Sudan's RSF, allies sign charter to form parallel government, two signatories say

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces signed a charter with allied political and armed groups late Saturday to establish a "government of peace and unity," signatories al-Hadi Idris and Ibrahim al-Mirghani told Reuters.

Among the signatories to the charter is Abdelaziz al-Hilu, a powerful rebel leader who controls vast swathes of territory and troops in South Kordofan state and has long demanded that Sudan embrace secularism.

Such a government, which has already drawn concern from the United Nations, is not expected to receive widespread recognition but is a further sign of the splintering of the country during a civil war that has lasted almost two years.

The RSF has seized most of the western Darfur region and parts of the Kordofan region in the war but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the Sudanese army, which has condemned the formation of a parallel government.

Idris, a former official and head of an armed group, said the government's formation will be announced from inside the country in the coming days.

Reuters