Australian National Review – Sudanese government accuses UAE of funding enemy in civil war

Sudan on Wednesday accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supplying weapons to rival paramilitary forces and prolonging the African country’s 17-month civil war.

The UAE called the allegations “completely false” and “baseless” before accusing the Sudanese 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 the arms embargo in the Darfur region, where the rival forces are fighting, for another 12 months.

In mid-April 2023, civil war broke out in Sudan when violence erupted in the capital Khartoum between the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebel group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

From there, the virus quickly spread to Darfur and other regions, forcing more than 13 million people to flee their homes and killing more than 20,000, according to the World Health Organization.

Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Al-Harith Mohamed, accused the UAE of supplying the RSF with heavy weapons, missiles and ammunition, and of “profiting from this war through the illegal exploitation of gold.”

He cited a recent arms shipment via Chad to the RSF as evidence, arguing that Chad’s Adre crossing on Sudan’s western border, which was recently reopened to allow humanitarian aid, was being “misused” to supply weapons to the RSF.

Mohamed also claimed that a European gold market has confirmed that the UAE is benefiting from Sudanese gold.

The Sudanese envoy called for a fresh look at arms export policies to the UAE and targeted sanctions against the RSF and its international allies.

The Emirati ambassador, Mohamed Abushahab, described Khartoum’s claims as “a cynical attempt to distract from the shortcomings of the Sudanese armed forces.”

Abushahab accused the SAF of showing “no political courage”, using hunger as a weapon and refusing to listen to calls for a negotiated end to the war.

“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 boycotted the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, last month despite international requests to participate. The RSF, however, sent a delegation.

In July, experts reported that famine in a refugee camp in Darfur had turned into starvation.

The Famine Review Committee warned that some 25.6 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, will face acute hunger.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the council that the people of Darfur “live in danger, desperation and hopelessness” and that extending the arms embargo in the region “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.”

Some countries tried to extend the arms embargo throughout Sudan, but were unsuccessful.

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 last Friday of the first report by UN-backed human rights investigators.

They also called for an extension of the arms embargo and the creation of an “independent and impartial force” to protect civilians in the war.

The fact-finding team, set up by the Human Rights Council, accused both sides of committing war crimes, including murder, mutilation and torture, and warned that foreign governments arming and financing them could be complicit.

The organization also accused RSF and its allies of crimes against humanity, including rape, sexual slavery and persecution based on ethnicity or gender.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.