Sudan accused of violating Libya arms embargo

The United Nations Panel of Experts of the International Sanctions Committee on Libya has accused UN member states, including Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan of violating the arms embargo imposed on the country.

Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that it obtained a UN draft report saying that the UN member states violated sanctions on Libya by giving weapons to the warring parties in the country.

As for Sudan, the report of the Panel of Experts on Libya said that Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, Deputy Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and Commander-in-Chief of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, did not abide by the UN sanctions to ban military support to the parties involved in the Libyan conflict.

In July, Sudan sent 1,000 RSF militiamen to eastern Libya to protect Benghazi and enable the forces of Gen Khalifa Haftar to attack Tripoli.

Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Spokesman Amer El Hasan denied the accusations in the UN draft report to the Sudanese Tayba satellite channel on Saturday. “These claims are part of systematic vilification of national institutions,” he commented.

He said that the RSF, since August formally included in the SAF as agreed in the Constitutional Document, are operating in accordance with international agreements and that the Sudanese army supports the militiamen and lauds their professionalism.

The spokesman added that the SAF “is not a security company”. They “will not heed to such untrue rumours”.

The International Sanctions Committee on Libya will discuss the report later this month.

Yemen

On November 2, the SAF spokesman denied “baseless” claims of Houthi rebels in Yemen that the total losses of Sudanese government forces since the beginning of its participation in the war exceeds 8,000 dead and wounded.

He also called news published by the Middle East Monitor about the withdrawal of 10,000 Sudanese soldiers from Yemen reported “inaccurate”.

Since 2015, Sudan has a large RSF contingent in the war in Yemen, as part of the coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Unofficial estimates say that the real number of Sudanese troops participating in the war in Yemen is close to 10,000 soldiers, mostly from the RSF.

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