turning more and more against the RSF and therefore feels emboldened to seek victory on the battlefield,” he said.
In recent days, the army has stepped up indiscriminate attacks in Khartoum.
On Wednesday, the US Department of State expressed concern over the growing number of civilian deaths caused by air attacks.
On September 10, an army air attack hit a market, killing more than 40 civilians and injuring about 70. Activists said a few RSF fighters were there, selling looted items, but that hundreds of civilians were also selling juice and tea to earn a living.
Army spokesman Nabil Abdallah did not respond to questions from Al Jazeera about the incident.
Khair said the army clearly has no qualms about bombing residential targets, ostensibly to hit the slightest possible RSF presence. The difference now, she added, is that the army might believe that they have enough internal and external support to evade repercussions.
“I think the army is feeling very triumphant … and that could fuel their bad behaviour,” she said.
new video loaded: International Court of Justice Orders Israel to Stop Its Assault on Rafah
transcript
transcript
International Court of Justice Orders Israel to Stop Its Assault on Rafah
The United Nations’ top court at The Hague issued its decision in response to a request from South Africa.
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The State of Israel shall, in conformity with its obligations under the Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians in Rafah governorate, a, by 13 votes to 2, immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that would bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
Recent episodes in Israel-Hamas War
The families of an American missionary couple who were attacked and killed in Haiti alongside the local director of a Christian mission group Thursday are mourning and remembering the departed.
Jude Montis, the local director of Missions in Haiti Inc., and Davy and Natalie Lloyd, a young married couple from the U.S., were fatally shot in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince after leaving a youth group activity at church. Natalie was the daughter of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker.
“Thursday evening May 23rd our family experienced a tragedy that has broken our hearts and left Naomi and I grieving so deeply words cannot really express. My daughter and son-in-law Davy and Natalie Lloyd were murdered by gangs in Port Au Prince Haiti,” Baker said in a statement.
They were killed as Port-au-Prince crumbles under the relentless assault of violent gangs that control 80% of the capital city while authorities await the arrival of a police force from Kenya as part of a U.N.-backed deployment aimed at quelling gang violence in the troubled Caribbean country.
AMERICAN MISSIONARY COUPLE KILLED IN HAITI, AGENCY SAYS
This photo provided by Brad Searcy Photography shows Davy and Natalie Lloyd. Three missionaries were killed in Haiti after being ambushed at the Port-au-Prince, officials with the mission organization said Friday, May 24, 2024. Two of the victims were a young U.S. married couple, Davy and Natalie Lloyd, according to a Facebook posting from Natalie Lloyd’s father, Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker. The third person was Jude Montis, the local director of Missions in Haiti, Inc. (Brad Searcy Photography via AP)
Family members said Davy and Natalie joined Missions In Haiti as full-time missionaries after they were wed in 2022. The group’s website says it’s goal is “to see the Gospel of Christ make a difference in the lives of Haiti’s young people.”
“They loved Haiti and loved its people dearly and ultimately gave everything for them. Davy and Natalie reached countless lives in so many ways and we want them to be remembered for who they were, selfless and full of love and devotion to the people of Haiti,” Baker said.
Davy Lloyd’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd of Oklahoma, founded the organization in 2000 and directed its missionary towards children. David and Alicia Lloyd are full-time missionaries in Haiti.
“Although the entire nation is steeped in poverty, the children suffer the worst,” the Missions In Haiti website states. “Thousands are malnourished, uneducated, and headed for hopeless lives apart from Christ.”
HAITI’S TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL ADOPTS UNPRECEDENTED LEADERSHIP ROTATION AS COUNTRY FACES DEADLY GANG VIOLENCE
Davy and Natalie Lloyd, American missionaries serving in Haiti, were killed Thursday in a gang attack, said Natalie’s father, Missouri State Rep. Ben Baker. (Ben Baker via Facebook)
Hannah Cornett, Davy’s sister, told The Associated Press that they grew up in Haiti. Davy Lloyd went to the U.S. to attend a Bible college and married Natalie in June 2022. After the wedding, the couple wasted little time moving to Haiti to do humanitarian work.
