Defected Sudanese RSF commander Savannah performs Hajj in Mecca

A senior commander who recently defected from Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has filmed himself performing the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, less than three weeks after publicly breaking with the paramilitary group accused of genocide in Darfur.

Footage circulated by Al Jazeera on Tuesday appears to show Ali Rizqallah - widely known by his nom de guerre Savannah - at the Kaaba, pressing his hands against its black kiswa covering and making supplications for Sudan as fellow pilgrims circle Islam's holiest site behind him.

"O Allah, grant victory to our forces, unite our ranks, stop the bloodshed, end the war, lift this affliction, and bring Your might against every tyrant," he is heard saying. 

The clip has triggered mixed reactions among Sudanese viewers online.

Some framed it as a moment of repentance, while others insisted that no act of piety could erase what the RSF has done.

Journalist Sabah Ahmed wrote that the rights of victims could not be wiped away by performing the Hajj or grasping at the Kaaba's coverings, addressing Savannah directly: "Our rights against you have not been forgiven."  

Savannah announced his defection from the RSF in a video statement on 11 May, declaring: "Today, I announce my total departure from the [Rapid] Support Forces."

He resurfaced in Khartoum four days later, pledging to take up arms against his former comrades, alongside the Sudanese army, in Kordofan and Darfur.

Before defecting, Savannah was regarded as one of the RSF's most influential field commanders, leading operations that helped the paramilitary force seize strategic areas in North Darfur and West Kordofan, including the town of al-Nahud. He was also reported to have overseen the recruitment of foreign fighters from Chad and Niger.

A former leader of an armed movement, Savannah was integrated into the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) as a brigadier general under a 2013 peace agreement with the government of Omar al-Bashir.

He was stripped of that rank by a military court in 2021 after Bashir's ouster, before joining the RSF at the outbreak of war in mid-April 2023.

دعا للسودان بالأمن وللنازحين بالعودة.. مشاهد متداولة للقائد المنشق عن قوات الدعم السريع علي عبد الله رزق الله المعروف باسم "السافنا" وهو يؤدي مناسك الحج pic.twitter.com/4DFXMJjvWW

— الجزيرة مباشر (@ajmubasher) May 26, 2026

At a news conference in Khartoum on 16 May, Savannah said his decision to join the RSF had been "out of necessity and personal protection".

He added that he had no other choice because of "practices of intimidation and revenge that targeted families and locals, and went after anyone who refused to fight" alongside the paramilitary group.

Savannah said he and his family were "among the victims of the militia, like the rest of the Sudanese" and that he was prepared to submit to the law over any accusations against him.

He alleged that a large number of field and tribal commanders remained in the RSF under duress, with the group threatening to target their families to keep them fighting.

Savannah said the RSF had carried out internal liquidations of several of its own commanders, naming Abdullah Hussein and an adviser, Hamid Ali, among those killed in recent days, with further killings in West Darfur state.

He said senior figures, including the RSF's operations chief Othman Mohammed Hamid - known as Othman Amaliyat - had been placed under house arrest. He said he expected "large defections" from the paramilitary group in the coming period, and that he and his forces were ready "to work seriously to dismantle the Rapid Support Forces".

He also said large quantities of weapons were continuing to flow to the RSF in Darfur, but did not name the source. There is mounting evidence that the United Arab Emirates is supplying the RSF with weapons, Colombian mercenaries and equipment.

Savannah is the fourth senior RSF commander to switch sides since October 2024, following Abu Aqla Keikel, Major-General al-Nour Ahmed Adam - known as al-Qubba - and field commander Bashara al-Huwaira. 

The RSF stands accused of genocide, ethnically motivated killings and sexual violence, particularly following its capture of the North Darfur capital el-Fasher in October 2025 after a siege of more than 500 days. 

The UN Security Council has sanctioned four RSF commanders over atrocities that UN experts said bore "the hallmarks of genocide".

The US has formally accused the RSF of genocide and sanctioned its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, since January 2025.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague is investigating RSF and SAF commanders over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the latest conflict.

Savannah himself has not been personally sanctioned.

The ongoing war in Sudan has triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Fighting between SAF and the RSF has killed thousands, displaced nearly 13 million people, and pushed over 40 percent of the population into acute food insecurity.