CAIRO: Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed met Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Tuesday, becoming the first foreign leader to visit him in his war capital Port Sudan since the start of the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Abiy, who was previously seen as closer to the RSF than the army and hosted its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in Addis Ababa in December, framed the visit as part of a push to bring stability to Sudan after nearly 15 months of conflict.
The war between the Sudanese military factions has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, created famine-like conditions in parts of the country, and threatened to destabilise the region.
While the RSF has taken most of the capital Khartoum and the centre and west of Sudan, the army controls eastern and northern states, including Port Sudan, which has become its base.
Talks hosted by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah aimed at brokering a ceasefire stalled last year and attempts to bring the army back to the negotiating table have so far failed.
Images shared by both sides showed Burhan and Abiy laughing and walking hand in hand after the Ethiopian leader's arrival. On X, Abiy's office called the visit part of efforts to find "sustainable solutions for Sudan's stability".
A source close to the matter said Abiy had a better chance of achieving a breakthrough by being on the ground.
"The very existence of the Sudan is at stake and when the world turned away, the PM has turned facing the Sudan," the source said.
The visit took place after an RSF attack on the southeastern state of Sennar last month brought the war closer to Sudan's border with Ethiopia. There have been signs the RSF is moving into Gedaref state, which hosts more than 600,000 displaced Sudanese as well as tens of thousands of Ethiopian refugees.
Last month, Sudanese farmers in the state said that Ethiopian Fano militiamen had entered the disputed Fashaga territory between the two countries. Abiy said in a speech on Monday that he would not take advantage of the war to settle the issue, and that his government would not side with any of the parties.
Abiy's visit to Port Sudan also comes despite past tensions with the army.
RSF leader Dagalo, known as Hemedti, chose Addis Ababa as the venue to meet the civilian Taqaddum coalition criticised by the army. One of Burhan's deputies alleged last year that Ethiopian fighters were backing the RSF.
Ethiopia's Abiy visits Sudan's army chief on Red Sea coast
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Ethiopia's Abiy visits Sudan's army chief on Red Sea coast
- Abiy framed the visit as part of a push to bring stability to Sudan
- On X, Abiy's office called the visit part of efforts to find "sustainable solutions for Sudan's stability"
Thousands protest in Iraq against the Iran-Israel war
- “No to Israel! No to America!” chanted demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers in the Sadr City district of Baghdad
- In Iraq's southern city of Basra, around 2,000 people demonstrated after the prayers
BAGHDAD: Thousands of supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr rallied Friday in Baghdad and other cities against Israel’s war with Iran, AFP correspondents said.
“No to Israel! No to America!” chanted demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Moqtada Sadr’s stronghold in the capital, holding umbrellas to shield themselves from Iraq’s scorching summer sun.
“It is an unjust war... Israel has no right” to hit Iran, said protester Abu Hussein.
“Israel is not in it for the (Iranian) nuclear (program). What Israel and the Americans want is to dominate the Middle East,” added the 54-year-old taxi driver.
He said he hoped Iran would come out of the war victorious, and that Iraq should support its neighbor “with money, weapons and protests.”
In Iraq’s southern city of Basra, around 2,000 people demonstrated after the prayers, according to an AFP correspondent.
Cleric Qusai Assadi, 43, denounced Israel’s use of Iraqi airspace to bomb Iran. “It is a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” he said, warning against “a third world war against Islam.”
Echoing the views of Sadr, Assadi said that Iraq should not be dragged into the conflict.
In a statement earlier this week, Sadr condemned “the Zionist and American terrorism” and the “aggression against neighboring Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen,” referring to Israel’s military operations in those countries.
Sadr, who once led a militia fighting US-led forces after the 2003 invasion, retains a devoted following of millions among the country’s majority community of Shiite Muslims, and wields great influence over Iraqi politics.
He has previously criticized Tehran-backed Iraqi armed factions, who have threatened US interests in the region if the United States were to join Israel in its war against Iran.
On Friday, Israel launched a surprise attack targeting Iran’s military and nuclear sites and killing top commanders and scientists, saying it was acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran denies having.
The assault has prompted Iran to retaliate with barrages of missiles aimed at Israel, with residential areas in both countries suffering.
Iraq is both a significant ally of Iran and a strategic partner of Israel’s key supporter, the United States, and has for years negotiated a delicate balancing act between the two foes.
It has only recently regained a semblance of stability after decades of devastating conflicts and turmoil.
Fearful of Iranian missiles, many sleep in Israel’s underground train stations
- “We’re not sleeping because of the anxiety and because of the sirens that are happening during the nights,” said Shraibmen
- Melech said the scene, with hundreds of people in their pajamas in the train station, reminded her of her grandfather’s stories from World War II
RAMAT GAN, Israel: Aziza Melech felt her body relax for the first time in days when she settled onto her inflatable mattress in an underground station of Israel’s light rail system on a recent evening.
For the next few hours, at least, the 34-year-old event planner wouldn’t need to run every time a siren warning of Iranian missiles sounded.
Since the war began a week ago with Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, families with young kids, foreign workers, and young professionals have brought mattresses and sleeping bags, snacks and pets into the stations each evening.
Repeatedly running for shelter
On Wednesday night, in a station that straddles Tel Aviv and neighboring Ramat Gan, parents settled in their kids with stuffed animals, while young people fired up tablets loaded with movies.
Many walked in carrying boxes of pizza. Workers set out snacks and coffee.
