Sudan accuses UK of meddling in Security Council talks
Sudan’s government has complained about an April 29th, closed-door UN Security Council meeting, accusing the UK of altering the agenda and format at the last minute, according to The National on May 1st. The talks come amid an escalation of the country’s civil conflict, spilling into previously peaceful areas of the Darfur region.
Khartoum initially requested the Security Council meeting to discuss alleged UAE support for groups battling the Sudanese army.
Though the session sought by Sudan would have included states not currently represented by the Security Council, the UK purportedly moved it to a closed-consultation format and transformed it “into a discussion on the ‘wider situation in Sudan,” claimed Sudan’s Foreign Ministry.
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The ministry said it “regrets that Britain is abandoning its moral and political duty as a permanent member of the Security Council and its obligation to address Sudanese issues in the Council”.
In a letter to the council, the UAE’s UN ambassador, Mohamed Abushahab, said his country rejects Sudan’s accusations of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an Arab militia currently fighting the Sudanese Army, writing that the allegations were “spurious, unfounded, and lack any credible evidence to support them.”
Fighting broke out in April 2023 between Sudan’s armed forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the General Mohamed Dagalo-led RSF. The UN estimates that between 10,000 and 15,000 people have been killed so far in the conflict, with around 8 million displaced.
READ: US Senate considers sanctions against Sudan RSF leader
The Security Council expressed their typical “deep concern” over escalating fighting in Sudan’s North Darfur region on April 27th, warning against an offensive by the RSF and allied militias on Al-Fasher.
Home to large refugee population, the city one of the region’s five state capitals not under RSF control and has been relatively unaffected by the ongoing conflict until relatively recently, according to AFP.
On April 28th, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “all warring parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and to take immediate, decisive measures to de-escalate tensions and prevent Sudan from plunging further into new levels of instability.”
The National / AFP
