UAE Sentences Eight People to Life Over Arms Supplies to Sudan Army
Photo: AFP via Al Jazeera, file photo (not the Abu Dhabi court)
A court in Abu Dhabi has sentenced eight people to life in prison for running an arms trafficking and money laundering network that supplied weapons to the Sudanese army, in a case that lays bare the tangled money and weapons flows behind Sudan's civil war.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal handed down the sentences on Thursday, according to the Emirati state news agency WAM. The court said the group took part in an organised scheme to move weapons, ammunition and military equipment to Sudan's army, using companies and bank accounts in the UAE to hide where the money came from and where it went.
Along with the life terms, the court ordered the confiscation of seized ammunition and communications devices, and said those convicted will be deported from the UAE once they have served their sentences. Several of the men also received three year prison terms and fines of Dh1 million each for money laundering.
UAE Sudan Arms Case: Eight Sentenced to Life
According to Al Jazeera, reporting WAM, the court found the accused had forged documents and used commercial companies, bank transfers and cash payments to arrange the deals. The arms deals, the court said, were carried out for the benefit of one side in the Sudan conflict and were liable to harm the UAE's relations with other countries and put its interests at risk.
The National named the eight men sentenced to life as Rashid Omar Abdul Qadir Ali, Salah Abdullah Mohammed Mohammed Saleh, known as Salah Gosh, Ahmed Abdullah, known as Abdullah Khalafallah, Ahmed Rabie Sayed Ahmed, Mohammed Fath Al Beik, Yasser Al Atta, Othman Al Zubair and Maher Abdul Jalil. Salah Gosh is a former head of Sudan's intelligence service, and Yasser Al Atta is a senior Sudanese army officer who has held key roles in weapons procurement.
The same reports say the group brought ammunition into the UAE and prepared to fly it to Port Sudan, describing the cargo on paper as medical equipment and relief supplies to hide its true nature. Payment for the equipment was made inside the UAE through bank transfers and cash.
Seven men, including four of those given life terms, were also sentenced to three years each for money laundering and fined Dh1 million each. The court ordered the confiscation of Dh1.545 million from seized funds. Two other defendants were acquitted of all charges, and several companies linked to the network were fined and had their licences cancelled, according to the court reporting.
Background Context
Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force. The war has displaced more than 14 million people and left large parts of the country facing severe food shortages and poverty.
Ties between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi have worsened during the war. Sudan's army has accused the UAE of supplying arms to the RSF, its enemy in the war. The UAE has denied that charge. Thursday's case cuts the other way: it concerns weapons supplied to the army, not to the RSF, and the court treated the unauthorised deals as a threat to the UAE's own interests.
Only this week, the blog reported that more than 100 people were killed in a drone strike on a busy market in Nyala, South Darfur, in a war where both sides stand accused of grave abuses against civilians. The United Nations human rights office has previously accused the RSF of war crimes and a possible crime against humanity in its takeover of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
Reactions and Statements
WAM, the UAE state news agency, carried the court's findings in full, including the ruling that the deals endangered UAE interests. No statement has yet been reported from the Sudanese army or from the families of those convicted.
The verdict itself is the strongest statement so far. By sentencing a former intelligence chief and a senior army officer alongside traders and financiers, the Abu Dhabi court has treated this as a full network case, not a single smuggling run. The deportation orders also send a clear message that the UAE does not want to be used as a base for arms deals in the Sudan war, whichever side they serve.
For Sudan, the case adds another layer to an already bitter dispute with Abu Dhabi. Khartoum will read the verdict as proof that arms flows through the Gulf are real, while Abu Dhabi can point to it as proof that it prosecutes unauthorised deals when it finds them.
Why This News Matters
For readers in Pakistan, the case matters for two plain reasons. First, it shows how wars in the wider region are funded and supplied through Gulf business networks, the same networks that move money and goods across the Middle East. Second, Sudan's war is driving displacement, food prices and aid needs across the region, and every arms shipment keeps that war going longer.
- Eight life sentences: the main penalty, handed down by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday.
- Extra terms: three years each plus Dh1 million fines for seven men on money laundering charges.
- Money seized: Dh1.545 million confiscated, plus ammunition and communications devices.
- Who was convicted: a former Sudan intelligence chief, a senior army officer, traders and financiers.
- What was not proved in court reporting: any link between this network and the RSF arms claims, which the UAE denies.
The key point to keep in mind is what the court did and did not decide. It decided these eight men ran an illegal arms and money network for the Sudanese army. It did not decide the wider question of who else may be arming either side in Sudan's war.
Future Developments
Three things are worth watching next. First, whether Sudan's army or government comments on the verdict, given that two of its senior figures are among those convicted. Second, whether any appeal is filed, and whether the acquitted defendants or the fined companies challenge the ruling. Third, whether the case leads to further prosecutions, since the court described a network of companies, bank accounts and cash payments that may reach beyond the eight men sentenced.
The wider Sudan war will also shape how this verdict is read. If fighting in Darfur and Khartoum eases, the case may stand as a one off prosecution. If it worsens, expect more scrutiny of arms routes through the Gulf, and more pressure on states in the region to show they are not part of the supply chain. The same questions about weapons, costs and claims run through other conflicts the blog has covered this week, including the Pentagon's $47.1 billion bill for the Iran war and Iran's claim to have shot down a US MQ-1 drone near the Strait of Hormuz.
Sources
Al Jazeera: UAE sentences eight people to life over arms supplies to Sudan's army
Gulf News: UAE court sentences 8 to life for arms trafficking to Sudanese army
#UAE #Sudan #SudanWar #WorldNews #PakistanNews #BreakingNews
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