PORT SUDAN: Sudanese shop owner Ishaq Mohammed has been trapped in his home for a month, sheltering from violence in El-Fasher, the last major city in the country’s vast Darfur region not under paramilitary control.
For more than a year, Sudan has suffered a war between the army, headed by the country’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Experts have warned the northeast African country is at risk of breaking apart.
According to the United Nations, Sudan “is experiencing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions,” with famine threatening and more than 8.7 million people uprooted — more than anywhere else in the world.
Among the war’s many horrors, Darfur has already seen some of the worst. Now, experts and residents are bracing for more.
“We’re living in constant terror,” Mohammed told AFP by telephone, as the UN, world leaders and aid groups voice fears of carnage in the North Darfur state capital of 1.5 million people.
“We can’t move for the bombardments,” Mohammed said.
The RSF has seized four out of five state capitals in Darfur, a region about the size of France and home to around one quarter of Sudan’s 48 million people.
“We’re under a total siege,” another resident, Ahmed Adam, told AFP in a text message that got through despite a near-total communications blackout in Darfur.
“There’s no way in or out of the city that’s not controlled by the RSF,” he said.
For months, El-Fasher was protected by a fragile peace.
But unrest has soared since last month when the city’s two most powerful armed groups — which had helped to keep the peace there — pledged to fight alongside the army.
Since then, El-Fasher and the surrounding countryside have seen “systematic burning of entire villages in rural areas, escalating air bombardments... and a tightening siege,” according to Toby Harward, the UN’s deputy humanitarian coordinator for Sudan.
At least 23 communities in North Darfur have been burned in apparent arson, Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab found in a report last week.
The war’s overall death toll, however, remains unclear, a factor “that captures just how invisible and horrific this war is,” Tom Perriello, US special envoy for Sudan, told a congressional committee on May 1.
While figures of 15,000-30,000 have been mentioned, “some think it’s at 150,000,” Perriello said.
UN experts reported up to 15,000 people killed in the West Darfur capital El-Geneina alone.
Members of the non-Arab Massalit ethnic group in El-Geneina last year were targeted for killing and other abuses by the RSF and allied militias, forcing an exodus to neighboring Chad, which the UN says is hosting more than 745,000 people from Sudan.
The International Criminal Court, currently investigating ethnic-based killings primarily by the RSF in Darfur, says it has “grounds to believe” both sides are committing atrocities in the war.
As El-Fasher is home to both Arab and African communities, an all-out battle for control of the city causing massive civilian bloodshed “would lead to revenge attacks across the five Darfur states and beyond Darfur’s borders,” said Harward.
In late April, United States ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned that El-Fasher “is on the precipice of a large-scale massacre.”
Eyewitnesses report fighting “is now inside” the nearby Abu Shouk camp, established 20 years ago for people displaced by ethnic violence committed by the Janjaweed militia, which led to ICC war crimes charges.
The Janjaweed later evolved into the RSF.
“Everyone who hasn’t managed to leave is trapped at home,” camp resident Issa Abdelrahman told AFP.
“People are running out of food, and no one can get to them.”
According to UN experts, the RSF has repeatedly besieged and set fire to villages and displacement camps in Darfur.
Their siege of El-Fasher has halted aid convoys and commercial trade, Harward said.
Shortages have also hit the El-Fasher Southern Hospital — the city’s only remaining medical facility, where personnel are “completely exhausted,” a medical source told AFP.
Requesting anonymity for fear of both sides’ well-documented targeting of medics, the source said “some doctors haven’t left the hospital in over a month,” tirelessly treating gunshot wounds, bombardment injuries and child malnutrition.
The Darfur region was already facing widespread hunger, but now “people are resorting to consuming grass and peanut shells,” according to Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme’s regional director for Eastern Africa.
Yet it is difficult for them to flee.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said encirclement of El-Fasher by armed groups and restrictions on movement along key roads “are limiting families from leaving.”
Early this year the RSF declared victories across Sudan, but the army has since mounted defenses in key locations.
The RSF has for months threatened an attack on El-Fasher but has held off, in large part due to the locally brokered truce.
They also seem to have been deterred by “heightened international demands and warnings,” according to Amjad Farid, a Sudanese political analyst and former aide to ex-civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok.
But these warnings are “falling on deaf ears,” Harward says.
With the US having announced an imminent resumption of peace talks in Saudi Arabia, Farid said the RSF has focused anew on El-Fasher.
“These are negotiations the militia cannot enter from a position of weakness,” Farid told AFP.
