Britain urged to to halt arms sales to UAE after weapons found in hands of Sudan’s RSF
LONDON, Oct. 30 (YPA) – Britain has been urged to suspend arms sales to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after UK military equipment was found in the hands of the Sudanese militia alleged to be carrying out genocide in Darfur, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a rebel army backed by Abu Dhabi, has massacred at least 2,000 civilians in the city of El Fasher, with pools of blood and bodies visible in satellite imagery.
British small-arms targeting systems and engines for military vehicles have been sent to the RSF by the UAE, according to reports by Sudan’s army that were recently handed to the United Nations Security Council.
The newspaper quoted Babikir Elamin, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, as saying that the UAE’s support had been “the single most important factor in prolonging and enabling this genocide.”
He urged the international community to apply pressure on the UAE to end its arms supplies to the RSF, which grew out of the Janjaweed militia that carried out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab citizens in Darfur 20 years ago.
Citing the report handed to the UN, he said Britain must “investigate” the reports that its military products were being used by the RSF in its fresh campaign of “heinous atrocities”.
In Parliament on Tuesday, Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, was asked whether Britain would suspend arms sales to the UAE “until it is proven that the UAE is not arming the RSF”.
Ms Cooper did not directly answer the question, instead saying Britain had “extremely strong controls on arms exports” and “will continue to take that immensely seriously”.
Monica Harding MP, Liberal Democrat spokesman for international development, said: “The civil war in Sudan is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. Millions are on the brink of starvation and experiencing unimaginable suffering.
“The possibility that British military equipment is contributing to the horrors occurring there, and aiding the carnage caused by the RSF, is horrific. The UK must cease all arms sales to the UAE immediately until we can confirm, without a doubt, that no British weapons are going via the UAE to the RSF.”
Video footages from El Fasher showed point-blank executions of civilians, including men told to run away before being shot in the back.
One footage from inside the Saudi Maternity Hospital showed RSF fighters shooting a wounded man surrounded by blood-stained corpses.
The World Health Organisation cited reports that as many as 460 patients and staff were murdered on the premises.
The RSF besieged El Fasher for 18 months before its fighters stormed the city at the weekend, leading to accusations that the international community had failed to prevent “another Srebrenica”.
Abu Dhabi, which denies providing any weaponry to the Sudanese rebels, is attempting to establish a foothold in a country with access to valuable Red Sea coastline, farming lands and reserves of gold, according to The Telegraph.
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