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.
