“Secret” talks between Britain and the “Rapid Support” in Sudan

The Guardian newspaper said that the British Foreign Office is holding secret talks with the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, which have been engaged in fierce fighting with the Sudanese army for more than a year, and are facing accusations of ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

The British newspaper reported in a report published yesterday, Monday, that officials from the British Foreign Ministry, whose level was not specified, were leading these talks with the Rapid Support Forces, while human rights groups condemned those talks with the forces accused of ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

The Guardian added that this news raises warnings that such talks “risk legitimizing” what it described as the notorious militia that continues to commit multiple war crimes, while undermining Britain’s moral credibility in the region, as it put it.

The newspaper quoted a human rights group as describing the United Kingdom’s willingness to negotiate with the Rapid Support Forces as “shocking.”

The Guardian reported that a response under the British Freedom of Information Act (FOI) revealed that senior officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urged talks to be held with the Rapid Support Forces, and the most recent of these talks was between United Kingdom and Rapid Support last March.

According to the newspaper, the Freedom of Information response stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation attempted to contact representatives of the Rapid Support Forces and succeeded in doing so. The last successful contact was on Wednesday, March 6, when officials from the Ministry of Defense and Security met with representatives of the Rapid Support Forces.