On Saturday, Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied political and armed groups signed a charter to form a "government of peace and unity," according to signatories al-Hadi Idris and Ibrahim al-Mirghani, who spoke to Reuters.
One notable signatory is Abdelaziz al-Hilu, a powerful rebel leader who controls vast territories and troops in South Kordofan state and has long advocated for Sudan to embrace secularism.
This new government, already raising concerns with the United Nations, is unlikely to gain widespread recognition but highlights the ongoing fragmentation of the country amid a nearly two-year civil war.
The RSF has seized most of the western Darfur region and parts of Kordofan during the conflict but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the Sudanese army, which has condemned the formation of this parallel government.
Idris, a former official and leader of an armed group, stated that the government's formation would be announced from within Sudan in the coming days.
According to the charter's text, the signatories agreed that Sudan should be a "secular, democratic, non-centralized state" with a single national army, although it preserved the right for armed groups to continue existing.
The charter emphasized that this government aims to unify the country and end the war, tasks it claims the army-aligned government in Port Sudan has failed to achieve.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF, has faced U.S. sanctions for widespread abuses, including genocide. He previously shared power with the army and civilian politicians after Omar al-Bashir's ousting in 2019. The two forces overthrew civilian politicians in a 2021 coup, leading to war over troop integration during a democratic transition.
The conflict has devastated Sudan, causing an "unprecedented" humanitarian crisis and driving half the population into hunger, with famine in several areas.
The charter signing occurred in a closed event, contrasting with a more public kick-off earlier in the week in Nairobi. Both events hosted in Kenya drew condemnation from Sudan and domestic criticism of Kenyan President William Ruto for involving the country in a diplomatic dispute.
The Sudanese government has accused the United Arab Emirates of providing military and financial support to the RSF, claims U.N. experts and U.S. lawmakers find credible. The UAE denies the accusation.
Earlier this week, Sudan passed constitutional amendments expanding army powers. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced that the army would soon unveil its "war cabinet."