Sudan’s conflict took a twist, yesterday, as the Transitional Sovereign Council (TSC) Deputy Chairman, Malik Agar, stormed out of the inaugural Africa Peace and Security Dialogue, hosted by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, to protest the arrival of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at Magaliesburg, South Africa.
  
Agar was initially scheduled to speak yesterday, but obviously offended by the presence of the representatives of RSF, he was said to have flown back home in the morning.
  
Independent sources said he left a mediation private session hosted by the former South African President, Thabo Mbeki.  In a statement, the TSC said its delegation immediately left the APSD after the arrival of the RSF delegation.
  
The junta, led by Gen. Abdal Fattah Al-Burhan, described the invitation of the paramilitary group as a “grave insult” to the Sudanese people suffering from the devastating war.
  
Agar reportedly informed the conference organisers before leaving for Port Sudan that welcoming the RSF was an attempt to force the Sudanese to coexist with the crimes of the criminal militia and that it was unacceptable.
  
“The invitation of a fascist militia delegation to participate in a conference on peace and security in Africa constitutes a grave insult to what Sudanese are facing by their mercenary criminals,” the statement noted.
  
Conflict between the two Sudanese warring parties has continued to deepen and both sides have not seen eye to eye since the outbreak of an 18-month-long civil war where an estimated 150,000 people have died.
  
Last month, the Sudanese army rejected proposed talks in Geneva seeking to end the conflict, in protest over the designation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as observers and being referred to as representatives of the Sudanese army instead of the Government of Sudan.
  
Its foreign ministry accused some sections of the global community of legitimising RSF through the invitation days. At the South Africa dialogue, RSF representatives said the group controlled the Sudanese legitimacy with the support of 70 per cent of the population.
   
Meanwhile, Mbeki has criticised the African Union (AU) for being silent while the continent faces a myriad of challenges. He said the continental body’s voice was lacking where issues that concerned the continent were concerned.
  
According to him, the next AU Commission chairperson must have a clear vision of how they would strengthen the continental body.  Mbeki was among the few leaders that reformed the Organisation of African Union (OAU) into AU.