It was Melech’s first night sleeping in the brightly lit train station, and she was joined by her friend Sonia Shraibmen.
“We’re not sleeping because of the anxiety and because of the sirens that are happening during the nights,” said Shraibmen. “It’s very scary to run every time to the shelter.”
That morning, Shraibmen fell on the street while rushing to a nearby shelter, and decided to move somewhere where she wouldn’t have to get up and run each time her phone blared.
Melech said the scene, with hundreds of people in their pajamas in the train station, reminded her of her grandfather’s stories from World War II. “Now, we’ll be able to tell our grandkids about this,” she said.
The war between Israel and Iran began on June 13, when Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites as well as top generals and nuclear scientists.
More than 600 people, including over 200 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. People in Tehran have also packed into metro stations as strikes boomed overhead.
Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and more than 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Those strikes have killed have killed 24 people and injured hundreds in Israel. Missiles have struck 40 different sites, including apartment buildings, offices and a hospital, according to authorities.
Footage of pancaked buildings or apartment towers with faces sheared off has forced some people to reconsider what they do when a siren blares.
The Tel Aviv light rail, which is not running because of the war, has several underground stations. In addition to the hundreds who sleep in them each night, thousands of others come only when there’s a siren, crowding into every part of the station not taken up by mattresses.
Those living older apartments lack shelter
Around half of the nighttime residents at the train station are foreign workers, who often live in older apartment buildings that are often not equipped with adequate shelters.
While new buildings in Israel are required to have reinforced safe rooms meant to withstand rockets, Iran is firing much stronger ballistic missiles. And shelter access is severely lacking in poorer neighborhoods and towns, especially in Arab areas.
Babu Chinabery, a home health aide from India, said he went to the station ”because we are very scared about the missiles because they’re so strong.”
Chinabery, 48, has been in Israel for 10 years, so he is no stranger to the sirens. But the past week has been something different. “It’s very difficult, that’s why we’re coming to sleep here,” he said.
The light rail stations aren’t the only places people have sought shelter.
Around 400 people also sleep in an underground parking garage at one of the city’s biggest malls each night, according to organizers. Mutual aid groups set up more than 100 tents, each one in a parking space, providing a bit more privacy for people who wanted to sleep in a safe area.
Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station — a half-abandoned cement behemoth — also opened its underground atomic shelter to the public for the first time in years.
While likely one of the safest places in Israel during a missile attack, the creepily deserted rat- and cockroach-infested shelter, filled with standing water from leaky pipes, attracted only a handful of curious onlookers during the day and no residents at night.
Not taking ‘unnecessary risks’
Roi Asraf, 45, has been sleeping at the train station in Ramat Gan for the past few nights with his wife and 3-year-old daughter, even though they have a safe room at home.
“I don’t like to take unnecessary risks,” he said.
They now have the routine down: They give their daughter a bath at home, get everyone in their pajamas, and walk to the train station by 7 p.m. Local volunteers have run a nightly show for kids to help settle them before sleep.
“I hope (the conflict) will be short and quick,” said Asraf, after his daughter, Ariel, bounded off with her mom to catch the show. Despite the difficulties, he supports Israel’s attack on Iran.
“If I have to sleep a week of my life in a train station for everything to be safer, I’m willing to do it,” he said.
Libya objects to Greek tender for hydrocarbon exploration off Crete
- Greece opposed the agreement, saying it had no legal basis
- Last month Athens invited bidders for hydrocarbon exploration in two blocks south of Crete
TRIPOLI: Libya’s internationally recognized government of national unity has objected to Greece’s approval of an international tender for hydrocarbon exploration off the island of Crete, saying some of the blocks infringed upon its own maritime zones.
The two countries have been trying to mend relations strained by an accord signed in 2019 between the Libyan government and Greece’s regional rival Turkiye, which mapped out a sea area between them close to the Greek island.
Greece opposed the agreement, saying it had no legal basis as it sought to create an exclusive economic zone from Turkiye’s southern Mediterranean shore to Libya’s northeast coast, ignoring the presence of Crete.
Last month Athens invited bidders for hydrocarbon exploration in two blocks south of Crete following an expression of interest by US major Chevron.
Libya’s Tripoli-based foreign ministry said in a statement late on Thursday that some of the tendered sea blocks off Crete fell within disputed zones and were “a clear violation of Libya’s sovereign rights.”
The ministry objected “to any exploration or drilling activities in these areas without a prior legal understanding that respects the rules of international law,” it said, calling on Greek authorities to prioritize dialogue and negotiation.
Responding to questions at the Greek parliament, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said Greece was willing to discuss with Libya “the delimitation of maritime zones within the framework of international law.”
Gerapetritis is expected to visit Libya in the coming weeks, an official with the Greek foreign ministry told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Israeli defense minister warns Hezbollah against joining conflict with Iran
- Hezbollah has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel’s patience with “terrorists” who threaten it had worn thin.
The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called “brutal Israeli-American aggression” against Iran.
In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting and a Hezbollah official told Reuters last week that the group did not intend to initiate attacks against Israel.
Gaza rescuers say 43 killed by Israeli forces
- Civil defense official says 26 people killed while gathered near aid distribution center
GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed at least 43 people on Friday, including 26 who had gathered near an aid distribution center, the latest in a string of deadly incidents targeting aid seekers in the Palestinian territory.
“Forty-three martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid,” Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the civil defense agency in Gaza, told AFP.
