The sacking of Yousif Izzat and the power struggle inside the RSF
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Executive summary
· Until 10 July 2024, Yousif Ibrahim Izzat Al-Mahri was the most visible adviser for Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Himedti).
· The smooth-talking graduate of a Canadian university represented the militia before the global media, and played a critical role in its efforts to obtain domestic and international legitimacy.
· Nonetheless, his eventual sacking reflects the contradicting and competing interests within a militia that is both a political entity and a family business.
· Izzat’s growing influence became a source of tension with Himedti’s brothers: Algoney Hamdan Dagalo and Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo. Amid reports of Himedti’s declining health, the latter – who is the militia’s second-in-command – is said to have accused Izzat of aiming to position himself as capable of inheriting the RSF and transforming it into a political movement.
· Therefore, this briefing will explore the reported tensions between Izzat and the Dagalo brothers, which eventually culminated in the former’s sacking.
A profile of Yousif Izzat
A member of the same Mahariya clan of the Rizeigat tribe as Himedti, Izzat is said to have shaped the political ideology of the RSF commander – who he labels a childhood friend.
Born in Kutum in North Darfur, Izzat is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the Nilein University in Khartoum in 1998, where he was active among leftist circles and came to be associated with Sudanese Communist Party. He was then in a minority of Arabs involved with Darfur’s rebel movements who advocated a revolution of the marginalised peripheries against the central authority in Khartoum. After moving to Canada, where he resides as a citizen, Izzat studied conflict resolution studies and international development at the University of Winnipeg.
Izzat’s role in the RSF
Izzat then became Himedti’s advisor in 2021, eventually acting as the primary spokesperson for the RSF following its rebellion in April 2023, after which Izzat regularly represented the militia in the global media.
Izzat’s notable media appearances include, but are not limited to, crying in defence on the RSF on Al-Jazeera and describing reports of the RSF’s use of rape as a weapon of war as army propaganda in comments to the Voice of America.
Behind the scenes, Izzat was also a pivotal part of the RSF’s attempts to gain domestic and international legitimacy. As confirmed by an informed RSF source in comments to Mada Masr, Izzat played a crucial role in coordinating between the RSF and Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition that is being increasingly viewed as the political wing of the militia.
Before the war, images circulated of Izzat sitting in on the meetings of FFC Central Council leaders. Three months into the war, he was part of a meeting in Togo attended by FFC leaders that was described as an attempt to “whitewash” the RSF’s war crimes.
On the global stage, the smooth-talking advisor had the responsibility of helping the militia obtain legitimacy. In June 2023, Africa Intelligence reported that Izzat would play the role of RSF spokesperson in visits to European capitals London, Berlin and Paris.
However, as argued by Abdelwahab El-Affendi, a professor of politics at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, the RSF is a “family business”. As a result, Izzat’s growing importance to, and influence on, RSF commander Himedti would become a source of friction with his brothers: the RSF’s second-in-command Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo and Algony Hamdan Dagalo – the youngest Dagalo brother.
Tension with the Dagalo brothers
Tensions have reportedly emerged between Izzat on one hand, and Algoney and Abdelrahim on the other.
Algoney Hamdan Daglo has been described as the RSF’s chief financial officer and link with regional actors. He runs “an enormous network of shadow companies” from Dubai, including Tradive General Trading. Based in the UAE and sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, Tradive purchased vehicles which may have been retrofitted with machine guns.
Since the war however, Algoney emerged as the RSF’s de-facto “ambassador,” as reported by Africa Intelligence in November 2023. Algoney’s growing influence was considered a threat to Izzat, who was reported to have lost the confidence of some members of Himedti’s inner circle due to his closeness to the FFC and his late arrival among the RSF’s ranks.
Amid conflicting reports of Himedti’s deteriorating health, Abdelrahim is “increasingly taking the lead” as per an RSF source in comments to Mada Masr. As will be explored in further detail, disagreements over the RSF’s relationship with the FFC and the Taqadum coalition it dominates was a major factor in Izzat’s fall out of Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo.
Izzat’s rift with Abdelrahim Dagalo
While the RSF announced that Izzat’s assignment had been terminated, Izzat’s tweet hours before claimed that he had asked RSF commander Himedti to relieve him of his duties due to internal restructuring that transferred his responsibilities to Abdelrahim.
“Neither experience nor convictions allow me to work under Abdelrahim’s leadership,” Izzat wrote, stating that his political assignment was linked Himedti in his capacity as the deputy head of the Sovereign Council.
“As a civilian operating outside of the RSF’s military framework, I am not subject to military orders. For other reasons that will be mentioned in the future, I requested to be excused because my assignment is linked me to brother Himedti since childhood,” Izzat added.
As reported by Sudan Tribune, the RSF in April 2024 organised a workshop in Uganda to restructure its civilian and political work. It was decided that Abdelrahim would take over the management of the RSF’s civilian coordination council.
In comments to Al-Jazeera, Ali Mansour, an analyst specialising in Darfur affairs shed further light on the escalating tensions between Izzat and Abdelrahim. Izzat was said to be angered by Abdelrahim’s attempts to create a political incubator for the RSF rather than relying on the FFC / Taqaddum that Izzat is close to. Tensions over this matter subsequently deepened in July 2024 following a workshop held by the Promediation – a French NGO focused on conflict mediation.
