Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed, has urged the warring sides in Sudan to agree to a ceasefire as he vowed the UAE will strengthen its aid efforts in the country.
At a media conference during the Government Annual Meetings in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, Dr Gargash said his country “considers the Sudanese military and the RSF [Rapid Support Forces] as warring parties”.
“They are parties to the civil war, as well as 30 other militias. This is a very complicated picture,” he added.
With an escalation of violence and RSF control of El Fasher effectively dividing Sudan between east and west, Dr Gargash said “we are concerned about the unity of Sudan”.
“Our efforts to help the Sudanese people will continue. We have 30 million Sudanese people who need food and nutrition, and nine million displaced,” he said.
The war in Sudan, which is midway through its third year, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced at least 13 million. About 30 million – more than half the population – are facing hunger, with famine declared in some areas, mainly in Darfur.
The fighting began in April 2023, when tension between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the paramilitary RSF, commanded by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, erupted into open conflict.
What began as a power struggle between the two former allies – who jointly staged a coup in 2021 – has spiralled into one of the world’s worst humanitarian and displacement crises.
Dr Gargash said the Emirates proposes the position of the Quad – made up of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the US – which was agreed to in Washington last September, as the best path forward.
“We have a remarkable document which was reached by the Quad, this statement is our pathway to a solution in Sudan,” he said.
The document, stressing the need for a ceasefire, “asks the two warring parties to come together to negotiate and it envisages a nine-month transition to civilian rule”, he added.
Dr Gargash went on to question “why anybody would oppose an immediate ceasefire in these dire conditions”, in an indirect criticism of the Sudanese groups.
He called for a political solution, moving to civilian rule, rather than returning to dictatorship, as was the case under Sudan’s former president Omar Al Bashir.
Dr Gargash laid out the UAE position, saying: “We want negotiations, we want transition to civilian rule and most importantly we need a ceasefire.
“We have to safeguard what was concluded in the Quad statement … it remains the salvage for Sudan and we need to protect that consensus and consider it the way forward.”
Dr Gargash also echoed the concerns of humanitarian actors that armed groups are not allowing humanitarian aid into various areas of Sudan.
“The UAE remains one of the largest donors in Sudan but we are suffering from limited access and that is extremely important,” he said. He called for a three-month truce on humanitarian grounds.
“The UAE condemns all atrocities in El Fasher … all atrocities in this savage civil war,” Dr Gargash said.
He called for an investigation into alleged war crimes in Sudan. “People should be brought to justice. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is that these dire humanitarian situations are addressed immediately,” he said.
The Sudanese war is a “battle of the weak whereby neither side can win” militarily, he added.
