Dressed in a suit and tie, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of Sudan’s October coup and head of the contested Sovereign Council that runs the country, landed back in Khartoum on March 13 after his first publicly announced official trip — a four-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — since taking power. He was accompanied by a delegation comprised of, among others, Minister of Finance Gebreil Ibrahim, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Al Sadiq, and director of General Intelligence Services Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mufaddal.

At a press conference held as soon as they arrived at Khartoum International Airport, Sadiq said that during his trip, Burhan addressed with Emirati officials the current situation in Sudan, which is marked by severe instability, and the efforts to consolidate its authority. More importantly, the visit served to discuss an array of topics of common interest, with a special emphasis on economic cooperation — which the acting foreign minister admitted represents their main focus of attention at the moment.

“Gen. Burhan’s visit to the UAE could be seen through a political and economic lens,” Mohammed Soliman, a researcher at the Middle East Institute, told Al-Monitor. “The UAE has a strategic interest in stabilizing the political situation in Sudan,” he noted, and “economically, leaders in Khartoum look to Abu Dhabi for financial support.”

The UAE formally called in November for the restoration of Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government. In the wake of the coup, Abu Dhabi had stressed the need to stabilize the country as soon as possible, a stance that is interpreted in some quarters as a tacit acceptance of the military takeover. Since the 2019 fall of former dictator Omar al-Bashir, Abu Dhabi has increasingly deepened its relations with Sudan’s military and paramilitary leaders, and it has maneuvered to shore up its position over that of civilians.