How America's CIA plants fake stories in the media

FILMED in the 1980s, these two videos show ex-CIA Operations Director John Stockwell describing how the USA CIA plants fake stories in the media. Nowadays, the number of fake stories is unimaginable. One can sense it in and around Sudan and South Sudan, see patterns and hear it. The second video shows Mr Stockwell recalling his disinformation efforts in Angola.

John Stockwell interview on his work in Angola, not Congo. https://t.co/G1AIFQzsGE

— Pete Mahoney (@mahoneclone3) February 29, 2024

END

Microblogging platform X is awash with propaganda and disgusting X-rated adverts allowed by Elon Musk

THANKS to Munchkin @BSonblast for all the updates. I can empathise with the way she is feeling in these two posts. I see much Sudan news and sometimes feel overwhelmed by the suffering and despair of millions of people across the world without food, water and hope. The horrific atrocities carried out by evil men who aren't being stopped by billions of cowardly men is sickening to say the least. Take good care Munchkin. Sorry I haven't published your updates. The microblogging platform X is awash with slick propaganda and disgusting X-rated adverts allowed by Elon Musk and I cannot bring myself to amplify news published without verifiable sources.

والله الواحد بقى لا بعرف يتكلم لا بعرف يكتب… I can’t string a coherent sentence together to save my life

— Munchkin (@BSonblast) December 30, 2023

Drowning in the sadness today. Couldn’t shake it off at all, couldn’t repress it, couldn’t just live with it.

It swallowed me whole.

— Munchkin (@BSonblast) December 30, 2023

ENDS

Sudan: Facebook removed RSF and leader's Hemeti's account. Next @X @elonmusk @instagram please?

WONDERING why Sudan's RSF is not classed as a terrorist organisation. It's all over the place, terrorising, attacking, killing, raping unarmed civilians and children, torturing and executing PoWs, fighting and killing government forces in order to take over Sudan's military, government, land and riches.

Here is a copy of a tweet by Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) 4:17 PM Aug 11, 2023 regarding Facebook removing the RSF's and Hemeti's account. It says, Alhamdulillah. Now @X @elonmusk @instagram https://t.co/Bc2RAH9hqI

Alhamdulillah. Now @X @elonmusk @instagram https://t.co/Bc2RAH9hqI

— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) August 11, 2023

Article by Vladimir Putin “Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for Peace, Progress and a Successful Future“

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor (in England, UK): Here is a manual copy of a tweet posted by Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc today:

Russia cranking up its propaganda in advance of its Russia-Africa summit this week. While it singles out "malign Western influence" and the West's "blackmail machine," RT also clearly warns that "Russia will be there for those countries that stood with in in its hour of need."

This Tweet is unavailable. Learn more.

This Tweet from @ has been withheld in Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Germany, Greece, Romania, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Austria, Luxembourg, Latvia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Lithuania, Croatia, Estonia, Cyprus, France, Spain, Belgium in response to a legal demand. https://Learn more.

6:34 PM · Jul 24, 2023 

___________________

View original: https://twitter.com/_hudsonc/status/1683531059709788165

Russia cranking up its propaganda in advance of its Russia-Africa summit this week. While it singles out "malign Western influence" and the West's "blackmail machine," RT also clearly warns that "Russia will be there for those countries that stood with in in its hour of need." https://t.co/pwdEU7vb7n

— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) July 24, 2023

SW Ed Post script: I can only view the full tweet via its embed code posted here. When I click on my link to the tweet it leads to the tweet's intro followed by: This Tweet is unavailable. Learn more. When I click on the RT link within the embed code copy it leads directly to a Twitter page simply saying: This Tweet is unavailable. Learn more - followed by these five tweets:

Jebren جبرين @jebren_

#Thanks_Russia 

#Africa_Russia

Jamel AK-0002829 @ras_jamel 

this is what we need .

Earlyn L Walker @earlyn_l

This is how the people of the world should be, working together for the benefit of everyone and not just a few. For instance, railways in Africa will benefit landlocked countries. Being non-aligned means not giving into outside pressure such as the ICC.

