AL-JAZIRA STATE, Sudan: Sudan recalled its ambassador from Nairobi Thursday in protest at Kenyan President William Ruto’s hosting of talks with paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, its acting foreign minister said.
Dagalo, whose forces have been at war with the regular army led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan since April, has been touring African capitals on his first visit abroad of the conflict.
He already visited Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti as well as Kenya and is currently in South Africa, to the anger of Burhan, whose administration has lost ground to the paramilitaries in recent months and is eager to deny them international legitimacy.
In a statement carried by the official SUNA news agency, Sudan’s acting foreign minister Ali Al-Sadiq said the ambassador had been recalled “for consultations in protest of the official reception organized by the Kenyan government for the leader of the rebel militia.”
He said those consultations would “cover all possibilities for the outcome of Sudan’s relations with Kenya.”
Ties between Burhan and the Kenyan government have been strained for months, as Nairobi has sought to keep lines of communication open with Dagalo so it can mediate in the conflict.
In a January 1 address, the army chief warned that African governments hosting visits by “these killers” were “making themselves a partner in the murder of the Sudanese people.”
The war has killed more than 12,190 people, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, and forced more than seven million to flee their homes, according to UN figures.
Mediation efforts are largely at a standstill amid deep animosity between the rival generals.
Although Burhan’s administration continues to put out statements as the Sudanese government, Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces control the streets of Khartoum as well as nearly all of Darfur and much of the central state of Al-Jazira, Sudan’s pre-war breadbasket.
Sudan recalls Kenya envoy over paramilitary chief visit
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Sudan recalls Kenya envoy over paramilitary chief visit
Arab League says any plan to uproot Palestinians from Gaza would be ‘ethnic cleansing’
- The bloc was reacting to President Trump’s suggestion to ‘clean out’ Gaza Strip, move its population to Egypt and Jordan
- Egyptian President El-Sisi has repeatedly warned that any planned displacement would threaten Egypt’s national security
CAIRO: The Arab League on Sunday warned against “attempts to uproot the Palestinian people from their land,” after US President Donald Trump suggested a plan to “clean out” the Gaza Strip and move its population to Egypt and Jordan.
“The forced displacement and eviction of people from their land can only be called ethnic cleansing,” the regional bloc’s general secretariat said in a statement.
“Attempts to uproot the Palestinian people from their land, whether by displacement, annexation or settlement expansion, have been proven to fail in the past,” the statement added.
Earlier Sunday, Egypt vehemently expressed its objection to Trump’s suggestion.
Cairo’s foreign ministry in a statement expressed Egypt’s “continued support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land.”
It “rejected any infringement on those inalienable rights, whether by settlement or annexation of land, or by the depopulation of that land of its people through displacement, encouraged transfer or the uprooting of Palestinians from their land, whether temporarily or long-term.”
After 15 months of war, Trump said Gaza had become a “demolition site” and he would “like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people.”
Moving Gaza’s inhabitants could be done “temporarily or could be long term,” he said.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 both countries have warned of plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza into neighboring Egypt and from the West Bank into Jordan.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, with whom Trump said he would speak on Sunday, has repeatedly warned that said displacement would aim to “eradicate the cause for Palestinian statehood.”
El-Sisi has described the prospect as a “red line” that would threaten Egypt’s national security.
The Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday urged the implementation of the “two-state solution,” which Cairo has said would become impossible if Palestinians were removed from their territories.
Jordanian, Turkish foreign ministers discuss Gaza, Syria
- Chief diplomats affirm support for independent, sovereign Palestinian state
- Discussions also focus on security, reconstruction of Syria
LONDON: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Monday spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan about the latest developments in Syria and the Gaza Strip.
The chief diplomats emphasized the urgent need for adequate humanitarian aid to Gaza and the importance of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that ended 15 months of warfare in the enclave.
Both ministers affirmed their support for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state within the armistice lines of the pre-1967 Middle East war, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the Petra news agency reported.
They said that a two-state solution, with Palestinians and Israelis living peacefully side by side, is the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region.
The ministers also discussed the security and reconstruction of Syria after more than a decade of civil war that devastated the country’s economy.
Israel says 8 hostages due for release in first phase of truce are dead
- That means that of the 26 hostages yet to be freed under the first phase of the agreement, only 18 are still alive
- Under the first phase of the agreement, 33 hostages held by militants in Gaza are to be released in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel
JERUSALEM: Eight of the hostages due for release in the first phase of a truce deal between Israel and Hamas are dead, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Monday.
“The families have been informed of the situation of their relatives,” Mencer told reporters, without providing the names of the deceased.
That means that of the 26 hostages yet to be freed under the first phase of the agreement, only 18 are still alive.
The truce deal, announced earlier in January after months of fruitless negotiations, took effect on January 19, bringing to a halt more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
Under the first phase of the agreement, 33 hostages held by militants in Gaza are to be released in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel.
Seven Israeli women have been released since the start of the truce, as have 290 Palestinian prisoners.
Bahraini king, crown prince meet Italian PM in Manama
- King Hamad welcomed Giorgia Meloni at Al-Gudaibiya Palace
- They discussed bilateral relations, ways to boost cooperation
LONDON: Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa received Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Manama on Monday.
The Italian premier embarked on an official visit to the Middle East this week, meeting the Saudi leadership in AlUla on Sunday before heading to the Bahraini capital.
King Hamad welcomed Meloni at Al-Gudaibiya Palace in the presence of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the crown prince and prime minister.
They discussed bilateral relations and ways to boost cooperation in economics, trade and investment, according to the official Bahrain News Agency.
The king commended Italy’s efforts to promote peace and highlighted the importance of dialogue and diplomatic solutions to address regional as well as global issues, the BNA added.
Meloni expressed her gratitude for King Hamad’s warm hospitality and his efforts to strengthen historical relations between Rome and Manama.
King Hamad hosted a luncheon in honor of the Italian prime minister and her delegation.
Palestinians say two killed in Israeli West Bank strike
- Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed as Ramez Damiri and Ihab Abu Atwi, both residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp
TULKAREM: The Palestinian health ministry said Monday two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, an attack confirmed by the Israeli military.
The Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement that two dead and three injured arrived at Tulkarem’s Governmental Hospital “following the occupation’s targeting of a vehicle in Nur Shams refugee camp,” adjacent to the city of Tulkarem.
The Israeli army confirmed the strike, and said in a statement that “in a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet (internal security agency), an air force aircraft launched an attack shortly ago in the Tulkarem area.”
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed as Ramez Damiri and Ihab Abu Atwi, both residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp.
The health ministry also announced the death of a young man killed Sunday night by Israeli forces in Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.
The ministry reported one dead and two injured “by (Israeli) bullets near Qalandiya camp.”
Wafa news agency identified the man killed as Adam Sab Laban, shot by Israeli forces who were stationed at a military tower by the Qalandiya checkpoint into Jerusalem, and who “opened fire at a group of citizens.”
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 861 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
