A privately-chartered aircraft touched down under heavy security at Nyala Airport on Thursday, fuelling rumours that Darfur regional governor Minni Arko Minnawi has arrived for face-to-face talks with Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan “ Hemedti ” Dagalo.
Airport staff told local media the jet originated in the Central African Republic. Officials refused to confirm the passenger manifest, but analysts note the visit would mark the first time Minnawi and Hemedti have met inside Sudan since the civil war erupted in April 2023.
Minnawi signals openness to talks
Hours earlier, at a press conference in Port Sudan, the Sudan Liberation Movement leader said he was ready to engage the RSF “if we sense a positive, reasonable attitude.” He added: “We have no objection to communicating with Sumud or the RSF.”
The remarks coincide with an RSF stranglehold on El-Fasher, capital of North Darfur, now besieged for more than a year. Observers say the fall of El-Fasher would strip Minnawi’s joint forces of their main bargaining chip against General al-Burhan’s army (SAF).
On Wednesday Minnawi dismissed key lieutenants—legal adviser Mohamed Mahmoud Korina, finance adviser Adam Al-Nur, and media adviser Mustafa Abdullah—freezing their party membership pending investigations. The shake-up is seen as an attempt to tighten control ahead of any negotiations.
Pro-SAF social-media activists blasted Minnawi, warning he could swing behind the RSF. By contrast, Sudanese Congress Party chairman Omar Al-Degeir hailed the governor’s overture as “a constructive step toward a peaceful political settlement.”
Stakes for El-Fasher
Minnawi criticised the SAF for failing to break the siege: “The city has been encircled for over a year; even women and children have taken up arms, yet the state remains apathetic,” he said.
Whether Thursday’s mysterious touchdown leads to a breakthrough or deepens Darfur’s fault lines could become clearer in the coming days as diplomatic channels work to confirm the meeting—and its possible agenda.
