Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two U.S. lawmakers will continue to try to block arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, finding that the UAE provides weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) in Sudan’s civil war, they said on Friday.
The UAE official denied this.
The Sudanese army and the RSF jointly led a coup in 2021, removing the Sudanese civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces. The war that broke out between them in April 2023 plunged half of the population into starvation.
Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representative Sara Jacobs, both Democrats, said in a statement to Reuters that they based their determination on a briefing by former President Joe Biden’s administration and other reporting.
“The UAE is an important partner in the Middle East, but the United States cannot turn a blind eye to aiding and abetting the suffering in Sudan,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
“We now know that the UAE has continued to arm the RSF – ensuring this war and this destruction continues. The US has an opportunity to end this war and bring stability to Sudan by denying weapons to the UAE and basically cutting off the supply chain to the RSF,” Jacobs said.
Asked for comment, the UAE official said the country’s focus in Sudan remains on the humanitarian crisis, calling for an immediate ceasefire and peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“In this regard, the UAE has already made it clear that it does not provide any support or supplies to either of the two belligerent warring parties in Sudan,” the official said.
The Biden administration has promised to provide lawmakers with an assessment by January 17 – just three days before President Donald Trump takes office – on the credibility of the UAE’s belief that it does not and will not provide arms to the RSF.
US law requires congressional review of major arms deals and allows members of the Senate to vote on resolutions of disapproval that would block such sales. Although the law does not allow House members to compel such votes, the resolutions must pass both houses of Congress and potentially survive a presidential veto to take effect.
The UAE has long been a major buyer of US weapons. In October, for example, the Biden administration announced that it had approved the potential sale of GMLRS and ATACMS munitions and related support for $1.2 billion.
GMLRS, or guided rockets with multiple launch rocket systems, are made by Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE :)., S L3Harris Technologies (NYSE 🙂 manufactures a solid rocket propulsion engine for the system. Long-range ATACMs are made by Lockheed Martin.
Van Hollen and Jacobs introduced legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives in November seeking to stop the sale.
Their effort is unlikely to gain significant support in Congress, as presidents of both parties have long viewed the UAE as a vital regional security partner. But lawmakers hope to draw attention to a conflict that has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
