KHARTOUM/CAIRO: Sudan’s military leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Saturday dismissed Western threats of sanctions and said meetings between Sudanese and Israeli officials were part of security cooperation rather than political in nature.
Burhan led a military coup on Oct. 25 that ended a partnership between the army and civilian parties which was meant to lead to democratic elections, leading to months of protests as well as Western condemnation.
US officials have said they are looking into options to respond to the killing of at least 79 protesters, according to a toll by medics, and to moves to impede civilian-led government.
Speaking in an an interview with Sudan’s state-run TV aired late Saturday, Burhan said it is legitimate for Sudanese security and intelligence agencies to have ties and exchange visits with Israel.
He said exchange of intelligence has enabled Sudan to dismantle and arrest suspected militant groups in Sudan that “could have undermined the security of Sudan and the region.”
He insisted his country’s relations with Israel are not of a political nature, saying that no senior Sudanese official has yet made a visit to Israel. He did not elaborate.
Sudanese and Israeli officials exchanged unannounced visits in recent weeks. Most recently, a Sudanese security delegation visited Tel Aviv last week, following a visit by Israeli officials, including Mossad intelligence officers, to Khartoum in January.
Burhan also said Washington was receiving inaccurate information.
“Sanctions and the threat of them are not useful,” he said.
Burhan said he took personal responsibility for investigations of protester deaths and that five or six were ongoing. But he added that there were suspicions of involvement by “outside groups,” without elaborating.
The armed forces were committed to handing over power to an elected government or to an arrangement decided through “national consensus,” he said, repeating a commitment to holding elections in mid-2023.
The military had met resistance committees that are leading the protest movement, and they agreed on many points, he said. In statements, resistance committees have rejected dialogue with the military.
Prior to the coup, the military had led steps to reach an agreement in late 2020 to normalize relations with Israel, a move also made by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
Burhan said meetings between Israeli and Sudanese officials since the coup had not been high-level and only involved the security and intelligence apparatus.
“This is a legitimate matter for these agencies, and it is no secret that the information shared enabled us to catch several terrorist organizations located inside Sudan,” he said.
Protesters have accused the military of bringing back loyalists of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir. This week, two prominent politicians involved in a committee to dismantle Bashir’s network were arrested.
In response, Burhan said officials appointed since the takeover were already part of civil service, and that the committee had diverged from its goals though he was not involved in the arrests.
The UN, the US and other Western government have pressured the military to end the crackdown on protesters and restore a civilian-led government to complete the country’s transition. Congress members have also called for sanctions on military leaders in Sudan.
US Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee and the newly appointed US special envoy for the Horn of Africa visited Sudan last month and said they made clear to the generals that “the US “will consider measures to hold accountable those responsible for failure to move forward.”
In the interview, Buran pushed back against threats of punitive measure, saying that sanctions and threats of sanctions will not helpful.
(With Reuters and AP)
Sudan’s Burhan dismisses sanctions threats, says Israel visits not political
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Sudan’s Burhan dismisses sanctions threats, says Israel visits not political
- Burhan said intelligence sharing with Israel helped arrest suspected militants in his country
Israeli claims about Hamas fighters in hospitals may be ‘grossly exaggerated’: ICC prosecutor
- Andrew Cayley: ‘I think we’ve been misled about that in the press. There are lies being spoken’
- ‘Exceptionally good satellite imagery’ shows ‘on a daily basis how these (hospitals) are destroyed’
LONDON: Israeli claims about Hamas using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as bases of operation may have been “grossly exaggerated,” an International Criminal Court prosecutor has said.
Speaking at an event in The Hague, Andrew Cayley, the ICC lawyer leading the investigation into alleged war crimes and breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza, said of the Israeli claims: “We need to be able to demonstrate very clearly what the level of military presence was, if at all, in these hospitals because I think we’ve been misled about that in the press.”
Israel regularly claimed that Hamas fighters were using hospitals as bases for cover and using patients and medics as human shields.
Cayley said the ICC was having “great difficulty assessing” the veracity of the claims “because clearly there are lies being spoken, but that’s really something we do need to get to the bottom of as a prosecution office.”
The former UK chief military prosecutor reports directly to Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, who last month secured arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Hamas figure Mohammed Deif.
At the event, held to discuss attacks on healthcare in Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine, Cayley said damage caused to Gaza’s health infrastructure would be examined as part of the investigation into the war.
“Looking at damage to health facilities, destruction of health facilities, we’ll be coming on to that probably later next year. We’re having to do this in stages simply because of the resources that we have,” he added.
“Airstrikes, sieges, raids on hospitals. Add to that lack of fuel, electricity, food, medicine. That’s why the (healthcare) system has collapsed.”
He said he and his team had interviewed medical personnel who had worked in Gaza, and the ICC had seen “exceptionally good satellite imagery” that showed “on a daily basis how these (hospitals) are destroyed.”
