Minawi: RSF deputy chief proposed Darfur secession
October 25, 2024 (PARIS) – Darfur Governor Mini Arko Minawi said that the deputy commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had proposed that they join forces against the army to secure the western region’s secession.
Minawi, speaking to Radio France Internationale (RFI) during a visit to Paris, said he rejected the proposal from Abdel Rahim Daglo, which was made during meetings in N’Djamena in June.
“We disagreed about his proposal to separate Darfur from Sudan. He suggested I join him to wrest Darfur from the army’s control,” Minawi said, adding that Daglo had evaded questions about the purpose behind his proposal.
The RSF, led by Abdel Rahim’s brother Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been battling Sudan’s army since April 2023 in a conflict that has reawakened a decades-old conflict in Darfur.
Minawi’s accusation is the first public claim of a secessionist plot linked to the RSF, though there have been widespread reports of foreign interference and agendas aiming to divide Sudan.
A senior leader in the Sudan Liberation Movement, who declined to be named, confirmed Minawi’s account to Sudan Tribune, saying a prominent RSF figure had told him that international officials were inquiring about the possibility of establishing a viable state in Darfur.
According to the Sudan Liberation Movement source, the RSF leader had said he believed this was possible “if the region’s main communities, the Arabs, Zaghawa, and Fur,” reached an agreement in this respect.
RSF leader adviser Ibrahim Mukhir denied the accusations, saying the deputy commander had repeatedly affirmed Sudan’s unity as a “strategic goal”.
“Anyone who thinks they can take refuge in geography, whether in Hamdi Triangle or in Burhan’s state, has no way out but to surrender to the will of our people in achieving lasting peace through political dialogue,” Mukhir said.
He was referencing a development plan proposed by an Islamist official during the previous regime. Minister Hamdi called for focusing on developing the northern and central regions of Sudan, including the Kordofan region and White Nile state.
The advisor added that the RSF was a national force fighting across the country, not a regional or ethnic one.
Minawi is on a European tour seeking humanitarian support for Sudan and an end to the war. He said he had discussed with French officials a possible airdrop of aid to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which the RSF besieges.
Seven months after the conflict erupted in Sudan, several armed groups in Darfur who had signed a 2020 peace deal with the government joined the fight against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in November 2023.
Their decision to break neutrality occurred as the RSF seized control of nearly all of Darfur, with the exception of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. During this period, disturbing reports emerged detailing crimes against humanity and war crimes throughout the region.