London: Head of Mission at the Sudanese Embassy in London, Ambassador Babiker Al-Siddiq Mohamed Al-Amin, refuted key points raised in an article by Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim, published on April 13, regarding developments in Sudan.
According to Sudan News Agency, the Ambassador challenged Ibrahim's assertion that understanding the war in Sudan requires examining its external dimensions, pointing instead to the strong evidence that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia is acting as a proxy for a regional actor pursuing agendas that extend beyond Sudan's national interests.
He explained that this regional actor had exploited the territories of certain neighbouring countries to transport weapons, establish training camps, and launch drone attacks targeting Sudanese civilians.
The Financial Times published Ambassador Al-Siddiq's response in its Monday, April 20, 2026 edition under the headline: 'External Forces Driving the War in Sudan Must Not Be Ignored.'
The Ambassador further stated that some Western governments had contributed-directly or indirectly-to strengthening the rebel militia, granting it a degree of recognition and financial support under the pretext of curbing irregular migration, as well as implicitly supporting the notion of maintaining a parallel force alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces-factors he identified as having contributed to the outbreak of the war.
In a related context, he highlighted the external dimension of the conflict through the participation of thousands of foreign mercenaries fighting alongside the RSF, citing a report published by The New York Times in September 2024. The report, referencing a confidential European Union memorandum, indicated the presence of approximately 200,000 foreign fighters alongside the militia by February 2024.
Ambassador Al-Siddiq warned against equating the Sudanese Armed Forces with the rebel terrorist militia, stressing that such comparisons would only prolong the war. He called on the international community to treat the militia in a manner similar to its approach toward groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS, and Al-Shabaab.
He also noted that historical experience in Sudan shows that coups were orchestrated by political forces rather than the military institution as a whole, pointing out that the army had aligned with the will of the people at critical junctures in 1964, 1985, and 2019.
The Ambassador concluded by affirming that the Sudanese people possess the awareness and experience necessary to shape a civilian democratic future after the war, underscoring that this remains contingent upon ending external interference in Sudan's internal affairs.