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In 2019, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), pledged more than $1 billion to fight the economic crisis and protests that brought down the dictator After the event helped stabilize Sudan’s central bank, President Omar al-Bashir. “We have invested $1.027 billion in the Bank of Sudan … the money is there, available now”, and the RSF “supported the country at the beginning of the crisis by buying basic resources: gasoline, wheat, medicines,” Dagalo said when making the pledge.
Since then, people have committed to asking questions. How did a little-known militia raise over $1 billion in funding? A decade ago, Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, was just one of the leaders of the Janjaweed, a force deployed in Darfur by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. A paramilitary force whose purpose is to suppress an insurgency. Violence and terror by the Janjaweed during the war in Darfur displaced millions and killed an estimated 300,000 civilians. An International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation accused the Janjaweed leaders of genocide. Hemedti himself was a key figure in the ICC prosecutor’s application for an arrest warrant.
The war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Hemeti have not hindered the rise of the Janjaweed leader. Details about the 49-year-old’s source of wealth and his meteoric rise have been pointing to the UAE. More than any other country, the Gulf monarchy played a major role in consolidating power and influence in the Hemeti. The former camel herder, accused of genocide, is said to be at the top of a “paramilitary industrial complex” that controls a powerful military and an independent source of wealth that is largely Credit goes to the UAE. With more than 100,000 fighters, the RSF, in addition to being an instrument of domestic power and money-making, has given Hemedti geopolitical power, ready to be called up by countries like the UAE to do their bidding wherever the need arises.
read: Leaked recordings say UAE backed RSF’s attempted coup in Sudan
It is no secret that the UAE has become a major player in recent years, not only in the Middle East, where it uses its vast wealth to influence events across the region, but around the world as well. While the country bills itself as a stabilizing force, Abu Dhabi’s role in the Hemeti’s rise is just one of many examples that suggest the Gulf state is not. It would be more accurate to describe the UAE as an agent of chaos and instability. Its role in financing and supporting mercenaries in countries such as Libya and Yemen is well known. Often referred to as “Little Sparta,” the tiny Gulf state of 9 million people (the vast majority of whom are foreign laborers), is admired or belittled for its heavy reliance on mercenaries.
In 2020, the US Pentagon claimed that Abu Dhabi was helping to finance the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary group in Libya that has been a key player in the ongoing conflict there for the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by General Khalifa Haftar. provide support. Haftar is fighting the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj, who is recognized by the United Nations and other countries including Turkiye. UAE support for the LNA includes providing military equipment, training and air support, as well as recruiting mercenaries from countries such as Sudan and Syria to fight on behalf of the LNA. After helping to consolidate Hemedti’s power and influence in Sudan, 1,000 RSF fighters were sent to support the UAE-allied forces.
In Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and the Houthis reached a ceasefire last month after seven years of military conflict, Khameti’s personal soldiers were deployed by the Gulf state. At the height of the war in Yemen in 2016-2017, Sudanese troops numbered more than 40,000.
read: Who is fighting whom in Sudan and why?
Back in Sudan, the UAE provided arms to Hemedti’s RSF.this telegraph Footage emerged on Tuesday of thermobaric bombs apparently provided to the RSF by the UAE and seized by the military, the report said. The video shows boxes of 120mm thermobaric bombs with markings indicating they were manufactured in Serbia in 2020 and later supplied to the UAE.According to analysts cited by the Wall Street Journal telegraph, the video undermines the UAE’s credibility as a neutral mediator. “Washington’s assertion that the UAE, as part of the Quad, is a partner in the quest for peace in Sudan must increasingly be viewed with suspicion,” former CIA official and Sudan expert Cameron Hudson reportedly said. The Quad is Britain, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a group trying to restore civilian rule after a coup by the Sudanese army and the RSF in 2021.
Hemeti himself appeared to acknowledge the UAE as a major contributor to his personal army in response to a question about the source of the $1 billion pledge for 2019. “People ask where are we? [the RSF] Take the money from.we have the salaries of troops who are out fighting [abroad] and our gold investments, funds derived from gold and other investments. Sources of funding for the RSF, including profiteering from taking over the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur, have allowed Hemedti to ignore calls to place his fighters under the control of either the Sudanese army or the country’s government civilians.
What keeps Hemedti’s network running? Global Witness, an international NGO founded in 1993 that works to break the link between natural resource extraction, conflict, poverty, corruption, has uncovered a trove of leaked documents showing that Hemedti not only managed to capture the Much of the country’s gold industry runs through affiliated companies, but leaked bank data and company documents show they use front companies and banks based in Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. Leaked bank documents show that RSF held an account in its own name with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, now part of First Bank Abu Dhabi. “This provides evidence”, says Global Witness, of “the financial autonomy of the RSF”. It went on to explain that while an ambiguous 2016 law put the militias under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces Supreme Commander, it showed that the RSF may not be under the financial control of the military, let alone a power-sharing sovereign council of civilian staff.
Leaked RSF spreadsheets appear to describe how the militia received more than $40 million in “technical support” from unknown sources, spending more than $30 million of that on vehicles and communications equipment. The document shows that RSF purchased more than 1,000 vehicles from dealerships in the UAE in the first six months of 2019. The cargo included more than 900 Toyota Hiluxes and Land Cruisers, which the RSF often converted into what it called “techniques” — 4×4 military vehicles with machine guns.
Introduction – Hemedti: Camel Traders Aiming to Rule the Sudan
The UAE’s support for the RSF has been instrumental in helping groups accused of genocide consolidate their power. Abu Dhabi has been using the RSF to advance its own interests in the country, which include securing access to Sudan’s natural resources and countering the influence of other regional powers. The UAE’s support for the RSF is just one example of the country’s role as a source of chaos and instability in the Middle East.
Its support for mercenaries and paramilitary groups across the region paints a picture of a country that is actively fueling instability and conflict. Far from promoting stability and security, the UAE’s actions have contributed to the collapse of institutions and the rise of violent non-state actors.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Watch.
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