‘Constant terror’ in key Darfur city as fighting closes in
https://arab.news/62mf9
‘Constant terror’ in key Darfur city as fighting closes in
- Experts have warned Sudan is at risk of breaking apart
UN chief calls death and destruction in Gaza the worst he’s seen
- Guterres said: “The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the UN”
UNITED NATIONS: The UN chief said Monday that the United Nations has offered to monitor any ceasefire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it’s “unrealistic” to think the UN could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role.
But he said “the UN will be available to support any ceasefire.” The United Nations has had a military monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and he said, “from our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we’ve put on the table.”
“Of course, we’ll be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us,” Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”
Israel’s military assault on Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, has stretched for 11 months, with recent ceasefire talks failing to reach a breakthrough and violence in the West Bank reaching new highs.
Stressing the urgency of a ceasefire now, Guterres said: “The level of suffering we are witnessing in Gaza is unprecedented in my mandate as secretary-general of the United Nations. I’ve never seen such a level of death and destruction as we are seeing in Gaza in the last few months.”
The war has killed over 40,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have accused the UN of being anti-Israel and have been highly critical of UN humanitarian operations in Gaza. Facing protests at home and increasing urgency from allies, Netanyahu has pushed back against pressure for a ceasefire deal and declared that “no one will preach to me.”
Looking beyond a ceasefire, Guterres stressed that a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not only viable, “it’s the only solution.”
The United States and others support Palestinian statehood, but Netanyahu, who is leading the most conservative government in Israel’s history, has opposed calls for a two-state solution.
Guterres asked rhetorically whether the alternative is viable.
“It means that you have 5 million Palestinians living there without any rights in a state,” he said. “Is it possible? Can we accept an idea similar to what we had in South Africa in the past?“
He was referring to South Africa’s apartheid system from 1948 until the early 1990s when its minority white population marginalized and segregated people of color, especially Black people.
“I do not think you can have two peoples living together if they are not in a basis of equality, and if they are not in a basis of respect — mutual respect of their rights,” Guterres said. “So the two-state solution is, in my opinion, a must if we want to have peace in the Middle East.”
Jordanian FM hosts EU observers ahead of parliamentary elections
- Ayman Safadi hosted the Vice President of the European Parliament and head of the European Election Observer Mission Zeljana Zovko
LONDON: The Jordanian foreign minister on Monday welcomed to Amman EU observers who will monitor the kingdom’s parliamentary elections due to be held on Tuesday.
Ayman Safadi hosted the Vice President of the European Parliament and head of the European Election Observer Mission Zeljana Zovko, and members of her delegation.
Safadi and the EU team discussed ways of enhancing relations between Jordan and the EU, and the importance of the partnership and cooperation between the country and the bloc, Jordan Press Agency reported.
The minister praised the aid that EU member states will provide to Jordan’s economic and development programs in order to help the country deal with the repercussions of regional crises, especially the burden of hosting Syrian refugees.
The meeting also touched on developments in the Gaza Strip and Israeli escalation in the West Bank. Officials discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as ways to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Safadi underlined the importance of the EU’s role in these efforts.
Lebanon judge orders former central bank chief to remain in jail
- Salameh was long feted as a financial wizard in Lebanon but left office with his reputation shredded by corruption charges at home and abroad
BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge ruled on Monday that Riad Salameh, the country’s former central bank governor, will remain in jail while facing an investigation into corruption charges involving tens of millions of dollars in public funds.
Beirut First Investigative Judge Bilal Halawi issued an arrest warrant against Salameh after the former official had earlier been detained for questioning over a series of financial crimes, including money laundering and the embezzlement of $42 million, during his time at the Banque du Liban.
Salameh was taken to the Justice Palace in Beirut from the headquarters of the Internal Security Forces Directorate, where he had been held since last week.
Secrecy surrounded Salameh’s transfer, with mock convoys used to mislead the media and dozens of angry depositors who came to the Justice Palace to demand the former official remain in custody.
Salameh left Halawi’s office in handcuffs after more than two hours of questioning.
Security staff prevented people lining the Justice Palace’s corridors, including judicial officers, from photographing Salameh as he entered and left.
Several attorneys attended Salameh’s first session following his detention.
Halawi scheduled a second hearing for Salameh next Thursday and requested the testimony of several witnesses.
Salameh, 74, was central bank governor for three decades until July 2023.
He had long been regarded as a financial expert, but left office with his reputation badly tarnished amid accusations of corruption and the catastrophic collapse of the Lebanese financial system in 2019.
Salameh’s media office said that he had previously cooperated in more than 20 criminal investigations in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and has been cooperating with the investigation since his detention.
Following the 2019 financial crisis, Salameh is facing a large number of legal cases in both Lebanon and European countries.
Caretaker Justice Minister Henry Khoury said that the red notice issued by Interpol against Salameh was still in effect.
He also said that Salameh’s case was still pending before the French Court of Cassation, where his lawyers had appealed the decision issued by the French Court of Appeal in Paris to confirm the seizure of his property.
