KABUL: Afghanistan’s president on Sunday rejected foreign interference as the United States and the Taliban appear to be closing in on a peace deal without the Afghan government at the table.
President Ashraf Ghani spoke during the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha and as US and Taliban negotiators continue their work in the Gulf nation of Qatar, where the insurgents have a political office.
Speaking after the Eid prayers, Ghani insisted that next month’s presidential election is essential so that Afghanistan’s leader will have a powerful mandate to decide the country’s future after years of war.
“Our future cannot be decided outside, whether in the capital cities of our friends, nemeses or neighbors. The fate of Afghanistan will be decided here in this homeland,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to intervene in our affairs.”
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is seeking a peace deal by Sept. 1, weeks before the vote. The two sides are expected to agree on the withdrawal of some 20,000 US and NATO troops in return for Taliban guarantees that Afghanistan would not be a base for other extremist groups.
Few details have emerged, but Khalilzad and the lead Taliban negotiator, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, have been traveling in recent days to brief several countries involved in the process on the latest developments.
“I hope this is the last Eid where #Afghanistan is at war,” Khalilzad said on Twitter, adding that negotiators were working toward a “lasting & honorable peace agreement and a sovereign Afghanistan which poses no threat to any other country.”
The Taliban spokesman in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, who has said a deal is expected at the end of this round of talks, also issued an Eid message expressing the hope that Afghanistan “will celebrate future Eids under the Islamic system, without occupation, under an environment of permanent peace and unity.”
No major violence was reported in Afghanistan on Sunday.
The Taliban have refused to negotiate with the Afghan government, dismissing it as a US puppet, and on Tuesday they declared the Sept. 28 election a “sham.” They warned fellow Afghans to stay away from campaign rallies and the polls, saying such gatherings could be targeted. A day later the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that targeted security forces in Kabul. The attack killed 14 people and wounded 145, most of them civilians.
The Taliban control roughly half of Afghanistan and are at their strongest since the US-led invasion toppled their five-year-old government in 2001 after the group had harbored Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. More than 2,400 US service personnel have died in Afghanistan since then.
Ghani, stung by being excluded from the peace talks, on Sunday pleaded for national unity.
“Peace is the desire of each Afghan and peace will come, there shouldn’t be any doubt about it,” he said. “But we want a peace in which each Afghan has dignity. We don’t want a peace in which Afghans wouldn’t have dignity. We don’t want a peace that would cause people to leave their country. We don’t want brain drain and we don’t want investment drain.”
A peace deal would be followed by intra-Afghan talks, but it is not clear whether the Taliban would agree to talk to Kabul government members in their official capacity or only as ordinary Afghans, as in the past.
The US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014. The American and allied troops that remain are conducting strikes on the Taliban and the local Daesh affiliate, and working to train and build the Afghan military.
President Donald Trump has publicly expressed his exasperation with America’s continued involvement in Afghanistan and a desire to bring troops home.
Afghan leader rejects foreign interference as talks advance
Afghan leader rejects foreign interference as talks advance
- Ghani insisted that next month’s presidential election is essential so that Afghanistan’s leader will have a powerful mandate to decide the country’s future
- US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is seeking a peace deal by Sept. 1, weeks before the vote
Sudanese teenager raps of loss and hope amid war
PORT SUDAN: In a makeshift shelter carved out of a schoolyard in eastern Sudan, 14-year-old Hanim Mohammed uses her rap music to comfort families displaced by the country’s ongoing war.
For a few fleeting moments, the scars of 21 months of war seem to fade when families huddle together to hear Mohammed’s nostalgic rap lyrics about life before the war.
“When I play rap songs, everyone sings with me,” said Mohammed.
“This makes me so happy,” she said, lighting up with a radiant and captivating smile.
At a UN-sponsored space in the shelter, the young rapper, Nana, commanded the stage with electrifying energy.
Laughter and claps echoed through the air as women and children swayed and twirled to the beat — defying a war that has gripped the country since April 2023.
The conflict in Sudan has claimed the lives of tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million people, and pushed Sudanese to the brink of famine.
The war, which has pitted army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan against his erstwhile ally Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, triggered the “biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded,” according to the International Rescue Committee.
Nana’s fans say her songs resonate deeply.
“The joy she brings is indescribable,” said Najwa Abdel Rahim, who attends Mohammed’s performances.
“I feel comfort and excitement when I listen to her music,” said Deir Fathi, another jubilant fan.
When the war erupted, Mohammed fled her hometown of Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, with her family.
Now residing in a secondary school in Port Sudan, she uses rap to articulate her grief and preserve cherished memories of home, she said.
Her recollections of a once-vibrant city now fuel her creative expression, particularly in her poignant track “The Omdurman Tragedy.”
