Sudan’s RSF leader offers dialogue to mend ties with Egypt

June 22, 2025 (DARFUR) – The leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said on Sunday he wanted to resolve disputes with Egypt through dialogue, a shift in tone after previously accusing Cairo of backing the army in the country’s civil war.

In a rare speech delivered to his troops in the Darfur region, Hemedti, as Dagalo is widely known, addressed tensions with the neighbouring power. He had previously sharply criticised Egypt for allegedly supplying the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with military aid.

“We respect our Egyptian neighbours, and any problem can be solved through dialogue and discussion,” Hemedti said in the speech, the exact location of which was not specified. He accused unnamed “criminals” of attempting to sabotage the RSF’s relations with nearby countries.

Hemedti said his forces’ recent capture of the Oweinat border triangle, which sits between Sudan, Libya, and Egypt, could help secure the region against what he described as terrorism, smuggling, and human trafficking.

“The Rapid Support Forces have no problem with any neighbouring country,” he added.

The RSF and Sudan’s army have been fighting for more than two years after their ruling partnership collapsed over a plan to integrate their forces. The conflict has created a major humanitarian crisis and displaced millions.

In his speech, Hemedti pledged to facilitate aid delivery in Darfur and said he would pay his soldiers back wages owed since April 15, 2023.

While renewing his attacks on the army and threatening to defeat its remaining forces, Hemedti also made a conciliatory gesture to other armed faction leaders allied with the military.

“We have no problem with Minni (Arko Minnawi) and Jibril (Ibrahim),” he said, referring to the leaders of the Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement. “If they come to us today, they are welcome.”