The United Arab Emirates, the key ally of the paramilitaries fighting to control Sudan

BarcelonaAccording to the UN, the Sudanese civil war, along with the war in Gaza, the conflict that has generated the most serious humanitarian crisis recentlySince the start of the conflict in Sudan in April 2023, it is estimated that the death toll could exceed 150,000, and the number of refugees and displaced persons is approaching 15 million in a country with approximately 50 million inhabitants. The root of the conflict lies in a power struggle between two powerful generals, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese army, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. However, the war could not have lasted so long and caused so much suffering without the self-serving intervention of various regional and global powers, and especially the United Arab Emirates, the RSF's main ally.

Although Abu Dhabi has always publicly denied providing military and logistical support to the FSR, evidence of its involvement in the war has been mounting, a conclusion reached by US intelligence services, the UN, and Amnesty International. Last year, the newspaper The New York Times It was revealed that the United Arab Emirates was covertly using a military base in neighboring Chad to supply weapons to the FSR, as the facility is officially dedicated to delivering humanitarian aid to Sudan.

Specifically, Abu Dhabi is believed to be involved. has sent the FSR a sophisticated arsenal that includes dronesGuided bombs, howitzer artillery cannons, armored vehicles, ammunition, and logistical equipment. Much of this weaponry is of Chinese manufacture. To avoid leaving a trace, the UAE government currently ships the weapons through a network of intermediaries and arms dealers based in several countries, including Libya, Uganda, the Central African Republic, and Chad. A leak from US military sources, reported by The Wall Street Journal It points out that Abu Dhabi has also provided the FSR with Colombian mercenaries through a military base in Somalia.

The United Arab Emirates' intervention in Sudan is part of its strategy to become a leading regional power by projecting its influence in several countries in the conflict zone, such as Yemen and Libya. In the specific case of Sudan, the relationship between the two countries is long-standing. Abu Dhabi already maintained good relations with former dictator Omar al-BashirA decade ago, hundreds of Sudanese fought in the war in Yemen on the side sponsored by the United Arab Emirates. However, relations soured when Bashir refused to support the blockade of Qatar imposed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Abu Dhabi criticized al-Bashir for his close ties to Islamists, a true bête noire of the Emirati regime.

Thus, when al-Bashir was ousted following a popular uprising, and Sudan entered a period of political instability, Abu Dhabi decided to ally itself with the FSR, a paramilitary force affiliated with the Sudanese army that had been key in suppressing an insurgency. Many economic interests weighed heavily in this decision. The family of Hemedti, the leader of the FSR, owns a gold export (or rather, trafficking) company, dealing in gold, a mineral abundant in Sudan, especially in the south and west, the regions with the greatest FSR presence. For the United Arab Emirates, this relationship was key to its ambition to turn Abu Dhabi into a hub for the trade of this precious mineral. In addition, some Emirati multinationals own thousands of hectares of farmland in the country.

The Sudanese gold rush also helps explain the position of another state with a significant role in the conflict: Russia. For years, while the RSF was an arm of the Sudanese army, Wagner's Russian mercenaries assisted the paramilitary forces In exchange for participating in the illegal exploitation of Sudanese gold mines, which helped finance this Kremlin-controlled group. In fact, at the start of the civil war, Moscow maintained a Machiavellian position: it sold weapons to both sides more or less covertly. However, in April of last year, the Russian position shifted to exclusively supporting the Sudanese army. In return, President Putin received the promise of fulfilling a long-held dream: having a naval base in the Red Sea.

Besides Russia, the Sudanese army's main military backers since the beginning of the conflict have been Turkey and Iran, the latter supplying thousands of drones, a key weapon. However, in recent months, efforts to end the war have intensified. A quartet made up of the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE has proposed a roadmap for a peace agreement that would include the formation of a new transitional government. For the moment, The initiative has failed due to the refusal of the Sudanese army.In a final attempt to exert pressure, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Thursday, following a G-7 meeting, for a halt to arms supplies to the Sudanese Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and raised the possibility of designating the paramilitaries as a terrorist organization if this "helps end the conflict." "His recognition of the brutality of the terrorist militia's practices and the need to confront it and interrupt its arms supply sends a powerful message," celebrated Sudanese Foreign Minister Muhidin Salim.