UK Foreign Office holding secret talks with Sudan’s RSF paramilitary group

News that the British government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are engaged in clandestine negotiations has prompted warnings that such talks risk legitimising the notorious militia – which continues to commit multiple war crimes – while undermining Britain’s moral credibility in the region.

Such atrocities, as well as reports of RSF fighters committing extrajudicial killings, looting aid, and the widespread rape of women and children, have profoundly weakened the group’s legitimacy among the Sudanese people.

He visited Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana and South Africa weeks after the head of Sudan’s army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had made a similar tour as both generals tried to rally regional players to their side of the conflict.

Dr Sharath Srinivasan, co-director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights at Cambridge University, said that although he understood the temptation to talk to the RSF, it was an approach that had only fuelled violence in Sudan.

Srinivasan, an expert on the failures of peacemaking in Sudan, added: “On top of that, when [the RSF are] committing untold levels of targeted violence against ethnic groups, and women and children, at a scale that is absolutely horrific and was, even 20 years ago, you’re putting a lot of moral credibility and decency on the line.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to end the violence – to prevent further atrocities from occurring, to press both parties into a permanent ceasefire, to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, to protect civilians, and to commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process.