Rights groups oppose UAE’s Lana Nusseibeh for UN chief over Sudan claims

Several human rights groups on Tuesday urged countries to reject Emirati official Lana Nusseibeh for the UN's top job, over United Arab Emirates' alleged financing of paramilitary forces in Sudan. The 48-year-old Nusseibeh is vying to become the first woman and only the second Arab to become the United Nations secretary-general. Since her official nomination last week, she has garnered the backing of Gulf states but also faced scrutiny over her country's normalisation with Israel and Abu Dhabi's alleged role in Sudan's war. Sudan has been engulfed in war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since 2023, with UAE accused of funding the militants, an accusation the country denies. "I think that Lana Nusseibeh is utterly inappropriate as a candidate for UN Secretary General," Ken Roth, head of Human Rights Watch, told journalists. "Not just once, but repeatedly she has been asked about the UAE's role in arming and supporting the RSF and she just blatantly denies it without regard to the facts," he added. On Tuesday, Nusseibeh said she has taken "a leave of absence from my post as a minister of the UAE" to be "mindful of the obligations of independence" the r...