November 16, 2024
In an appeal to the United States, Sudan’s finance minister called on Friday for Washington to pressure the United Arab Emirates to halt its support of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling Sudan’s army for control of the country since April.
Gibril Ibrahim, also the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a rebel group now allied with the Sudanese army, said in an interview with Sudan Tribune that continued Emirati support for the RSF. was fuelling the conflict.The Sudanese people hope that the United States of America will restrain its ally, the UAE, from supporting the militia and stop it from killing innocent Sudanese,” Ibrahim said, adding that an end to Emirati support would bring an end to the war.
The Sudanese government and international organizations have accused the UAE of supplying weapons and other aid to the RSF through airports in other African countries. The aid then flows into Sudan across its western borders, they say.
Ibrahim, who was in Washington this week for meetings with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), also addressed accusations of internal divisions within the Sudanese army and its allied militias.
Ibrahim said it was impossible to assess the full extent of the damage caused by the war, but he had asked the World Bank, the IMF, and the African Development Bank to send a team to Sudan to conduct an assessment. That assessment, he said, would be used to appeal for international aid to help rebuild the country.During his trip to Washington, Ibrahim secured $253 million in funding from the World Bank and $100 million from the African Development Bank for development projects in Sudan. He also met with members of the Sudanese Diaspora in Washington and New York.
Sudan Tribune
