KHARTOUM: The leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has said that he met Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, his first confirmed appearance outside of the war-hit country Sudan since the war between the Sudanese army and RSF broke out in April, western reported on Wednesday.
General Dagalo, whose whereabouts during the conflict have been unknown, said on his social media account the two discussed the current developments in the African nation, as well as his vision for dialogs to end the war.
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President Museveni confirmed the meeting in a post on social media, adding he welcomed Dagalo to his nation home Rwakitura.
Sudan’s military and the RSF have been locked since mid-April in a crisis that has devastated Khartoum and triggered waves of killings in Darfur despite several rounds of diplomacy to stop the war.
The Rapid Support Forces has been gaining momentum, taking over Wad Madani, a city in the center of the nation earlier this month. Its troops have been accused of killing and looting civilian population including in surrounding areas, allegations it dismisses.
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Sudan’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on Wednesday that Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was not able to travel to Djibouti, the current chair of regional body IGAD for a planned initial meeting with Sudan’s military chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.
The meeting, which was meant to help find an end to the conflict, is to be rescheduled to an unspecified date in January due to “technical problems,” the statement added.
A source familiar with the issue said the meeting was delayed because of deals between the two, without giving more details.
