Report from the i
By Molly Blackall, Richard Holmes
Friday 05 May 2023 1:59 pm (Updated 2:01 pm) - full copy:
Self-styled ‘ethical’ private equity firm in Dubai helped notorious Sudan militia to lobby UK MPs
EXCLUSIVE
Revealed: The Rapid Support Forces have sent a string of “special bulletins” to UK politicians in recent days – but meta data exposing its Dubai links disappeared after i inquiries
A ‘special bulletin’ sent by the RSF to UK MPs this week. (Photo: i)
A self-styled ‘ethical’ investment firm based in the UAE supported the notorious paramilitary group the RSF in its bid to influence UK politicians about the conflict in Sudan, i can reveal.
The Rapid Support Forces group (RSF), which has previously been accused of human rights atrocities in Sudan including rape and murder, has sent a string of “special bulletins” to UK politicians that it said was to combat “the disproportionate amount of disinformation” surrounding the conflict.
The memos contained allegations about barbarity by its opponents, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and claimed that the RSF was making dramatic progress in the fighting.
i has analysed metadata from a briefing email that was sent from the RSF’s official media account to Westminster MPs on Tuesday, which shows it was put together by a designer at Dubai-based investment firm called Capital Tap Holdings.
When approached by i, the RSF initially confirmed that Capital Tap Holdings had produced parts of the briefing for them including the logo.
Capital Tap Holdings, which describes itself as “ethical” and a “responsible investor” has significant mining interests in Sudan and the wider continent. The RSF is reported to have control of some of Sudan’s gold mines.
Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Alicia Kearns, who received the briefing, raised questions about the international support being given to the warring parties in Sudan. She told the House of Commons that it was “not some shoddily pulled together briefing” but a “clearly well-financed operation”.
Ms Kearns told i that any organisation providing PR to the RSF was stoking the current conflict and hinted that sanctions could be necessary to deter international support for the warring groups.
“Any organisation providing PR support to the RSF is seeking to legitimise them and reject peaceful transition away from military rule in Sudan,” she told i. “I urge them to stop, before international sanctions are required.”
A spokesperson for the RSF – which has been accused of group atrocities including rape and murder in Sudan in 2014 and 2015 – confirmed it had emailed MPs, journalists and “experts focused on the Middle East Africa” in order to “take measures to better inform the international community about what is happening on the ground in Sudan”. It said it had specifically targeted MPs who are sitting on committees related to security and Africa.
Metadata shows that the author of the briefing was a designer at Capital Tap. However, the RSF insisted there was “no working relationship” between the two and claimed the firm helped with the briefing free of charge.
“A relative of the RSF management reached out to a close friend, who [works] at Capital Tap, asking for design support to create a new letterhead and logo. The services were rendered at no cost. There is no working relationship between Capital Tap and the RSF,” an RSF spokesperson initially told i.
After further briefings in the same format were sent out to MPs on Thursday and Friday, the RSF then claimed Capital Tap “played no role in the creation of any of the press briefings, including the first press briefing, or any other press releases” and said they had “no relation” with them. Capital Tap Holdings did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The subsequent briefings had been stripped of metadata.
The discoveries raise further questions about foreign influence in the conflict in Sudan, after an i investigation revealed that Russian private mercenary group Wagner are on the ground and actively involved in the clashes.
Investment firm ‘one of Sudan’s leading mining players’
Capital Tap Holdings claims on its website to have a focus on “integrity” and green credentials, saying that “environmental responsibility is high on the agenda” and that it aims “to build a better and sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of society.”
The firm also describes itself as one of Sudan’s “leading metals and mining players” but the specific role it plays in the mining industry is unclear. Sudan is Africa’s third largest producer of gold, with an industry worth billions of pounds each year, and the RSF have long been reported to be involved in Sudan’s lucrative gold industry.
On its website, Capital Tap Holdings claims to “oversee operations” for more than 50 companies in 10 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia, providing “strategic direction and corporate support”. Their subsidiary company, Terra Metallis, claims to manage five mines in Africa. However, Capital Tap Holdings has little online footprint and is only mentioned in one 2021 news report online.
The RSF bulletin which received assistance from Capital Tap, issued on 1 May 2023, promised to provide “a breakdown of the most significant daily events from the field of battle in Sudan” and said it was founded by the RSF “due to the disproportionate amount of disinformation shared in the media about the conflict.”
