Libya: Sudan Investigating Alleged Recruitment of Sudanese as Mercenaries by UAE Firm

Sudan has launched a probe into the alleged recruitment of Sudanese nationals by an Emirati firm as security guards, but who end up as mercenaries in Libya and Yemen.

Hundreds of Sudanese held a sit-in Tuesday in front of the foreign ministry in capital Khartoum to protest against contracts given to their children by UAE-based Black Shield Security Services Company. The company is accused of luring around 3,000 Sudanese citizens promised to work as guards in the Gulf country but have been sent to Libya and Yemen as mercenaries, Libyan Observer reports.

The Sudanese sent to the African oil-rich country were assigned to work at oil-fields controlled by forces aligned with retired General Khalifa Haftar who has been opposing the UN-backed Government of National Accord, GNA.

The Sudanese foreign ministry said it was looking into the matter with its mission in Abu Dhabi and the conditions of the Sudanese nationals hired by the Emirati company.

Tuesday afternoon, a group of 50 Sudanese who were reportedly trained by the firm in Bayati Camp in the UAE arrived in Khartoum, the Libyan media reports.

The returnees reportedly headed straight to the Emirati mission in the Sudanese capital to demand their rights.

Another group, around 275 Sudanese nationals also contracted by the Emirati firm, identified in photographs on social media, were preparing to leave Ras Lanuf in Libya.

Reports late last years revealed the presence of Sudanese mercenaries fighting in the ranks of Haftar forces.

The UAE-backed rebel General has been since April pushing to seize Tripoli from the GNA which he accuses of being controlled by Islamists.