Sudan accuses UAE of arming rivals, prolonging war, UAE accuses Sudan of refusing to talk peace

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sudan’s government accused the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday of supplying weapons to its rival paramilitary forces and prolonging the 17-month war. The UAE called the accusations “completely false” and “baseless” and accused the government of refusing to negotiate peace with its enemy.

Their latest confrontation came at a meeting of the UN Security Council, where the 15 members voted unanimously to extend an arms embargo in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region — a key battleground for the rival forces — until September 12, 2025.

Sudan descended into conflict in mid-April 2023, as long-simmering tensions between military and paramilitary leaders erupted in the capital Khartoum and spread to Darfur and other regions. More than 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes, the country is mired in a humanitarian crisis, and the head of the UN’s World Health Organization said Sunday that more than 20,000 people have died.

Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed accused the UAE of supplying the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, better known as the RAF, with heavy weapons, missiles and ammunition – and of “profiting from this war through the illegal exploitation of gold.”

As evidence, he cited a recent arms shipment that went to the RSF via Chad. He said that Chad’s recently reopened Adre humanitarian crossing was being “misused” to get weapons to the paramilitary forces. He also claimed that a European precious metals market has confirmed that the UAE is profiting from Sudanese gold.

The Sudanese envoy called for a new investigation into the UAE’s arms export policy and called for targeted sanctions against the RSF and countries that support the paramilitary force.

The UAE ambassador, Mohamed Abushahab, who rushed to the council chamber to respond, called Sudan’s claims “a cynical attempt to distract from the shortcomings of the Sudanese Armed Forces,” or SAF.

He accused the military of showing “no political courage”, using famine as a weapon of war and refusing to heed calls to end the war and come to the negotiating table.

“To end this conflict, the SAF must take the crucial step of joining the peace talks and muster the political courage to negotiate with their enemy,” Abushahab said.

Sudan’s military last month boycotted talks in Geneva, Switzerland, aimed at boosting humanitarian aid and starting peace talks, despite international calls to participate. The RSF sent a delegation to Geneva.

In July, global experts said a famine in a vast camp for displaced people in Darfur had become a famine. And experts from the Famine Review Committee warned that some 25.6 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — face acute hunger.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the council that people in Darfur “live in danger, desperation and hopelessness” and face daily challenges from severe flooding, restrictions on humanitarian aid, ongoing human rights violations and mass displacement.

The adoption of the resolution to extend the arms embargo in Darfur “sends an important signal to them that the international community remains focused on their plight and committed to promoting peace and security in Sudan and the region,” Wood said.

Some countries have tried to extend the arms embargo to all of Sudan, but this has not been successful.

Jean-Baptiste Gallopin of Human Rights Watch called the council’s failure to extend the sanctions “a missed opportunity” that must be remedied as soon as possible “to limit the flow of weapons and halt the widespread atrocities being committed in the country.”

The Security Council meeting followed the publication of the first report last Friday by UN-backed human rights investigators. They also called for an arms embargo to be extended to the entire country and urged the creation of an “independent and impartial force” to protect civilians in Sudan’s war.

The fact-finding team, set up by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, blamed both sides for war crimes including murder, mutilation and torture, and warned that foreign governments that arm and fund them could be complicit. It also accused the paramilitary RSF and its allies of crimes against humanity, including rape, sexual slavery and persecution on ethnic or gender grounds.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, most notably by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations identifying as Central or East African. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were displaced from their homes.

It appears that legacy has returned, as in late January, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said there are reasons to believe that both sides are guilty of possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

“We urge states to refrain from increasing the fighting capacity of either side,” British Deputy Ambassador James Kariuki told the council. “Instead, those with influence on the parties should use it to bring them to the negotiating table.”

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