“You sit silently, and a fire breaks out. What do you do? Your brain itself is confused,” goes the song.
Mohammed’s love for rap took root for years, but the outbreak of war brought it home, pushing her to start writing her lyrics, she said.
She has so far written nine songs.
“Most of the songs I composed were for the place I love the most and where I grew up — Omdurman,” she said.
“When the war erupted, this gave an even greater drive,” she added.
The teen rapper and her family share cramped quarters with dozens of displaced families at the shelter. Basic necessities are a daily struggle.
“The most difficult thing I faced was the water,” she said.
“Sometimes I found it salty, and other times it was bitter,” she added.
Conflict-ravaged Sudan, despite its many water sources, including the mighty Nile River, has long been parched and grappling with a water crisis.
Even before the war, a quarter of the population had to walk over 50 minutes to fetch water, according to the United Nations.
Now, from the arid western deserts of Darfur, through the lush Nile Valley, and to the shores of the Red Sea, a water crisis has hit 48 million war-weary Sudanese.
Yet Mohammed refuses to let such hardships keep her down.
Her music has become a lifeline for herself and the people who gather to watch her perform.
And Mohammed is not stopping there. In a small room at the shelter, she sat bent over her books — hoping to fulfill her dreams of becoming both a surgeon and a celebrated rapper.
But above all, she has one overriding wish: “The biggest wish I hope for is for the war to stop.”
Hospital nurse dies in Uganda in first Ebola virus outbreak since 2022
KAMPALA: Uganda has confirmed an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the capital, Kampala, with the first confirmed patient dying from it on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.
It is the East African country’s ninth outbreak since it recorded its first viral disease infection in 2000.
The patient, a male nurse at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, had initially sought treatment at various facilities, including Mulago, as well as with a traditional healer, after developing fever-like symptoms.
“The patient experienced multi-organ failure and succumbed to the illness at Mulago National Referral Hospital on Jan. 29. Post-mortem samples confirmed the Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (strain),” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said 44 contacts of the deceased man have been listed for tracing, including 30 health workers.
However, contact tracing could be challenging as Kampala, where the latest Ebola infection cropped up, is a crowded city of over 4 million people and a crossroads for traffic to South Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, and other countries.
The highly infectious hemorrhagic fever is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting of blood, muscle pains, and bleeding.
Ugandan authorities have used capacities built up over the years, such as laboratory testing, patient care know-how, contact tracing, and other skills, to bring recent Ebola outbreaks under control in relatively short order.
Uganda last suffered an outbreak in late 2022, declared over on Jan. 11, 2023, after nearly four months in which it struggled to contain the viral infection.
The last outbreak killed 55 of the 143 people infected, and the dead included six health workers.
The ministry said the patient had also sought treatment at a public hospital in Mbale, 240 km east of Kampala, near the border with Kenya.
Vaccination against Ebola for all contacts of the deceased will begin immediately, the ministry said.
There is currently no approved vaccine for the Sudan strain of Ebola, though Uganda received some trial vaccine doses during the last outbreak.
An outbreak of Marburg, a cousin of Ebola, was declared in Tanzania last week.
Rwanda’s evolving stature ensures muted global pressure as M23 advances in eastern Congo
- Paul Kagame has claimed that M23 rebels in eastern Congo merely want to defend Tutsis from the same Hutu extremists who carried out the 1994 genocide
- Jason Stearns: ‘They have leveraged two things very well, which is their international diplomacy and their military prowess’
When Rwanda-backed rebels seized control of eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma this week, it prompted a flurry of declarations condemning Rwanda from the UN and western nations, including the United States, France and the UK
Yet, the international community has stopped short of putting financial pressure on Kigali to withdraw its support for the rebels as happened when they took Goma in 2012.
The contrast has to do with the country’s evolving stature both in Africa and the West, where officials have long admired fourth-term President Paul Kagame for his role in uplifting Rwanda in the aftermath of genocide, analysts and diplomats said. They point to Rwanda’s shrewd branding, efforts to make itself more indispensable militarily and economically and divided attention spans of countries preoccupied with wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“So far there has been significantly less international pressure than there was in 2012 for various reasons, including the new administration in the White House, other ongoing international crises and Rwanda’s role in continental peacekeeping and security operations,” said Ben Shepherd, a fellow Chatham House’s Africa Program.
Aid was once a key source of leverage
Kagame’s efforts to transform his small east African nation into a political and economic juggernaut, they say, has made the international community more reluctant to pressure Rwanda.
That’s been true when Kagame has abolished term limits and waged a campaign of repression against his opponents at home. It’s been true as he’s backed rebels fighting Congolese forces across the country’s border. And it’s remained true despite the fact that Rwanda’s economy is still heavily reliant on foreign aid, including from the United States, the World Bank and the European Union.
