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

Head of Sudanese paramilitary is meeting with African leaders ahead of reconciliation talks with rival Abdel Fattah Al Burhan

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

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.