But whether anything will change in Sudan remains to be seen, also thinks BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg, who speaks of a hopeless drama. “There are no prospects in this conflict,” he says. “There are countries that take one side or the other in this conflict, but there is no geopolitical interest in this battle.”
“There are no prospects in this conflict”
Hammelburg points out that Sudan has been in conflict “since time immemorial”. The ongoing fighting is being conducted by former Janjaweed troops (Rapid Support Forces, ed), who massacred the western province of Darfur under the authority of former dictator Omar al-Bashir. “At the moment it looks more like a regular army,” Hammelburg continues. “The other party belongs to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who staged a coup at the time and never allowed the elections he promised to take place.”
According to Hammelburg, al-Burhan is an old-fashioned dictator who also has his own army. “His army has been fighting Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s rapid support forces for some time.”
South Sudan
The situation in South Sudan is not much better. The country, which seceded from Sudan in 2011, was still important to the West due to the amount of oil it held. “A similar situation arose there too,” concludes Hammelburg. “This too is completely turned upside down in a kind of disastrous fight series between the leaders of the ring. It’s all scum off the ledge, that’s all you can call. And the victims are the residents of Sudan, because they are literally and figuratively in the barrage.’