The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it had foiled a weapons shipment intended for the Sudanese army, which has accused the Gulf state of backing rival paramilitaries in the country's two-year war.
The announcement comes just days before the International Court of Justice is slated to issue a ruling in a case Khartoum filed against the UAE accusing it of complicity in genocide by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
"The security services succeeded in preventing the transfer of a quantity of military equipment to the Sudanese Armed Forces following the arrest of members of a cell involved in unauthorised mediation, brokering and illicit trafficking of military equipment," UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said, according to official news agency WAM.
The Sudanese army categorically denied the accusations.
"We are a sovereign state with a national army, we have no need for arms smuggling," army spokesman Nabil Abdallah told AFP.
The UAE statement did not list the suspects arrested, but said members of the cell included former Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Gosh, an ex-adviser to the finance minister and a political figure close to army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, as well as several Sudanese businessmen.
It said the arrests were made "during an inspection of ammunition in a private aircraft" loaded with around five million machine gun rounds.
Some of the proceeds from the deal were also seized from two suspects in their hotel rooms.
"According to investigators, the cell members completed a military equipment deal involving Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition, machine guns, and grenades worth millions of dollars," the statement said.
"The investigation concluded that these deals were carried out at the request of the Sudanese Armed Forces' Armament Committee, chaired by Al-Burhan and his deputy (Yasser) Al-Atta, with their full knowledge and approval," it added.
In a comment to AFP, Sudanese army spokesman Abdallah said the UAE was "the one engaging in criminal behaviour by supplying the rebellious and terrorist militia (RSF) with all kinds of equipment".
- $2.6 million in profits -
The UAE has long faced accusations from Sudan and others of supporting the RSF -- an allegation the Gulf state denies.
Earlier this month, a Bulgarian arms manufacturer confirmed that ammunition it had produced which was used in Sudan, in violation of a European arms embargo, had originally been sold to the UAE.
In response to a France 24 investigation, manufacturer Dunarit said in a statement seen by AFP that "the products were indeed fully received by the UAE Ministry of Defence".
To "eliminate any doubt" over Bulgaria's position, Dunarit also published a copy of an August 2020 certificate showing a UAE military order for 15,000 81 millimetre mortar shells.
According to the Emirati statement on Wednesday, the cell, in which former spy chief Gosh had played a central role, had earned $2.6 million in profits from two deals.
The ongoing investigation identified companies owned by a Sudanese-Ukrainian businessman, including one operating in the UAE, which "provided the Sudanese army with weapons, ammunition, grenades, and drones, in collaboration with the cell members and the military's financial officer".
One of the companies was under US sanctions, it said.
Attorney General Shamsi called the case "a grave breach of the UAE's national security", adding that the suspects would be referred to "urgent trial proceedings".
In response to repeated accusations of supporting the RSF, the Gulf state in December promised the United States that it would not arm the paramilitary, after two US lawmakers attempted to block its purchase of $1.2 billion in advanced rockets and long-range missiles.
In January, the US lawmakers said the UAE had broken its promises and was still supplying the Sudanese rebels, which Washington accused of genocide the same month.
Both the RSF and the army have been accused of war crimes in the country's bitter conflict, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced 13 million.
