Former Janjaweed leader and tribal chief Musa Hilal has accused the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan of fabricating reports that link him to the gold trade in Darfur.

The UN Panel of Experts has linked Hilal to vast gold sales that earned him and his militia $54 million a year in profits from mines in the Jebel Amir area.

“Hilal and his armed crew earn about $54 million a year in profits from Jebel Amir, one of the largest unregulated gold mines in Darfur, according to a confidential report by a U.N. Security Council panel,” Foreign Policy reported on Monday.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday night, Hilal told Radio Afia Darfur that the report that was obtained by Foreign Policy Magazine was mere lies.

“It’s mere lies. I think the source who gave them the information has lied. I personally in accordance with the international and regional law will sue those who reported this because it is mere lies and trashing the image of the people,” he told the shortwave broadcaster, which is based in the United States and produces a 30-minute broadcast daily.

Hilal's control over the Jebel Amir mines began in early 2013 after the Sudanese Armed Forces withdrew from the site to avoid a violent confrontation with his forces. His forces tax gold mining merchants to do business at the site.

The UN panel report says that between 2010 and 2014, more than $4.5 billion in gold was smuggled from Sudan to the United Arab Emirates. In 2008, gold accounted for only 1 percent of total Sudanese exports. By 2014, that number had risen to 30 percent, the report stated.

Foreign Policy Magazine also reported that Russia has blocked the release of the UN report linking the Sudanese militia leader to gold profiting. The Russian UN delegation has also sought to block the extension of the contracts of the Panel's five members.

File photo: Sheikh Musa Hilal (New York Times)