(United Nations) The Sudanese ambassador attacked the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday during a meeting of the UN Security Council, accusing it of being responsible for the continuation of the war in his country, an accusation categorically rejected by the Emirati representative.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been the scene of a war opposing the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane to the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), under the command of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.
The army, supported by the government, has for months accused Abu Dhabi of supporting the rival camp. Sudan requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on these accusations in April, a request which was never followed up on.
On Tuesday, Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed took the opportunity of a regular meeting on the situation in his country to repeat his accusations.
Multiple attacks launched by the RSF militia supported by Emirati weapons deliberately and systematically target villages and towns.
Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, Sudanese ambassador
“The Emirates must stay away from Sudan. This is the first necessary condition to enable stability in Sudan,” he added, estimating that Abu Dhabi’s “support” for the RSF is “the main reason for the continuation of the war”.
In this context, he called on the Security Council to “speak with courage” by condemning the Emirates by name.
In a resolution adopted last week demanding an end to the RSF’s “siege” of el-Facher in Darfur, the Council called on “all member states to refrain from external interference” and to respect the arms embargo, without naming any country.
In their report published in January, the experts charged by the Council with monitoring the sanctions regime denounced violations of the arms embargo, pointing the finger at several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, accused of sending weapons to the RSF .
The Emirati ambassador Mohamed Issa Hamad Mohamed Abushahab on Tuesday rejected outright the “ridiculous” accusations of the Sudanese ambassador, whom he several times described as a “representative of the Sudanese armed forces”.
“We see this as a shameful attempt by one of the warring parties in Sudan to use the Council as a platform to spread false information about the UAE, to distract from serious violations on the ground,” he said. he added.
War in Sudan: UN investigates sexual slavery
A team of experts recently set up by the United Nations to examine abuses during Sudan’s civil war said Tuesday it was investigating accusations of sexual slavery and ethnically-based attacks on civilians.
The independent international fact-finding mission recently established by the United Nations has “received credible reports of widespread sexual violence committed by warring factions,” its head, Mohammed Chande Othman, told the Human Rights Council. United Nations Man in Geneva.
“Women and girls have been and continue to be victims of rape and gang rape, kidnapping and forced marriage,” he stressed.
The mission is investigating reports “of sexual slavery and sexual torture in detention centers, including against men and boys,” he added.
The conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than nine million people, according to the UN.