SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: AFP - Sudan’s Dagalo, feared Darfur militia chief at heart of crackdown

6/6/19: AFP – Sudan’s Dagalo, feared Darfur militia chief at heart of crackdown

 AFP’s feature piece charts Himedti’s rise to power, from Janjaweed leader tasked with crushing the Darfur rebellion, to the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and now the deputy of Sudan’s transitional military council.

 Sudan expert Jerome Tubiana attributes Himedti and the RSF’s rise to ex-president Omar Al Bashir’s distrust of the regular army and the intelligence service, thereby “[empowering] the RSF as a praetorian guard and third pole of power.”

 Tubiana adds that the RSF’s deployment to Yemen as Sudan joined the Saudi-led coalition, enabled Himedti, alongside current TMC chief Abdulfattah Al Burhan, to meet Saudi and UAE officials and present themselves as possible successors of Al Bashir.

 A European diplomat said: "although he's not educated, in his interactions he comes across as extremely street-smart and somebody who's in charge of the situation," with a western diplomat stating that “he is highly politically ambitious.”