Sudanese military government on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Kenya after President William Ruto held talks with Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the paramilitary forces, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighting the government, its acting foreign minister said in Khartoum.
RSF has been at war with the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since April last year.
The commander, Dagalo has been touring African capitals on his first visit abroad of the conflict.
He already visited Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya as well as South Africa, a move that has angered the rival Burhan, whose administration has lost ground to the paramilitaries in recent months and is eager to deny them international legitimacy.
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In a statement published in the official SUNA news agency, Sudan’s acting foreign minister Ali al-Sadiq said the ambassador had been recalled “for consultations in protest of the official reception organised by the Kenyan government for the leader of the rebel militia”.
He said those consultations would “cover all possibilities for the outcome of Sudan’s relations with Kenya”.
Ties between Burhan and the Kenyan government have been strained for months, as Nairobi has sought to keep lines of communication open with Daglo so it can mediate the conflict.
In a January 1 address, the army chief warned that African governments hosting visits by “these killers” were “making themselves a partner in the murder of the Sudanese people”.
The war has killed more than 12,190 people, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, and forced more than seven million to flee their homes, according to UN figures.
