Sudanese-Dutch lawyer made minister of paramilitary group

A man with dual Sudanese and Dutch nationality has been named the minister of justice for the controversial Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group attempting to seize power in Sudan.

Osama Said, a lawyer based in the Netherlands, told broadcaster NOS he wanted to bring peace to the war-torn country. He is working in politics “with one goal: to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese,” he said.

Some 60,000 people have been killed and more than 13 million displaced since fighting broke out in 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces and the government-backed Sudanese Armed Forces, according to the United Nations.

The RSF has set up an alternative government, which is not recognised by the Netherlands and has been designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union.

According to the UN, the RSF engaged in an 18-month siege of the city of El Fasher in the western Darfur region, cutting off food and medical supplies. Civilians who fled were massacred, subjected to sexual violence and forced into servitude, Amnesty International said in a July report.