Cornett said Montis, a Haitian, had worked at Missions in Haiti for 20 years. He left behind two children, ages 2 and 6.
The organization provides housing for 36 children, 18 boys and 18 girls, at its House of Compassion, the website said. “All are destined to stay at House of Compassion until they have finished school and are ready to be on their own.”
Missions In Haiti also opened Good Hope Boys’ Home, which provides a home for 22 boys. The organization also built a church, a bakery and a school with more than 240 students, the website said.
HAITI COUNCIL APPOINTS NEW PRIME MINISTER AS COUNTRY CONTINUES TO FACE DEADLY GANG VIOLENCE
A bus passes by a police officer on patrol near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, May 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Missions In Haiti said in a Facebook post that Davy Lloyd, 23, and Natalie Lloyd, 21, along with some children, were leaving a youth group gathering at church when gang members in three trucks ambushed them.
Davy Lloyd later called his family to tell them that gang members hit him on the head with the barrel of a gun, forced him upstairs, stole their belongings and left him tied up, Cornett told the Associated Press.
Missions In Haiti recounted that “another gang” went to the scene “to see what was going on and if they could help, so they say.”
“No one understood what they were doing, not sure what took place but one was shot and killed and now this gang went into full attack mode,” the group said.
13 KILLED AS HEAVY RAINS UNLEASH LANDSLIDE IN HAITI
Davy, Natalie and Jude Montis were in the house, communicating what was happening to Missions In Haiti via Starlink satellite internet. As they hid, the gangs began shooting at the house, according to Missions In Haiti.
Missions in Haiti lost contact with the missionaries. Hours later, they posted that Davy, Natalie and Montis were killed in the attack.
Rep. Baker posted on Facebook on Friday that the bodies of Davy and Natalie Lloyd had been recovered and were safely transported to the U.S. Embassy.
A spokeswoman for the Baker family told Fox News Digital that U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., is heading up efforts to secure an airline willing to transport the bodies back to the U.S. The Lloyd/Baker family has obtained a waiver to transport the bodies back to the U.S. without being fully embalmed because there’s currently no service in Haiti that can do that for them.
The spokeswoman said it will be Monday at least before the family has the required permits and the death certificates needed to get the bodies through customs.
A GoFundMe set up by family friends Chris Slinkard and Missouri Republican state Rep. Dirk Deaton has raised over $35,000 as of Saturday morning to assist the Lloyd/Baker family with costs related to bringing Davy and Natalie’s bodies home.
The Associated press contributed to this report.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa Prime Minister was welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Saturday.
Italy has pledged millions of euros to support Palestine, during a meeting of Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa on Saturday in Rome.
Mustafa is the leader of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Rome would provide new funding of around €35 million for the Palestinian population.
Five million euros will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the other 30 million will be allocated to the ‘Food for Gaza’ initiative.
Israel previously accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas during the October 7 attack.
However, no evidence to support this claim has been provided, according to aUN report.
At the meeting, Tajani said Italy believes in a two-state solution within the framework of a wider political process leading to peace.
“Unilateral initiatives are not helpful to the solution of the conflict because the main goal is a peace that leads to the creation of a Palestinian State, that recognises Israel and that is recognised,” said Tajani.
First proposed by the UN in 1947, the two-state solution involves creating two separate nations: one for the Jewish people (Israel), and one for Palestinians (Palestine). This would involve dividing the land, with each state having its own government and sovereignty. The goal is to allow both groups to live side by side peacefully and independently.
Italy has already provided two separate aid packages of €20 million to Palestine.
Palestine Authority PM Mustafa will visit Brussels on Sunday to meet European leaders.
Most Palestinians are critical of the Palestinian Authority, viewing it as a quisling government that has failed to address even the basic needs of its population.
A recent study from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that nearly 60% of Palestinians want the Palestinian Authority dissolved.
Video: International Court of Justice Orders Israel to Stop Its Assault on Rafah
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