On April 12th, just a day before the start of clashes in Sudan between the regular army and the paramilitaries, one of the sons of Libyan Marshal Khalifa Haftar was on a mission in Khartoum. He followed his appointment as honorary president of the second-largest football club in the Sudanese capital. But the same evening, he met General Hemedti, head of the rapid support forces which supports the same club. Al-Siddik Haftar dined at his home in Khartoum. According to The Observer, he gave her confidential information, revealing that the army was planning to attack the Rapid Support Forces.
Was Egypt going to help the Sudanese army lead an attack on the Rapid Support Forces? The question arises in light of the latest events before the outbreak of hostilities in Sudan. On April 13th, General Hemedti attacked the Merowe military base located in northern Sudan, a day after Al-Siddik Haftar had a meeting with him and made confidences to him.
The Sudanese army detained and humiliated Egyptian soldiers who were stationed on their base for joint military maneuvers with their military aircraft. Emirati mediation resulted in the eventual release of the soldiers. Afterward, fighting broke out on April 15th between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and several other towns.
Al-Siddik Haftar has repeated that his mission in Khartoum was not political, no one in Libya believes it. Many voices are being raised to denounce Khalifa Haftar’s interference in the Sudanese crisis. This intervention in Sudan also worries several generals of its army (ANL). This support for Hemedti could well undermine the relationship that this army has with Egypt, an ally of Haftar by the way.
Old relations between the ANL and the FSR
Relations between the strongman of eastern Libya and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces go back well to a period before the fall of Omar al-Bashir. However, they took an important turn during the war led by Khalifa Haftar in 2019 for control of Tripoli. Hemedti lent him a hand by sending hundreds of men to fight alongside the ANL.
Wagner’s soldiers would have trained some individuals who remained in eastern Libya, similar to the Chadian rebels who were present in southern Libya, and conducted an operation in Chad in 2021, resulting in the death of General Idriss Déby on the battlefield.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the strongman of eastern Libya would send reinforcements of arms, ammunition, and fuel to his Sudanese ally.
The United Arab Emirates supports the two generals Hemedti and Khalifa Haftar, who are also involved in different kinds of cross-border trafficking, particularly of gold and uranium illegally mined in Libya and Sudan.
The Wagner group behind Haftar in Libya?
Many American media outlets have recently picked up secret leaked American documents. These documents demonstrate the extent of Wagner’s influence in Africa and particularly in Libya. His forces have for years used airbases in southern Libya under the control of Khalifa Haftar. Satellite images show unusual movement at these bases over the past few days.
The involvement of foreign parties in Sudan raises fears of a protracted conflict fueled by outside interests. Analysts warn of a doomsday scenario where multiple actors and regional powers wage a proxy war in the country of more than 45 million people.