Middle East & Iran
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❗️Sky News divests from Arabic channel following scandal over UAE whitewashing of Sudan genocide
The UK’s Sky News Group has quietly exited its joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments (IMI), handing full strategic and operational control of Sky News Arabia to the Emirati firm. While the station will continue to use the Sky brand under a lucrative multi-year licensing agreement, the buyout ends a sixteen-year partnership established to compete with regional giants Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.
IMI is owned by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and the transfer effectively cements absolute Emirati state control over the network's editorial direction.
The abrupt restructuring follows intense scrutiny and growing panic among UK executives over the channel’s biased coverage of the Sudanese genocide. Sky News Arabia has faced severe condemnation for acting as a direct mouthpiece for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the UAE-backed paramilitary group accused by United Nations investigators of carrying out a campaign of genocide and starvation in Darfur.
Internal sources revealed to Middle East Eye that Sky executives became deeply concerned after the Arabic channel repeatedly aired reports whitewashing RSF atrocities and questioning the evidence of mass killings brought forward by survivors and international monitors.
The final straw for the British broadcaster came after Sky News Arabia sent a reporter married to a senior RSF official to the besieged city of El-Fasher, where she was filmed hugging an RSF commander who had previously incited fighters to rape Darfuri women.
The blatant propaganda prompted the Sudanese government to ban the station from operating in the country. While IMI claims the ownership transfer was purely commercial, the divestment allows the UK parent company to distance itself from Abu Dhabi’s direct complicity in the Sudan genocide while continuing to profit from brand licensing.