Cairo Workshop… Militia “Plans” Camouflage

Report- Sudan Events

The workshop, called for and managed by the French organization Promition in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has shown a clear demarcation between supporters of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese people on the one hand, and Supporters of the plans of the Rapid Support Militia (RSF) on the other hands. This situation was made clear by the stands of the Darfur movements who are keen about the country’s unity and security and who have denuded plots intended to be passed through the workshop, and were thus adamantly rejecting to sit with the militia under any circumstances. The Sudanese armed forces was ahead of them when it distanced itself from anything that has to do with the said workshop
Wide rejection
The workshop, which was organized by Promotion in cooperation with the French and Egyptian Foreign Ministries in Cairo during January 23-25, was boycotted by most of the national movements who disapprove of the militia’s violations, and stressed the need to hold perpetrators of violations against the Sudanese people accountable.
The Sudanese army issued a circular yesterday, denying its participation in the suspicious workshop that was said to bring it together with the militia and Darfur movements, and confirmed that it had only heard about it through social media.

The Justice and Equality Movement, led by Jibril Ibrahim, followed the same path, along with the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Mustafa Tambour, both announced their boycotting of the workshop despite receiving an official invitation to participate, in protest against the participation of Rapid Support representatives.
While the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Minawi, has made it clear it would not sit with the militia and Taqaddum group that is under RSF command, and questioned the intentions of the workshop, which it said aims to serve hidden agendas seeking to tear Sudan into mini-states.
For his part, the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army Leadership Council, Ali Muhammad Hamid Shakoush, announced his complete withdrawal from the workshop, which he described as being based on lies and hypocrisy, after being surprised at the opening session that among those invited were the rebel Rapid Support militia and their aides.
It stressed that lies, hypocrisy, and all cheap tricks to gain a foothold for those who shed the blood of the Sudanese people and sell their women in slave markets are doomed to defeat by the will of the people.
Shakoush called on Promition and other organizations and countries behind the rebellion to know that the meeting place between them and the militias and their agents is the battlefield and not the workshops whose organizers do not have the courage to reveal their parties and goals in public.

Participation of militia supporters
The workshop was an extension of a previous meeting held by the same organization in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in December 2023, with military leaders affiliated to armed movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement and the Rapid Support Militia, along with former governors in Darfur.
Participating in the current forum are the Secretary of Head Office Affairs of the Sudan Liberation Forces Movement, Brigadier General Mubarak Bakhit, the Vice President of the Justice and Equality Movement, Suleiman Sandal Group, Jibril Adam Bilal, and the advisor to the Head of the Sudan Liberation, the Transitional Council, Seif al-Din Issa.
These movements held a meeting with the militia in Chad and then Addis Ababa, which caused friction amongst the participants and created a clear alignment between supporters of the army and supporters of the Rapid Support Militia.
Sources have stated that the workshop discusses coordination between the parties to the conflict and the joint force to protect humanitarian convoys and humanitarian workers in areas controlled by the warring parties and the possibility of finding alternative ways to deliver aid directly from neighboring countries.

Secessionist scheme
Among the objectives of the workshop, the sources said, is the plan to establish a government in Darfur. Al-Ahdath newspaper quoted its sources as saying that the workshop was funded by the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Rapid Support. The workshop was marred by quarreling and exchange of accusations among the participating members of the Minawi movement with representatives of the militia.
The paper added that the Minawi movement held a meeting to discuss the call, which led to the participation of Lieutenant General Haggar with two representatives after the theme of the workshop was amended from Darfur to the Sudanese crisis in general, in order to avoid division.

Minawi has accused the organization of implementing the Rapid Support Plan, and believed that the organization’s plan was for the militia to declare a government in Darfur, but El Fasher stood as a stumbling block this plot, “so our movement decided to participate in the workshop so as to thwart this separatist project”