Sudan's Ambassador to Doha Badr al-Din Abdullah speaks to The New Arab with great confidence about the war being fought by the Sudanese army against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) coming to an imminent end.
Abdullah cites many factors for this argument, including the army's victories and its recovery of control over three-quarters of Sudanese territory, as well as the state of fragmentation and divisions within the RSF.
The Sudanese ambassador, who previously served as Sudanese deputy foreign minister, also confirms that the reconstruction phase in Sudan has begun alongside military operations.
He believes Sudan has major natural resources and that what is needed is to provide security and create an investment environment to attract domestic and foreign investment.
The Sudanese army says it is approaching a military victory and that fighting will end by the end of this year. Do you have international guarantees that support for the RSF will stop?
Sudan relies on its own strength, the cohesion of the army and the support of the people for the army, as well as support we receive from some brotherly Arab countries.
This is what gives the government and army confidence that the war will be brought to an end and that things will return to normal in Sudan.
Have you received military support from the countries you mentioned?
No. The support I mean is on the humanitarian side. This aspect is very important in supporting the army.
We are reassured that the people have at least the necessities of life and that the army fighting this existential war, which was intended to eradicate the Sudanese people and systematically destroy their identity and memory, is supported by the Sudanese people in all their segments.
This brings us closer to ending the war and achieving victory.
Sudan now relies primarily on its own strength, followed by support from its brothers, whether diplomatic, political or humanitarian.
Do you believe the international community has begun to view the Sudan differently and understand the reality of the war?
The equations have changed now following the victories achieved by the Sudanese government.
The international community primarily respects strength. The world today never respects the weak. If you are weak, the international community will continue to pressure you to achieve gains and objectives in the interests of regional and international powers from this war.
But the Sudanese state's own strength and positions have forced them each time to change and shift their objectives and intentions.
The international community seeks its own interests and then your interests, and as long as you can achieve these interests through your strength, it will deal with you.
After these positions changed, has the Sudanese army received military and financial support from regional and international powers to bring this war to an end?
This war has been managed by the Sudanese army using Sudan's own resources, and most of the military equipment came from its own resources, thanks to the Sudanese military mentality that planned and carried out operations with precision.
It has now recovered more than three-quarters of Sudan's territory. We are now in the final stages of ending this rebellion. The battle is currently taking place in Darfur and some parts of Kordofan.
The Sudanese army has managed to retake some of these areas in far western Sudan and far Darfur, which has weakened the morale of the rebel forces, which are suffering from internal fragmentation and defections by senior leaders and combat groups that have joined the Sudanese army.
The Sudanese government rejects dialogue with the RSF, while international positions continue to call for dialogue. Why this rejection?
The Sudanese government is not against dialogue but against what is being proposed by the Quartet Committee, comprising the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which is proposing what is called a "humanitarian truce" that provides for the rebel forces to remain in their areas and the army and Sudanese government forces to remain in their areas.
This means that Sudanese citizens would remain subject to violations by the rebel forces. The moral responsibility of the Sudanese government and army is not to leave Sudanese citizens under the weight of violations by the rebellion.
Therefore, the Sudanese government's reference point regarding dialogue is the Jeddah Agreement, reached on 11 May 2023, about a month after the war broke out. It explicitly provides for rebel forces to leave all Sudanese cities for designated camps. After that, negotiations would take place over how to integrate the rebel forces into the Sudanese army or demobilise them.
The proposed humanitarian truce is a form of imposing a fait accompli. The continued control of part of Sudan by rebel forces means reproducing and repeating the Libyan model in Sudan, with two governments.
This is categorically rejected. National sovereignty and the preservation of unity are not subject to negotiation.
Are there government plans for after control of all Sudanese territory by the end of this year, as announced by Transitional Sovereignty Council President and army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan?
The Sudanese government began restoring normality even before full control was established over all Sudanese territory and national soil.
"The Government of Hope," which was in Port Sudan and has now moved to Khartoum, began restoring services for Sudanese citizens.
Around four million Sudanese have returned to their homes after being displaced by the rebel forces.
The constitutional process has also begun with the restoration of the Constitutional Court's functions through the appointment of a president and members of the Constitutional Court.
Consultations are now underway to form the National Council, the legislative body, through selecting its members in the first stage and then electing them.
The government has begun restoring all state constitutional institutions and executive and legislative authorities.
What is the main challenge facing the Sudanese government now?
There are many challenges, including the return of refugees, rebuilding infrastructure and restoring services.
No matter how I describe to you what happened in Sudan during this rebellion in terms of destruction, you would not believe it.
There was systematic destruction of basic infrastructure and all government and private businesses. For example, 80% of the factories that existed in Khartoum were destroyed, while the Gezira Scheme, the largest irrigated agricultural project in Africa, was damaged.
Has the government drawn up plans for reconstruction after the destruction caused by this war?
Reconstruction and rebuilding will first be based on investing Sudanese resources.
Sudan is a country blessed with enormous resources that need a secure environment and an attractive investment environment to establish domestic and foreign partnerships to develop Sudan.
Are there statistics on the proportion of Sudanese who have returned to the country recently?
Of the 14 million displaced people and refugees, four million Sudanese citizens have so far returned to their homes. The rebels drove people from their homes, villages and cities.
What we are witnessing now is the beginning of a natural return.
The government, which has succeeded in creating a state of stability, is urging people to return and working hard to stop the deterioration in all areas and restore development and services.
If citizens do not return, who will carry out all the development work? They must return, and citizens must be provided with the best means of living and be part of the new Sudanese development project.
How do you view the role played by the United Nations in the Sudan and the roles of the Quintet Committee and the Quartet Committee? Could this role lead to a final and fundamental solution in Sudan?
We thank everyone who tries to make an effort to return the situation to normal in Sudan.
But if there is no proper definition of what is happening in Sudan, and if there is no international effort to classify the rebellion as a terrorist group and an international effort to stop all external support for the rebellion in terms of equipment and mercenaries, these efforts will have no results on the ground.
You say the United Nations is not playing the role required of it in the Sudan war?
It is playing an incomplete role, and this role does not lead to peace in Sudan. This war will stop within a very short period if external support for it stops. It will stop if the rebel movement is classified as a terrorist movement that no person, state or entity in the world deals with.
How do you assess the Arab League's role?
The entire international community, including the Arab League, is making efforts and providing humanitarian and political support.
But as I said earlier, if there is no proper characterisation of what is happening in Sudan, whether by the Quartet Committee or the Quintet Committee, these efforts will have no practical impact.
This war is not between two sides, and it is not possible to equate the Sudanese government and Sudanese army with a rebel movement. Unless the characterisation is corrected and the rebellion is classified as a terrorist group, no result will be reached through any regional effort.
Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries are facing difficult conditions. How do you view the role played by UN organisations and host countries in this regard?
International organisations have a high capacity to describe what is happening in Sudan in terms of humanitarian suffering, displacement, refuge and an ongoing or anticipated famine.
But work on the ground is always very weak. International organisations acknowledged that the support allocated to Sudan in 2025 that reached them amounted to only 23%. There is genuine humanitarian suffering on the ground that requires action more than words.
The Sudanese government is making enormous efforts to facilitate the work of regional and international organisations in delivering aid and humanitarian assistance to citizens.
But there is a very significant lack of funding for international organisations working on the ground in Sudan.
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.