The UAE urged warring parties in Sudan to accept a ceasefire during Ramadan, as it expressed deep concern at the findings of an independent UN fact-finding mission regarding crimes committed in El Fasher city.
Mohamed Abushahab, the UAE's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council briefing on Sudan that an immediate, unconditional humanitarian truce is necessary to end the suffering of civilians.
"It is now the third consecutive Ramadan that the Sudanese people are forced to endure under bombardment," Mr Abushahab said. "The third consecutive Ramadan where calls for a ceasefire are ignored by the warring parties who fight on, with blatant disregard for the suffering of the Sudanese people, despite the international community’s outcries.
"Their wartime narratives sustain the illusion of a military solution, where in reality there is none. Only a political process can secure sustainable peace for Sudan."
The UAE has welcomed a “Comprehensive Peace Plan” for Sudan announced by the US senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos. Mr Abushahab said the plan offered "the best pathway towards a political transition to a civilian-led government" and added that "the future of Sudan must not be shaped through violence, nor dictated by its warring parties".
The UAE is one of Sudan's biggest donors. Earlier this month, it announced during a donors conference in Washington that it would contribute an additional $500 million to a humanitarian fund. Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh said more than half of Sudan's population urgently requires aid and that the funds would help civilians to have access to food, medical care, shelter and life-saving assistance.
In the same session, the US adviser on Africa insisted that a military solution cannot end the war in Sudan. He laid out his plan to end the war, calling for an immediate ceasefire and a transition to a civilian-led government to prevent the country from “institutional collapse".
"There are no good actors in this conflict,” Mr Boulos said, adding that the warring sides, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have conducted “serious human rights violations and abuses".
The US official said Sudan's future must not be decided by generals. “It must be shaped by civilians, by the doctors, teachers, youth leaders, women’s groups, and community representatives who led the peaceful revolution," he explained.
“We will use the tools at our disposal – including sanctions and other measures – to hold accountable those who enable violence, undermine democratic governance, or threaten regional stability."
The session came after a new UN fact-finding report was published on Thursday, uncovering atrocities carried out during the siege and takeover of El Fasher that points to genocide. The city fell to the RSF in October 2025 after a long siege.
The UAE condemned the atrocities documented in the report. In a statement shared with The National, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its "deep concern at the findings of the fact-finding mission’s 19 February report and condemns in the strongest terms the atrocities documented therein, including those committed by the Rapid Support Forces".
At the same time, the UAE "unequivocally condemns the documented grave violations and atrocities committed by the Port Sudan Authority. We call on the international community to ensure that all perpetrators of atrocities are held to account", it added.
"Sudan’s future must be secured through an independent, civilian-led transition process that is fully independent of both warring parties and extremist groups, including those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood."
Sudan has been gripped by war since April 2023, when tensions between the army and the RSF exploded into open conflict, devastating large parts of the country, displacing millions and triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Both sides have been accused of atrocities. SAF chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan has been placed under sanction by the US and accused of allowing his troops to use chemical weapons and block aid to specific regions. The RSF and its commander, Gen Mohamed Dagalo, has been accused of war crimes.
On Thursday, the US imposed new sanctions on three commanders of the RSF for their role in the 18-month siege and capture of El Fasher. The sanctions accuse the group of conducting “human rights violations, including ethnic killings, torture, starvation tactics and sexual violence".
Earlier this month, the UK imposed sanctions on six people, including a senior army commander, suspected of committing atrocities in Sudan's civil war or fuelling the conflict through the supply of mercenaries and military equipment. The designations included Abu Aqla Mohamed Kaikal, an army commander and leader of the Sudan Shield Forces.
