NAIROBI
Sudan on Sunday called Uganda’s reception of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, “a blatant disregard for the crimes of genocide.”
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni met with Dagalo on Sunday at the presidential palace in Entebbe.
This reception “is an unprecedented step that contradicts Uganda’s commitments to good neighborliness, at a time when innocent lives are being lost,” the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Atrocities committed by the terrorist militia (RSF) have been documented by the international community and condemned by regional organizations to which Uganda belongs, such as the African Union,” it added.
The ministry condemned Dagalo’s reception in Uganda as “a step that disregards the most basic human values and ignores the scale of the crimes committed against Sudanese citizens.”
“It also violates the laws governing relations between member states of regional and international organizations and constitutes support for rebel forces against a legitimate, internationally recognized government.”
While respecting Uganda’s right to “receive whomever it wishes” and have bilateral relations with, the ministry said the move “reflects a new policy of the Ugandan government towards Sudan, supporting the rebels and acting against the unity, security, and safety of the Sudanese people.”
This step “is direct support for the genocidal crimes committed by the rebels against civilians, which have been documented by independent international organizations,” it stressed.
“The Sudanese government will not allow its territory or the territory of neighboring countries to be used to support rebel forces against the state,” the ministry said.
There was no immediate comment from Uganda on the Sudanese statement.
Dagalo’s visit to Uganda marked his first appearance since September, when he toured Nyala, the capital of South Darfur in western Sudan.
Sudan has been locked in a bloody conflict between the army and the RSF since April 2023, killing tens of thousands, displacing about 13 million people, and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to UN reports.
