Turkiye queries Somalia over role of president’s son in fatal accident

Turkish police stand guard in Istanbul. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 12 December 2023
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Turkiye queries Somalia over role of president’s son in fatal accident

  • “Regardless of their title, everyone is equal before the law and the entire process for the capture of the suspect — including the international procedure — is being carried out meticulously,” Tunc tweeted on Sunday

ISTANBUL: Turkiye is seeking an explanation from Somalia after the son of its president, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, left the country following a fatal traffic accident involving his use of a diplomatic car, according to a Turkish official.
The son, Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, was driving a vehicle belonging to the Somali Consulate on Nov. 30, when he hit a motorcycle courier in central Istanbul, seriously injuring him, Turkish media have said.
He was using a car carrying a diplomatic license plate at the time of the accident, said the Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation is still underway.
“Someone who does not have diplomatic status has no right to use these vehicles,” the official added. “Information was requested about this (from Somalia).”
In the absence of “immunity or diplomatic exceptionality,” it made no difference that the Somali president’s son was driving a vehicle with a diplomatic plate, the official said, adding that Turkiye’s Justice Ministry was handling the process.
Somali officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Somali president’s son left Turkiye on Dec. 2, after his release from police interrogation, while the 38-year-old motorcyclist, Yunus Emre Gocer, remained in hospital, an Istanbul prosecutor’s office said on Friday. But after the latter’s death in hospital on Dec. 6, an international arrest warrant was issued for the Somali president’s son, the prosecutor’s office said.
An investigation has been launched into the police officers who performed an initial assessment of the accident, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on social media platform X on Sunday.
Media reports of the incident have sparked a public outcry in Turkiye, which has good ties with Somalia.
“We said we will follow the judicial process, but the suspect walked away,” Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said on Friday in a post on X.

 


US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

Updated 42 min 27 sec ago
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US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

  • Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, also expresses concern over the drone attack

WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack by Rapid Support Forces on an aid convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.

“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.

“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.

“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital, Anadolu Agency reported.

The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.

 

 

Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, in a statement also expressed concern over the drone attack which hit the aid trucks in North Kordofan.

“I am deeply concerned by a drone attack earlier today on trucks contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in North Kordofan, the aftermath of which I came across a few hours later, as I left the state capital, El Obeid.”

“The trucks were en route from Kosti to deliver life-saving food assistance to displaced families near El Obeid when they were struck, tragically killing at least one individual and injuring many more. The trucks caught fire, destroying food commodities intended for life-saving humanitarian response.”

Brown added that “Humanitarian personnel, assets and supplies must be protected at all times. Attacks on aid operations undermine efforts to reach people facing hunger and displacement.”

“Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access remains critical to ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable people across Sudan.”

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.

The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.