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KHARTOUM: Hundreds of Sudanese protesters took to the streets on Tuesday to protest a recent deal aimed at ending the crisis caused by last year’s military coup.
“No to the settlement,” protesters chanted, heading toward the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum.
Near-weekly protests have rocked Sudan since army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan led an October 2021 military coup derailing a transition to civilian rule.
Sudan’s short-lived transition was installed following the 2019 ouster of President Omar Bashir.
On Dec. 5, military leaders and multiple civilian factions signed the deal as the first component of a planned two-phase political process. But critics have slammed the deal, which largely fell short on specifics and timelines, as “vague” and “opaque.”
“We are against this deal, which doesn’t provide any clarity regarding our demands of justice and accountability,” said Nisreen, a 38-year-old protester in Khartoum.
“We no longer trust the military. We gave them the trust once before and they later launched the coup.”
Others carried banners demanding justice for people killed during anti-coup protests.
At least 122 people have been killed during a crackdown on demonstrations, according to pro-democracy medics.
Last week’s deal was signed by Al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo as well as civilian groups including the Forces for Freedom and Change, which was ousted in last year’s coup.
During the signing ceremony, Burhan vowed that the military would “go back to the barracks.”
Civilian and military signatories to the deal have pledged to hammer out the details of transitional justice, accountability and security reform “within weeks.”
CAIRO: The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday it had temporarily halted all operations in Sudan after three of its employees were killed in clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a day earlier.
“While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a statement.
“WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed.”
Three WFP employees were killed and two injured in clashes in Kabkabiya in North Darfur. A WFP spokesperson told Reuters the three dead were all Sudanese.
McCain also said it was difficult for WFP’s staff to operate after a UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft was “significantly damaged” at Sudan’s Khartoum airport during an exchange of fire on Saturday.
The incident has seriously impacted the organization’s ability to move humanitarian workers and aid in Sudan, he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations condemned the killing of the WFP employees, saying they died while carrying out their duties.
Volker Perthes, the head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), which was established in 2020 to support Sudan’s democratic transition, said in a statement he was also “appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur.”
A power struggle between the Sudanese army and the RSF has so far killed 56 civilians and wounded 595 people, including combatants.
The fighting broke out on Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. It was the first such outbreak since both joined forces to oust president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in 2019.
BEIRUT: Suspected Daesh group militants on Sunday killed at least 26 people in central Syria, a war monitor reported, the latest in a spate of attacks targeting people foraging for desert truffles.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “civilians and at least 10 pro-regime fighters” were among “the 26 people killed in an attack by Daesh fighters while they were collecting truffles in the desert east of (the central city of) Hama.”
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has received a phone call from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the ongoing fighting in Sudan.
Deadly clashes have been taking place for days in Khartoum and elsewhere in a power struggle between Sudan’s army and paramilitaries, and Egypt’s leader fears the conflict could quickly escalate if the violence cannot be brought to a swift end.
Ahmed Fahmy, spokesperson for the presidency, said that El-Sisi had called for the utmost wisdom and restraint and pointed out the serious threat being posed to stability in the north African country.
Fighting broke out after Sudanese groups and the ruling military junta failed last week to reach an agreement on a handover of power.
Guterres noted Egypt’s important role in supporting Sudan and helping to maintain security and stability in the region, and he urged all Sudanese parties to stop hostilities and resume talks.
The UN chief said an escalation in fighting could have a catastrophic effect on civilians and the existing fragile humanitarian situation in Sudan.
Separately, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry received a phone call on Saturday from High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, also to discuss the Sudan crisis.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Shoukry had told Borrell that Egypt — which has a southern border with Sudan — was doing all it could to assist in diplomatic efforts to bring about an immediate ceasefire, adding that Borrell had noted the EU’s keenness to support Egypt in working to avoid a further deterioration in the security situation.
In a tweet, Abu Zeid said that the ministry was communicating around the clock with the Egyptian Embassy in Khartoum on Egypt’s interests in Sudan, including in areas of education, irrigation, banking, aviation, media, and its consulates in Port Sudan and Wadi Halfa.
The Egyptian Armed Forces were reportedly closely following events in Sudan. Military spokesman, Gharib Abdel Hafez, said that officials were coordinating with relevant authorities in Sudan to ensure the safety of Egyptian forces currently taking part in a joint training exercise with their counterparts in Sudan.
DUBAI: Iran’s revolutionary guards seized a foreign vessel carrying 1.45 million litres of smuggled fuel in the Gulf and detained its crew, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Sunday.
Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling over land to neighbouring countries and by sea.
AL-MUKALLA: More than 190 captives, including four journalists, were released on the final day of a prisoner transfer operation between the Yemeni government and the Houthis on Sunday, with both parties recommitting to debate the release of more detainees in the future.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which facilitated the operation, said that two of its chartered planes transported 105 Houthis from Marib to Sanaa, while two more carried 89 Yemeni government prisoners in the opposite direction, so ending the three-day operation.
“Release operations have concluded successfully after three days,” the ICRC delegation in Yemen said on Twitter. “The ICRC and YRCS have worked tirelessly to reunite about 900 former detainees with their families, taking a positive step toward peace and reconciliation in Yemen.”
Hundreds of detainees were released from Sanaa, Aden, Mokha and Abha in Yemen, and Riyadh and Abha in Saudi Arabia during the first two days of the operation that began on Friday.
Yemen’s government and the Houthis agreed in Switzerland last month to exchange nearly 900 detainees during the holy month of Ramadan and to meet again to consider further exchanges.
The four Yemeni journalists condemned to death by the Houthis were seen hugging their parents and children, as well as the hundreds of people who waited in line at Marib airport to welcome them and the other freed detainees back home.
The Houthis also released two sons of former Vice President Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmer. Hundreds of people welcomed the released prisoners at Sanaa airport.
Daphnee Maret, head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen, shared photographs of the former prisoners embracing their families and said the operation had been highly emotional.
“It’s been an intense period for all involved — the joy of families reuniting has moved us all to tears. It’s moments like these that keep us going,” she said on Twitter.
Encouraged by the success of the second prisoner exchange, the Yemeni government and Houthi negotiators renewed their commitment to meet again to discuss another swap that could see the release of an even larger number of captives.
Abdulkader Al-Murtada, head of the Houthis’ prisoner exchange committee, said on Sunday that they would propose exchanging 1,400 people with the Yemeni government during the next round of discussions.
Yahya Kazman, head of the Yemeni government’s delegation in prisoner exchange discussions, said it was dedicated to exchanging all detainees with the Houthis as well as clearing jails of those who had been kidnapped or forcefully vanished during the war.
“Our joy will not be complete until every one of our heroes is released from militia custody. We are unwaveringly devoted to the principle of all for all,” he said.
The prisoner exchange in Yemen happened as Saudi Arabia renewed its efforts to mediate a peace settlement between the Houthis and the Yemeni government and bring an end to more than eight years of fighting.
The Kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, personally discussed a peace plan with the Houthis in Sanaa last week and is scheduled to return to the city to resolve outstanding issues.