Salameh has denied previous corruption accusations.
Halawi on Monday began questioning Salameh amid heavy security.
The former official appeared calm during questioning, and at one point Halawi told him he could sit down if he was tired.
The judge told Salameh: “I would like you to give answers that convince the public opinion.”
Questioned about the $42 million, Salameh said that it was not depositors’ money, but from consultations.
Last Tuesday, Prosecutor Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar detained Salameh after questioning him for three hours.
Mark Habka, Salameh’s lawyer, said: “Salameh’s interrogation is a routine procedure, and the judge is obliged to issue an arrest warrant to complete the interrogation later.”
He stressed that “the circumstances of the session were not normal because the media misled the public opinion and portrayed Salameh as a fugitive from justice, while he willingly came to the session.”
“There are several politicians who do not want the truth to be revealed, and Salameh is speaking in the sessions based on documents and naming individuals,” he said.
El-Sisi, Borrell discuss Gaza crisis, Egypt-EU ties
- Ahmad Fahmy, spokesman for the presidency, said El-Sisi and Borrell also discussed the situation in Gaza and the Middle East
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, to discuss relations and regional issues.
El-Sisi received Borrell and his accompanying delegation in Cairo.
Their meeting discussed strong relations between Egypt and the EU, with both sides commending the momentum of cooperation.
During the talks, the two sides confirmed their commitment to exploring new domains of cooperation, particularly in investment and trade, as well as energy, migration and environmental issues.
Ahmad Fahmy, spokesman for the presidency, said El-Sisi and Borrell also discussed the situation in Gaza and the Middle East.
They reviewed efforts by Egypt and its partners to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages and detainees, to help end the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
El-Sisi warned against the danger of escalation, which he said would result in an expansion of the conflict.
He highlighted the responsibilities of the international community and the EU to exert intense pressure on Israel toward reaching an agreement to end the war.
Any deal must address violence and the escalation in the West Bank, in a manner that defuses regional tensions and restores security and stability in the region, El-Sisi said.
Borrell expressed deep appreciation for Egypt’s stabilizing role in the region, highlighting the EU’s interest in consultations with Cairo to maintain regional stability.
El-Sisi commended Borrell for his objective and fair stances over the past period.
US, UK strike Houthi targets for second day
- Yemen’s prime minister arrives in Doha to discuss Qatar financial assistance, with focus on electricity sector
AL-MUKALLA: US and UK jets struck Houthi targets in Yemen’s western province of Hodeidah on Monday, the second wave of strikes on Houthi-held territory in less than 48 hours.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah channel reported that US and UK aircraft carried out one strike on the Al-Jabanah region of Hodeidah but provided no information on the targeted locations, casualties or damage.
The attack in Hodeidah came a day after the Houthis said that the two countries had conducted three airstrikes on unidentified targets in the Maytam region, north of Ibb province.
At the same time, US Central Command said on Sunday evening that over the past 24 hours, its forces had destroyed three Houthi drones and two missile systems in a Houthi-controlled Yemeni area, all of which were threatening US-led coalition ships and commercial vessels in international shipping lanes.
Houthi attacks on ships led the US to form a coalition of marine task forces to defend vessels, designate the Houthis as a terrorist group and launch strikes against Houthi-controlled Yemen, including Sanaa, Saada, Ibb and Hodeidah, in collaboration with the UK.
Hodeidah, Yemen’s only major coastal city under Houthi control, has received most of the US and UK strikes since January, as the militia is said to have used its coasts to launch explosive-laden and remote-controlled boats to attack ships.
The Houthis say their forces are only targeting Israeli-linked ships to pressure Tel Aviv into ending its Gaza war.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s government requested financial assistance from GCC countries on Monday to help shore up its faltering economy, stabilize the currency and pay public employees.
Rashad Al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, met UAE Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Hamad Al-Zaab in Riyadh on Monday to discuss “necessary” financial support to boost the country’s economy, improve Yemenis’ living conditions and assist government reforms, according to the official news agency, SABA.
It came as Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak arrived in Doha on Sunday to discuss Qatari financial assistance to Yemen, particularly in the electricity sector.
“The government is looking for new support from its brothers in the GCC countries,” a knowledgeable Yemeni government official who requested anonymity told Arab News.
The Yemeni government has lost almost 70 percent of its revenue since the Houthis attacked oil terminals in the provinces of Shabwa and Hadramout, causing a complete halt to oil exports.
The Yemeni riyal has continued to fall against the dollar, reaching about 1900 in government-controlled areas, compared to 215 riyals in 2015.
Public employees, including teachers and military personnel, have complained that their salaries have not been increased and that they are paid late.