The White House on Thursday announced that it would impose sanctions against key defense companies and people who “perpetuate violence” in Sudan, as the warring sides failed to abide by a ceasefire agreement in the northeastern African nation.
Visa restrictions would apply to officials from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and leaders from the former Sudanese government led by former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who are “responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Sudan’s democratic transition, the US Department of State said.
US President Joe Biden on May 4 laid the groundwork for the penalties when he issued an executive order that expanded US authorities to respond to the violence and help bring an end to the conflict.
Photo: AFP
“These measures are intended to hold accountable those responsible for undermining the peace, security and stability of Sudan,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
Four companies were designated: Al Junaid Multi Activities Co Ltd, which is controlled by RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and his brother, RSF Deputy Commander Abdul Rahim Dagalo; United Arab Emirates-based Tradive General Trading LLC, a front company controlled by RSF Major Algoney Hamdan Dagalo, who is also a Dagalo brother; Sudan’s largest defense company, Defense Industries System; and arms company Sudan Master Technology, which is linked to the SAF, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement.
Tradive has purchased vehicles for the RSF that have been retrofitted with machine guns and been used to patrol the streets of Sudan.
Al Junaid, also known as Algunade, operates 11 subsidiaries across multiple economic sectors, including the gold industry, and has been a vital source of revenue for the Dagalo family and the RFS.
The SAF-connected Defense Industries System has hundreds of subsidiaries that manufacture small arms, conventional weapons, ammunition and military vehicles.
The company uses a complex system to hide its ownership of these subsidiaries and to obtain favorable letters of credit from the Sudanese central bank, and frequently defaults on those loans, the Treasury department said.
“Through sanctions, we are cutting off key financial flows to both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, depriving them of resources needed to pay soldiers, rearm, resupply and wage war in Sudan,” US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said. “The United States stands on the side of civilians against those who perpetuate violence toward the people of Sudan.”
It remains unclear how the sanctions would affect either force’s financing or the trajectory of the conflict, now entering its seventh week.
The Biden administration said it is coordinating with the African Union, Saudi Arabia and others in the region, to press both parties to end the conflict.
The sanctions would need the support of other regional stakeholders, Khartoum-based think tank Confluence Advisory founder and director Kholood Khair said.
“The US was likely motivated to act because repeat violations are undermining its clout, globally,” Khair said.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS