Khartoum- The Security and Defense Council, headed by the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, adopted general mobilization in the country to eliminate the Rapid Support Forces, while public opinion was expecting a direct response to an American proposal for a humanitarian truce lasting 3 months.
Observers believe that the Defense Council did not reject the plan of the Quartet – the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE – regarding peace, which it presented last September 12, but at the same time it did not accept the American vision for a humanitarian truce.
Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s chief advisor for Arab and African affairs, said last Monday that the United States is working to reach an agreement for a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan, for a period of 3 months that can be extended. Pointing out that the separate talks in Washington with the army and the Rapid Support Forces are making significant progress despite the field complications.
General mobilization
The Security and Defense Council held an emergency session in Khartoum State, yesterday, Tuesday, to discuss military, security and humanitarian developments, the details of the American proposal regarding a humanitarian truce, and the results of the Sudanese military delegation’s consultations with the American side in Washington.
The Security and Defense Council includes members of the Sovereignty Council and the Prime Minister Kamel IdrisThe Ministers of Defense, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Justice, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Director-General of the General Intelligence Service, and the leaders of the armed movements in Darfur (the Joint Force) also joined the emergency meeting.
The Council announced, in a statement – after its meeting – the general mobilization of the armed forces, and mobilized the people to help eliminate “the Rapid Support Forces militia and its mercenaries.”
Sudanese Defense Minister Hassan Kabroun said, “We will continue to mobilize the people to help the army eliminate the Rapid Support Militia,” and indicated that the army will continue fighting.
Kabron explained that the Council discussed the humanitarian situation and the initiatives presented by some international parties, expressing its welcome to “the sincere efforts that call for an end to the suffering of the Sudanese.”
The Minister of Defense stated that the Council approved assigning a committee to present the vision of the Government of Sudan on facilitating the arrival of humanitarian aid, supporting humanitarian work, and restoring security and peace throughout Sudan.
Official sources close to the Sovereignty Council revealed to Al Jazeera Net that the Security and Defense Council did not reject any proposals to address the humanitarian situation and deal with peace efforts, but it adheres to its reference, which is based on the plan it delivered to the United Nations last March, and the “Jeddah Declaration” signed with Rapid Support in May 2023.
The sources – who requested to remain anonymous – considered the announcement of mobilization a natural matter after what happened in El Fasher, and the mobilization of the Rapid Support Forces to expand into the states of Kordofan, and their besiegement of Babanusa, Dilling, and Kadugli, and their efforts to impose a similar siege of El Fasher on El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, which reflects their lack of desire for peace.
Military escalation
In a development that indicates an expected escalation in military confrontations, Yasser Al-Atta, a member of the Sovereignty Council and Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Army, vowed to achieve a decisive victory over the Rapid Support Forces, predicting their collapse soon in the states of Kordofan and the Darfur region.
Al-Atta said, during a meeting with the leaders of the joint force in Khartoum, held on the sidelines of the National Security and Defense Council meeting, that the Rapid Support Forces “will flee from Kordofan just as they fled from the areas of Al-Jili, Omdurman, Bahri, East Nile, Khartoum, Al-Jazira, Sennar, and the White Nile. They will soon flee from Kordofan, and from every inch of our beloved land in Darfur.”
For its part, the joint force of the armed struggle movements affirmed its full and steadfast support for the Sudanese popular will, which categorically rejects any “settlements or political solutions that may perpetuate a dysfunctional reality that equates the legitimate state and its institutions with the outlaw militia.”
In a statement today, Wednesday, the joint force appreciated the position of the government and the army leadership in their adherence to the legitimate rights to defend the homeland, and urged to work by all possible means to support comprehensive national mobilization efforts “until complete victory is achieved.”
Political consumption
For his part, Makki Al-Shibli, Executive Director of the Al-Daryah Center for Strategic Studies, read the Minister of Defense’s statement as an acceptance of peace as general mobilization for war continues.
Al-Shibli wrote in his post on social media, “The truce – according to the Quartet’s plan – is a temporary humanitarian measure extending for three months, aimed at stopping combat operations and opening humanitarian corridors. It does not cancel defensive mobilization in principle, but it prevents its use to launch attacks or change the balance of power on the ground.”
Al-Shibli calls for the Defense Minister’s statement to be understood “in the context of internal political consumption to neutralize war supporters, rather than as a declaration to ignore the conditions of the Quartet truce.”
Also, as the spokesman says, the army’s political maneuver loses its validity after 3 months when the ceasefire phase begins, and then even verbal mobilization for war stops, let alone military mobilization.
As for the writer and political analyst Ibrahim Al-Siddiq, he believes that the statement that carried the position of the Security and Defense Council dealt with the humanitarian truce by forming a committee to present a government vision. It separates the humanitarian track from the military field, and that the declaration of mobilization and alert comes in response to popular pressure and its interactions.
According to the writer’s statement to Al Jazeera Net, “Rapid Support and regional parties used military movements for political purposes and to provide a stressful climate,” and this is evident through the intensification of attacks in the Kordofan states. Therefore, “the government’s message is to remind us that we have a popular reserve of support.”
Limited options
Al-Siddiq considered that the Quartet is continuing its pressure without having many negotiating cards, “and with the increase in public awareness in many European countries after the horrific crimes committed by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher, Bara and other areas, their options are weaker in exerting pressure on the Rapid Support and shaping its role in the future of Sudan.”
In turn, the expert in the affairs of the Horn of Africa believes Political analyst Ammar Al-Arki said, “The position on the truce was not an absolute rejection of the principle of ceasefire, but rather a rejection of that formula in which it was intended to disrupt the path of resolution on the ground and turn Sudan into an arena for international bargaining.”
Al-Araki explained to Al-Jazeera Net that the Defense Council’s statement carried political and military dimensions. “The Council set clear red lines, that the war is no longer just an internal conflict, but rather a confrontation with a project aimed at the survival of the state,” he said.
The writer adds that the government’s position, in essence, is that Sudan will not accept forced settlements being imposed on it under humanitarian pretexts, and that it is open to sincere initiatives to the extent that respects its sovereignty and national will.