The United States disbursed $180 million in foreign aid to Rwanda in 2023. The World Bank’s International Development Association provided nearly $221 million the same year. And in the years ahead, the European Union has pledged to invest over $900 million in Rwanda under the Global Gateway strategy, its response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In 2012, that aid was a key source of leverage as the western powers pressured Rwanda to end its role in the fighting. Donor countries withheld aid and the World Bank threatened to. Only a few nations, including the UK and Germany, have implied Rwanda’s involvement could jeopardize the flow of aid.
But today, the international community has fewer means to influence Rwanda as M23 advances southward from Goma. The United States suspended military aid to Rwanda in 2012 in the months before it seized Goma but can’t make the same threats after suspending it again last year. And since taking office, President Donald Trump has since frozen the vast majority of foreign aid, stripping the United States of the means to use it to leverage any country in particular.
Rwandan troops observed pouring into Congo
The Rwanda-backed M23 group is one of about 100 armed factions vying for a foothold in eastern Congo in one of Africa’s longest conflicts, displacing 4.5 million people and creating what the UN called “one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth.”
A July 2024 report from a UN group of experts estimated at least 4,000 Rwandan troops were active across the Congolese border. More have been observed pouring into Congo this week.
Kagame has claimed that M23 rebels in eastern Congo merely want to defend Tutsis from the same Hutu extremists who carried out the genocide that killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus without intervention from the international community.
That failure and the resulting guilt informed a generation of politicians’ thinking about Rwanda.
“Rwanda’s justifications and references to the genocide continue to play to the West’s perception of it,” said South Africa-based risk analyst Daniel Van Dalen. “There’s always been apprehension to take any decisive action against Rwanda politically or economically.”
Kagame seen as ‘a beacon of stability and economic growth’
But today, there are other factors at play.
Set on transforming the country into the “Singapore of Africa,” Kagame has modernized Rwanda’s infrastructure, raised life expectancy rates and lured companies like Volkswagen and leagues like the NBA to open up shop in-country. Donors and foreign correspondents often profess wonder at Kigali’s clean streets, upscale restaurants and women-majority parliament.
The transformation has won Rwanda admiration from throughout the world, including in Africa, where leaders see Rwanda’s trajectory as a model to draw lessons from.
“The history of genocide still plays a role, but Kagame has very cleverly set up relationships with western capitals and established himself as a beacon of stability and economic growth in the region,” said a European diplomat, who did not want to be named because he was not allowed to speak on the matter publicly. “Some capitals still don’t want to see the truth.”
Rwanda contributes more personnel to UN peacekeeping operations than all but two countries. It is a key supplier of troops deployed to Central African Republic, where the United States worries about growing Russian influence. The country has also agreed deals to deploy its army to fight extremists in northern Mozambique, where France’s Total Energies is developing an offshore gas project.
“They have leveraged two things very well, which is their international diplomacy and their military prowess,” said Jason Stearns, a political scientist and Congo expert at Canada’s Simon Fraser University. “They’ve just been very good at making themselves useful.”
Key exporter of critical minerals
A decade ago, Rwanda was primarily exporting agricultural products like coffee and tea. But it has since emerged as a key partner for western nations competing with China for access to natural resources in east Africa.
In addition to gold and tin, Rwanda is a top exporter of tantalum, a mineral used to manufacture semiconductors. While it does not publish data on the volumes of minerals it mines, last year the US State Department said Rwanda exported more minerals than it mined, citing a UN report. And just last month, Congo filed lawsuits against Apple’s subsidiaries in France and Belgium, accusing Rwanda of using minerals sourced in eastern Congo.
Yet still, the European Union has signed an agreement with Kigali, opening the door to importing critical minerals from Rwanda. The deal sparked outrage from activists who criticized the lack of safeguards regarding sourcing of the minerals, and accused Brussels of fueling the conflict in eastern Congo.
The EU pushed back, saying that the deal was in early stages and that it was “working out the practicalities” on tracing and reporting minerals from Rwanda.
But even if the West stepped up its response, it has less leverage than in 2012, analysts said. Kagame invested in relationships with non-Western partners, such as China and the United Arab Emirates, which is now the country’s top trade partner. Rwanda also deepened its ties with the African nations that took much more decisive action to defuse the crisis in 2012.
“We are waiting to see how South Africans and Angolans react,” Shepherd said. “There was diplomatic pressure in 2012, but it only changed things because it came alongside African forces deployed in the UN intervention brigade.”
EU to hold talks with Israel, Palestinians
BRUSSELS: The EU will hold separate talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the coming weeks, the European Commission said on Thursday, as a ceasefire in Gaza continued to hold.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is expected to meet with his counterparts from the EU’s 27 nations and the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, in Brussels on Feb. 24, the commission said.
