politics
UK Received Early Intelligence on Ethiopia RSF Links but Did Not Make Them Public Until 2026
Yale researcher Nathaniel Raymond will tell MPs the British government received intelligence on Ethiopian support for Sudan's RSF as early as 2024 but delayed disclosure. The testimony follows the RSF seizure of El Fasher last October and the reported deaths of at least 60,000 civilians.
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Nathaniel Raymond, director of Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab, will testify Tuesday that the British government received intelligence linking Ethiopia to support for Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces as early as 2024 but withheld the information due to pressure from the United Arab Emirates.
The Guardian reported that Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials told Raymond in May 2024 that significant private pressure from the UAE prevented the UK from publicly connecting Ethiopia and the UAE to RSF support. Ethiopia's role remained undisclosed until February 2026, when Reuters reported that Addis Ababa hosted a camp training RSF fighters.
Raymond will also describe efforts by an FCDO atrocity-prevention official to question his estimate of at least 60,000 civilians killed after the RSF seized El Fasher following an 18-month siege in October 2025. The UN has stated the seizure carried hallmarks of genocide. Raymond told the official the figure excluded deaths from famine and RSF bombardment during the siege.
In written testimony, Raymond said a senior FCDO official attempted to downplay the death toll for political reasons. He added that on 26 September 2025 a British UN official expressed despair over the lack of action by the Starmer government as the city was about to fall.
Raymond met FCDO officials in London on 15 May 2024 and shared data from mobile phones tracked by his lab moving between Addis Ababa and RSF-held territory.
Some handsets later appeared at addresses in the UAE believed to be shell companies linked to RSF deputy commander Abdul Rahim Dagalo. One phone traveled from Addis Ababa to Abu Dhabi in four hours with no matching commercial flights. FCDO officials asked Raymond to release the phone data publicly because the UK could not, citing UAE pressure.
