Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Unity, TASIS, disclosed on Tuesday new details about his communications with leader of the Sudan Liberation Army Minni Minawi on the eve of Sudan’s war. Dagalo said Minawi first contacted him in Khartoum at dawn on April 15, seeking coordination on Darfur and requesting appointments and funding for joint forces.
He later asked to meet Dagalo in Addis Ababa to continue discussions amid the conflict. In a pointed message to the Zaghawa tribe, Dagalo accused General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of fueling divisions among them.
He emphasised that he bore no hostility toward the tribe, noting that his forces had built 54 “donkey” water stations across Zaghawa areas to support local communities. Recounting events on the morning of the war, Dagalo said Minawi urged him to come to him for consultation.
“I advised him to move to a safe place until the situation cleared,” he explained, adding that leaders of Minawi’s movement requested him to maintain the unity of the joint forces. Dagalo stated that these forces were granted official appointments and received 120 billion Sudanese pounds monthly during the initial stages of the conflict.
He added that Minawi reached out again later to inquire about the situation in Darfur. “I instructed him to return to Darfur, as he was the region’s governor, to form local governments and manage the crisis,” Dagalo said.
However, he accused Minawi of abandoning that responsibility, adding that the governor had “betrayed his promise” to stabilise Darfur.
