Sudan foreign minister vows El Obeid will not fall, accuses UAE of backing militia
July 3, 2026 (GENEVA) – Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salem vowed on Friday that the besieged city of El Obeid would never fall, while accusing the United Arab Emirates of providing direct military backing to the paramilitary forces striking civilian infrastructure.
Speaking during an urgent United Nations Human Rights Council debate regarding the crisis in El Obeid, the foreign minister urged international powers to confront the foreign backers of the rival militia and immediately halt the pipeline of advanced weapons.
The minister, who highlighted his personal roots in El Obeid, stressed that the population of the “wounded city” would continue to resist the ongoing siege.
On the sidelines of the special session in Geneva, Salem met with U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and senior aides to outline the government’s stance against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
During the talks, Salem condemned the United Arab Emirates, accusing the Gulf state of supplying the militia with a continuous flow of weapons, mercenaries, and the strategic drones currently bombing El Obeid.
The Sudanese top diplomat called on the global community to expedite the formal designation of the RSF as a terrorist entity, arguing that its actions fully meet international definitions of terrorism.
He urged the five core nations that requested the urgent U.N. session to take the most direct path toward peace by sending an unequivocal message to the state sponsoring the militia and to neighbouring countries facilitating the logistics.
Despite the government’s criticism of the international community’s inaction, Salem affirmed Sudan’s continued cooperation with existing U.N. human rights mechanisms, including the country office and the designated expert on Sudan.
He reiterated Khartoum’s readiness to engage with external peace initiatives, provided they align with the formal roadmap submitted to the U.N. in March 2025 by the chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council.
According to Salem, that roadmap remains contingent upon the complete dismantling of the militia, the total collection of its weaponry, and the relocation of its fighters to agreed-upon assembly zones.