UAE says foils bid to transfer weapons to Sudan army

The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it had foiled a weapons shipment intended for the Sudanese army, which has accused the Gulf state of backing rival paramilitaries in the country's two-year war.

"The security services succeeded in preventing the transfer of a quantity of military equipment to the Sudanese Armed Forces following the arrest of members of a cell involved in unauthorised mediation, brokering and illicit trafficking of military equipment," UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said, according to official news agency WAM.

The statement did not list the suspects arrested, but said members of the cell included former Sudanese intelligence chief Salah Gosh, an ex-adviser to the finance minister, and a political figure close to army head General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, as well as several Sudanese businessmen.

It said the arrests were made "during an inspection of ammunition in a private aircraft" loaded with around five million machine gun rounds. Some of the proceeds of the deal were also seized.

"According to investigators, the cell members completed a military equipment deal involving Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition, machine guns, and grenades worth millions of dollars," the statement said.

Gosh played a "central role in managing illegal military equipment trafficking within the UAE, in coordination with other cell members", according to the statement, which said the group had earned $2.6 million in profits from two deals.

The UAE has long been accused by Sudan and others of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the regular army for nearly two years -- an allegation the Gulf state denies.