Ar-Raya Newspaper: Answering the Question of Sudan After the Rapid Support Forces' Control of Al-Fashir

Answering the Question

of Sudan After the Rapid Support Forces' Control of Al-Fashir

Question:

(Musaad Boulos, Senior Advisor to US President Donald Trump for Middle East Affairs, confirmed that the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have agreed to a three-month truce, based on the quartet plan that includes the UAE, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, which was announced on September 12th... Sky News Arabia, 11/3/2025), and these approvals of the American plan from the Sudanese parties, the regime and the Rapid Support Forces, came after the Rapid Support Forces took control of the city of Al-Fashir in Sudan... So what is behind these approvals of the American plan? And what happened to the Sudanese army until the Rapid Support Forces were able to control the capital of the Darfur region, "Al-Fashir," which is a very large and fortified city, and the army was fiercely defending it against the Rapid Support Forces' attacks for a long time. So how was the city controlled? And what are the dimensions and repercussions of that?

Answer:

In order to clarify the answer to these questions, we review the following:

First: Al Jazeera mentioned on its website on 10/28/2025: (The Rapid Support Forces announced on Sunday morning that they had taken control of Al-Fashir, after a siege that lasted for more than a year, which means extending the forces' influence over all five Darfur states, and dividing the country between an east controlled by the Sudanese army, and a west under the control of the Rapid Support Forces). From this summary mentioned by Al Jazeera, it is clear that the Rapid Support Forces' control of the city of Al-Fashir is greater than a victory in a battle over a city, but rather it is control over an entire region in a remarkable way! The Rapid Support Forces had been besieging it for a year, and they do not possess significant quality weapons that would enable them to achieve a victory against the Sudanese army units defending the city, those units that had been defending the city with merit for a year, but suddenly the Burhan government handed over the city to the separatist rebel Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, and the handover process was clear and without ambiguity:

1- (The Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said that the Sudanese people and the armed forces will be victorious, stressing that the leadership's assessment in Al-Fashir (the capital of North Darfur State) was to leave the city because of the systematic destruction it had been subjected to. Al Jazeera Net, 10/27/2025), then he followed his speech with words that are neither helpful nor sufficient: (Al-Burhan added in a televised speech that "our forces are capable of achieving victory, turning the tables, and recovering the lands," adding, "We are determined to avenge all our martyrs.")

2- (Sudanese military sources told Al Jazeera that the Sudanese army evacuated the headquarters of a division in Al-Fashir "for tactical reasons." Al Jazeera Net, 10/27/2025).

These statements from Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and from his military sources explicitly, not implicitly, state that the army is the one that evacuated the city of Al-Fashir, leaving it to be plundered by the Rapid Support Forces.

Second: The Burhan government and its military leadership refrained from providing military and logistical support from its central control areas to its army forces in Al-Fashir throughout the year, so they remained besieged, fighting and repelling the Rapid Support Forces' attacks with their capabilities from within the city. The leadership of the Burhan government's army, which boasted of cleaning Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri of the Rapid Support Forces, was certainly able to support its large sectors in the city of Al-Fashir, but it did not do so throughout the year, meaning that the plan was to leave those sectors until they collapsed.

Third: Upon careful examination, we find that the process of handing over to the forces of the separatist rebel Hemedti took place concurrently with talks being conducted by America between the two Sudanese parties in America with the aim of a ceasefire: (After the Sudanese Sovereignty Council denied the existence of any direct or indirect negotiations with a delegation from the Rapid Support Forces in Washington, diplomatic sources revealed that the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mohi Eddin Salem, arrived in the United States on an official visit aimed at discussing efforts to stop the war raging in Sudan for more than two years. Al Arabiya, 10/24/2025).

This means one thing: that America gathered in Washington the delegations of its two agents in Sudan; the delegation of its agent Burhan, and the delegation of its second agent Hemedti, and that the Sudanese Sovereignty Council's denial of conducting negotiations with the Rapid Support Forces in Washington is tantamount to proving it, and that the implementation of what America ordered its two agents to do took place after two or three days in a blatant manner in Al-Fashir. According to the same previous source (the sources told Al Arabiya/Al Hadath today, Friday, that the Sudanese minister will hold a series of meetings in Washington with officials in the American administration, including Musaad Boulos, Senior Advisor to the American President for Middle East and Africa Affairs. They added that Salem will also hold meetings with a number of his Arab counterparts, noting that the visit comes at the official invitation of the American administration to discuss some files of common interest. Likewise, an American official explained to Al Arabiya/Al Hadath that Boulos will chair the Quartet's meetings on the Sudanese crisis).

