Sanaa Hamad Al-Gourafi Of The Sudanese Islamic Movement: Our Members Are Fighting Alongside The Army Against The Rapid Support Forces; We Are Willing To Sit Down With Hemedti, Not Taqaddum, Whose Crime Is Unforgivable

Former Sudanese Ambassador to Thailand Sanaa Hamad Al-Gourafi, who is also one of the leaders of the Islamic movement in Sudan discussed in her July 8, 2024 interview with Al-Jazeera, the movement’s involvement in the Sudan civil war. She said that there are tens of thousands of Islamic Movement members fighting alongside the Sudanese army. Al-Gourafi continued to say that the movement would be willing to have talks with Hemedti if he declares that he wants peace. However, she added, that "the crime of Taqaddum [Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces] is unforgivable. It has consciously provided political cover to all these crimes."

Interviewer: "How many members of the Islamic movement are fighting now alongside the Sudanese army?"

Sanaa Hamad Al-Gourafi: "Perhaps, the armed forces know the number of people fighting, I don’t have real information about the number of fighters on the battleground, but the enlisted fighters, the volunteers, and the popular resistance fighting alongside the army are definitely in the hundreds of thousands."

Interviewer: "Hundreds of thousands?"

Al-Gourafi: "Not only from the Islamic movement."

Interviewer: "So we can say that at least several tens of thousands belong to the Islamic movement?"

Al-Gourafi: "They may be equal in size to the other armed movements fighting alongside the army, throughout Sudan- in what is now the south, in west Sudan, or in the middle. They may be the size of these movements or maybe a little less."

Interviewer: "So at least a few thousand members of the Islamic movement are now fighting alongside the Sudanese army?"

Al-Gourafi: "Yes, Yes."

Interviewer: "Is it possible that you would agree to sit down with Hemedti, in order to bring an end to this crisis?"

Al-Gourafi: "[The Quran says:] 'If the enemy is inclined towards peace, make peace with them.' If Hemedti inclines towards peace, what prevents us from sitting with him?"

Interviewer: "That's great. That is very important. If Hemedti declares that he supports peace and ending this war, and invites the Islamic movement to sit with him, like the other factions, you would be ready to do it?"

Al-Gourafi: "It is our [Quranic] obligation."

Interviewer: "You are ready to do it?"

Al-Gourafi: "We have a Quranic obligation to do it."

Interviewer: "Since you agree to sit down with Hemedti, would you agree to meet with the Taqaddum, [democratic coalition], in order to bring an end to this crisis? After all, they are part of the Sudanese political landscape."

Al-Gourafi: "If the Sudanese people accepts Taqaddum, we will accept them. But we cannot conduct an opinion poll of the Sudanese, 15-20 million of whom are in exile."

Interviewer: "You agreed in principle to meet with Hemedti, so why it is a problem to meet with Taqaddum? Is Taqaddum more criminal then Hemedti himself?"

Al-Gourafi: "The crime of Taqaddum is unforgivable. It has consciously provided political cover to all these crimes."