Sat 05 February 2022:
According to a study released Friday by the United Nations, providing mercenaries in Libya’s internal conflict has become the major source of cash for armed groups from Sudan’s own war-torn Darfur region.
The guns-for-hire deals were enabled by the United Arab Emirates, according to a report written by UN experts in charge of monitoring the arms embargo placed on Sudan.
It said the activity meant that the arms embargo had been broken “with the transfer of arms and other military materiel into Darfur.”
“Mercenary activities in Libya had been the major source of financing for most Darfurian movements” in 2021, the report said.
Thousands of Sudanese mercenaries are in Libya, according to the report, working for Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army.
These mercenaries are drawn from both signatory and non-signatory movements to the Juba Peace Agreement, which was signed in October 2020, according to the experts, who added that they are unable to estimate the total number.
“Most Darfurian armed groups continued to work for the Libyan National Army in Libya during the reporting period, securing areas and manning checkpoints. In return for these tasks, the five main movements (SLA/MM, GSLF, SLA/TC, SLA/AW and SRAC) were receiving payments and logistical support,” the UN experts said.
The report noted that “several sources in the movements said that the money and support were discussed and agreed upon in meetings between their military commanders and United Arab Emirates representatives in Libya.”
“The payments were provided by the United Arab Emirates and channelled to the movements by the Libyan National Army, which took a cut,” the report added.
The UN experts said that when confronted last November with allegations about providing “financial and military support to Darfurian forces (both in the Sudan and in Libya), the United Arab Emirates referred to its country’s moderate position and struggle against extremism and hate speech.”
The Sudanese government was also alleged to have taken part in the activities of the “5+5” Joint Military Commission, which brings together representatives from eastern and western Libya to ensure a ceasefire and the evacuation of foreign fighters and troops from the country.
