\n Sixteen months since Sudan's top generals ousted a transition to civilian rule, the coup leaders are embroiled in a dangerous power struggle with deepening rivalries within the security forces, analysts warn.\n<\/p>\n
\n Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo worked together in October 2021 to remove the short-lived transitional authorities put in place following the toppling of Omar al-Bashir's regime in 2019.\n<\/p>\n
\n Magdi al-Gizouli, from the Rift Valley Institute think tank, said their once united front has devolved into \"brinkmanship\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The power struggle in Sudan is no longer between military and civilians,\" Gizouli said. \"It is now Burhan against Daglo, each with his own alliance\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The coup triggered international aid cuts and sparked near-weekly protests, adding to the deepening political and economic troubles of one of the world's poorest countries.\n<\/p>\n
\n Burhan, a career soldier from northern Sudan who rose the ranks under the three-decade rule of now jailed Islamist general Bashir, has said the coup was \"necessary\" to include more factions into politics.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Daglo, also known as Hemeti, the commander of the much-feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has since called the coup a \"mistake\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Created in 2013, the RSF force emerged from the Janjaweed militia that Bashir unleashed a decade earlier in the western region of Darfur against non-Arab rebels, where it was accused of war crimes by rights groups.\n<\/p>\n
\n Daglo -- from Darfur's pastoralist camel-herding Arab Rizeigat people -- said the coup had not brought change but rather the return of Bashir-era regime loyalists, angering Islamist factions.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Delaying tactic' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Disagreements between the two generals also reflect long-running divisions between the regular army and Daglo's RSF, said military expert Amin Ismail.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Burhan wants the RSF to be integrated into the army in accordance with the rules and regulations within the army,\" said Gizouli.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Daglo seems to want restructuring of the top army command to take place first, so that he can be part of it before the integration.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n In December, Burhan and Daglo signed a tentative deal with multiple factions -- including the key civilian bloc, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) -- as part of a two-phase political process towards a civilian-led transition.\n<\/p>\n
\n But critics called the deal \"vague\" and cast doubt on the generals' pledge to exit politics after a civilian government was installed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The December deal highlighted the disagreements which have their different aspirations at its core,\" said Ismail.\n<\/p>\n
\n Gizouli says the accord was \"a delaying tactic\" for Burhan, while Daglo sought \"to improve his competitiveness\" and bill himself as \"an ally to the FFC.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It is clear that neither of them has any intention to exit politics, as they have been investing in alliances that would allow them to continue,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Daglo has been jet-setting across the region drumming up support, travelling to neighbouring Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea, two African nations with close ties with Russia.\n<\/p>\n
\n The day after Burhan visited Chad in January, Daglo started a visit of his own.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Polarisation' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Analyst Kholood Khair said a recent initiative by Egypt has appeared to favour Burhan and \"catalysed renewed tensions between the generals\".\n<\/p>\n
\n In February, Cairo hosted a workshop among multiple Sudanese factions including those who opposed the December deal, notably two ex-rebel commanders -- Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim and Darfur governor Minni Minnawi.\n<\/p>\n
\n Khair, in an article for the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said the Cairo initiative left political groups seeking to make pacts \"with one general over the other\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This is a false choice, and one that can only lead to further polarisation of the political space and, potentially, an armed confrontation between Burhan and Hemeti's forces, with disastrous consequences,\" she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Daglo, in a recent speech to RSF troops, said his disagreement was not with the armed forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The disagreement is with the people clinging on to power,\" said Daglo, insisting he backed the installation of a civilian government.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are against anyone who wants to be a dictator.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n On Saturday, Sudan's armed forces hit back, dismissing accusations of \"the unwillingness\" of the army's generals \"to complete the process of change and democratic transformation\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It is an open attempt to gain political sympathy, and to obstruct the transitional process,\" it said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Sunday, Sudan's ruling sovereign council said Burhan and Daglo held security talks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ismail said that while the outright military confrontation that many fear is unlikely, it is not the only potential outcome.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's a political disagreement... but it could push the Sudanese people to rise up and turn on all of them,\" Ismail said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sixteen months since Sudan's top generals ousted a transition to civilian rule, the coup leaders are embroiled in a dangerous power struggle with deepening rivalries within the security forces, analysts warn. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo worked together in October 2021 to remove the short-lived transitional authorities put in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-113907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n