A deal between protesters and the army is unlikely to bring lasting peace in Sudan
ONLY A HANDFUL of people took to the streets of Khartoum to usher in the new era. Some, sitting on trucks hoisting Sudanese flags, shouted “civilian” —a catchphrase of the peaceful protest movement that in April toppled a dictator, Omar al-Bashir. But there was little euphoria in the Sudanese capital after the announcement of a power-sharing agreement between the junta in charge of Sudan and the protest movement that wants a civilian-led transition to democracy.
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Transitional Military Council which has ruled since April, is expected to be the junta’s pick for head of the sovereign council. But real power resides with his deputy, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, who commands a paramilitary group of perhaps 30,000 men. His Rapid Support Forces was formed out of the Janjaweed, a genocidal militia that terrorised Darfur and has gone on to spread fear in Khartoum.
One civilian negotiator says Mr Dagalo tried to prevent the agreement to hold an investigation. “It is unthinkable that Hemedti will leave his seat to anybody else,” says a foreign diplomat. It is also thought that he will try to thwart efforts to put the RSF under civilian control, such as integrating it into the regular army.
The transitional government has its work cut out. It has promised to revive the economy, which shrank by 2.3% in 2018 and has only worsened since then. For this it needs relief for Sudan’s crippling $50bn debt, which will mean first getting the country removed from America’s list of state sponsors of terror. Considering that Sudan has been on the list since 1993, this may take time.
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