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Sudan’s booming wartime gold trade flows through the UAE

Sudan’s gold industry has become the lifeblood of its war, with nearly all of the trade channelled through the United Arab Emirates, enriching both the army and paramilitaries, according to official and NGO sources.The two-year conflict has decimated Sudan’s economy, yet last month the army-backed government announced record gold production in 2024.Demand for the country’s vast gold reserves was “a key factor in prolonging the war,” Sudanese economist Abdelazim al-Amawy told AFP.”To solve the war in Sudan, we have to follow the gold, and we arrive at the UAE,” said Marc Ummel, a researcher with development organisation Swissaid who tracks African gold smuggling to the Gulf country.In a statement emailed to AFP in response to this story, an official said that “the UAE firmly rejects any groundless allegations regarding the smuggling and profiting of gold from Sudan during this humanitarian catastrophe”.The official also said: “The UAE takes the regulation of its gold sector very seriously and will continue to maintain its position as a leading ethical gold hub, actively preventing illicit flows from entering the market.”But according to Sudanese officials, mining industry sources and Swissaid’s research, nearly all of Sudan’s gold flows to the UAE, via official trade routes, smuggling and direct Emirati ownership of the government’s currently most lucrative mine.In February, the state-owned Sudan Mineral Resources Company said gold production reached 64 tonnes in 2024, up from 41.8 tonnes in 2022.Legal exports brought $1.57 billion into the state’s depleted coffers, central bank figures show.But “nearly half of the state’s production is smuggled across borders,” SMRC director Mohammed Taher told AFP from Port Sudan.Nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) away, on Sudan’s borders with South Sudan and the Central African Republic, lie the mines controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.Much of the gold produced by both sides is smuggled to Chad, South Sudan and Egypt, before reaching the UAE, according to mining industry sources and experts.- Emirati assets -This month, Sudan filed a case with the International Court of Justice, accusing the UAE of complicity in genocide committed by the RSF in Darfur.Abu Dhabi, which has repeatedly denied accusations of funnelling weapons to the RSF, has called the case a “publicity stunt” and said it would seek to have it thrown out.But the UAE has also played a major role in the government’s wartime gold rush, indirectly helping to fund its war effort.According to Taher, 90 percent of the state’s legal exports of gold go to the UAE, though the government is eyeing alternatives, including Qatar and Turkey.In the heart of army territory, halfway between Port Sudan and Khartoum, Sudan’s Kush mine is the centrepiece of the government’s gold industry.Evacuated when the war began, it is now back to producing hundreds of kilograms per month, according to an engineer at the Russian-built facility, owned by Dubai-based Emiral Resources.On its website, Emiral lists Kush as one of its holdings, alongside subsidiary Alliance for Mining, which it says is “the largest industrial gold producer in Sudan”.According to a gold industry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for his safety, in 2020 the mine “was bought by an Emirati investor who agreed to keep Russian management on”.- Underground -According to data from Dubai’s commodities exchange, the UAE became the world’s second-largest gold exporter in 2023, overtaking Britain.It is also the leading destination for smuggled African gold, according to Swissaid.Abu Dhabi says it has adopted a “responsible gold sourcing policy”, including a regulatory legal framework revised in January 2023, to develop a “well-regulated gold sector”.According to Ummel, “when you look at the figures, that’s not the case.””If this ‘Due Diligence Regulations for Responsible Sourcing of Gold’ was really implemented, all refineries in the UAE would have to do due diligence, the most basic element of which is to make sure your gold was declared in the country where it comes from,” he said.In 2023, data obtained by Swissaid showed UAE gold imports from Chad — on Sudan’s western border — were more than double the country’s estimated maximum capacity, suggesting the majority of it was undeclared and smuggled across borders.Ummel says there is no indication the UAE’s conflict-gold market has shrunk in recent years.In the vast Darfur region, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has controlled gold mines for years.According to Sudan expert Alex de Waal, these enabled him to establish a “private transnational mercenary enterprise”, mainly through his family’s Al-Junaid Multi Activities Co — sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union.A UN panel of experts last year concluded that Daglo’s gold wealth, through a network of up to 50 companies, helped him buy weapons and bankroll his war effort.Three former Al-Junaid engineers estimated the company’s wartime earnings at a minimum of $1 billion per year, based on approximate production and gold prices.Darfur’s southern border area alone produces at least 150 kilograms of gold per month, one former engineer told AFP.It is sent first to an airport in the South Sudanese town of Raga, “and then transported by plane to Uganda and Kenya, and then to the UAE”, the engineer, who had taken the trip himself, said on condition of anonymity.According to Ummel, “the UAE is not really implementing their regulation, they don’t carry out all the necessary controls and at the end they are continuing to fund the war.”

