Cairo (Somalia Today) – Weapons shipments continue to flow from eastern Libya to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), sources say, despite a high-stakes diplomatic intervention by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to force Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to sever ties with the United Arab Emirates, according to a Middle East Eye report.
The diplomatic standoff comes as the UAE faces logistical setbacks elsewhere in the region, specifically in Somalia, where diplomatic fallout increasingly restricts the port city of Bosaso—long a pivotal hub for covert arms transfers.
Sources with knowledge of the meetings told Middle East Eye that Egyptian officials summoned Saddam Haftar, the son of eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar and deputy commander of the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), to Cairo earlier this month for a “dressing down.”
During the visit, which officials publicly portrayed as routine military cooperation, Egyptian intelligence officers presented Saddam with aerial imagery and surveillance evidence documenting Emirati weapons shipments moving from Abu Dhabi to Haftar-controlled airbases, before traffickers moved them across the border to the RSF in Sudan.
“The message was clear: continued support for the RSF would force Egypt to reconsider its entire relationship with eastern Libya,” a Libyan source said on condition of anonymity.
The Bosaso fallout
The pressure on the Libyan corridor has intensified as the UAE’s other supply routes in the Horn of Africa face disruption.
For much of the war, the port city of Bosaso in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region served as a critical logistics node for the UAE.
Under the guise of anti-piracy and counter-terrorism training, the UAE expanded the Bosaso airport and port facilities, which UN experts and open-source intelligence analysts have identified as staging grounds for military cargo bound for the RSF.
However, relations between Mogadishu and Abu Dhabi have soured, complicating these operations. Somalia recently announced it would cancel defense cooperation agreements with the UAE, accusing the Gulf state of undermining its sovereignty.
“Bosaso used to be the reliable back door for arming the RSF, allowing flights to hop from the Gulf of Aden into Sudan or neighboring Chad,” said Yusuf Hussein, a security analyst based in Mogadishu.
“With Mogadishu tightening the screws and aligning closer with Egypt and Turkey, that route is becoming politically expensive, forcing the UAE to lean harder on the Libyan connection.”
With the Bosaso route compromised, the corridor running through Haftar’s territory in eastern Libya—specifically via the Kufra district—has become indispensable for sustaining the RSF’s war effort against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
‘Alternative support’
Cairo, which staunchly backs the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, views the RSF’s presence on its southern border as an existential security threat.
Egyptian officials reportedly presented evidence to Saddam Haftar that trucks were transporting fuel from Libya’s Sarir refinery to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, to power his motorized units in Darfur.
To incentivize a break with the UAE, Riyadh and Cairo have reportedly offered the Haftars a lucrative counter-proposal.
According to military sources, this package includes financial aid and military hardware linked to a recent $4 billion arms deal between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The plan would distribute the weapons between Haftar’s forces and the Sudanese army, effectively bringing the Libyan commander into the Saudi-Egyptian fold.
Proxy war tensions
The friction over Libyan supply lines highlights a widening rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, erstwhile allies whose interests are increasingly diverging from Yemen to the Red Sea.
While Riyadh seeks to stabilize Sudan under Burhan’s leadership to secure the Red Sea coast, the UAE remains the RSF’s primary patron.
Abu Dhabi views Hemedti as a key partner in protecting its strategic interests in agricultural land and gold mining, as well as projecting influence across the Sahel.
Egyptian officials warned Saddam Haftar that the UAE’s long-term strategy involves fragmenting the region, sharing intelligence that alleged an Emirati plan to eventually divide Libya into conflicting zones once the RSF secures its objectives in Sudan.
Despite the warnings and the offers of alternative support, sources indicate that Saddam Haftar remains undecided, caught between the immediate financial and military backing of the UAE and the strategic wrath of his neighbors in Cairo.
“Without such support, the RSF would not have achieved its recent advances,” an Egyptian military source said. “But Saddam is now under immense pressure from both sides.”
