from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan Bureau
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – A dramatic confrontation in London has brought Sudan’s devastating war into the streets of Britain, after a Sudanese protester confronted the entourage of Dubai’s ruler and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, demanding an end to the killing of Sudanese civilians.
Video circulating online, apparently recorded in central London, shows the Sudanese man shouting towards the Emirati group: “Stop killing my people!”
A man apparently travelling with the entourage then responded with an offensive racial insult directed at the protester.
The footage has circulated widely online, although CAJ News Africa could not independently verify the identities of everyone involved or establish whether the response represented any official UAE position.
The alleged exchange instead appears to have involved a member of Rashid Al Maktoum’s entourage.
The confrontation reflects the profound anger among Sudanese communities over foreign involvement in the war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti.
The two forces were once partners but became rivals over control of Sudan and the country’s political future.
Their struggle has devastated Africa’s third-largest country, with millions displaced, widespread hunger and atrocities reported by international investigators.
The United Nations (UN) says Sudan has become the world’s largest humanitarian emergency.
The UAE has repeatedly been accused of supporting the RSF with weapons and other assistance.
UN experts and other investigations have raised concerns over alleged arms transfers through Chad, while the UAE strongly denies providing military, financial or logistical support to either side.
The motivation by critics is strategic and economic: Sudan possesses substantial gold reserves, agricultural potential and an important Red Sea location.
Gulf interests in Sudanese gold have also attracted scrutiny.
Qatar has also been accused of backing the SAF, although Doha denies military interference and says it supports Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and humanitarian relief.
Qatar says it has provided more than US$75 million in humanitarian assistance since the war began.
For Sudanese protesters, however, such geopolitical explanations are secondary to the human cost.
The African Union (AU) has repeatedly demanded an immediate ceasefire, backed Sudanese-led dialogue and promoted its Roadmap for resolving the conflict.
The UN has also supported mediation, humanitarian operations, investigations and international pressure on the combatants, but neither institution has succeeded in stopping the war.
The London confrontation therefore carries a wider message: Sudanese civilians increasingly want international powers to stop treating their country as a strategic arena and instead help end a war that has destroyed homes, livelihoods and communities.
For Sudan, peace is no longer simply a diplomatic objective. It is a national survival imperative.
– CAJ News