{"id":20088568,"date":"2024-06-10T16:15:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T14:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20088568"},"modified":"2024-07-10T15:58:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T13:58:40","slug":"sudan-baath-party-leader-warring-parties-seeking-to-narrow-public-discourse-on-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/sudan-baath-party-leader-warring-parties-seeking-to-narrow-public-discourse-on-conflict","title":{"rendered":"Sudan Ba\u2019ath party leader: \u2018Warring parties seeking to narrow public discourse on conflict\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ba\u2019ath party leader Ahmed Babiker discusses the ramifications of a Sudan TV <\/em>programme called Khoyout El Zalam,<\/em> which aired on Saturday and asserted that Yousef Ezzat, the political advisor to the RSF commander, had issued a coup statement from the National Broadcasting Corporation building before the outbreak of war on April 15 last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Ahmed Babiker, the leader of the Arab Socialist Ba\u2019ath Party, downplayed the media conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the programme, which translates to Threads of Darkness<\/em> aired on Saturday, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, said in a statement: \u201cWe have documented videos proving the involvement of the so-called Yousef Ezzat and his attempt to record eight statements for radio and five for television to announce the seizure of power, and soon [the videos] will be up to the scrutiny of public opinion.\u201d Babiker noted that a few days later, Sudan TV<\/em> promoted an episode of Threads of Darkness<\/em> on the attempted RSF coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEzzat issued a statement to mitigate the campaign, acknowledging that he had begun to announce the coup\u201d. In the statement, seen by Radio Dabanga, he said: \u201cIt was not my initiative, but after [the outbreak of violence<\/a>] I proceeded to read the statements on the evening of April 15, 2023. It was broadcast and heard by everyone in the cities and regions of Sudan through Radio Omdurman<\/em>, not on television as the army commander claims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RSF political advisor added: \u201cWe are considerate of the circumstances of the army commander, who only heard about the announcement now, but those statements do not indicate that the RSF was assuming power. We are not interested in authority. Our entire country was burned, and its people were killed, tortured, and displaced because of an ill authority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that those who \u201cmoved television broadcasts and vehicles to other locations days before the war were the ones who planned the conflict\u201d and asserted that stopping the war and holding those who initiated it accountable is the only solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Limited thinking\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Babiker dismissed the significance of who reached the radio tower first. \u201cBoth parties are trying to constrain the Sudanese people to narrow choices and limited thinking about who fired the first shot and who planned the coup.\u201d He emphasised that both the RSF and the SAF leadership opposed the December 2018 Revolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He accused both factions of disrupting the process of change in Sudan. \u201cThey are the ones who brought us to this situation. It is a shared responsibility because both parties were planning to seize power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe conflict between the RSF command and the SAF leadership revolves around power. Historically, it is known that the army in Sudan did not bring democracy. Not only the army alone, but no armed military force has ever achieved democracy for the people in Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political leader pointed out that even after South Sudan\u2019s secession, \u201cwhich followed a war, the rule of a single organisation and a specific political trend was established\u201d. He avoided calling it a dictatorship because it became a separate country but noted that it did not produce democracy nor celebrate diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believed that both the army and the RSF were preparing the atmosphere to ignite the war. \u201cEven the civilian forces, as we knew, were trying to stop this war. However, each side of the conflict was working to exclude the other to monopolise power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Babiker said that the debate over who went to the National Radio and Television Corporation first to broadcast the coup statement, \u201cwhether it was Ezzat or someone from El Burhan\u2019s group\u201d, is not the main point. \u201cBoth sides had clearly been preparing for war, threatening each other and seeking supporters along political and tribal lines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of this is not important and does not distract us from our call to stop the war.\u201d The continued fighting \u201chas harmed the country and is thrusting Sudan into the game of international disputes and conflicts among major powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is evidenced by the fact that each party is seeking external support and may make possible concessions to win the battle, as both parties are moving towards a stage of balance of weakness,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt this stage, we, as civil forces, must think strategically and escape the duality imposed by both parties. The narrative that benefits the Sudanese people the most is the one against the war; they must not support any of its factions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prisoner release<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) unilaterally releasing 739 prisoners of war<\/a> (PoWs) on Saturday, Babiker linked it to the Wad El Noura massacre<\/a> and an attempt to cover up crimes committed by the RSF in El Gezira. He described the situation in the state as a \u201cscandal and an unprecedented moral and political defeat for the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough the RSF is advancing in the field, this progress is not decisive,\u201d Babiker said, noting the dynamic nature of wars, with fortunes changing daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expects that in the coming period, the RSF will weaken while the army will become stronger. \u201cHowever, the critical point is that both parties have now entered a state of unnatural weakness and humiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe SAF visited Russia to make concessions and give Russia everything<\/a> in order to obtain weapons,\u201d he said. \u201cThe RSF will also reach the point of taking weapons from anywhere, ready to make all concessions without any problem, as it controls a large part of Darfur. Things are moving in this direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Babiker pointed out that releasing the prisoners is an attempt to improve the RSF\u2019s image, but their actions on the ground do not support this. \u201cWe assert that there should be no prisoners, and that both parties should treat prisoners better<\/a>. We have seen and followed how the RSF treats detainees<\/a>, both civilian and military. It is bad treatment and unnatural humiliation to degrade the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ba\u2019ath party leader urged all parties impacted by the conflict to remain aware and unite to stop the war.<\/p>\n