Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Harith Idris, said that “the RSF brings mercenaries and weapons through the UAE.”
During a speech at the UN Security Council, Idris explained that “the Sudanese armed forces are still engaged in a defensive war to repel a multilateral attack and aggression, in which many countries participated, and the UAE sponsored it financially and through the supply of weapons through um Jaras airport.”
“The RSF brought guns, heavy weapons and drones with the help of the UAE and Chad, as well as recruiting children, and bringing mercenaries from Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to participate in the fighting in Sudan, which may cause a threat to the ruling regimes in those countries,” he said.
According to Idris, “the Sudanese army has been keen to implement international humanitarian conventions in its defense of the country, since the start of the state-funded war in the Darfur region.”
The United Arab Emirates had previously stressed “not to provide the parties to the conflict in Sudan with weapons and ammunition and not to take sides in one of them.”
The UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “affirms that its country is not aligned with any party in the conflict in Sudan and seeks to end the conflict,” calling for respect for the country’s sovereignty.
“Since the beginning of the conflict in Sudan, the UAE has called for de-escalation, a ceasefire and the start of diplomatic dialogue,” the statement said, noting that it has consistently supported the political process and efforts to achieve national consensus towards the formation of the government in Sudan.
For more than 3 months, violent and large-scale clashes between the Sudanese army forces and the Rapid Support Forces have continued in different areas of Sudan, most of which are concentrated in the capital, Khartoum, leaving hundreds of civilians dead and wounded.
The differences between the head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, came to light after the signing of the “framework agreement” establishing the transitional period between the military and the civilian components last December, which recognized the army’s departure from politics and the handover of power to civilians.
Dagalo accused the Sudanese army of planning to stay in power and not handing over power to civilians, after the army demanded that the Rapid Support Forces be integrated under the banner of the armed forces, while the army considered the movements of the Rapid Support Forces a rebellion against the state.
Arab, African and international parties brokered a ceasefire, but these mediations did not succeed in reaching a permanent cessation of hostilities.
Al-Yurae/(Sputnik)