Michael Vaynerchuk @MichaelVaynerc1

It's a Roman empire thinking that drives the EU and nothing else 

Cheap labor and Cheap resources such in their colonial history.... greed and unforfeeling narcissism is very powerful tools.... 

NotBenjamin @BenjaminTitnit

[thumbs up emoji]

Also, the paragraph with country list appears intermittently. It is not showing at the time of this posting. This is Day 1 of Twitter launching its new brand name: X. Note, one time when I clicked on the tweet to read the RT report, it led me directly to the website and article copied here below.

___________________

[From the website of]

President of Russia [http://en.kremlin.ru - here is a full copy, URL search bar displays Not Secure:]

Article by Vladimir Putin “Russia and Africa: Joining Efforts for Peace, Progress and a Successful Future“

July 24, 2023 00:00

On July 27–28, St Petersburg will host the second Russia-Africa Summit and Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. On the eve of these large-scale representative events which will bring together heads of state and government, entrepreneurs, academia and public figures, I would like to share my vision of the development of Russia-Africa relations with the readers of the leading media on the African continent, outlining priority cooperation areas for the coming decades of the 21^st century.

The partnership relations between our country and Africa have strong, deep roots and have always been distinguished by stability, trust and goodwill. We have consistently supported African peoples in their struggle for liberation from colonial oppression. We have provided assistance in developing statehood, strengthening their sovereignty and defence capability. Much has been done to create sustainable foundations for national economies. By the mid-1980s, with the participation of our specialists, over 330 large infrastructure and industrial facilities have been built in Africa, such as power plants, irrigation systems, industrial and agricultural enterprises, which are successfully operating to this day, and continue to make a significant contribution to the continent’s economic development. Tens of thousands of African doctors, technical specialists, engineers, officers and teachers have received education in Russia.

I would like to specifically mention the traditionally close cooperation on the world stage, the firm and consistent advocacy rendered by the USSR and then Russia to African countries at international fora. We have always strictly adhered to the “African solutions to African problems” principle, standing in solidarity with Africans in their struggle for self-determination, justice and their legitimate rights. We have never tried to impose on partners our own ideas about the internal structure, forms and methods of management, development goals and ways to achieve them. Unchanged remains our respect for the sovereignty of African states, their traditions and values, their desire to independently determine their own destiny and freely build relationships with partners.

We highly value the honestly-gained capital of friendship and cooperation, traditions of trust and mutual support that Russia and African countries share. We are brought together by a common desire to shape a system of relations based on the priority of international law, respect for national interests, indivisibility of security, and recognition of the central coordinating role of the United Nations.

Today, the constructive, trustful, forward-looking partnership between Russia and Africa is especially significant and important. Major centres of economic and political power and influence are emerging in the world, which are asserting themselves more and more insistently, demanding that they be reckoned with. We are sure that a new multipolar world order, the contours of which are already seen, will be more just and democratic. And there is no doubt that Africa, along with Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, will take its worthy place in it and finally free itself from the bitter legacy of colonialism and neo-colonialism, rejecting its modern practices.

Russia welcomes the rising international authority of individual states as well as Africa as a whole, their desire to make their voices strongly heard and to take the continent's problems into their own hands. We have always supported the constructive initiatives of our partners. We stand for granting African countries their rightful place in the structures that determine the world’s fate, including the UN Security Council and the G20, as well as for reforming the global financial and trade institutions in a way that meets their interests.

Regrettably, we see that the situation in the world today is far from stable. The long-standing conflicts that exist in nearly every region are deepening, and new threats and challenges are emerging. And Africa feels the burden of global challenges like no other part of the world. In such a challenging environment, we look forward to working with our African partners to shape a non-discriminatory agenda for cooperation. 

