The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has denied arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces fighting Sudan’s army, despite a leaked UN document alleging “credible”Ā evidence. The UN report said arms and ammunition shipments are unloaded each week from cargo planes at an airport in Chad, and handed to the RSF at the Sudanese border. The UAE has also been accused of funnelling weapons through Uganda and the Central African Republic, part of a regional supply network that has allowed the RSF to “punch above its weight”Ā in the nine-month conflict. But the Gulf Stateāwith business and political interests across Africaāsaid it hasĀ taken no side in the war.
Sudan’s strategic position on the Red Sea (along with the RSF’s internationalĀ mercenary activities) has attracted the involvement of severalĀ regional powers. Egypt is backing the army, as is, reportedly,Ā Iran. The multiplicity of actors has complicatedĀ resolution of a conflict that has displaced 10 million people.
From The New Humanitarian, Jan. 26
Map: PCL
ICC prosecutor sees war crimes, genocide in Sudan
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, speaking to theĀ UN Security CouncilĀ via video link from N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, said anĀ assessment by his office indicated “grounds to believe”Ā that Rome Statute violationsāgenocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanityāare being committed by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with affiliated groups. (UN News)