UAE halted arms supply to Sudan’s RSF, White House tells senators

December 19, 2024 (WASHINGTON) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ceased supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan following objections from the United States, the White House informed US senators on Tuesday.

This development comes after Senator Chris Van Hollen introduced legislation on November 21 seeking to block US arms sales to the UAE unless it could be verified that they were not arming the RSF. Van Hollen and Representative Sara Jacobs filed resolutions of disapproval in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.

In a letter to Van Hollen dated December 18, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, stated that the UAE assured the administration it “is not now transferring any weapons to the RSF and will not do so going forward.”

McGurk committed to providing an updated assessment of the UAE’s compliance by January 17 after “monitoring for indicators of the credibility and reliability of these assurances.”

The UAE’s alleged support for the RSF has been a point of contention. The Sudanese army and UN experts have accused the UAE of providing arms and support to the paramilitary group, which has been engaged in conflict with the Sudanese army for over 18 months. The UAE has consistently denied these allegations.

“At the least, this looks like the first Emirati admission that it has supplied the RSF, which it staunchly denied,” New York Times Chief Africa Correspondent Declan Walsh posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Walsh also revealed the contents of McGurk’s letter on X.

While US law requires congressional review of major arms deals and allows senators to force votes on resolutions of disapproval, it does not grant the same power to House members. A resolution to block arms sales must pass both chambers of Congress and potentially overcome a presidential veto.