Minni Arko Minnawi, the SAF junta-appointed Governor of Darfur, has departed Port Sudan for an overseas tour across several Arab and European countries, amid mounting calls from Islamist factions for his arrest and placement under house arrest.
Before leaving, Minnawi issued an official directive appointing Central Darfur’s SAF-backed governor, Mustafa Tambour—who has no effective control over his state—to assume his duties as interim regional governor. The decision follows intensifying criticism from Minnawi over the SAF’s military strategy in Darfur and Kordofan.
Islamist-aligned media outlets and online channels have voiced sharp condemnation of Minnawi’s recent remarks, particularly his assertion that the SAF’s perceived victories over the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Al-Jazira, and Sennar were misleading. Minnawi suggested that the withdrawal of the RSF from these areas was strategic, not a result of decisive military defeat.
Pro-Islamist media have labeled Minnawi’s comments as dangerous, claiming they contradict the narrative of sweeping victories touted by SAF-aligned forces. Some factions within the Islamist movement have pressured military leadership to detain Minnawi, accusing him of undermining morale and exposing inconvenient truths.
Minnawi’s departure underscores growing rifts between General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and civilian political figures it once relied on for legitimacy, as the war in Sudan’s west continues to escalate.
