Declan Walsh

Last year, Hemeti, the leader of the ORSF, did a tour of several African countries in which he met people

prime ministers and presidents and attempted to sort of burnish his image.

And he did that on a Boeing jet, which had been supplied by the UAE.

At the same time, it turns out the Emirates has an ownership stake in one of the largest government-controlled industrialized gold mines in the country.

That's called the Kush mine.

In other words, there's evidence that the UAE is arming one side in the war while funding the other.

Well, if I can pedal back just briefly to the previous administration, the Biden administration, there has certainly been a lot of U.S.

concern among some officials, at least about what's going on in Sudan.

The Biden administration recognized that the Emirates was a major factor in fueling the war and privately put pressure on the Emirates to try and stop that to little effect.

The Trump administration initially didn't seem to be very concerned with Sudan.

But as things have gotten worse in recent months, particularly as the siege of the city al-Fasher we talked about earlier intensified, the Trump administration has suddenly become much more engaged in Sudan.

Since September, we've seen the U.S.

bring together this diplomatic grouping, which it calls the Quad,

And that is diplomats from the US, from Saudi Arabia, from the United Arab Emirates and from Egypt.

And they say that they are working towards a ceasefire in the country.

It didn't lead to much initially, but at least provides a sort of framework for what it hopes could at least stop the fighting and the war for the first time in over two and a half years.

Well, this is part of the problem.

I mean, critics of this diplomatic initiative say, here's the U.S.

trying to bring peace to Sudan, but doing it through these talks with countries that are fueling either side in the war, particularly the UAE.

And in fact, even when the UAE signed an agreement as part of the Quad in September 2017,