Genocide now: The Darfur massacre is more international than it might appear

The fifth son of the ruling monarch, a multimillionaire, and the vice president and deputy prime minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour is known not only for his more peaceful passions — football, Arabian horses, and luxury yachts. He is also the patron of one of the most brutal men on the planet: Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagolo, who controls vast territories in western Sudan.

Mohamed Hamdan is the commander of a group that hides behind the neutral-sounding name Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In reality, he runs a gang of cutthroats that has unleashed a full-blown genocide on the territories under its control. In other words, the same Arab prince funds both one of England’s top football clubs and one of the African continent’s most bloodthirsty warlords. Under the circumstances, it comes as little surprise that Manchester City’s social media pages are boiling over with emotions that have nothing to do with football.

Sponsor of the massacre

The fact that Sheikh Mansour has been aiding Hamdan in his war against Sudan’s central authorities is hardly news. Last fall, American journalists revealed that the Emirati government had been supplying weapons to the RSF, reportedly using a warehouse disguised as a medical facility (the building was marked with red crosses). According to statements from UAE officials, it had supposedly been built at their expense on Sudanese territory to provide aid to local residents affected by the war and the resulting famine.

The UN has stated that it possesses evidence that the Emirates are violating the long-standing arms embargo on Sudan and are effectively siding with Hamdan. However, there have been no significant repercussions for the UAE government — nor for Sheikh Mansour personally.

Of course, it is money that has kept both parties out of serious trouble. Emirati petrodollars are vital to British football (not only Manchester City but also Arsenal depends on them), and the Americans sell billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to the UAE. The monarchy also plays a key financial role in the Gaza peace process. Quite simply, the UAE is too powerful and too wealthy to antagonize over an issue as geopolitically marginal as a genocide in Sudan.

Paradoxically, Sheikh Mansour was most likely driven to cooperate with Hamdan by the prospect of earning even more money for his country. It may seem nonsensical: one of the world’s richest states supporting outright bandits for potential profit. But in reality, the UAE’s economy is far more fragile than it appears from the outside.