Who is Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo – the new military leader of Sudan?

As the political crisis in Sudan sinks more and more after the overthrow of its most senior leader, Omar al Bashir, on April 11, one of his protégés, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, launches the game.

Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) is officially led by Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan. However, with regard to power, many say that Dagalo, also known as Hemeti, is the highest authority.

Bashir, the seventh president of Sudan, came to power by a coup in 1989, was deposed during a protest movement amid mass protests. Since the departure of Bashir, the country has been led by the TMC, which is engaged in intense negotiations with the Freedom and Change Forces (FCF), an umbrella organization of protesters.

The TMC and civilian leaders have tried to agree on how to run the country, but the talks have failed so far. At least 118 civilians were killed when the demonstrations were canceled. Democratic activists remained on the street, asking the army to yield control and ensure the formation of a true civilian government.

Although there are pictures of Hemeti dancing with followers in Khartoum, making him look like a fun and easy-going person, the truth is even more sinister.

The sins of Hemeti in Darfur

Hemeti was linked to rapes and massacres in Darfur during the war that began in 2003, joining the Janjaweed militia, described as "an irregular pro-government force accused of genocide against the non-Arab population of the region," according to the Telegraph. .

According to a UN-appointed investigative body, the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militia led by Hemeti have not committed genocide, but they have certainly been guilty of mass murder, torture , rape and other crimes in the Darfur region, creating the necessary conditions for the trial of Hemeti and its main perpetrators at the International Criminal Court

Earlier this month, on June 3, hundreds, perhaps hundreds, of people were shot, beaten and robbed by security forces called Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are closely linked to Hemeti, Khartoum. The inhabitants would have started to call them the Janjaweed, evoking the terror of the 2000s.

Hemeti does not like the etiquette. "Janjaweed means a bandit who steals you on the road," Hemeti told The New York Times. "This is only propaganda of the opposition."

The New York Times estimates the number of RSF at around 50,000, an impressive number of activists that Bashir had developed as a protective force. However, with Bashir now out of the picture, the RSF has become a force to be reckoned with.

Saudi Arabia links

Hemeti also has close relations with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the two Gulf states that fund and support autocratic regimes in the Middle East.

In Yemen, as Sudanese troops fought for the Saudi-led coalition, Hemeti's RSF and Burhan's land forces clashed and the two men linked up, according to a foreign policy report.

The two men also reportedly "had talks with UAE and Saudi officials," posing as the ideal Arab military leaders "who were not Islamists friends of Qatar, Iran or the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. ".

Foreign policy also said that RSF "would have received support from the Saudis and the Arab Emirates, including money and weapons".

Sudanese protesters are deeply distrustful of offers of help from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, angrily rejecting a pledge of US $ 3 billion. Many even asked TMC to sever ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Both states support the new Sudanese leadership and exert greater influence on Sudanese politics since the last coup in April.

Source: TRT World