HEAD of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has put forward a peace proposal to end the bloody conflict that has been flaring in the country since April.

Gen Dagalo issued the proposal on Sunday via social media and stressed the need to establish a ceasefire in the conflict between his forces and the Sudanese military that “restores rights, a peaceful democratic transition, sustainable peace and the implementation of transitional justice.”

The leader of the RSF outlined the difficulties in forging national unity in a country with multiple ethnic groups.

He proposed the formation of a federal state that would give a level of autonomy to the different regions to “manage their economic, political, social and cultural affairs” and to empower local communities.

The general urged the various political forces to carry out a democratic transition that involves “the largest and broadest possible political and social base.”

But Gen Dagalo insisted that the groups allied to Omar al-Bashir, who led the country between 1993 and 2019, when he was overthrown by popular protests, must be left out of any future political arrangements.

He described the former president as a dictator and linked the army to his abuses of power, insisting they must also be left out of his proposal for a new national settlement. 

Clashes between the RSF and the army broke out in the midst of the democratic transition process, and have left thousands dead, injured and displaced. 

The United Nations has warned that more than 1 million people have fled Sudan and people inside the country are running out of food and dying due to lack of healthcare.

The UN estimates that more than 4,000 have been killed in the conflict.

The Sudanese military has yet to respond to the RSF proposals.