As the UK convenes a high-profile international conference on Sudan’s humanitarian crisis and future, Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Ali Yousif, has issued a forceful response to his government’s exclusion from the event. Speaking at the Sudanese Embassy in London, Yousif warned of the dangerous precedent being set by sidelining Sudan’s internationally recognised transitional government, while inviting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country standing trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for allegedly aiding genocide in Darfur.

“We expected to be invited,” Yousif said. “It’s a conference about Sudan, the people, and the political future of Sudan … One of the first to be invited should have been Sudan itself.” Instead, he pointed out, the guest list included the UAE and Kenya, countries accused of supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group responsible for widespread atrocities, including genocide.

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The conference, organised by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, brings together international stakeholders to address the country’s humanitarian collapse, now in its second year. But the exclusion of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)-aligned government, while extending an invitation to the UAE, has triggered sharp criticism from Khartoum.

Last month, Sudan filed a formal complaint against the UAE at the ICJ, accusing it of arming and financing the RSF in a deliberate attempt to destabilise Sudan and exploit its natural wealth. The case centres on the massacres committed by the RSF in West Darfur between June and July 2023, where thousands of Masalit civilians were killed. These killings have since been recognised by both the US Congress and the Biden administration as an act of........

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