The strategic areas of our interaction are set by the decisions of the first Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi in late October 2019. The Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was established for their effective implementation. We have set up bilateral intergovernmental commissions for trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation with many countries of the continent, and the network of Russian embassies and trade missions in Africa will be expanded. Further instruments are being actively developed to better structure economic relations and make them more dynamic.

I would like to note with satisfaction that Russia’s trade turnover with the African countries increased in 2022 and reached almost 18 billion US dollars. However, we are all well aware that the potential of our trade and economic partnership is much higher. Russian companies are interested in working more actively on the continent in the sphere of high technologies and geological exploration, in the fuel and energy complex, including nuclear power, in the chemical industry, mining and transport engineering, agriculture and fishery. The changes taking place in the world require the search for solutions related to the establishment of new transport and logistical chains, the formation of a monetary and financial system, and mechanisms of mutual settlements that are safe and free from unfavourable external impacts.

We understand the importance of uninterrupted food supplies for the socio-economic development and political stability of the African states. On this basis, we have always paid great attention to issues related to the supply of wheat, barley, maize and other crops to African countries. We have done so both on a contractual basis and free of charge as humanitarian aid, including through the United Nations Food Programme. Thus, in 2022, Russia exported 11.5 million tonnes of grain to Africa, and almost 10 million tonnes more were delivered in the first half of 2023 – despite the sanctions imposed on our exports, which severely hamper the supply of Russian food products to developing countries, complicating transport logistics, insurance arrangements and bank payments.

Many have probably heard of the so-called “grain deal,” whose initial purpose was to ensure global food security, reduce the threat of hunger and help the poorest countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America – the reason why Russia undertook the obligation to facilitate its implementation in the first place. This “deal,” however, while it was publicly advertised by the West as a gesture of goodwill that benefited Africa, has in fact been shamelessly used solely for the enrichment of large US and European businesses that exported and resold grain from Ukraine.

Judge for yourselves: in almost a year, a total of 32.8 million tonnes of supplies were exported from Ukraine under the “deal,” with over 70 percent of the exports ending up in high- and upper-middle-income countries, including in the European Union, whereas such countries as Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, as well as Yemen and Afghanistan, received less than 3 percent of the supplies, i.e. less than one million tonnes.

In the meantime, none of the “deal” provisions relating to the exemption from sanctions of Russian grain and fertiliser exports to world markets, were fulfilled. Moreover, barriers have been mounted even to our attempts to supply free of charge mineral fertilisers to the poorest countries in need. Of 262,000 tonnes of goods blocked in European ports, only two shipments were delivered – one of 20,000 tonnes to Malawi and one of 34,000 tonnes to Kenya. The rest is still unscrupulously held by the Europeans. And this is a purely humanitarian initiative we are talking about, which should be exempt from any sanctions as such.

Considering all these facts, there is no longer any use in continuing the “grain deal” as it has failed to serve its original humanitarian purpose. We argued against further extending the “deal,” which terminated as of July 18.

I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis, especially as we expect another record harvest this year.

Notwithstanding the sanctions, Russia will continue its energetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products, fertilisers and other goods to Africa. We highly value and will further develop the full spectrum of economic ties with Africa – with individual states as well as regional integration associations and, naturally, with the African Union. We welcome this organisation's strategic course towards further economic integration and the formation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. We are ready to build pragmatic, mutually beneficial relations, including within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. We are also willing to step up cooperation with other regional integration organisations on the continent.

In keeping with the existing tradition, we intend to continue providing assistance to African states in building their national human resource capacity. There are currently about 35 thousand students from the continent in Russia, more than 6,000 of them receive Russian government scholarships. Each year we increase the number of scholarships, promote paid higher education options and facilitate inter-university ties, which have gained significant momentum in recent times.

