Sudan accuses UAE of arming RSF militia, pledges to file evidence at ICC

Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of arming the rival Sudanese paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), amid the ongoing conflict ravaging the country, in the latest confrontation by Khartoum against Abu Dhabi’s alleged interference.

During a session at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) yesterday, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, accused the UAE of arming the RSF militia and insisted that the Sudanese government has evidence of the weapons supply which it will submit in a file to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Following the session, he stressed to reporters that the Security Council must “walk the extra mile by naming and shaming the United Arab Emirates”.

Mohamed’s comments come over a year after the outbreak of the ongoing civil war in Sudan, and comes only five months after a UN report compiled for the UNSC stated that there is “credible” evidence that the UAE had sent weapons to the RSF “several times per week” via northern Chad.

READ: Sudan army, RSF added to UN blacklist for killing children

Up until now, the Emirati government has denied such reports. That occurred again at yesterday’s UNSC session, where the UAE’s ambassador, Mohamed Abushahab, called Sudan’s accusation “ludicrous” and claimed it was made as a distraction from “grave violations that are happening on the ground”.

Abushahab posed the question that “If they [the Sudanese government and military] seek an end to the conflict and civilian suffering, then why won’t they come to the Jeddah talks? Why are they blocking aid? What are you waiting for?”

The Emirati ambassador was referring to Khartoum’s recent refusal to attend the United States’ and Saudi Arabia’s ceasefire talks in Riyadh, as well as the blocking of aid into areas in Sudan by all warring factions.

READ: Sudan’s humanitarian catastrophe under the RSF militia