Israel parliament passes law enabling political control over judicial appointments

Israel’s parliament on Thursday passed a law expanding elected officials’ power to appoint judges, defying a years-long movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial reforms that saw massive street protests.The approval comes as Netanyahu’s government, one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is locked in a standoff with the supreme court after beginning proceedings to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and announcing the sacking of Ronen Bar, head of the internal security agency.Critics said the new law was a “nail in the coffin of Israeli democracy,” while the opposition swiftly filed a petition with the supreme court challenging the vote, viewing these judicial changes as signs of Netanyahu’s authoritarian shift toward an illiberal democracy.The legislation was approved by a vote of 67 in favour and one against, with the opposition boycotting the early-morning vote.Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has 120 lawmakers.The overall judicial reform package had sparked one of the largest protest movements in Israel’s history in 2023 before being overtaken by the war in Gaza.The war began following the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.According to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who sponsored the bill, the measure was intended to “restore balance” between the legislative and judicial branches.In his closing remarks ahead of the vote, Levin slammed the supreme court, saying it had “effectively nullified the Knesset”.”It has taken for itself the authority to cancel laws and even Basic Laws. This is something unheard of in any democracy in the world,” said Levin, the key architect of the judicial changes.”But our supreme court didn’t stop at trampling the Knesset; it placed itself above the government. It can annul any government action, compel the government to perform any action, cancel any government appointment.”- ‘Hypocrisy’ -“It is hypocrisy and one-sided to say that the Knesset is forbidden to act while the court is allowed to act in the middle of a war,” Levin said.”The days of appeasement and silencing are over, never to return.”Currently, judges — including supreme court justices — are selected by a nine-member committee comprising judges, lawmakers, and bar association representatives, under the justice minister’s supervision.Under the new law, which would take effect at the start of the next legislative term, the committee would still have nine members: three supreme court judges, the justice minister and another minister, one coalition lawmaker, one opposition lawmaker, and two public representatives -— one appointed by the majority and the other by the opposition.Yair Lapid, leader of the centre-right Yesh Atid party, announced on social media platform X that he had filed an appeal with the supreme court against the law on behalf of several opposition parties, just minutes after the parliamentary vote.The law aims to “ensure that judges become subject to the will of politicians,” Lapid said in his post.”Instead of focussing all efforts on their (Israeli hostages in Gaza) return and healing the divisions within the people, this government is returning to the exact legislation that divided the public before October 7.”- Protests and criticisms -“The amendment passed by the Knesset is another nail in the coffin of Israeli democracy,” said Eliad Shraga, head of Israeli NGO the Movement for Quality Government in Israel and one of the petitioners against the law.”This is a calculated attempt to take control of the judicial system and turn it into a tool in the hands of politicians,” he said in a statement.The government’s judicial reforms package, first unveiled in early 2023, had triggered massive weekly street protests that effectively divided Israeli society.Netanyahu’s detractors warn the multi-pronged package could pave the way for authoritarian rule and be used by Netanyahu to quash possible convictions against him in his ongoing corruption trial, an accusation the premier denies.Rallies have once again erupted in key cities, and on Wednesday thousands protested against the bill before it was approved in parliament.Netanyahu had slammed the opposition in parliament on Wednesday.”You recycle the same worn-out and ridiculous slogans about ‘the end of democracy’. Well, once and for all: Democracy is not in danger, it is the power of the bureaucrats that is in danger,” he said.”Perhaps you could stop putting spanners in the works of the government in the middle of a war. Perhaps you could stop fuelling the sedition, hatred and anarchy in the streets.”