It included criticism of its opponents, the Sudanese armed forces, saying that they have violated the ceasefire with “indiscriminate bombing campaigns” on civilians and claims that the RSF now controls 90 per cent of the Sudanese capital. It also provided a list of 20 “achievements” made since the start of the conflict, including claiming control of the airport, radio and TV service, Republican Palace and Defence Ministry.
Another 12-page briefing sent from the RSF to MPs two days later, after the RSF had been approached by i, had been stripped of metadata to indicate its origins.
It contained a series of pictures and videos depicting alleged atrocities against civilians made by the Sudanese Armed Forces, and also contained analysis of “popular memes circulating today on social media in Sudan” regarding the conflict. It included QR codes which could be scanned to take the reader to the RSF website.
Human Rights Watch has claimed that both sides of the current conflict – the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces – have killed civilians in bombing attacks on urban areas and left millions without access to basic necessities.
One page of a briefing sent out to UK Parliamentarians. (Photo: i)
A further briefing was sent out on 4 May, also with no metadata, containing more allegations against the Sudanese army, meme analysis and QR codes.
Sources working in research on Sudan noted that the RSF has previously worked with several high-end PR firms to improve the image of their leader Hemedti and said the press briefings “sound like a similar trend.”
“A significant portion of the RSF’s media arm appears to be based in the UAE, which is unsurprising given their extensive commercial networks across the Emirates,” they added.
Steve Double, a partner at crisis communications specialists Alder, said the briefings were a “remarkably slick communications programme, clearly designed at winning the propaganda war.”
UAE’s long alleged link to the RSF
While there is no evidence to suggest Capital Tap is linked to the UAE state, the state has long been reported to have links to the RSF.
Last month, a video appeared to show the RSF with bombs linked to the UAE. The thermobaric shells contained markings suggesting they were manufactured in Serbia in 2020 and later supplied to the UAE, according to The Telegraph.
Local reports citing RSF sources said that the UAE was considering transporting RSF fighters currently in Yemen back to Sudan to join the conflict. The reports said that the RSF’s leader Hemedti has appealed for help from the UAE, which has agreed to “support us in this war of liberation” and provide logistic and financial assistance to transport the RSF fighters to Sudan.
The paramilitary group are also reported to have sent fighters to support the UAE in Libya in recent years. The UAE Government did not respond to a request for comment.
One source assisting civilians in Sudan said that the UAE was presumed to have involvement in the current conflict, saying: “They support RSF and RSF have provided forces to the Yemen crisis. It is presumed that the RSF will be able to provide forces in future if need be in places like Bahrain should there be conflict there.”
The RSF’s social media accounts also appear to be based overseas, providing further indication that the group’s public relations are being outsourced to Gulf states.
The RSF’s Facebook page is being run jointly from the UAE and Sudan, according to information on the account, while its Instagram account appears to be based in Saudi Arabia. Both accounts are being shared by the RSF’s media operation as its legitimate online presence.
But the paramilitary group told i its media team was based in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
Conflict information ‘increasingly hard to trust’
The findings also raise questions about the impact of internet warfare, and the growing importance of technology in conflict zones.
Kyle Walter, Head of Research and Insights at Logically, an AI analysis firm, said: “What’s most concerning from this latest example of potential foreign interference is that it provides a look into how the nature of these threats are evolving, particularly in the context of the rapid onset of generative AI being used to create fake images and text.
“Although we don’t know if this so-called sophisticated ‘special bulletin’ was created by this technology, it is symbolic of the wider issue at hand: an inability to trust what you’re seeing, reading, and the undermining of the entire information landscape. If foreign influence campaigns continue to evolve and harness new technologies to produce mis- and disinformation at scale, we can expect to see more fabricated statements, or images of potential humanitarian crises to alter the wider discourse.”
Mr Walter said that the “attempt to manipulate the information environment is not surprising” and “nothing new in the context of foreign influence operations in Africa.”
“Recent years have witnessed foreign actors continuing to ramp up the use of different tactics to manipulate public discourse, whether it’s through propaganda, deception, and other non-military means. What we are seeing now in Sudan is another example of how the Wagner Group and other actors tied to foreign states seek to use the manipulation of information to have more control over public discourse and unsettle Western interests in the region,” he said.
View original: https://inews.co.uk/news/ethical-private-equity-firm-dubai-sudan-militia-lobby-uk-mps-2319805?ico=most_popular
