Sudan condemns EU sanctions on military intelligence chief

December 18, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan condemned Wednesday’s European Union sanctions on the head of its military intelligence, accusing the bloc of a flawed approach to the country’s ongoing conflict.

On December 16, the EU imposed sanctions on four Sudanese leaders, including the director of military intelligence, Lt Gen Mohamed Ali Ahmed Sabir. The EU said Sabir was responsible for “harassment, arbitrary arrests and detention of members of civil society, as well as acts of sexual and gender-based violence and torture.”

The sanctions also targeted former National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) chief Salah Abdallah “Gosh” and two RSF commanders, Osman Hamed and al-Tajani Karshom.

In a statement, Sudan’s foreign ministry denounced the sanctions as “baseless” and an extension of the EU’s “flawed and defective approach” to the war.

The ministry accused the EU of hiding behind a claim of neutrality between the warring parties while ignoring the fact that one side “essentially represents huge groups of foreign mercenaries waging a war of genocide, ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, and the systematic destruction of the material and cultural infrastructure of the Sudanese people.”

It said the Sudanese armed forces were carrying out their constitutional and national duty to defend the country.

The ministry called on the EU to reverse its decision, review its approach to the conflict, and take a positive stance towards supporting Sudan in confronting the “aggression” and “terrorism” its people are facing.

The statement criticized the EU’s silence on the regional sponsors of the “Janjaweed militia,” who it said continue to provide them with advanced strategic weapons and bring in foreign mercenaries to kill civilians and displaced people, as is happening in the Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur state and villages in Al Jazirah state.