Cayley added that his team are awaiting even better imagery to find evidence “showing either the truth or the falsehood of the usage of these facilities as military combat facilities.”
The World Health Organization said it had evaluated 35 hospitals in Gaza and determined that only 17 of them were even partly operational. Five others were labeled “fully damaged” and 13 “non-functional.”
Blinken arrives in Jordan at start of Syria crisis tour
- Top US diplomat meets King Abdullah II in Aqaba, will travel onwards to Turkey
- Blinken has called for “inclusive” process to form Syria’s next government
AQABA, Jordan: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jordan on Thursday at the start of a crisis tour to address the aftermath of the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar Assad, an AFP journalist on his plane said.
The outgoing top US diplomat headed straight to a meeting in the Red Sea city of Aqaba with King Abdullah II and will travel later in the day to Turkiye.
Blinken has called for an “inclusive” process to form Syria’s next government that includes protections for minorities after Islamist rebels ended the iron-fisted rule of Assad, a member of the Alawite community.
Announcing his trip, the State Department said he would also call for a Syria that is not “a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors” — a nod to the concerns of Turkiye and Israel, which has ramped up strikes on its historic adversary since Assad’s fall.
It is Blinken’s 12th visit to the Middle East since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, which has responded with a relentless military campaign in Gaza.
His previous trips have ended in disappointment as he sought a ceasefire between US ally Israel and Hamas.
President Joe Biden’s administration leaves office on January 20.
President-elect Donald Trump has described Syria as “a mess” and said that the United States should not get involved, although he has not elaborated on US policy since Assad’s ouster.
Blinken arrives in Jordan at start of Syria crisis tour
- The outgoing top US diplomat will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the foreign minister Ayman Safadi
AQABA, Jordan: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jordan on Thursday at the start of a crisis tour to address the aftermath of the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar Assad, an AFP journalist on his plane said.
The outgoing top US diplomat headed straight to a meeting in the Red Sea city of Aqaba with King Abdullah II and will travel later in the day to Turkiye.
Blinken has called for an “inclusive” process to form Syria’s next government that includes protections for minorities after Islamist rebels ended the iron-fisted rule of Assad, a member of the Alawite community.
Announcing his trip, the State Department said he would also call for a Syria that is not “a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors” — a nod to the concerns of Turkiye and Israel, which has ramped up strikes on its historic adversary since Assad’s fall.
It is Blinken’s 12th visit to the Middle East since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, which has responded with a relentless military campaign in Gaza.
His previous trips have ended in disappointment as he sought a ceasefire between US ally Israel and Hamas.
President Joe Biden’s administration leaves office on January 20.
President-elect Donald Trump has described Syria as “a mess” and said that the United States should not get involved, although he has not elaborated on US policy since Assad’s ouster.
Migrant workers in Lebanon are trying to return home after alleged abuses and then war
- Hundreds of migrant workers in Lebanon are waiting to be repatriated after the ceasefire ending the war between the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel went into effect last month
BEIRUT: Isatta Bah wakes up from a nap in a crowded shelter on the outskirts of Beirut, clutching her baby, Blessing.
The 24-year-old from Sierra Leone spends her days waiting for an exit visa that could put her and her 1-year-old on a plane back to the West African nation. She wants to reunite with her family after what she called exploitative work conditions and sexual violence, along with the recent horrors of war in Lebanon.
“My experience in Lebanon is not good for me. I am really tired,” Bah said. “I want to go home.”
Hundreds of migrant workers in Lebanon are waiting to be repatriated after the ceasefire ending the 14-month war between the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel went into effect last month.
Lebanon has long drawn migrant workers dreaming of building better lives for their families. Enticed by promises of stable jobs and decent pay, they enter Lebanon via recruitment agencies under a sponsorship-based labor system known as Kafala — only to find themselves often trapped with confiscated passports, long hours, withheld wages and, for many, abuse.
The Kafala system has long been criticized by human rights groups, but the government rarely if ever addresses the criticism. But Bah knew little of that when she came to Lebanon in 2022. She was promised a job at a supermarket with a $200 monthly salary, she said. Instead, she was sent to care for an older woman once she arrived.
Within a month of her arrival, her 3-year-old son back home fell ill and died. She said she was not given the time to grieve and fled her employer’s house. Since her employer held her passport and other documents, Bah said she had to leave them behind.
Her experience in Lebanon then took a darker turn. One day she and five housemates were picked up by a taxi driver who said he would take them home. Instead, she said, the driver dropped them at the wrong spot. As they tried and failed to find another cab, a group of men chased them and raped them.
“Men were coming and they were cheering for us,” said Bah, who gave her consent to be named. “They beat us and they had sex with us.” She said it took her about two weeks to recover and resume work at two hotels. Without documents, migrants can hesitate to go to police.
Two months later, she and another friend found out they were pregnant.
