A photo of a UN OCHA official in Khartoum with security provided by a member of the Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade (a US-designated terrorist organization linked to Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood) sparked controversy, highlighting challenges to the UN’s perceived neutrality in Sudan’s civil war.

Saudi Arabia’s position is inconsistent: While Riyadh leads mediation efforts and opposes the Muslim Brotherhood elsewhere, it reportedly financed arms for the Sudanese Armed Forces (which rely on Islamist-aligned militias) and sought US support against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

The war’s complexity risks eroding humanitarian access and perceptions of impartiality, as foreign involvement (Saudi, Turkish, etc.) and shifting alliances complicate efforts to deliver aid to over 33 million people in need amid famine and widespread fighting.

The optics were damaging, and the damage spread quickly. Last week, a photo depicting the head of the UN’s humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) in Sudan at a public event in Khartoum began circulating on social media. Among those providing security, according to the post, was a man later identified as a member of the Al-Baraa Bin Malik battalions — a militia the United States has designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization.  

OCHA has said nothing about it publicly.  

Deliberate or not, the picture spread fast, and it landed at a moment when the word “neutral” already needed defending. As one Sudan-focused analyst put it, who you’re photographed next to says as much as any statement does and right now that line runs from Khartoum, through Riyadh, into UN headquarters, and this week, oddly enough, all the way........

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