Al-Merrikh, the Rapid Support Forces, and (Other Things That Are Bothering Me)!
Mohamed Abdul-Majid
We had a clear and explicit objection when the Rapid Support Forces attempted to infiltrate (Al-Merrikh Sports Club) and tried to push (all that appeared of them and all that didnt), some of the generals like General Nour El Din and others, and some advisers to Hemeti like Ahmed Al-Mukhtar and others. The Rapid Support Forces went further, establishing (suspicious) and (commercial) relationships, and (other things that are bothering me) with some of the leadership of the Al-Merrikh council and its figures under the guise of the Rapid Support Forces support for Al-Merrikh and Al-Juneid Company, and the import of artificial turf from Turkey for Al-Merrikh stadium.
The Rapid Support Forces, which planned, arranged, estimated, managed, and acted with arrogance, were working so that they could have a presence in Al-Merrikh just as they did in all the important institutions of the country (the Presidential Palace, the General Command, the radio and television, the ministries, and Al-Merrikh stadium), and they even had a presence in its management council as well.
You can imagine that the Rapid Support Forces were present in the General Command of the armed forces amid a not-so-hidden conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, even though the army was not present in the camps, centers, and headquarters of the Rapid Support Forces, despite the fact that those camps were located in the capital and residential neighborhoods among the general population.
Hemeti was in the security, political, economic, sports, health committees, and in whatever emerged from those committees and whatever was aborted from them.
The Rapid Support Forces did not suffice with pushing their affiliates into the Al-Merrikh council and the rehabilitation committees, but they went further, pushing the suspicious Haftar to Al-Merrikh to become, in the strangest case, the honorary president of Al-Merrikh. The Mandela Al-Merrikh with the trophies carried by air. The Al-Merrikh of Shakoor, Ali Al-Mak, Morsi Salih Siraj (Peoples Awakening). And Kabli, Hamad Al-Raih, Zidan Ibrahim, Al-Sir Qaddour, and Mahmoud Abdel Aziz. And before that, Al-Merrikh of a large sector of the great Sudanese people.
A club with this large human legacy deserves respect and obligation. And this respect does not fall into the complacency if some people practice it and others do not.
That incident happened, and Haftars son was honored with this (honorary) position, and he is rejected in his own country and even ostracized by Libyan clubs despite his great financial capabilities!
Haftars son came in the blink of an eye, or before your sight could return to you in the manner of (the throne of Bilquis), which a genie from the jinn brought to our Prophet Solomon, peace be upon him. And that was done in complete secrecy and without any introductions, for Haftars son to enter Khartoum, while he is banned from entering the capital of his country, Tripoli, to have dinner in the Sudanese capital, hold a press conference at Al-Salam Rotana Hotel, meet (side by side) with the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, and leave before your sight could return to you, just as he entered!
Here we do not ask about Al-Merrikhs media, but rather we ask about the Sudanese government. And about its intelligence and security agencies, and about those who produced a list of honorable people to pursue them while they were in a deep sleep when Haftar (carrying a load entered and carrying a load left)!
Those who came out to us carrying firewood, lies, makeup tools, and beauty products, where were they at that time? And they were celebrating and taking pride in Haftar and promising the people of Al-Merrikh a leap and a jump that was being arranged to be a jump into the dark.
When we wrote about this and objected to that relationship, and the Rapid Support Forces were in control of everything, and Hemeti was at the head of every committee, including technical committees and rehabilitation committees, Al-Merrikhs media at that time was supporting these steps, blessing them, and even boasting about them. Many Al-Merrikh fans considered the Rapid Support Forces money, capabilities, and authorities as a (provision) that God sent them! And since money belongs to the state, and Al-Merrikh is the states Al-Merrikh, they thought it was more deserving. This was how they justified the appearance of the Rapid Support Forces in Al-Merrikh!
Principles are indivisible, and positions in public and in private should be the same. Those who rejected the Rapid Support Forces in (war) should have rejected them in (peace) so that we dont pave the way for war through these means because wars are planned for and organized during (peace), and when war happens, the language of discourse should be different, and we should empower wisdom and the countrys supreme interest.
I had written about Hemetis pursuit of Al-Hilal president Al-Sawbat, and Hemeti was at that time the deputy head of the Sovereign Council, and he was still alive! At that time, they considered this to be a favor to Al-Sawbat and an attempt to exempt him from his legal violations, so we kept silent because the case was still under investigation by the public prosecutor. But as always, when power is corrupt, it corrupts everything, including the prosecution, the judiciary, the media, the banks, and so on.
