Hemedti visits Ethiopia in first public wartime tour

The Commander of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday morning.

He was received at Bole International Airport by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen, according to what was reported on the website of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the X platform.

The head of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, was scheduled to meet with Hemedti today, Thursday, in Djibouti, but the meeting was postponed, according to what the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) announced.

The German News Agency quoted the Sudanese agency as saying, “The government of Sudan expressed its regret over the procrastination of the leadership of the rebel militia in seeking a voice of reason, and its unwillingness to stop the destruction of Sudan and its people, and this is evident from their lack of response to attending the meeting.”

For its part, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had received a memorandum from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Djibouti, stating that the commander of the Rapid Support Forces was unable to reach Djibouti to hold the meeting for technical reasons.

The ministry added in a statement that coordination will be made again to hold the meeting during the next month.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Hemedti met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in the first announced foreign visit since the outbreak of fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army last April.