Sudan recalls ambassador and cuts diplomatic ties with the UAE
The defence and security council of Sudan has announced that they are recalling the country’s ambassador and severing all diplomatic ties with the UAE.
As reported by The Guardian on May 6th, the minister for defence announced that Sudan is “severing diplomatic relations with the UAE”.
Sudan has long since accused the UAE of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebel group, whom the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been embroiled in a civil war with since April 2023.
The decision to finally cut diplomatic ties comes in the wake of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissing Sudan’s case against the UAE accusing the country of complying in acts of genocide in Darfur, a western region of Sudan.
The Sudanese request for emergency measures to be enacted and the case to be continued was rejected by the court due to the fact that the UAE are party to the 1948 genocide convention – which Sudan had accused the country of breaching – and had as a result requested that the court be prevented on adjudicating on them.
Reem Ketait, deputy assistant minister for political affairs at the UAE’s foreign ministry told reporters that: “The facts speak for themselves: the UAE bears no responsibility for the conflict in Sudan. On the contrary, the atrocities committed by the warring parties are well-documented.”
Despite the result, Sudan believed that they had a strong case against the UAE after discovering weapons provided by the country in warehouses formerly used by the RSF.
A devastating series of drone strikes on Port Sudan – previously one of the few safe places in the country – has raised fresh concerns about foreign involvement in the war due to the calibre of weapons and the location they are being used in due to the fact that the war has never spread to the Red Sea Coast before.
The Guardian/ Maghrebi / Reuters
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