“We will discuss the full range of issues with Israel, including the war in Gaza, regional issues, global issues, and bilateral EU-Israel relations,” said commission spokesman Anouar El-Anouni.
The gathering will take place on the sidelines of the EU’s foreign affairs council.
Similarly, Kallas will co-chair with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa “the first ever EU Palestinian high-level dialogue” on the margins of the following foreign affairs council — a meeting of EU top diplomats — on March 17.
“This will be an opportunity to discuss the EU support for the Palestinians and the full range of regional and bilateral issues,” El-Anouni said.
Mustafa represents the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.
The announcement came as Israel and the Palestinians took part in the third prisoner-hostage exchange under the Gaza ceasefire.
EU countries, which include staunch allies of Israel as well as firm supporters of the Palestinians, have struggled for a unified position in the Gaza war.
“The EU is fully committed to a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace based on the two-state solution, where Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in peace and security,” the commission said.
Boomerang competition held after findings suggest Arabian invention
- Competitors from the US, Europe and Brazil flock to Hail
- Traditionally thought to be Australian, recent findings indicate Arabian origin
RIYADH: An international boomerang tournament is being held in Hail in commemoration of a recent discovery of evidence showing that the hunting implement may have been invented in Arabia.
“The Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad International Boomerang Tournament” begun on Thursday and brings together competitors from the US, Europe and Brazil, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Boomerang Club.
Saudi researcher Mishari Al-Nashmi recently published findings of rock engravings in the mountains of Al-Masma, Joba and Arnan, depicting hunting scenes from the Neolithic era using curved tools resembling the Australian boomerang.
In collaboration with Professor Qusay Al-Turkiye, a Saudi archaeologist based in Australia, it was confirmed that these engravings date them as older than the Australian boomerang models, which were previously believed to be the original source.
Al-Nashmi said: “Together with Professor Qusay Al-Turkiye, we successfully gathered comprehensive insights into the Australian boomerang.
“Our extensive research led to a groundbreaking discovery: This tool was not exclusive to Australia, but was, in fact, known in the Hail region for millennia.
“The rock engravings, which depict various forms of the boomerang, serve as undeniable evidence that the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula possessed knowledge of this tool long ago.”
“The repeated discovery of boomerang models in various regions such as Europe, Australia and Saudi Arabia indicates that this tool was used for multiple purposes in ancient cultures.
“It is clear that the diverse uses of the boomerang required the development of different shapes, designs and sizes, suited to specific purposes such as hunting, games, music and digging,” Al-Nashmi said.
Al-Nashmi, who also vice president of the Boomerang Club in Hail, added: “It is also likely that these designs did not transfer between different peoples but were locally crafted within each region, maintaining similar goals.”
“We are confident that this discovery underscores the profound depth of civilization and the storied history of the Hail region,” Al-Nashmi said.
Professor Al-Turkiye added: “The rock engravings portray skilled hunters wearing masks shaped like birds or ibexes, using hunting tools that flew with remarkable precision to capture deer, birds, and even wild cattle.
“These details underscore that the Arabian boomerang was not just a hunting instrument, but a significant component of a highly developed culture.”
The tool is globally known as the “boomerang,” a term derived from the Dharuk language of one of the Australian indigenous tribes, the Turuwal people.
However, Saudi researchers revealed that its linguistic roots trace back to the Akkadian word “taqntu/taqttu,” meaning to kill or hunt, which appears in cuneiform inscriptions dating to the fourth millennium BCE.
The Arabic name “Al-Arjoon” refers to the tool’s curved shape, reminiscent of the frond of a palm tree, giving it a local identity that has redefined its global recognition.
The event unfolds over four days under the patronage of the governor of Hail, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad, and includes tests of accuracy, distance and technique.
Athletes challenge one another to throw the boomerang in a way that ensures it returns with a precise curve, drawing inspiration from the techniques of ancient hunters.
The championship also coincides with a rock art exhibition at Rata, one of the archaeological sites in the Hail region, featuring rare specimens of a range of ancient boomerangs.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad said that the event was “a tribute to a profound human legacy.”
“Hail once again confirms its status as the cradle of civilizations, demonstrating its ability to revive its heritage in a manner that resonates globally.”
The prince embraced the idea of turning the discovery into a living heritage, establishing the Hail Boomerang Club, led by Nasser Al-Shammari, who designed a boomerang specifically for the championship.
In collaboration with the International Federation of Boomerang Associations, the event was co-organized by world champion Logan Broadbent from the US and Roger Perry, president of the Boomerang Association of Australia.
Perry said: “The world will discover that this sport is not just a game, but a story of humanity using nature to craft its tools, and Hail has written a new chapter in this story.”