Questions About Himaidti’s Emergence and Tours? 

As I see it

By Adil Al-Baz

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The recent tours by Himaidti have raised a number of questions mark about the goals the rebels seek to achieve. Before reading what is behind the tours, allow me to answer questions related to the tour which is: why has he emerged?

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The rebel leader Himaidti surfaced following the multiplications of crimes and violations committed by his forces all over the country, his forces have become groups of unruly bandits who kill, loot and rape. The used to respectful and disciplined forces recognized by the State and operating according to the laws. A number of circles have been disseminating reports that he has appeared in public in an attempt to control the unruly forces which the Daglo clan has brought as mercenaries from West Africa. However, Himaidti has, upon a demand by the FFC in the Addis Ababa meeting, to control his forces and to make them cease inflicting calamities on civilian population in Al Gezira State, his answer for them was that he could not control them because these troops were not part of his core force and that they are in fact Kassaba (gainers) and the Kassaba are bandits known in West Africa for their theft and killing activities and that they are ready to do anything for the sake of collecting spoils and loots. A statement by Dr Bakri Al Jak, one of the founding members of TAGADDUM, carried by Al Gos Al Arabi, two days ago, has stated that “”Himaidti has pointed out during the meeting with TAGADDUM, to the existence of forces that are not affiliated to the Rapid Support Forces and that they joined in through what is popularly known as Fazza (emergency response to a call of emergency by a tribal kin), saying that these same elements could easily be confronting the RSF and that Himaidti stated that these forces have entered Gezira state without any coordination with him””. Thus the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have converted to an army of bandits, Kassaba and mercenary looters. Strange indeed that those looters and thugs who looted and plundered the state and robbed civilians are now being sought for a return and for being absorbed within the state and be given and bestowed a legitimacy they don’t deserve.

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Hemedti’s public appearance came after his forces (Al-Kasaba) entered the city of Wad Madani, which he considered a final victory in the war and not one of its battles. Rather, he demanded Burhan to surrender, and he estimated that this victory would be benefitted from while he was personally present. It has become clear that storming the cities did not bring any benefit to the rebels except that it revealed the true face of the mercenaries and the oppressors, increased the people’s hatred for them, and reverberated against them by spurring the entire people to take up arms. The leaders of the rebels and their financiers realized this fact, making them think that this progress was sufficient to impose their conditions and that they could achieve greater gains than this. It can be achieved by storming other cities. It is time for politics, so Hemedti came out at this time to convert the gains of rapid support on the ground into political gains, using international and regional pressure to impose what he could not achieve through war for nine months.

The first step was to announce his alliance with FFC (TAGGADUM) by signing a political document that they claim calls for stopping the war, but in essence it made FFC a political wing allied with rebels who committed war crimes and genocide. Thus, this step deepens the crises of war and prolongs them and does not end them. This alliance provides the militia with new energy and allow it to put on a civilian mask.

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Hemedti’s foreign tours aim to achieve several goals, the first of which is an attempt to transfer him from the category of a war criminal to a military and political leader, as all the Western press describe him nowadays, drawing inspiration from the experience of the current Kenyan president, William Ruto, whose crimes were washed away in the same ICC, as it acquitted him of war crimes charges, during a judicial farce in The Hague for crimes he committed against his people during the 2007 crisis, he returned to play a political role in Kenya.

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These tours are a public relations campaign to whitewash his face in front of the Africans who were exterminated by his forces in El Geneina and Zalingei and committed all the crimes against them in Darfur, and also an attempt to market him as a national leader calling for peace, democracy, and a civil state, and many of those deceptive claims that they put on his tongue without him understanding anything about them, so he became ridiculous whenever he appeared and whenever he was identified with them.

The organizers of these tours are trying to mobilize African leaders to pressure Sudan into agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire, especially at the next IGAD meeting set for this month. This allows the rebels to return and reposition themselves in power and continue to plunder the state in the manner of the Kassaba, who will not forget the stands of the said African leaders beside them at that time, so they will be made to enjoy a share of the stolen Sudanese money and gold.

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Hemedti’s tours is also aimed to put pressure on regional organizations to continue to not only support his position, but to further mount the pressure on the Sudanese government, first by forgetting about the Jeddah Agreements, which set conditions for the rebel militias, and then by accepting the transition to the IGAD initiative. It is known that the scenario of transferring the dossier to IGAD and then the African Union is aimed to put pressure on Sudan, given that this means that if Sudan refuses to submit to the rebels’ conditions, it will be facing the entire African continent. Then the dossier can be transferred to the Security Council to impose sanctions on Sudan or even use Chapter Seven for military intervention. Bakri Al-Jak said in the same statement published by Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that Hemedti informed (TAGADDUM) in his meeting with them in Addis Ababa that (the war will not stop without international intervention). Of course, these are their aspirations and their planning, but they will all be disappointed, God willing, but our diplomacy must rise to the challenge. We can point out in another article the tactics that can be followed to defeat this scheme.

Finally, it can be said that the attempt to wash away the genocide will not be of any benefit. External tours and meetings with corrupt presidents and leaders of African organizations will not succeed, and the campaigns now led by the international press will not succeed, and even the dossiers of all international human rights and justice institutions and their procedures have begun pilling now. Moreover, pressure groups from the people of Darfur are now organized all over Europe and America, which makes any attempt to try embellish the image of the rebels and try to clean them up from war crimes and genocide globally, would be but a pure illusion.