{"id":20063717,"date":"2023-12-22T15:46:05","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T14:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20063717"},"modified":"2024-01-02T11:01:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T10:01:18","slug":"us-congress-calls-on-emirates-to-stop-interfering-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/us-congress-calls-on-emirates-to-stop-interfering-in-sudan","title":{"rendered":"US Congress calls on Emirates to \u2018stop interfering in Sudan\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Members of the US Congress sent a letter to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, foreign affairs minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Tuesday, urging him to end his country\u2019s support to the RSF.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter addressed to the Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 members of the American Congress expressed concern about the support provided by Abu Dhabi to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), urging that the UAE \u201creconsider its policies towards Sudan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamenting that the conflict in Sudan \u201chas gone on for far too long and at great cost\u201d, the representatives reminded Sheikh Al Nahyan of the human cost of a war that has killed over 12,000 people and displaced millions<\/a>, \u201cleading to the world\u2019s largest displacement crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congress members relayed condemnations made<\/a> by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken earlier this month, where he determined that \u201cmembers of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and members of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan\u201d, including systematic targeting of non-Arab ethnic groups<\/a>, and sexual violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They expressed their \u201cgrave concern over reports that the UAE is providing material support, including arms and supplies, to the RSF\u201d, urging the Gulf state to halt any such support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a stern reminder, the parliamentarians warned the Emirates that \u201cthe provision of arms into Darfur would be a violation of the UN Arms Embargo for Darfur<\/a> established under UNSC Resolution 1591\u201d, a \u201cgrave reputational risk\u201d for the UAE which could jeopardise its \u201clongstanding close partnership with the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the representatives asserted that they shared \u201cUAE concerns about the possible return of Al Bashir-era officials to power<\/a>\u201d, they underlined that \u201ccontinued military support to the RSF only deepens the conflict along tribal and ethnic lines and adds to the risk of state collapse or division\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter noted that Congress will follow the UAE’s actions in Sudan with interest and cautioned that supporting the RSF \u201cis at odds with the efforts\u201d of Sudanese civil society<\/a> and the broader international community<\/a> calling for an end to the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan-UAE tensions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military support by the Emirates to the RSF has been the subject of several reports since war broke out between the Sudanese army and the RSF on April 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, independent Arab channel Almayadeen<\/em> reported that an Emirati cargo plane that landed in Entebbe<\/a>, Uganda\u2019s main airport, in early June, contained dozens of crates in the plane\u2019s cargo hold stocked with ammunition, assault weapons, and other small weaponry, instead of the food and medical supplies it was allegedly delivering, according to the Ugandan authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions came to a head when, speaking from the Wadi Sedna military base in Omdurman on November 28, deputy SAF commander Yasir El Atta\u00a0pointed fingers at<\/a>\u00a0\u201cpowerful, bribed politicians who accommodate Emirati planes supplying the RSF with necessary resources through multiple airports\u201d, and called the UAE a \u201cmafia state\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UAE swiftly reacted<\/a> to El Atta\u2019s accusations by expelling three Sudanese diplomats, including the ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sudanese FM Ministry retaliated by informing the UAE Embassy in Port Sudan of the government\u2019s decision to declare Emirati 15 diplomats<\/a> as persona non grata and demanded that they leave the country within 48 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Dabanga reported earlier this month about the\u00a0worries of Sudanese<\/a>\u00a0living and working in the UAE should the relationship between the two countries deteriorate for the worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 16, Chadian authorities decided to expel four Sudanese diplomats, as El Atta\u00a0accused N’Djamena<\/a>\u00a0of permitting the use of its airports for transporting Emirati support containing weapons and ammunition for the RSF.<\/p>\n