UK hosting 'discreet' Sudan event featuring RSF and UAE representatives
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Oscar Rickett
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Wed, 07/22/2026 - 12:37
Sudan's army-backed government tells MEE it has 'very little confidence or trust' in what the UK is doing
Wiston House, which hosts the UK's Wilton Park events, pictured in March 2016 (Wikimedia/Creative Commons)
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A discreet British foreign office event beginning on Wednesday is mired in controversy after it emerged that a representative of the Rapid Support Forces' (RSF) political wing will be attending, Middle East Eye can reveal.
Nasredeen Abdulbari, a leader in the Sudanese paramilitary's Tasis coalition, is attending a UK-run conference at Wilton Park alongside a delegation from the United Arab Emirates, according to multiple British and Sudanese sources.
Sudan's army-backed government was not invited to the conference, which runs from Wednesday to Friday and was described by multiple British government sources as a "discreet" event.
The decision to invite a member of the RSF’s political wing and representatives from the UAE follows recent testimony given to a parliamentary committee by Nathaniel Raymond, the executive director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), who said the UK had prioritised its relationship with the UAE over preventing atrocities in Sudan.
The RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023 and is backed by the UAE, has been widely accused of committing genocide in Darfur, including by the United Nations and the United States.
The UAE has continued to deny supporting the Sudanese paramilitary, despite mounting evidence. The SAF is backed by Turkey and Egypt.
The UK has recently spoken publicly on atrocities committed by the RSF.
"Last year, the world witnessed with horror the atrocities in el-Fasher - crimes that are assessed to bear the 'hallmarks of genocide'," the British government said in a joint statement with other European nations in June.
The UK was referring to a UN assessment of the RSF’s takeover of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, last October. Witnesses told Middle East Eye at the time that paramilitary fighters had raped, executed and extorted civilians during their assault on the city.
Apart from officials from Tasis and the UAE, Middle East Eye understands that representatives of other Gulf nations will be present at Wilton Park, which was set up after World War Two to foster democratic dialogue.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not respond to MEE's request for comment and clarity on who was attending the conference.
Based at Wiston House in West Sussex, Wilton Park describes itself as the UK's "foremost multilateral facilitator", which "serves as the UK government’s expert in convening international policy dialogue".
While most events are listed on its website, the "discreet" event on Sudan is not. "Everyone is going," one source at the foreign office said. A staff member at Wilton Park confirmed that the event was taking place.
'Pattern of complicity'
Amgad Fareid Eltayeb, an adviser to Sudan’s army-backed Transitional Sovereignty Council, condemned the British government’s decision.
"We saw a lot of statements from the US and UK governments showing concern about what the RSF would do if they took el-Fasher," he told MEE.
"It's the same rhetoric we still hear, the same talk… But while the British government is echoing concern about possible crimes committed by the RSF, a possible genocide committed by the RSF, they have invited RSF affiliates to England to discuss the future of Sudan."
"Anything that needs to be discreet is hiding something that makes it necessary for it to be discreet," Fareid said. "The UAE's support for the RSF has been documented even by their own parliament, and so we have very little confidence or trust in what the British government is trying to do discreetly."
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The published value of UK arms exports to the UAE in the last three years is £422m ($565m). British-made military equipment used by the RSF has been found on the battlefield in Sudan.
"We can see a pattern of complicity here," Fareid said. "They issue statements of concern about the RSF possibly committing genocide, then invite their leadership to discuss the future of Sudan."
One British policy expert, who for years has been involved in negotiations on Sudan, told MEE on condition of anonymity that it was "fairly outrageous" that multiple key figures had not been invited to Wilton Park.
"There are people - many of them Sudanese - who have been deeply involved for years but have not been invited to this and don’t even know anything about it," the source said.
The event comes just two days after former Labour leader Ed Miliband was appointed as the UK’s new foreign secretary.
Miliband, whose brother David works on Sudan as CEO of the International Rescue Committee, did not mention the country or its war in his opening statement as foreign minister.
The war in Ukraine, the resumption of the war on Iran, and Israel’s genocide in Gaza are considered more pressing priorities for British foreign policy.
Nevertheless, diplomatic sources told MEE that there was some hope that Miliband might stand up to the UAE over its role in the war in Sudan, which has been described as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands killed and over 14 million displaced.
Sudan war
Ragip Soylu
Ankara
London
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