What also confirms America's gathering of the delegations of its two agents in Washington: [A diplomatic official confirmed yesterday, Thursday, that the Quartet countries (the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt) will meet today in Washington with representatives of the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces to push the two parties to a humanitarian truce that extends for three months. He said that the goal is to "exert a unified pressure to establish a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to enter civilians," Al Arabiya, 10/24/2025]

In other words, the coincidence of the Rapid Support Forces storming Al-Fashir and the Sudanese army evacuating it with the Washington meeting indicates beyond any doubt that the decision to hand over the strategic city to the Rapid Support Forces was taken in Washington and that the two Sudanese parties had begun implementing it on the ground immediately, i.e., after two days, and the result was achieved on the third day.

Fourth: This meeting mentioned in Washington is the second step that followed the first step when America gathered its agents and followers in the region in what is called the Quartet (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt) and began implementing its will to cease fire in Sudan, and Al Arabiya نقلت, on 9/12/2025 from the statement issued by that meeting:

(The text of the joint statement stated: "At the invitation of the United States, the foreign ministers of the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates held in-depth consultations on the conflict in Sudan, recalling that it has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and poses serious risks to regional peace and security. The ministers affirmed their commitment to a common set of principles to end the conflict in Sudan), and the fourth item of the statement stated: The future of governance in Sudan is decided by the Sudanese people through a comprehensive and transparent transitional process that is not controlled by any warring party), as well as mentioning in one of its points: (Making every effort to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict with the effective participation of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces).

On the one hand, this Quartet is a formula chosen by America so that its solution in Sudan also appears to have a regional character, i.e., with the approval of major countries in the region, but these countries do not move unless Washington moves them, and they do not take any step without America. On the other hand, the text of the statement refers to the recognition of the two parties to the conflict in Sudan on an equal footing and calls on them to participate effectively, meaning that the statement does not refer to the Rapid Support Forces as secessionist and rebel forces, nor does it call on them to stop their rebellion, especially since they have formed a secessionist government to divide Sudan.

Fifth: After the Rapid Support Forces took control of the city of Al-Fashir, which is a strategic city and its control over it means taking the entire Darfur region, with its five states, most of which were previously under its actual control, and therefore, agreeing to a three-month truce, but rather demanding it, means American recognition of the Rapid Support Forces' control and legitimate presence in the Darfur region and in the most important cities of the region, Al-Fashir, because this truce, which America proposes and dresses in the guise of the "Quartet," is followed by other steps of negotiations between the two parties to the conflict in Sudan after America's plans enabled the Rapid Support Forces from the entire Darfur, and after America's agent Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) had established a secessionist government that he announced at the end of February 2025 in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, under his leadership, and it was active from the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State, and now the road is certainly completely paved for the transfer of Hemedti's secessionist government to the city of Al-Fashir.

Sixth: As for the American position, it was clear and did not even show displeasure at the Rapid Support Forces' control of Al-Fashir, but rather demanded the next step of the American plan for Sudan, a ceasefire, i.e., completely blocking the way for the Sudanese army to restore Al-Fashir and making Hemedti's control over it established without any clashes disrupting it:

[Musaad Boulos, advisor to US President Donald Trump for African affairs, called on the fighting parties in Sudan to discuss a proposed humanitarian truce and approve it immediately. He added that he had presented a humanitarian truce paper for a period of 3 months and it was welcomed by the two fighting parties in Sudan, and he called on the Rapid Support Forces to move towards the humanitarian truce and stop the fighting. Boulos said in statements yesterday that the world is watching with great concern the actions of the Rapid Support Forces and the situation in the city of Al-Fashir, calling for the protection of civilians. Al Jazeera Net, 10/27/2025].

Then he confirmed this again, as Sky News نقلت from him on 11/3/2025 [Musaad Boulos, Senior Advisor to US President Donald Trump for Middle East Affairs, confirmed that the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have agreed to a three-month truce, based on the quartet plan that includes the UAE, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, which was announced on September 12th. Boulos explained, in statements he made from Cairo on Monday, that technical and logistical discussions are underway before the final signing of the truce, noting that representatives of the two parties have been in Washington for some time to discuss its details. He added that the proposed truce represents a real opportunity to end the crisis, stressing that the army and the Rapid Support Forces are involved in discussing a paper presented by the United States with the support of the Quartet, aimed at achieving peace, pointing out that the conflict in Sudan has become a threat to the region and the world, especially to the security of the Red Sea. Sky News Arabia, 11/3/2025]

Seventh: Against the backdrop of US President Trump's boasting that he is a peacemaker and ends wars, America, in this way, is proceeding with its plan and with steps that have accelerated to divide Sudan and separate the Darfur region from it, as it previously separated its south from it, and this is what we have been warning against repeatedly. In an answer to a question entitled (Drone attacks and developments in the war in Sudan), we said on 5/21/2025 the following:

[(It is clear from all of this that the major attacks in eastern Sudan, especially on the facilities of the strategic city of Port Sudan, are linked to the war in Darfur, as they are to force the army to move away from attacking Al-Fashir and head east to defend Port Sudan) and we added: (Fourth: It is painful that the disbelieving colonialist America can manage fighting that reaps lives in Sudan and harness its agents to implement