Sudanese Involvement in Libya

With the loyalist counteroffensive in Libya to retake Tripoli from the Libya Dawn rebels, Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has accused Sudan and Qatar of aiding Libya Dawn with arms; an indictment of no small importance, in part due to the standing arms embargo on Libya preventing the loyalist forces from receiving new arms shipments. Al-Thinni cites an incident where a Sudanese aircraft carrying weaponry was seized during a refueling stop at the oasis town of Kufra.

Though Sudan does not deny it is sympathetic to Libya Dawn and other Libyan Islamist groups, it denies sending arms to the rebels, stating that the weapons were intended for Sudanese border guards. In fact, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti condemned foreign powers for meddling in Libyan affairs and supplying militant groups with arms. The Sudanese government recently openly denied military intervention in Libya. Indeed, there is plenty of evidence showing efforts by several Middle Eastern countries aiding or opposing Libya Dawn. This summer, US officials claimed that UAE and Egyptian aircraft conducted air strikes on Libya Dawn militias, whilst the fall of Derna to ISIL affiliated forces is also of great concern, implying great foreign Islamist influence on the Libyan rebels. That said, Libya Dawn claims no connection between them and the ISIL forces in Derna, citing an alleged conspiracy to discredit them.

If Sudan is in fact directly aiding Libya Dawn, then it casts a more sinister light on their recent conference held with the Libyan loyalist government and other north African nations, ostensibly conducted to ensure a peaceful resolution to the Libyan civil war. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could certainly be presenting themselves as the savior of Libya in order to have a favorable image no matter what, whilst aiding his Islamist allies under the table in order to ensure their victory.

Leaked private messages from Sudanese military and government officials indicate that the Sudanese government is aiding Libyan rebels. Sudan wishes to keep good relations with Iran and do what they can in order to halt Saudi expansion in the region. Another goal is to keep Egypt down and away from threatening Sudanese interests. Several Sudanese officials explicitly state that Iran is their greatest benefactor “in terms of the cooperation in the areas of intelligence and military industrial production.”