We wrote and rejected the intervention of the Rapid Support Forces in Al-Merrikh Stadium and the reliance of Mohamed Said Ahmed Al-Jakomi on them when he was the deputy president of Al-Merrikh Hazem Mustafa. The Rapid Support Forces and their authorities were used to forcibly remove Adam Sudacal from Al-Merrikh Stadium with weapons and thuggery. Mohamed Said Ahmed was proud of that as he waved his gun in the air. Al-Jakomi was fighting against (the Forces for Freedom and Change), after he turned against them in the name of the democratic bloc with Minni Minnawi, Jibril Ibrahim, and Arduol.
Where were you then? It would have been better to stop the Rapid Support Forces at that time before they aspired to the Presidential Palace, the General Command, and the entire authority!
Before that, we talked about the intervention of the Rapid Support Forces and one of its officers when Al-Hilal signed three of Al-Merrikhs players. Mohamed Al-Rasheed and Ramadan Agab were received by one of the officers of the Rapid Support Forces after the summit match, while Abu Ashreen refused to do so because his brother was in the army.
And we must not forget the sight of a high-ranking officer of the Rapid Support Forces celebrating in Al-Hilal Stadiums box when Al-Merrikh scored against Al-Hilal, causing some Al-Hilal fans to clash with him in the box!
Just as the security and intelligence service and its officers intervened in the summit signings during the old regime, the Rapid Support Forces intervened and worked to nullify Al-Hilals signing of Mubarak Abdullah!
Whats even more vexing is that the Rapid Support Forces worked to force Al-Hilal to host Al-Merrikhs African matches by force, and Al-Jakomi did not hesitate to confirm that when he hinted at the authorities intervention to force Al-Hilal to host Al-Merrikhs African matches in their stadium, saying we will play (reluctantly and decisively)!
And we cannot rule out the possibility that the legal harassment and prosecution that Al-Hilal president Hisham Al-Sawbat faced were because of that, especially since Al-Hilals treasurer Yahya Mohamed Kheir, who was a state minister at the Ministry of Defense in the old regime, was the most opposed to hosting Al-Merrikhs matches in Al-Hilal Stadium due to the pressures of the Rapid Support Forces. And retired General Al-Sadiq Yusuf, a member of Al-Hilals board of directors, was arrested by the Rapid Support Forces and detained unjustly after the war broke out.
Al-Sawbat was exposed to economic pressures by the Rapid Support Forces, and perhaps even extortion, which led him to leave the country. The websites of Al-Merrikh Club used to publish news about the prosecution of Al-Sawbat (legally) and his trial (judicially) by the Rapid Support Forces, which infiltrated the prosecution and the judiciary!
The irony is that there are a large number of Al-Merrikh board members who belong to the Rapid Support Forces, while at the same time there are members in the Al-Hilal board who belong to the army and are officers in it, like General Yahya Mohamed Kheir and General Al-Sadiq Yusuf.
On the eve of the announcement of the appointment of Haftars son as an honorary president of Al-Merrikh, we wrote an article on April 12, which was published on the World Wide Web on April 13, i.e., 48 hours before the war broke out. The article was titled (From Merrikh Al-Shakhoor to Merrikh Haftar), in which we objected to the (Haftar era) of Al-Merrikh. We talked about the internationalization of Al-Merrikhs (military) relations and its transition from (Hemeti) to (Haftar). At the same time, many influential pens in Al-Merrikh, who were close to the decision and to the president Ayman Abu Jebin, were talking about the legitimacy of the step and the (provision) that God sent them or to Al-Merrikh (graciously).
Al-Merrikhs dangerous relationship is not only with Haftars son but also with the Turk (Oktay), the man of the old regime, who was dealing with Al-Merrikh despite his corruption and the fall of his regime. Al-Merrikh was exploiting buildings he owned on 60th Street as offices for Al-Merrikhs executive office and still does.
I do not deny throughout history that there were leaders of Al-Hilal close to the authority or were part of it, just as is the case in Al-Merrikh, which is always with the authority. But I say that there is a (natural) resistance in the body and cells of Al-Hilal to the germs of the authority.
Al-Hilal fans clashed with Jaafar Nimeiry, and Nimeiry responded by issuing a decision for public sports, the losses of which we are still paying for until now. The reason for that was Ali Qaqareens goal and Al-Hilals win of the Gold Cup, which was brought by Nimeiry (and your president who is Ali Qaqareen)!
