Sudan has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on what it calls UAE "aggression" for allegedly supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) battling the army, a diplomatic source said Saturday according to AFP.
The fighting broke out in April last year between the regular army, headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
For months the regular army has accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF, a charge the UAE denies.
"Yesterday, our permanent representative to the United Nations submitted a request for an urgent session of the Security Council to discuss the UAE's aggression against the Sudanese people, and the provision of weapons and equipment to the terrorist militia," the source told AFP.
The country's official SUNA news agency confirmed that Sudan's UN representative, Al-Harith Idriss, had submitted the request.
SUNA cited Idriss as saying this was "in response to the UAE representative's memorandum to the Council", and that "the UAE's support for the criminal Rapid Support militia that waged war on the state makes the UAE an accomplice in all its crimes".
In a letter to the Security Council last week, the UAE foreign ministry rejected Sudan's accusations that it backs the RSF.
The letter said the allegations were "spurious (and) unfounded, and lack any credible evidence to support them".
Separately on Saturday, the UN Security Council expressed "deep concern" over escalating fighting in Sudan's North Darfur region and warned against the possibility of an imminent offensive by the RSF and allied militias on al-Fashir.
The city is the last Darfur state capital not under RSF control and hosts a large number of refugees.
The Sudan war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 8.5 million people to flee their homes in what the United Nations has called the "largest displacement crisis in the world".
In December, Khartoum demanded that 15 Emirati diplomats leave the country after an army commander accused Abu Dhabi of supporting the RSF, and protests in Port Sudan demanded the expulsion of the UAE ambassador.
On Saturday, the UAE expressed its deep concern over the heightened tensions in the al-Fashir region and the threat this poses to Sudanese civilians, said its foreign ministry in a statement.
The UAE called on all armed factions, including the RSF and army, to end the fighting and return to dialogue. It urged all warring parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, and to take immediate, decisive measures to de-escalate tensions and prevent Sudan from plunging further into new levels of instability.
It called for strengthening the international humanitarian response and providing urgent relief to those in need in Sudan and neighboring countries.
The UAE is particularly alarmed by reports of sexual violence against women and girls, high risk of famine, indiscriminate aerial bombings, and the continued suffering and displacement of thousands of civilians, especially children, women, and the elderly, said the statement.
The UAE urged the UN Security Council to ensure an end to the conflict and to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Sudan.
The UAE reiterated its firm position demanding an immediate ceasefire and a political solution to the crisis, stressing its support for the political process and efforts to achieve national consensus towards a civilian-led government, the ministry added.
