Social media accounts linked to Sudan's RSF are based in the UAE

Several social media accounts linked to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appear to be operating from the United Arab Emirates, Middle East Eye has found. 

In recent days, X, formerly known as Twitter, has rolled out a feature that allows users to see where an account is based and from which region it connects to the X app from.

A number of accounts of figures linked to, or supportive of, the Sudanese paramilitary and its affiliated institutions are based in the UAE, according to this new feature. 

These include the account of the interior ministry of the Government of Peace and Unity, the recently created parallel administration backed by the RSF.

Gony Mustafa Abubakr Sharif, the figure chosen by the parallel government to represent it at the United Nations, also runs his account from the Emirates. 

Two other accounts belonging to that administration, the foreign affairs ministry and prime minister's office, are run out of "West Asia", a region that includes the Middle East - but not Sudan. 

Users on X have claimed that a number of these accounts were previously showing as being based in the UAE, but then changed to "West Asia". MEE could not independently verify this. 

Faris El-Nur, an adviser to the RSF government and former negotiator for the paramilitary group, also runs his account from the UAE - though it is connected through the UK's app store.

Ibrahim El-Mirghani, a Sudanese politician who sided with the RSF and supports the parallel administration, lists his location on X as "Sudan". But the social media platform's new feature says the account is based in the UAE and is connected via the Emirati app store. 

Regarding the new feature, X displays the disclaimer: "The country or region that an account is based can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation. This data may not be accurate and can change periodically."

An American doctor in the UAE

An account of an apparent doctor named "Imad" who says that he is from Columbus, Ohio, has been spreading propaganda about the situation in Sudan in recent months, according to a report by disinformation expert Marc Owen Jones. 

The account regularly posts pro-Israel content and links Sudan's army to the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadist ideology. The new feature shows that this X account is also run from the UAE.

Rape, ransom and execution: The road out of Sudan's el-Fasher

Read More »

Jedo Musa, an analyst who makes videos about the war in Sudan, frequently links the Sudanese army to the Muslim Brotherhood and reposts content from Emirati figures. His profile says he is in Sudan, but the account is based in the UAE. 

X accounts that belong to the RSF-controlled West Darfur civil administration, and Algoney Dagalo - the brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemedti) - are also based in the UAE.  

Intelligence and tracking data shared with MEE last week by sources in the US shows that associates of Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, Hemedti's brother and deputy, have flown from Zalingei and Nyala in Darfur and been present in a location close to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. From there, they have taken private, non-commercial aircraft to Abu Dhabi.

Earlier this month, multiple sources monitoring Sudan's war told MEE that their internal traffic showed an information war was underway between UAE and Saudi-backed social media accounts.

Accounts linked to the UAE are looking to discredit journalists and organisations that report on RSF atrocities, while Saudi-linked accounts are boosting the same content.

Facebook accounts

Middle East Eye also used the "profile transparency feature" on Facebook to find that a number of Facebook accounts linked to the RSF are also run from the UAE.

Ibrahim El-Mirghani and the parallel government's prime minister's office both have at least one page administrator based in the UAE. 

Hozuifa Abonoba, described as the head of an advisory council to the RSF military, has his Facebook run out of Sudan and the UAE, as well as two other locations classed as "hidden". His X account says he is in Nyala, South Darfur, but his account is in fact based in the UAE. 

How UAE bases arming Sudan's RSF support US 'grey ops' in Somalia

Read More »

Middle East Eye reported in January 2024 that the UAE was supplying the RSF with weapons through a complex network of supply lines and alliances stretching across Libya, Chad, Uganda and Somalia.

In the last month, MEE has reported extensively on the use of other supply routes to supply the RSF, including those running through Bosaso and Berbera, in Somalia's Puntland and Somaliland regions, where US forces are also operating.

US intelligence agencies reported as recently as October that the UAE has increased its supply of Chinese drones and other weapon systems to the RSF. Despite the evidence, the UAE denies aiding the RSF. 

Since Sudan's war began in April 2023, RSF fighters have been accused of widespread massacres and abuses, including committing genocide in Darfur. The Sudanese Armed Forces have also been accused of war crimes.