Algerian court sentences writer Sansal to five years in jail

An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic storm, to five years behind bars, an AFP journalist inside the courtroom said.The author is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.He was arrested in November and stood trial for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity, after saying in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.The statement, which echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim, was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty.The author’s arrest in Algiers deepened a diplomatic rift with France, which analysts have said is the worst the two countries have seen in years.A court in Dar El Beida, near Algiers, sentenced “the defendant in his presence to a five-year prison term” with a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).Last week, prosecutors at an Algiers court requested a 10-year prison sentence for the novelist whose work has remained available in Algeria despite his criticism of the government.Though Sansal was relatively unknown in France before his arrest, the trial has sparked a wave of support from French intellectuals and officials.French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed the accusations against Sansal as “not serious”, but had expressed confidence in Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s “clarity of vision” on the matter.Macron has repeatedly called for the writer’s release, citing his fragile state of health due to cancer.Sansal’s French lawyer, Francois Zimeray, condemned the decision in a post on X as “a sentence that betrays the very meaning of the word justice.”His age and his health make every day he spends in jail even more inhuman. I appeal to the Algerian presidence: justice has failed, let humanity at least prevail.”According to his French publisher, Sansal is 80 years old.- ‘Resolution’ -Algerian news site TSA has written that the trial was “not just about the fate of one man but also the immediate future of relations” between Algeria and its former colonial ruler.Ties between the two countries have been strained over migration issues and since Macron recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara in July last year.Western Sahara is mostly controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front, which seeks a UN-backed self-determination referendum that has never materialised since a 1991 ceasefire.At his trial last week, Sansal said he had not foreseen the potential repercussions of his comments on Algeria’s borders with Morocco.He also denied any intent to harm Algeria, saying he merely “expressed an opinion” in the name of “freedom of expression”, according to Algerian newspaper Echorouk.Algeria has blamed the French right and far right for fuelling the dispute, arguing that French diplomacy is now led by hardliners favouring its regional rival, Morocco.In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Tebboune said in an interview on Saturday that the case was “in good hands” and described Macron as his “sole point of reference” for repairing strained ties.Prior to Thursday’s sentencing, analyst Hasni Abidi said the author might be granted a presidential pardon during upcoming Muslim or national holidays.

Israel parliament passes judicial reform law, opposition challenges

Israel’s parliament Thursday passed a law expanding elected officials’ power to appoint judges, defying a years-long movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial reforms that saw massive street protests.The approval comes as Netanyahu’s government, one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is locked in a standoff with the supreme court after beginning proceedings to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Ronen Bar, head of the internal security agency.The opposition, which swiftly filed a petition with the supreme court challenging the vote, views these judicial reforms as signs of Netanyahu’s authoritarian shift toward an illiberal democracy.The legislation was approved by a vote of 67 in favour and one against, with the opposition boycotting the early-morning vote.Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has 120 lawmakers.The overall judicial reform package had sparked one of the largest protest movements in Israel’s history in 2023 before being overtaken by the war in Gaza.The war began following the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.Yair Lapid, leader of the centre-right Yesh Atid party, announced on social media platform X that he had filed an appeal with the supreme court against the law on behalf of several opposition parties, just minutes after the parliamentary vote.According to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who sponsored the bill, the measure was intended to “restore balance” between the legislative and judicial branches.In his closing remarks ahead of the vote, Levin slammed the supreme court for what he described had “effectively nullified the Knesset”.”It has taken for itself the authority to cancel laws and even Basic Laws. This is something unheard of in any democracy in the world,” said Levin, the key architect of the judicial reforms.”But our supreme court didn’t stop at trampling the Knesset; it placed itself above the government. It can annul any government action, compel the government to perform any action, cancel any government appointment.”- ‘Hypocrisy’ -Levin said with the new bill the country was “opening a new page”.”It is hypocrisy and one-sided to say that the Knesset is forbidden to act while the court is allowed to act in the middle of a war,” Levin said.”The days of appeasement and silencing are over, never to return. I am proud to stand here and demand justice, and I am even prouder to deliver justice.”Currently, judges — including supreme court justices — are selected by a nine-member committee comprising judges, lawmakers, and bar association representatives, under the justice minister’s supervision.Under the new law, which would take effect at the start of the next legislative term, the committee would still have nine members: three supreme court judges, the justice minister and another minister, one coalition lawmaker, one opposition lawmaker, and two public representatives -— one appointed by the majority and the other by the opposition.The government’s judicial reforms package, first unveiled in early 2023, had triggered massive street protests that effectively divided Israeli society.Netanyahu’s detractors warn the multi-pronged package could pave the way for authoritarian rule and be used by Netanyahu to quash possible convictions against him in his ongoing corruption trial, an accusation the premier denies.Protesters had rallied weekly against the government reforms since they were unveiled.Rallies have once again erupted in key cities, and on Wednesday thousands protested against the bill before it was approved in parliament.Netanyahu had slammed the opposition on Wednesday during a speech in parliament.”You recycle the same worn-out and ridiculous slogans about ‘the end of democracy’. Well, once and for all: Democracy is not in danger, it is the power of the bureaucrats that is in danger.”Perhaps you could stop putting spanners in the works of the government in the middle of a war. Perhaps you could stop fuelling the sedition, hatred and anarchy in the streets.”