The tribal militia turned paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan are known to document their own war crimes.

Videos of their fighters lynching women, lashing emergency responders and cheering over dead bodies have circulated online since the start of the RSF’s war with Sudan‘s army in April 2023.

One piece of evidence never revealed in any of their violent videos is who is backing them and why?

In an exclusive interview with Sky News at a location we cannot disclose, an RSF intelligence officer confirms widespread allegations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the RSF’s main backer in a war that has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

“In the beginning, it was the Russians – Wagner and the state. Now, they tell me it is the UAE supporting the RSF,” says Ahmed*, using an alias to protect his identity.

Originally from North Darfur, Ahmed lives a double life as a refugee in one of Sudan’s neighbouring countries while staying connected to forces on the ground.

“Many of the planes landing at Nyala [in South Darfur] are said to bring weapons from the UAE and partially through the Amdjarras airport in Chad.

“It’s a financial relationship, no more,” he said. “The RSF controls areas with large gold mines – Darfur alone has more than four or five gold mines – the UAE is a gold trading hub.”

The RSF is accused of genocide in Darfur and mass looting, sexual violence and armed raids across the country.

Its troops are currently strangling the last state-held capital of North Darfur in a violent siege to complete its control of western Sudan. Close to a million people in Al Fashir locality are being starved by an RSF blockade and bombarded by daily drone strikes and shelling.

On the outskirts of North Darfur’s Karnoi town, we meet Joint Task Forces intelligence commander Idris Ali.

The Joint Task Forces are made up of former rebels from across Darfur that the military armed the RSF to crush, through mass ethnic violence in the early 2000s. Now, they are armed by the state to fight the RSF.

“Our patriotism does not allow us to surrender. Our right to the land means we have to fight until our last breath,” says Commander Ali.

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The RSF is currently using sophisticated weapons and drones to pummel his forces and civilians in Al Fashir, and carry out strikes across Sudan.

“According to our sources, the weapons come from the UAE. Chad is just a corridor for these arms to reach Sudan,” he added.

According to his intelligence, supplies travel from Chad’s second city Abeche through the Adre crossing and into West Darfur to Al Geneina – the state capital the RSF massacred before its violent takeover in November 2023.

One video he shared with us shows a truck crossing after dark with khaki material covering its cargo.

The commander says it was filmed by sources on the Chad-Sudan border during an arms transfer from Adre town into West Darfur. There is no identifiable branding of humanitarian aid or visible signs of weapons in the footage.

In another video, a convoy of land cruisers races through terrain similar to that of eastern Chad. He says his sources also documented this at the Adre crossing and alleges that the land cruisers are painted in RSF colours and turned into lethal ‘technicals’ [weaponised civilian vehicles] once in West Darfur.

He describes a second route that runs south of the border town Tine into North Darfur. Further north, he says RSF arms and supplies land in Amdjarras airport in Chad and head to the main RSF base and supply hub in Zurug town.

At least 86 flights travelling from the UAE to Amdjarras airport were independently documented by December 2024.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on 4 September, the Sudanese authorities alleged no fewer than 248 flights between November 2024 and February 2025 were operated by UAE-chartered aircraft to smuggle mercenaries, weapons and military equipment into Sudanese territory.

More recently, online flight tracker @AfriMEOSINT noted flights from the UAE arriving in N’djamena airport in Chad’s capital. On 20 September, a cargo flight left Al Reef airbase in Abu Dhabi and landed in the military section of N’Djamena airport.

In April, the Guardian reported on a leaked United Nations report that documented a consistent pattern of Ilyushin 1L-76TD cargo flights originating from the UAE into Chad, with multiple flights making deliberate attempts to avoid detection and identified at least three overland routes from Chad potentially used for transporting weapons into Sudan.

According to the Guardian, the experts added they could not identify what the planes were carrying or locate any evidence the planes were transporting weapons. These findings were not included in the final 39-page report.

UAE ‘categorically rejects’ claims

We presented the allegations in our report to the UAE’s foreign ministry. It sent us this response:

“Since the onset of the civil war, the UAE has consistently supported regional and international efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for violations committed by all warring parties.

“The UAE remains committed to a civilian-led process that places the needs of the Sudanese people above the interests of any faction.

“In this spirit, the UAE notes a marked increase in unfounded accusations and deliberate propaganda from the so-called Port Sudan Authority, one of the warring parties to the civil war, which actively undermines efforts to end the conflict and restore stability.

“These escalating fabrications form part of a calculated pattern of deflection – shifting blame to others to evade responsibility for its own actions – intended to prolong the war and obstruct a genuine peace process.

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“We categorically reject any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war, and condemn atrocities committed by both Port Sudan Authority and RSF.

“The latest UN Panel of Experts report makes clear that there is no substantiated evidence that the UAE has provided any support to RSF, or has any involvement in the conflict.

“The UAE reaffirms its unwavering commitment to working closely with partners to foster dialogue, mobilise international support, and contribute to initiatives that address the humanitarian crisis and lay the groundwork for sustainable peace.

