Sharp Disputes Between Perillo and FFC

While the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Tom Perillo, meets with representatives of political forces supporting the army tomorrow (Thursday), well-informed sources have revealed clear disputes between him and Taqadum due to Taqadum’s firm stance in favor of the RSF militia. Our sources report that the U.S. administration has begun practical steps to condemn the RSF for its ongoing violations against the Sudanese people. Perillo reportedly informed leaders of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) Central Council that the RSF should have no political or military role in Sudan. These disputes, according to sources, stem from the current U.S. perspective that sees the RSF as a party with demands and post-war entitlements. However, influential circles within the U.S. administration believe that the solution lies in conducting a broad dialogue with political and civil forces supporting the army, excluding the RSF from the future equation. This is the essence of the new American project that the U.S. envoy is currently pursuing.

Sources revealed that the main feature of the new American project is the criminalization of the RSF militia while avoiding the criminalization of the UAE. The project seeks to reach a solution involving the armed forces, political and civil forces supporting them, as well as some external actors such as neighboring countries, the African Union, IGAD, Egypt, and Turkey.

I retain the same headline that was formulated by the “Sudan News” website while downplaying the so-called “sharp disputes” between Perillo and FFC. This is because FFC (Taqadum) would have understood, if it had read the situation in Sudan correctly, that the U.S.’s abandonment of the RSF was driven by facts that Taqadum ignores. It overlooks the fact that no rational actor can bear the burden of the RSF militia’s crimes and violations. The Sudanese people’s rejection of the RSF’s presence in the country’s future, reiterated by Perillo himself after his meetings with Sudanese citizens, makes it clear that the RSF has no place.

What is new with Perillo is the support he receives from Congress, which now represents a bipartisan stance from both Republicans and Democrats. This may reflect the viewpoint of U.S. institutions, in addition to legislators, especially with the joint request from members of both parties on the Foreign Affairs Committee to issue an executive order from President Biden designating the RSF as a terrorist group under the Magnitsky Act, which is still under consideration.

The U.S. envoy faces significant obstacles, the most important of which is that the Sudanese people will welcome the criminalization of the RSF, which aligns with this group’s terrorist behavior and its actions against the law. However, they will not accept the omission of the UAE’s crimes. The UAE is a key partner in all the RSF’s crimes, and without its support, the militia would not have been able to escalate its killing of Sudanese, violate their sanctities, occupy their homes, loot, and destroy their country.

The first point of the U.S. project, criminalizing the militia and punishing it, is welcomed, but the UAE’s crimes in collaboration with the militia cannot be overlooked or legally and ethically waived.

Taqadum alone will lick its wounds, and “those who follow the chickens will end up in the dump.” It was a grave mistake for Taqadum to throw itself into the arms of the UAE and side with the militia. The U.S. administration must officially and publicly request the UAE to stop supplying weapons, especially American-made arms, to the RSF, which has been increasing at a higher pace in recent weeks and up to the present.

On the anniversary of September 11, we renew our condolences to the victims’ families and our condemnation of terrorism and targeting of civilians.