Gen Mohamed Dagalo, left, with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, in Addis Ababa. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
Gen Mohamed Dagalo, left, with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, in Addis Ababa. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
Gen Mohamed Dagalo, left, with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, in Addis Ababa. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia
Gen Mohamed Dagalo, left, with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, in Addis Ababa. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia

Sudan's rebel RSF leader General Dagalo in Ethiopia after visit to Uganda


Kamal Tabikha
  • English
  • Arabic

The leader of Sudan’s rebel militia the Rapid Support Forces, Gen Mohamed Dagalo, landed in Addis Ababa on Thursday for talks on ending the civil war at home, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said.

In his first appearance outside Sudan since the start of the civil war, Gen Dagalo had met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni earlier on Thursday, the military leader said in a statement.

Gen Dagalo's whereabouts since the start of the civil war in April had been unknown.

In a post on X, Gen Dagalo said he and Mr Museveni discussed an end to the war in Sudan which has killed more than 10,000 people and injured over 12,000.

He also said he discussed his vision for the negotiations with the Sudanese military, led by his former ally-turned-rival Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.

The meeting, which took place at Mr Museveni’s personal country home, Ruwakitura, was confirmed by the Ugandan leader in a separate post on X.

Sudan's army and the RSF have been locked in a conflict that has devastated the capital Khartoum and triggered waves of ethnic killings in Darfur despite several rounds of diplomacy to halt the fighting since mid-April.

The RSF has in recent weeks gained the upper hand after capturing Wad Madani in central Sudan this month.

The RSF has been accused of looting and killing civilians, and of using rape as a “tool to punish and terrorise” communities, the UN said in an August report.

“Some of the reported rapes appear to be ethnically and racially motivated,” experts said in the UN report.

Sudan's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Gen Dagalo was not able to travel to Djibouti, the current chair of regional body IGAD, for a planned initial meeting with Gen Al Burhan.

The meeting, which has been postponed to an unspecified day in January, aimed to bring the two military leaders together for talks on ending the continuing war. The postponement was due to “technical issues”, according to the foreign ministry’s statement.

However, a source told Reuters that the meeting was postponed because of disagreements between the two men.

GIANT REVIEW

Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan

Director: Athale

Rating: 4/5

At Eternity’s Gate

Director: Julian Schnabel

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen

Three stars

Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEducatly%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2020%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohmmed%20El%20Sonbaty%2C%20Joan%20Manuel%20and%20Abdelrahman%20Ayman%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEducation%20technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%242%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEnterprise%20Ireland%2C%20Egypt%20venture%2C%20Plus%20VC%2C%20HBAN%2C%20Falak%20Startups%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
​​​​​​​Bloomsbury Academic

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds

Get Out

Director: Jordan Peele

Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford

Four stars

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

Quarter-finals

Saturday (all times UAE)

England v Australia, 11.15am 
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm

Sunday

Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

List of officials:

Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.

Star%20Wars%3A%20Ahsoka%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Various%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rosario%20Dawson%2C%20Natasha%20Liu%20Bordizzo%2C%20Lars%20Mikkelsen%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
Tamkeen's offering
  • Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
  • Option 2: 50% across three years
  • Option 3: 30% across five years 
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Pad Man

Dir: R Balki

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte

Three-and-a-half stars

Updated: December 28, 2023, 1:22 PM