“These efforts will assist in building a secure and stable future for Sudan that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Sudanese people for peace and development.”

The Chadian government did not respond to our request for comment.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has told Sky News he believes Donald Trump is “very, very committed” to ending the war in Gaza.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud said a recent meeting between the US president and Arab leaders went “very well” and that he was hopeful that a peace deal could soon be agreed.

He told The World with Yalda Hakim: “The war has gone on for far too long, too many people have died. Too much suffering has occurred [and] we have a famine going on in Gaza right now.

“And I got the sense from the meeting that President Trump is very, very committed to finding a path to ending the war, bringing the hostages out, bringing the relief to the people of Gaza.

“So I’m actually hopeful that we’ve started the dialogue that’s going to get us towards achieving this ceasefire.”

His comments come amid heightened international pressure on Israel after a commission established by the United Nations recently found its military was committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel, which launched its offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas’s deadly 7 October attacks in 2023, said it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report”.

Alongside the UN Commission report, multiple Western countries, including the UK, have also decided to formally recognise Palestine as a state.

That has prompted some Israeli ministers to call for the annexation of the West Bank to push back against efforts towards a two-state solution to the conflict.

But speaking to Sky News, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said he felt “reassured that the [US] president understands how dangerous the idea of annexation in the West Bank is, how strongly the Arab and Muslim countries feel about the need to find an end to the war.”

After the Sky News interview was recorded, Mr Trump appeared to confirm such a stance later on Thursday, telling reporters at the White House: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank… It’s not gonna’ happen… There’s been enough.”

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Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister told Sky News that formal recognition of Palestine by so many nations demonstrated that “real hope partially exists in the renewed commitment by the international community to the two-state solution to a Palestinian state”.

He said: “Because that’s a strong signal to everyone, but most particularly to the Palestinian people, that there is actually a hope for them to live in peace and harmony side by side with Israel.”

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The former president, 70, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, but was cleared of all other charges in the trial over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the government of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi.

The court in Paris found him guilty of criminal conspiracy, but not guilty of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, and concealing the embezzlement of public funds.

In a surprise move, the judge said he would be jailed regardless of whether he appeals the verdict, which usually suspends sentencing. He was not sent straight to jail, however, with the start date of his sentence yet to be decided.

Sarkozy denied the charges during the three-month court case, which he claimed was politically motivated.

He was accompanied to Thursday’s hearing by his wife, singer and model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and his three sons.

Overall, the verdict suggested the former president and his co-defendants had conspired to seek Libyan campaign funding – but not that he was directly involved or that money was actually used.

The judge said Sarkozy had allowed his associates to reach out to Libyan authorities “to obtain or try to obtain financial support in Libya for the purpose of securing campaign financing”.

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Earlier this year, Sarkozy was stripped of his Legion of Honour medal, France‘s highest accolade.

In 2021, he was found guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate for information about a legal case in which he was implicated in 2014. Two years later, he was sentenced to a year on electronic tag, of which six months were suspended. After three months, it was ruled he could remove the monitoring device due to his age.

In another case last year, he was convicted of illegal campaign financing during his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid, having spent almost twice the allowed amount. He was sentenced to a year in prison, with six months suspended.

He has appealed the sentence and is awaiting the outcome from France’s highest court – the Court of Cassation.

Despite his criminal record, Sarkozy has remained an influential figure within the French Right.

Light shed on French-Libyan relations during Gaddafi’s rule

During the Gaddafi finance trial, he described the case against him as a “plot” staged by the “Gaddafi clan” and other “liars and crooks”.

He claimed it was revenge for his decision to call for Gaddafi to be removed from office.

The allegations stretch back to 2011 when a Libyan news agency reported that Gaddafi had said Libya had secretly sent millions of euros to Sarkozy’s election campaign.

A year later, French investigative outlet Mediapart published what it claimed to be a piece of Libyan intelligence referencing a £43.7m funding agreement, which Sarkozy rubbished and saw him sue for defamation.

The court ruled on Thursday that it “now appears most likely that this document was a forgery”.

In the current case, Sarkozy had 11 co-defendants, including three former ministers.

Two of them, Claude Gueant and Brice Hortefeux, both among his closest confidantes during his presidency, were also found guilty of criminal association but not guilty on other charges.

The trial shed light on France’s relationship with Libya during the 2000s, when Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed in 2011, was trying to restore diplomatic ties with Western countries.

It also saw investigators scrutinise several trips to Libya made by people in Sarkozy’s inner circle while he was still interior minister between 2005 and 2007 – including his chief-of-staff.

In a key development in 2016, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine told Mediapart he had delivered suitcases full of cash from Tripoli to the French interior ministry while Sarkozy was in charge – but later retracted the claims.

Mr Takieddine, who was one of the co-defendants, died aged 75 on Tuesday in Beirut, according to his lawyer Elise Arfi said. He fled to Lebanon in 2020 and did not attend the trial.

His change-of-heart is now subject to a separate investigation into alleged witness interference – but it has not yet gone to trial.