UAE Prosecutors Send Sudanese Military Officials to Security Court Over Arms Transfer Plot
The UAE has sent Sudan's army chief of staff and a dozen other individuals to its State Security Court, accusing them of plotting to move weapons through Emirati territory to Sudan's armed forces.
UAE Prosecutors Send Sudanese Military Officials to Security Court Over Arms Transfer Plot
Emirati judicial authorities have sent Sudan's army chief of staff and twelve other people, plus half a dozen firms, before the nation's State Security Court. The move follows claims that the group tried to route bullets and other military supplies through the UAE to Sudan's military, according to Reuters as carried by ThePrint.
Court papers say officials stopped the cargo before it could leave on a chartered plane. Investigators tied the purchase deal to a panel headed by Sudan's top commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Those named in the case must answer for several offences: moving weapons without authorisation, faking and misusing official paperwork, and laundering money earned from these acts.
General Yassir al-Atta, Sudan's military chief of staff, is among the accused and will be tried in absentia. He has lately issued harsh remarks aimed at the Gulf state. Sudan's military spokespeople did not respond when asked for a statement.
Earlier this year, Emirati border agents reportedly seized millions of bullets at an airfield that were bound for Sudan's troops. Sudan's armed forces dismissed that claim as fabricated.
The case adds strain to already frayed ties between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum. Sudan's military has repeatedly charged the UAE with funnelling weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its enemy in a war that has now lasted three years. Emirati leaders have flatly denied this, insisting their involvement is purely aid-based.
The fighting in Sudan, born from a clash for power between the army and the RSF, has wrecked the nation. It has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced roughly fourteen million people from their homes.
Source: Google News AE