On April 12, just a day before the start of clashes in Sudan between the regular army and the paramilitaries, one of the sons of Libyan Marshal Khalifa Haftar was on a mission in Khartoum. Officially, he followed his appointment as honorary president of the second largest football club in the Sudanese capital. But the same evening, he met General Hemedti, head of the rapid support forces which supports the same club. Al-Siddik Haftar dined at his home in Khartoum. According to The Observer, he gave her confidential information, revealing that the army was planning to attack the Rapid Support Forces.
Was Egypt going to help the Sudanese army lead an attack on the Rapid Support Forces? The question arises in the light of the latest events before the outbreak of hostilities in Sudan. From April 13, the day after the meeting between Al-Siddik Haftar and General Hemedti – and the confidences that were made to him – the latter attacked the Merowe military base located in northern Sudan.
On this base Egyptian soldiers and military aircraft were stationed, officially for joint military maneuvers. The soldiers were then detained and humiliated before being released after Emirati mediation. This was followed by fighting which broke out on April 15 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and several other towns.
Al-Siddik Haftar has repeated that his mission in Khartoum was not political, no one in Libya believes it. Many voices are being raised to denounce Khalifa Haftar’s interference in the Sudanese crisis. This intervention in Sudan also worries several generals of its army (ANL). This support for Hemedti could well undermine the relationship that this army has with Egypt, an ally of Haftar by the way.
Old relations between the ANL and the FSR
Relations between the strongman of eastern Libya and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces go back well to a period before the fall of Omar al-Bashir. However, they took an important turn during the war led by Khalifa Haftar in 2019 for control of Tripoli. Hemedti lent him a hand by sending hundreds of men to fight alongside the ANL.
Some remained in eastern Libya and they would have been trained by Wagner’s soldiers just like the Chadian rebels present in southern Libya and who had carried out an operation in Chad in 2021, an operation that ended in death on the spot. of battle of General Idriss Déby.
Emirates’ support for the two generals
According to the Wall Street Journal, the strongman of eastern Libya would send reinforcements of arms, ammunition and fuel to his Sudanese ally. Since the start of the fighting, images have been circulating on social networks showing weapons bearing the acronym of the United Arab Emirates and which would have been abandoned on the ground by Hemedti’s forces. Its weapons would be sent from Libya.
The two generals Hemedti and Haftar are supported by the United Arab Emirates, and are also involved in different kinds of cross-border trafficking, especially of gold and uranium illegally mined in Libya and Sudan.
The Wagner group behind Haftar in Libya?
Many American media outlets have recently picked up secret leaked American documents. These documents demonstrate the extent of Wagner’s influence in Africa and particularly in Libya. His forces have for years used airbases in southern Libya under the control of Khalifa Haftar. Satellite images show unusual movement at these bases over the past few days.
The involvement of foreign parties in Sudan raises fears of a protracted conflict fueled by outside interests. Analysts warn of a doomsday scenario where multiple actors and regional powers wage a proxy war in the country of more than 45 million people.
>> To read also: Sudan: How the interests of Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh complicate the conflict between generals