While backing Israel’s attack on the besieged Palestinians in Gaza and defending it before the UN, the US envoy to the UN calls on all nations, including the UAE, to cease providing support to the opposing factions in the North African nation.
A “large-scale massacre” is about to occur in El Fasher, Sudan, a humanitarian hub in the Darfur region, according to US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who has come under fire for supporting Israel at the UN. She has also urged nations, including the UAE, to stop supporting the country’s warring parties.
The city “is about to witness a massive slaughter.” This isn’t just speculation. Following a Monday UN Security Council meeting in Sudan, Thomas-Greenfield told reporters, “This is the grim reality facing millions of people.”
“There are already credible reports that the RSF and its allied militias have razed multiple villages west of El Fasher, and as we speak, the RSF is planning an imminent attack on El Fasher,” that “would be a disaster on top of a disaster,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
Experts claim that Thomas-Greenfield has drawn harsh criticism for standing up for Tel Aviv, whose war on Gaza has already reached “genocidal proportions.” Thomas-Greenfield is frequently spotted raising her hand in opposition to UN resolutions denouncing Israel’s activities in the beleaguered Gaza.
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had not much affected the city until recently, but since mid-April, reports of bombardment and confrontations have been made in both the city and the nearby towns.
The US envoy to the UN stated that the US has also urged other nations, including the United Arab Emirates, to cease supporting Sudan’s warring sides, as a “crisis of epic proportions is brewing.”
“We do know that both sides are receiving support – both with weapons and other support – to fuel their efforts to continue to destroy Sudan and yes, we have engaged with the parties on that including with our colleagues from the UAE,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
UAE disputes any military assistance given to Sudan’s opposition parties.
In a letter to the Security Council dated April 25, UAE Ambassador to the UN Mohamed Abushahab stated, “The United Arab Emirates… is not supplying any arms or ammunition to any faction engaged in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.”
The United Arab Emirates “categorically rejects any insinuation that it has extended financial, logistical, military assistance, or diplomatic support to any armed group in Sudan.”
Sudanese military chief talks with a Russian diplomat
The event occurred while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was in Sudan demonstrating support for the army there, which has been fighting the paramilitary RSF for a year.
In the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, which serves as a base for the army and government officials since the RSF seized control of significant portions of the capital Khartoum early in the conflict, Bogdanov—who is also a special representative for the Middle East and Africa—met Abdel Fattah al Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese army.
Because of its connections to RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who traveled to Moscow the night before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, there has been doubt about Russia’s intentions in Sudan.
The world’s largest displacement crisis began a year ago when the SAF and RSF went to war in Sudan. In recent days, the UN has expressed alarm over the possibility of an impending RSF attack on El Fasher.
According to locals, humanitarian organizations, and analysts, the struggle over the city, a historically significant center of power, may become more prolonged, rekindle ethnic tensions that first appeared in the area 20 years ago, and extend across Sudan’s border with Chad.
Around 300,000 people are thought to have died in Darfur in the early 2000s when the army used “Janjaweed” militias, from which the RSF was established, to put down an uprising.
This month, the Security Council was alerted by senior UN representatives to the “extreme and immediate danger” that 800,000 people in El Fasher faced.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