Bringing humanitarian, cultural, sports and mass media cooperation to a whole new level would serve our common interests. I would like to seize this opportunity to invite our young African friends to the World Youth Festival, which will take place in Sochi, Russia, in March 2024. This large-scale international forum will bring together more than 20,000 participants from more than 180 countries for an informal, friendly and open dialogue that is free from ideological and political barriers, racial and religious prejudice and would consolidate the young generation around the ideals of lasting and durable peace, prosperity and creative spirit.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that we attach great importance to the upcoming second Russia–Africa Summit. We expect that the Summit would adopt a comprehensive Declaration, a number of joint statements and approve the Russia – Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan to 2026. We are working to prepare an impressive package of intergovernmental and inter‑agency agreements and memoranda with individual states as well as regional associations of the continent.

I am looking forward to welcoming the African leaders in St. Petersburg and stand committed to a fruitful constructive dialogue. I firmly believe that the decisions adopted at the Summit and Forum, coupled with continuous diversified joint work will contribute to further development of Russian‑African strategic partnership for the benefit of our countries and peoples.

Other languages (unofficial translations)

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Topics

Foreign policy

Publication status

Published in sections: News, Transcripts

Publication date: July 24, 2023, 00:00

Text version

View original: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71719

[Ends]

Undated audio message claiming to be Hemeti

This cartoon is a reply posted at this undated audio message on Hemeti's Twitter a/c. I've heard Hemeti's voice, it goes up and down and can sound feminine, immature, menacing in tone. This audio doesn't sound like him, too flat and monotone. Maybe he can't do video because he's hiding, injured, dead or has been disappeared. Here's a transcript, no mention of sacking.

Proof of life. A well-crafted message with something to please everyone: RSF is fighting extremists and terrorists; Burhan repeating the violence of the last regime; Hemedti trying to restore the transition to democracy; SAF disinformation is extending the war. Too bad its all💩. https://t.co/l51ZmlWT0R

— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) May 22, 2023

Report at Eastern Herald
By Arab Desk
Dated Monday 22 May 2023 - full copy:

A New Audio Recording Of The Commander Of The Rapid Support Forces, Hamidti

Quick Support pages on Facebook and Twitter posted the audio message on Monday, but it was unclear when it was recorded.

And the voice recording from the Rapid Support Commander said:

Greetings to the Sudanese people, and we regret the state of the country in which you find yourself because of the two coups and the terrorists. Greetings to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States for their efforts on behalf of the Sudanese people, and thanks to brotherly and friendly countries for their solidarity with the Sudanese people. We congratulate Saudi Arabia on the success of the summit in Jeddah and we welcome the results of this summit. Greetings to all Arab politicians for their interest in Sudanese affairs. I pay tribute to brotherly African countries, the African Union and IGAD. We congratulate the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese people for the recent victories in Northern Bahri, the Air Defense Forces, the Chemical Forces and a number of other places. We command all our valiant forces to redouble their efforts to fight the outlaws, control security, and stop the gangs of looting and vandalism. We affirm our concern for the security of our country and our people, and that the current war has been imposed on us. We affirm that the leaders of the defunct extremist regime, together with the leaders of the coup, planned to block the way to democratic transformation. We affirm that the Rapid Support Forces have no enmity with the armed forces, and that the main problem is with those who took away the decision of the armed forces. Salutations to the political forces and national civil society organizations that condemned the coup. We call on the Sudanese people to unite, to renounce differences and not to respond to the calls of extremists and terrorists. We affirm RSF’s commitment to restoring democratic transition and ending the vicious circle that has destroyed Sudan. We condemn the bombardment of civilians, hospitals, factories and infrastructure with aircraft and heavy artillery, and we sympathize with the innocent lives we have lost. We call on the Sudanese people to pay heed to the remnants’ plans and disinformation campaigns that aim to widen the circle of war. We will not back down until the end of this putsch, the trial of all those who have committed crimes against the Sudanese people, and the return to the democratic path. We affirm our respect for all international laws relating to the protection of human rights, so we treat the prisoners of the putschists in a manner befitting humanity. We condemn the attack on the churches by the putschists and the attempt to trap the RSF. Total chaos is part of the plans for both coups, as evidenced by the release of prisoners from all prisons in Khartoum state, including leaders of the defunct regime.

