WASHINGTON: The World Bank said Wednesday it has suspended aid to Sudan following the military takeover that deposed the prime minister.
“I am greatly concerned by recent events in Sudan, and I fear the dramatic impact this can have on the country’s social and economic recovery and development,” World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement.
It was the latest blow to the impoverished African nation that had just won its way back into good standing with major Washington-based development lenders after years in the wilderness.
The military on Monday seized Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and briefly detained him in the coup that came just over two years into a precarious power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilians after the army ousted longtime autocrat Omar Al-Bashir in April 2019.
The World Bank “paused disbursements in all of its operations in Sudan on Monday and it has stopped processing any new operations as we closely monitor and assess the situation,” Malpass said.
The United States also suspended aid to the country.
“We hope that peace and the integrity of the transition process will be restored, so that Sudan can restart its path of economic development and can take its rightful place in the international financial community,” Malpass said.
Sudan had been emerging from decades of stringent US sanctions after Washington removed the country from its state sponsor of terrorism blacklist in December 2020, eliminating a major hurdle to much-needed aid and financial investment.
The World Bank and IMF in June granted Sudan debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, cutting the nation’s debt in half to about $28 billion, and the institutions have offered additional help if economic reforms continue.
World Bank suspends aid to Sudan after military coup
https://arab.news/58g25
World Bank suspends aid to Sudan after military coup
- It is the latest blow to the impoverished African nation
- The military on Monday seized Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and briefly detained him in a coup
Iranian diplomats leave Lebanon after Israeli strikes near embassy
- The security source said they were being flown to Russia on a Russian plane
- A source from the Iranian embassy in Beirut said a number of non-essential diplomats were leaving
BEIRUT: More than 150 Iranian nationals including diplomats and their families left Lebanon on Saturday, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters, after the Israeli military threatened Iran’s representatives in Lebanon and conducted strikes near the embassy.
The security source said they were being flown to Russia on a Russian plane, and that another 20 Iranians had left on Friday following the start of a new war between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel.
A source from the Iranian embassy in Beirut said a number of non-essential diplomats were leaving, but did not give a number.
Iran’s foreign ministry confirmed in a later statement that Iranian nationals residing in Lebanon have temporarily left Beirut owing to the security situation in the country.
The Iranian embassy in Lebanon continues its normal operations and consular services for Iranian nationals residing there will continue as before, it added.
The war has refocused attention on Iran’s backing for Hezbollah, which launched rockets and drones at Israel on Monday and triggered heavy Israeli bombardment across Lebanon.
On Tuesday, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a post on X that representatives of the Iranian government still in Lebanon should “leave immediately before they are targeted.”
The following day, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked authorities to arrest and deport any Iranian Revolutionary Guards carrying out military activities in Lebanon, the first time authorities have hinted at the possible presence of Iranian forces on its territory.
The Lebanese government has not said whether it has determined that Iranian forces were operating in Lebanon. Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati earlier this week denied that any Iranian military forces were in the country.
On Friday, Israeli air strikes hit an area near Iran’s embassy in Lebanon, two security sources told Reuters. The Iranian embassy source told Reuters that the strikes had driven the decision for Iranian diplomats to leave.
But Lebanese authorities had also been planning to make moves against Iranian diplomats this week, two people familiar with the government’s discussions told Reuters.
They said the Lebanese government had intended to expel diplomats from the country. Reuters could not determine whether the diplomats who had left so far were ousted or left for security reasons.
