'Hemeti': From militia leader to Sudanese powerbroker
Eyewitnesses and opposition groups have accused Rapid Support Forces milita units of involvement in Monday's attack on protesters, although there are reports of Sudanese army soldiers and police also participating.
The head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, commonly known as Hemeti, is the vice president of the military council and seen by many as the key figure and most public-facing member of the transitional administration.
In recent days he has also served a diplomatic role, hosting iftars with dignitaries from the US and Saudi Arabia, among other countries, as well as flying to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
But he was distrusted by many protesters, with posters displayed at the camp accusing him of becoming a "new Bashir". Hemeti is a former leader of the Janjaweed militia in Darfur, which was involved in a government campaign that killed at least 200,000 people, according to the UN.
Analysts told Middle East Eye last week that Hemeti had sought to style himself as a man of the people while also seeking to ensure that power did not slip from the grasp of the institutions that dominated the country under Bashir#s 30-year rule.