SUDAN CONDEMNS UK OVER SUMMIT INCLUDING UAE
- Rayhan Uddin | Middle Eastern Eye
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
David Lammy criticised for convening foreign ministers, including allies of the RSF paramilitary
By Rayhan Uddin
Sudan’s foreign minister has written a letter to his British counterpart criticising the UK for hosting a Sudan conference without inviting the de-facto Khartoum government, and for extending invitations to allies of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Ali Yousif wrote a letter to David Lammy on Sunday objecting to the conference set to take place on 15 April in London.
The summit will bring together foreign ministers from around the world in an attempt to end the war and address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Middle East Eye first reported on Khartoum’s exclusion from the conference last month. The RSF, which has been at war with Sudan’s army since April 2023, is also excluded.
However, foreign ministers from the UAE, Chad and Kenya, three countries that are alleged to support the paramilitary group, were handed invitations.
Khartoum’s foreign ministry said the move by the UK equated Sudan’s government with the RSF, which it described as “a terrorist militia committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and unprecedented atrocities against civilians”.
It added that the summit was the latest in several developments in the UK which showed “leniency” towards the RSF, including alleged secret talks between the UK and the RSF last year.
“Many in Sudan are now asking: how many more atrocities and massacres must the Janjaweed militia commit against Sudanese civilians before Britain designates it as a terrorist group?” the ministry asked.
Yousif told Lammy that the UAE’s participation in the conference “allows it to whitewash its image and conceal its complicity in acts of genocide in Sudan”.
Last year, an independent inquiry carried out by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre found that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that the RSF and its allied militias “have committed and are committing genocide against the Masalit,” an ethnic African tribe in the country.
'Innocent lives could have been saved'
Sudan’s government last month filed an application to open proceedings against the UAE at the International Court of Justice over alleged complicity in these acts of genocide.
It said that the Emirates was complicit through “its direction of and provision of extensive financial, political, and military support for the rebel RSF militia”.
MEE has reported on the network of supply lines that exist to funnel arms and other goods from the UAE to the RSF, via allied groups and governments in Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. The UAE denies providing support to the RSF.
“The previous British government blocked the UN Security Council from discussing the UAE’s involvement in the Sudanese war in April 2024,” Sudan’s foreign ministry said.
“Had the Security Council addressed the issue and taken a firm stance, countless innocent lives could have been saved and the war might have been ended.”
In a statement sent to MEE, Lammy said: “The brutal war in Sudan has devastated the lives of millions. This conference will send a clear signal across the globe that urgent action is needed.
“The international community must act now to stop this humanitarian catastrophe getting even worse and prevent instability spreading further across the world. The UK will not let Sudan be forgotten.”
Kenya, which will also be represented in London, hosted a conference in February which saw the RSF launch a parallel government in the areas it controls.
Sudan subsequently suspended all imports from Kenya in protest against its hosting of the RSF announcement, describing it as "tantamount to an act of hostility".
Representatives of Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia will all be at the London summit, MEE understands. All four are known to favour the Sudanese army over the RSF.
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