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US Accuses Russia's Wagner of Providing Sudan's RSF with Missiles

The commander of RSF, Mohamed Hamdan' Hemedti' Dagalo (AP)
The commander of RSF, Mohamed Hamdan' Hemedti' Dagalo (AP)
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US Accuses Russia's Wagner of Providing Sudan's RSF with Missiles

The commander of RSF, Mohamed Hamdan' Hemedti' Dagalo (AP)
The commander of RSF, Mohamed Hamdan' Hemedti' Dagalo (AP)

The United States accused Russia's Wagner Group in Mali of working to obtain military gear from Mali for Russia's war in Ukraine and sending surface-to-air missiles to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.

The US Treasury said in a statement Thursday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had sanctioned the head of Wagner in Mali, Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov, after it found that the Group employees may have been attempting to work through Mali to acquire warfighting equipment such as mines, drones, radar, and counterbattery systems for use in Ukraine.

The Treasury added that Maslov Maslov arranges meetings between Viktorovich Prigozhin and government officials from several African nations. Maslov has worked to carry out the Wagner Group's interests in the extractive sector.

The measure freezes any assets of Maslov in the US and generally bars its citizens from doing business with him.

Wagner's accusation

The Treasury accused Wagner of supplying the RSF with surface-to-air missiles to fight against Sudan's army, contributing to a prolonged armed conflict that resulted in further regional chaos.

The commander of RSF, Mohamed Hamdan' Hemedti' Dagalo, has well-established relations with Russia.

Western diplomats in Khartoum said in 2022 that Wagner was involved in illegal gold mining in Sudan and was spreading misleading information.

Hemedti said he had advised Sudan to sever relations with Wagner after the US imposed sanctions on it. The group announced on April 19 that it was no longer operating in Sudan.

Clashes broke out last month in Sudan between the Sudanese armed forces led by Abdulfattah Burhan and the RSF, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country and forcing more than 1.3 million people to flee their areas.

The Mali government has not yet responded to Washington's accusations.

Washington has repeatedly warned of "Wagner's destabilizing activities" and tightened sanctions on the private military group following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.

Wagner's mercenaries fought alongside the regular Russian forces in Ukraine, especially in some of the fiercest battles, including those in Bakhmut.

On Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller warned that Wagner sought to move military equipment through Mali for use in Ukraine.

Later, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied the accusations, describing them as a "hoax."

The US Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said that the Treasury's sanctions against Mali's most senior Wagner Group representative identify and disrupt a key operative supporting the group's global activities.

"The Wagner Group's presence on the African continent is a destabilizing force for any country that allows for the deployment of the group's resources into their sovereign territory."

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Arab World

Investors Eye Syria After Trump Sanctions Move

Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 
Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 
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Investors Eye Syria After Trump Sanctions Move

Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 
Syrian watch a televised speech of President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a café in Aleppo (AFP) 

An end to US sanctions on Syria is expected to mark a new era for an economy devastated by 13 years of war, opening the way for investment flows from the Syrian diaspora, Türkiye, and Gulf states that back the new government.

Business executives, Syria's finance minister, and analysts told Reuters they anticipated an influx of capital into the bankrupt economy once sanctions are lifted in line with President Donald Trump's surprise announcement, notwithstanding the many challenges still facing the deeply-fractured nation.

Billionaire Syrian businessman Ghassan Aboud told Reuters he was making plans to invest, and expected other Syrians with international business ties to be doing the same.

“They were scared to come and work in Syria due to the sanctions risks ... This will completely disappear now,” said Aboud, who lives in the UAE.

“I'm of course planning to enter the market, for two reasons: I want to help the country recover in any way possible, and second, the ground is fertile: any seed planted today can result in a good profit margin,” he said, outlining a multi-billion dollar plan to boost Syrian art, culture and education.

The lifting of sanctions would radically reshape an economy already set on a new course by Syria's new rulers, who have pursued free-market policies and shifted away from the state-led model adopted during five decades of rule by the Assad family.

The United States and other Western powers imposed tough sanctions on Syria during the war that spiraled out of protests against Bashar al-Assad's rule in 2011.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a televised address late on Wednesday, that Trump's decision was historic and brave, and vowed that Syria would strengthen the investment climate.

“We welcome all investors from our homeland, both at home and abroad, and from our Arab and Turkish brothers and friends around the world,” he said.

The conflict has turned many urban areas to rubble and killed hundreds of thousands of people. More than 90% of the 23 million Syrians live below the poverty line, UN agencies say.

“There's a real chance for a transformational change in Syria and the broader region," said Timothy Ash, senior sovereign strategist for emerging markets at RBC BlueBay Asset Management.

Turkish firms and banks are expected to benefit from the lifting of sanctions, said Onur Genc, chief executive officer of financial group BBVA, whose group comprises Garanti BBVA, the second-largest private bank in Türkiye.

“For Türkiye, it's going to be positive because there's a lot of reconstruction needed in Syria. Who's there to do that? The Turkish companies,” he told Reuters.

“The lifting of the sanctions would allow the Turkish companies to go there now much better, and the Turkish banks to be able to finance them - so it will help,” he said.

Syria’s economy more than halved between 2010 and 2021, official Syrian data cited by the World Bank in 2024 showed. However, this was likely an underestimate, the bank said.

Syria's pound has strengthened since Trump's announcement.

Currency traders said it was hovering between 9,000 and 9,500 to the dollar on Wednesday, compared to 12,600 earlier this week. Before the war in 2011, it traded at 47.

Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh told Reuters that investors from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, among others, had been making inquiries about investing.

“Syria today is a land of opportunities, with immense potential across every sector—from agriculture to oil, tourism, infrastructure, and transportation,” he told Reuters.

“We call on all investors to take this opportunity.”

Watching footage of Trump meeting Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday at his Damascus office, Karam Bechara, general manager of Shahba Bank in Syria, described excitement in the business community. “It’s too good to be true,” he said.

“We’re on the right track now internationally unless something happens in Syria that derails the process,” he said.

But Syria remains fragile.

Some armed groups have yet to turn their weapons over to the government, Kurdish autonomy demands are a point of friction, and sectarian violence has left minorities afraid of Sharaa's rule, despite his promises of protection and inclusive governance. Israel opposes Sharaa, saying he remains a jihadist, and has bombed Syria repeatedly.

Jihad Yazigi, editor of a leading newsletter on Syria's economy, Syria Report, said the US decision was transformative because it sent “a very strong political signal” and opened the way for its reintegration with the Gulf, international financial organizations, and Syria's big diaspora in the West.

Imad al-Khatib, a Lebanese investor, said he had accelerated his plans to invest in Syria after Trump's announcement.

Together with Lebanese and Syrian partners, he carried out a feasibility study for a $200 million waste sorting plant in Damascus two months ago. On Wednesday morning, he sent a team of specialists to Syria on Wednesday to begin preparations.

“This is the first step ... and larger steps will follow, God willing. We will certainly work to attract new investors because Syria is much larger than Lebanon,” he told Reuters.