Washington, United States — The United Arab Emirates has informed the United States that it will not arm paramilitaries in Sudan’s brutal civil war, US lawmakers long critical of the Gulf power’s role quoted the White House as saying on Thursday.
The assurance came as the United States announced $200 million in new aid for Sudan, one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters where tens of thousands have died in fighting since April 2023.
Two US lawmakers said the UAE pledged to address their concerns and that, as a result, they would drop their attempt to block $1.2 billion in sales of advanced rockets and long-range missiles to the Gulf country.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party, released a letter addressed to him from the White House that described UAE assurances on its relationship with Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is at war with the army.
“Despite reports we have received suggesting the contrary has occurred to date, the UAE has informed the administration that it is not now transferring any weapons to the RSF and will not do so going forward,” said the letter signed by Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator on Middle East policy.
The UAE has long denied arming the RSF, with which it has fought Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The Gulf country’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the letter, McGurk promised to offer an assessment on the “credibility and reliability of these assurances” by January 17 — three days before Biden hands the White House back to President-elect Donald Trump.
Van Hollen applauded the White House intervention and said he would again attempt to block arms sales if the UAE did not comply.
“The United States should use all of our leverage to help bring peace and stability to the people of Sudan,” he said on the Senate floor
‘Credible’ claims –
Fellow Democrat Sara Jacobs, who led a parallel effort in the House of Representatives, also vowed to “carefully monitor” adherence by the UAE.
“Without the UAE’s support, the RSF will not have the same capabilities to wage this war — making negotiation and a ceasefire a much likelier alternative,” she said in a statement.
United Nations experts tasked with monitoring an arms embargo on the Darfur region said last year that accusations the UAE had funneled weapons to the RSF through Chad were “credible.”
Trump has shown a greater willingness to sell weapons to the UAE, and in his last term promised advanced F-35 jets and armed drones as part of a deal in which the Gulf country recognized Israel.
The F-35 purchase languished after Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election and promised greater oversight of the weapons.