Sudan’s government rejects RSF-led parallel authority
July 27, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s internationally-recognized government and its armed forces on Sunday rejected a move by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to form a parallel administration in territory it controls. They warned foreign powers against recognizing the body.
The two sides have been locked in a devastating war for control of the country since April 2023. The move to form a new administration formalizes a division of the country between the warring factions.
The government’s condemnation followed a spokesperson for an RSF-aligned group, the “Founding Alliance of Sudan,” announcing on Saturday the formation of a presidential council. The council would be led by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, with former Sovereign Council member Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi appointed as prime minister.
In a statement, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is based in Port Sudan along with the rest of the government, called the announcement a “phantom government.” It said the move was “the best evidence of its defeat and rout at the hands of the armed forces.”
Sudanese army spokesman Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah described the rival administration as a “grotesque play by a distorted mix of ignoramuses, agents, and war criminals.” He called it a “desperate attempt to legitimize their criminal project and to pass the agenda of their foreign backers.”
The Foreign Ministry also criticized Kenya for what it said was allowing the RSF to hold preparatory meetings in Nairobi, calling it a “clear violation of Sudan’s sovereignty and a breach of the principle of non-interference.”
It appealed to the international community and regional bodies not to recognize or deal with the new entity, stating that doing so would be an “encroachment on the government of Sudan and its sovereignty over all its territories.”
Other political figures also denounced the announcement. Minni Arko Minnawi, the governor of the Darfur region, said the only new development was that the “RSF militia is distributing the crimes and violations it has committed equally with its allies.”
A spokesperson for the Sudanese Revolutionary Awakening Council, Ahmed Mohamed Abkar, said the declaration was a “desperate attempt aimed at pressuring the Sudanese government to return to the negotiating table.”