The Dagalo brothers are said to distrust the FFC due to worries the coalition might abandon them in the future and leave them without a political cover. This paranoia reportedly stems from the FFC’s “betrayal” of the currently pro-army armed movements that signed the Juba peace agreement in September 2020. Despite sharing opposition to the ousted regime, the FFC parted ways with the armed movement movements after the regime’s fall. The Dagalo brothers allegedly fear a repeat of this scenario.
Nonetheless, the disagreements between Izzat and Abdelrahim over the FFC also reflect the suspicions from the Dagalo brothers that Izzat may usurp their power within the militia. As noted earlier, Africa Intelligence reported back in November 2023 that Izzat was distrusted by some members of Himedti’s inner circle due to his closeness to the FFC.
Indeed, according to informed sources with connections to the RSF advisory office, Izzat was accused by Abdelrahim of presenting himself to external parties, including the UAE, as capable of inheriting the RSF and transforming it into political movement. As a result, Izzat’s requests to meet Himedti were rebuffed by Abdelrahim.
How Izzat embarrassed the militia
Further allegations surrounding Izzat’s fall-out with Abdelrahim were published on Facebook by Obay Izzeldin Awad, a former press advisor and spokesperson for ex-president Omar al-Bashir. Awad’s credibility as a source is strengthened by his closeness to al-Bashir’s former presidential office director Taha Osman Al-Hussain, who played a pivotal role in establishing the RSF and managing the militia’s relationship with regional actors. Awad was part of a cohort of advisors hired to the president’s office who became known as “Taha’s sons”.
Awad claimed that the Dagalo brothers and several RSF advisors were embarrassed by Izzat’s “lie” that undermined the credibility of RSF spokespersons. On January 14 2024, Izzat was interviewed by Sa’ad Al-Kabli, the son of the late legendary Sudanese singer Abdelkarim Al-Kabli. In response to a question about his whereabouts when the war kicked off, Izzat said that he was asleep on the morning of 15 April and his mother woke him up.
However, on 6 June 2024, the army’s commander-in-chief Abdulfattah al-Burhan said the army has videos of Izzat preparing statements announcing the RSF’s takeover of Sudan. The videos were subsequently published on Sudan’s national TV station in a programme entitled ‘Threads of the conspiracy’. The footage served as evidence for those - such as a popular pro-army influencer known as Al-Insirafi - who had long been arguing that the events of 15 April 2023 were a failed RSF coup attempt.
As argued by Obey Awad, the tapes undermined the narrative pushed by the RSF that it was taken by surprise by an army initiating a war through Islamist officers and soldiers. This created “headaches” for the RSF’s command “due to the mistakes, actions and contradictions of Yousif Izzat” Awad said.
The final straw: Izzat’s tweet
The nail in coffin for Izzat’s assignment as an RSF political advisor were his tweet on 9 July 2024 after a conference in Cairo that brought together Taqqadum and the pro-army Democratic Bloc coalition that included armed movements who signed the Juba peace agreement.
Izzat said that he does not see any justification for the absence of the Sudanese Islamic Movement from the conference. Suggesting that this was interpreted as a call to include Islamists in the political process, Mansour said Izzat’s statement “aroused the anger of regional powers supporting the RSF, so they advised Himedti to remove his advisor”.
Awad highlighted other alienating parts of Izzat’s tweet. Firstly, Izzat used a hashtag that Islamists and members of the former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have been using for years: #Thanks_Egypt.
Secondly, the vision that Izzat expressed for a transitional period was also divisive. Izzat called for the exclusion of political parties (such as the FFC / Taqadum) with Izzat Taqqadum’s leader, former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok argued to be “worthiest” person to lead the transitional period. According to Awad, Taqadum parties filed a verbal complaint to Hamdok, which was handed over to Himedti, who subsequently chose to relieve Izzat of his duties.
Algoney’s speculated role
Nonetheless, additional reasons for Izzat’s dismissal are under discussion. Sudanese writer and analyst Mu’tasim Agra’ highlighted speculation that Algoney pulled the plug on Izzat’s assignment in order to take over the militia’s foreign relations file for himself. A well-known livestreamer named Osman Dhu al-Nun claimed that Algoney fired Izzat in order to take over his position. Sudan In The News are not able to verify this information.
However, while an RSF source told Mada Masr that Izzat’s role was limited to liasing between the RSF and FFC, we noted earlier how Africa Intelligence reported in November 2023 that Algoney’s emergence as the RSF’s de-facto ambassador posed a threat to Izzat.
Further information to come…
It is worth noting that in his tweet announcing the end of his assignment, Izzat said that he requested to be excused “for other reasons that will be mentioned in the future,” hinting that there is more than what has already been said.
Indeed, a source close to the RSF’s advisory offices said that attempts are being made to reconcile Izzat and Abdelrahim amid Izzat’s threats to disclose Himedti’s health condition and the reasons for his removal from the foreign relations and political liaison files months ago.