View original: https://www.easternherald.com/2023/05/22/a-new-audio-recording-of-the-commander-of-the-rapid-support-forces-hamidti/

Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike?

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: This news just in but I can't verify it. It's behind a paywall at The Times online so I subscribed in order to read the report. After doing so, I still can't access the full report. Maybe it's propaganda that somehow found its way into the website. Here's what I saw.

Report from The Times

By Fred Harter, Port Sudan

Dated Tuesday 09 May 2023

Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike

The presidential palace at the centre of fierce fighting between Sudan's warring military leaders has been destroyed in an airstrike, according to the country's paramilitary unit. The Rapid...

Read more here: Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike

____________________________

UPDATE 30 mins later: Here below is the full report including 2 photos currently on website of The Times. Note, there are no photos of the allegedly destroyed palace. One of the car photos appeared online earlier this week. 

Also, a Reuters report just in says "an army source denied the claim"- see the report by Reuters here:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/sudan-crisis-air-strikes-hit-khartoum-absence-of-police-prompts-looting-robbery/ar-AA1aYrDJ

____________________________

Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike

Fred Harter, Port Sudan | Jane Flanagan

Tuesday May 09 2023, 9.30pm, The Times

The presidential palace at the centre of fierce fighting between Sudan’s warring military leaders has been destroyed in an airstrike, according to the country’s paramilitary unit.

The Rapid Support Forces have held the compound since April 15, when tensions between the country’s two most powerful figures exploded into warfare and turned the capital into a battleground.

In a statement last night the RSF said the colonial-era building — where the famed British Army officer Gordon of Khartoum was killed during the colonial era — had been devastated by missiles launched by air force fighter jets. They pledged “an appropriate response”.

Residents living near the sprawling complex, featured on stamps and bank notes, have been caught up in the clashes between forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de-facto leader since a coup in 2019, and the RSF’s warlord leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The palace attack is expected to stall talks between their envoys, who are meeting in neighbouring Saudi Arabia to discuss a truce to allow humanitarian organisations to reach those in need.

Exact figures have been impossible to determine, but hundreds of people are believed to have been killed and thousands wounded since fighting broke out, with aid supplies disrupted and 115,000 refugees fleeing into neighbouring states.

Elradi Hamdan, 44, an architectural engineer from Edinburgh, told The Times that Foreign Office officials informed him he could only board an RAF plane in Port Sudan if he left behind his pregnant wife and five children, all of whom are Sudanese. “They said, ‘If you want to come alone there is no problem, but you cannot take anybody else, not even your children’,” Hamdan said. “They just took people with the British passport.”

British government flights out of the country for UK passport holders ended last week. Saudi Arabia and other countries, including the United States, are still evacuating people from Port Sudan’s dockside.

Hamdan’s wife is recovering from breast cancer and his children are traumatised after being caught up in the fighting in Khartoum. As Hamdan spoke to The Times, his 10-year-old son could be heard crying out in the background. “He’s talking about the war in his sleep,” Hamdan said. “He heard a lot of gunshots and saw a lot of things a kid his age shouldn’t see.”

The family are camping in a half-built call centre owned by a friend. Before arriving in Port Sudan, they travelled twice to the Wadi Seidna airstrip, another site where the RAF had been staging evacuation flights.

On the second trip, Hamdam said he watched “five or six flights come and go” as officials refused to take his family. He returned to his home to find it had been looted.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “As a British citizen, I can go anywhere if there is a ticket. But I cannot leave my wife and children behind.”

The presidential palace in Khartoum has been at the centre of the fight

RAPID SUPPORT FORCES/ESN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A destroyed car near the presidential palace. People living near the compound have been caught up in fierce clashes between the warring factions 

GETTY IMAGES

View original: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sudan-presidential-palace-blown-up-in-military-strike-f3c23mgjq

[Ends]

UAE’s long alleged link to the RSF. Emails sent by RSF to UK MPs by one of Sudan’s leading mining players

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

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