Sudan weighs action over UK, Japanese talks with RSF in Nairobi
September 19, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan is preparing measures in response to recent meetings in Nairobi between British and Japanese diplomats and representatives of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), senior government sources told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.
The government warned foreign aid agencies in January against engaging with the RSF-affiliated relief body, saying contact with parallel institutions infringes on national sovereignty and could lead to the revocation of operating licences.
Government officials said the talks in Kenya breached United Nations Security Council resolutions rejecting the formation of parallel authorities, as well as an African Union Peace and Security Council decision restricting international engagement to the government led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
British officials defended their meetings, telling Sudan Tribune that contact with RSF commanders was strictly practical to negotiate aid access and protect relief workers in territories held by the paramilitary force.
The British delegation stressed that the talks did not constitute political recognition of any parallel administration, though Khartoum rejected a British request to let aid organisations register with the RSF’s humanitarian wing.
On Friday, Richard Crowder, the UK’s special representative to Sudan, met in Nairobi with Ezzelldin El Safi, head of the RSF’s humanitarian agency, to discuss civilian protection and aid delivery.
El Safi also met earlier in the week with Takahara Takunobu, the chargé d’affaires at Japan’s embassy to Sudan, to discuss aid funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Sudanese government sources dismissed the RSF’s outreach as public relations, pointing to its prolonged siege of El Fasher in North Darfur and past attacks on displacement sites, including the Zamzam camp.
Government officials also alleged the RSF had used humanitarian corridors, including the Adre border crossing from Chad, to transport weapons, an accusation the paramilitary force has repeatedly denied.
It is worth noting that the Sudanese government source made no mention of the meeting held on September 13 in Nyala between Prime Minister Mohamed Hassan Osman Al-Taishi and the Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Carl Skau, nor did it address the meeting in Nairobi where El-Safi received a European Union delegation to discuss facilitating humanitarian aid deliveries to civilians.