Al-Bashir was known for his support of Al-Hilal, but his government was closer to Al-Merrikh. Al-Bashir only offered Al-Hilal (his dance) with Cardinal during the inauguration of Al-Jawhara Al-Zarqa.
Hemeti announced his support for Al-Hilal and said that Al-Hilal is (the beloved of the people). Nonetheless, Al-Hilal did not open its doors to him; instead, the president of Al-Hilal clashed with him.
This does not make us forget the roles of many Al-Merrikh people in great national positions, and we are not ignorant of their role in the glorious December revolution and their clash with the Rapid Support Forces. Al-Hilal and Al-Merrikh are clubs of (the people) and not of (the governments).
Many pens in Al-Merrikhs media had clear positions in the revolution, objected to the intervention of the Rapid Support Forces in Al-Merrikh, and accused it of being loyal to Adam Sudacal and Hazem Mustafa afterwards and opposing Ayman Abu Jebin, and they intimidated it into silence. I do not want to name some of them so as not to drop anyone by mistake. Still, I specifically mention here the professors Alam Al-Din Hashim and Wad Al-Sharif and their great revolutionary roles, and Babikir Salik, who defended the revolutionaries in courts and prosecutions, to defend them as a lawyer and journalist. And I do not forget Abu Aqla Amasa, who was the first to open the wound and clean it after the war, and there is the youth generation in Al-Merrikh media, Nasser Babiker and Awab Mohamed, and other distinguished colleagues.
As for members of the Al-Merrikh board and some of its iconic figures, they had a clear opinion on that. And we should not forget the position of Al-Siddiq Haitham Kabo, who announced his objection and refusal to appoint Al-Siddiq Haftar as an honorary president of Al-Merrikh. Before that, there were resignations from some committees during Hazems council period.
We also remember the heroes of Al-Merrikh and its Ultras, who refused the entry of the Rapid Support Forces companies into Al-Merrikh Stadium and placed the (cogs), the most prominent title of the glorious December revolution, in front of the Rapid Support Forces tractors, carts, and vehicles on their way to Al-Merrikh Stadium.
There are great and significant positions of Al-Merrikhs people that we are not unaware of and do not neglect, and we only write about some limited examples that did not honor Al-Merrikhs people themselves.
We also bear witness that Adam Sudacal, who still claims to be the legitimate president of Al-Merrikh, was and still is in conflict with the Rapid Support Forces. He reached the courts in this, preceding Al-Hilal president Al-Sawbat. This is something you should bear witness to Adam Sudacal even if you disagree with him, and we should not attribute this to (other purposes) for Sudacal, especially at a time when we turn a blind eye to others. What you are doing with the Rapid Support Forces now, and consider it a heroism and nationalism, was preceded by Sudacal years ago.
Finally, what we want to say is that the attack on the Al-Merrikh board and its president Ayman Abu Jebin, especially by the pens that had blessed that at the time, is not helpful now. The responsibility lies with the state and the government that allowed this and not with Al-Merrikh alone, and the Rapid Support Forces are present in the Republican Palace and the General Command of the Army.
Ayman Abu Jebins intentions and his council were definitely in Al-Merrikhs interest and not to harm the country. And even if we disagree on the means, the end was noble for sure. So do not hang them on the gallows now, as you were welcoming all their steps. And do not burden them beyond their capacity in these difficult times the country is going through, especially since Ayman Abu Jebin came with high manners and tried to make a difference in this aspect.
However, we say that our rejection of the entry of the Rapid Support Forces into Al-Merrikh was before they were accused and described as rebellious. The general principle is to reject the entry of any military forces into sports work and clubs, even if they are (regular forces). This is unacceptable to us, even if it is on the part of the (national) army, let alone the Rapid Support Forces, which we considered (militias) even though they are an essential partner in the authority and the ruling regime. Our position from the Rapid Support Forces now is the same as it was then.
In Al-Merrikh, there are great people, honorable people, patriots, and martyrs greater than all of us. And let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone.
Mataris (Trenches)
All support for our brave people in Al-Ailafon as they face the war that has entered their homes. And prayers for the people of Umdawan Ban, Jabal Awliya, and all areas and citizens of Sudan.
There are hefty bills to pay, and sacrifices are made.
We will overcome these situations, God willing, and we will cross.
Stay together, a thousand times, for your country, Sudan.
And persevere without allowing these events to spoil what is between us.
Hate speech will lead to dire consequences.
Be well.
The Last Trench: Tomorrow your sun will rise again, God willing.