Bah recounted the experience as she watched her baby’s wobbly footsteps.
With war, their lives became more precarious. When Israel intensified its bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs in September, Bah fled the area with her baby and friends on foot.
Not every migrant worker escaped the attacks. An estimated 37 have been killed and 150 wounded since October 2023, said Joelle Mhanna with the UN’s International Organization for Migration.
There were few places to turn. Most government-run shelters refused to take in displaced people who were not Lebanese, said activist Dea Hajj Shaheen. After supporting migrant women during previous crises in Lebanon, she stepped in again along with other volunteers.
To house over 200 women from Sierra Leone including Bah, they repurposed an abandoned space owned by her family — a former car dealership that was later a venue for pop-up events and named The Shelter.
The kitchen was alive with activity as women cooked, some dancing to Nigerian music. In another area, rows of thin mattresses lay in the dim light from broken windows. Despite the modest conditions, the women set up a Christmas tree crafted from sticks.
While some migrants have been accepted at government-run shelters, there were regular reports of others being evicted or denied access, the IOM said.
Some migrants hesitate to approach the government shelters for fear of detention or deportation, Mhanna said. “As a result, most are being hosted by embassies, NGOs and community-based organizations including churches, monasteries and other religious groups.”
The Lebanese government has not directly addressed the issue of migrant workers being rejected from government-run shelters, despite repeated calls for action from rights organizations and the United Nations.
Moving on from the shelters they found posed another challenge for migrants like Bah, as many had passports and other documents confiscated by former employers.
“We had to secure exit permits, immigration clearances and even child travel documents for the five children in this group,” said Shaheen, who coordinated the repatriation last month of 120 women and their children with the support of IOM, who chartered the flight.
IOM said it has received requests from around 10,000 migrants seeking to be repatriated, a small fraction of the over 175,000 in Lebanon.
As of Nov. 26, the IOM had supported over 400 migrants to return home. That included two charter flights for people from Bangladesh and Sierra Leone. It wasn’t clear how many more flights are planned. or to where.
Laughter and cheer filled Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Nov. 19. The women from Sierra Leone arrived in groups, dragging suitcases and sharing hugs. Some danced in celebration for their long-awaited flight.
“It wasn’t easy in Lebanon,” said Amanata Thullah after four years. “I am happy to be going back to my country.”
Mariam Sesay, who described herself as the head of Sierra Leone’s community in Lebanon, said there had been “a lot of distress and trauma” in recent months.
Bah was not among those leaving, but she said she and others at the shelter were happy to see friends return home.
She now awaits her turn, along with over 50 others.
At first she was told she needed official documents for her baby and the father’s consent to travel. But a lawyer waived the requirement due to her circumstances, Shaheen said.
“I wish to go back home to continue my education,” Bah said. “Since I was little, I always wanted to be a computer science student, because I’m good at that.”
She looked down at Blessing. “Now I have something to take care of,” she said. “When I watch her walk or laugh, that gives me joy.”
Deadly attacks in Sudan’s Darfur ‘shocking’: WHO chief
- The World Health Organization voiced alarm Thursday at recent attacks in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, which it said had killed dozens of people and injured many more
GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced alarm Thursday at recent attacks in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, which it said had killed dozens of people and injured many more.
“The most recent attacks in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, that claimed at least 80 lives and injured hundreds of people are shocking,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, adding “our sympathies go out to the affected communities in Sudan.”
The pro-democracy Emergency Lawyers group had given an even higher toll from Monday’s strike on Kabkabiya, a town about 180 kilometers (112 miles) west of El-Fasher, the state capital that has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May.
The lawyers group, which has been documenting human rights abuses during the conflict, said an air strike “took place on the town’s weekly market day, where residents from various nearby villages had gathered to shop, resulting in the death of more than 100 people and injury of hundreds, including women and children.”
They were among at least 176 people killed in two days of army and paramilitary strikes across Sudan this week, according to an AFP tally of tolls provided by officials, activists and lawyers.
Both the army and the RSF, who have been at war since April 2023, have been accused of indiscriminately targeting civilians and deliberately bombing residential areas.
Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 12 million.
Nearly nine million of those are displaced within Sudan, most in areas with devastated infrastructure and facing the threat of mass starvation.
Across the country, nearly 26 million people — around half the population — are facing acute hunger, according to the United Nations.
Darfur, a region the size of France, is home to around a quarter of Sudan’s population but more than half its displaced people.
Nearly all of it is now controlled by the RSF, which has also taken over swathes of the southern Kordofan region and central Sudan, while the army holds the country’s north and east.
Tedros warned Thursday that “health facilities in Darfur are barely managing to meet health needs with non-functional equipment and limitations of medical supplies.”
The UN health agency, he said, had “managed to deliver trauma and surgery supplies earlier this month, which can help to treat the injured and prevent further loss of life.”
