News - Middle East: UK government officials attempted to suppress criticism of the United Arab Emirates and its alleged role in supplying arms to a notorious militia waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan, sources have told the Guardian.

Claims that Foreign Office officials put pressure on African diplomats to avoid criticising the UAE over its alleged military support for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will intensify scrutiny of the UK’s relationship with the Gulf state.

The RSF, a paramilitary group accused of carrying out crimes against humanity by rights groups, is besieging the city of El Fasher in Darfur, a sprawling region in western Sudan.

Fighters have encircled the city, amid evidence they are targeting and murdering civilians based on their ethnicity. The siege has prompting warnings that if El Fasher falls it will precipitate a large-scale massacre and possible genocide.

Yonah Diamond, an international human rights lawyer, said that during informal talks earlier this month in Ethiopia – to explore the possibility of legal action against the UAE over its alleged role in the fighting – he was told by sources that the UK was actively dissuading some states from condemning the emirates.

Diamond’s talks in Addis Ababa involved officials from the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-country east African trade bloc, along with other diplomats.

However, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) strongly denied the claims. A spokesperson said: “These accusations are categorically untrue. The UK is using its diplomatic influence to support efforts for a durable peace.”

On Tuesday, Sudan’s army-aligned government and the UAE clashed at the UN security council with the latter dismissing claims it was supplying the RSF as “ludicrous”.

Last week the Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at Yale University revealed images of a cargo plane flying over RSF territory near El Fasher, matching an aircraft type seen at locations in neighbouring Chad where lethal aid has allegedly been transferred to the RSF.