Sudan paramilitary chief calls coup ‘gateway’ for return of ousted regime

Daglo said in a televised speech: “Regrettably, it (the coup) has become a gateway for the return of the former regime.”

The deputy head of Sudan’s ruling council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo said Sunday the 2021 military coup was a “mistake” that has invigorated remnants of ousted ruler Omar al-Bashir’s regime.

Sudan has been gripped by deepening political and economic turmoil since the coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, derailing a short-lived transition to civilian rule following Bashir’s 2019 ouster.

Daglo said in a televised speech: “Regrettably, it (the coup) has become a gateway for the return of the former regime.”

He said he sided with the protest movement that had led to Bashir’s removal after three decades in power and agreed with demands for political change, but conceded that he had “sometimes made mistakes”.

“The latest of (these mistakes) was October 25,” said Daglo, also known as Hemeti, referring to Burhan’s military coup.

Daglo, who commands the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), hailed in his speech a tentative agreement signed late last year between Sudan’s military leaders and civilian factions as “the country’s way out of the current crisis”.

The December 5 deal, which also included the main civilian bloc ousted from power in the coup, is the first component of a two-phase political process aimed at restoring Sudan’s transition.