Sudan’s Burhan Boosts Position with Police, Foreign Affairs Appointments

Sudanese Sovereign Council leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan. (AP)
Sudanese Sovereign Council leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan. (AP)
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Sudan’s Burhan Boosts Position with Police, Foreign Affairs Appointments

Sudanese Sovereign Council leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan. (AP)
Sudanese Sovereign Council leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan. (AP)

Sudanese Sovereign Council leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan sacked on Monday acting interior minister Anan Hamed Mohammed Omar, who is also the general director for the police.

A military statement said that Omar was replaced by Lt.-Gen. Khaled Hassan Mohiuddin as police chief.

Additionally, Burhan issued a decision terminating the services of Ambassador Abdel-Monem Osman Mohamed Ahmed Al-Beiti and Ambassador Haydar Badawi Sadik from their positions at the Foreign Ministry.

Omar has close ties to Burhan and both hail from the same region in the state of River Nile in northern Sudan.

Thousands of police forces withdrew from their posts, departments, and streets across the capital city, Khartoum after clashes between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April.

Later, military leaders deployed many Central Reserve Police forces to secure residential areas and streets, but they ended up embroiled in fighting with the RSF.

Burhan had sacked central bank governor Hussain Yahia Jankol on Sunday.

Borai El Siddiq, who is one of Jankol’s deputies, was named as his replacement, Burhan’s office said in a statement.

Burhan also issued another decree targeting the official accounts of the RSF in Sudanese banks, as well as the accounts of all companies belonging to the group.

Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that healthcare facilities in Sudan are facing imminent “collapse” because of the ongoing intense fighting between the military and RSF.

In a tweet, the organization highlighted the severe shortages of supplies and treatment that healthcare facilities have been enduring for weeks, revealing that more than 70% of hospitals are non-operational.

Since mid-April, the Sudanese army, led by Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have been locked in a power struggle that has forced thousands to flee to neighboring countries.



Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
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Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE

Türkiye’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria's de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria's future, calling for the YPG militia to disband.
Türkiye regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Sunday's visit to Damascus by Hakan Fidan, the first foreign minister to visit Damascus since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow two weeks ago, came amid hostilities in northeast Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast.
Speaking alongside Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Fidan said he had discussed the YPG presence with the new Syrian administration and believed Damascus would take steps to ensure Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"In the coming period, the YPG must come to a point where it is no longer a threat to Syria's national unity," Fidan said, adding the YPG should disband.
The SDF played a key role defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards ISIS fighters in prison camps. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.
Fidan said the international community was "turning a blind eye" to the "illegality" of the SDF and YPG's actions in Syria, but added that he believed US President-elect Donald Trump would take a different approach.
He said the new Syrian administration had told him during their talks that they could manage the ISIS prison camps, if needed.
In a Reuters interview on Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye. He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense minister said Ankara believed Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all of the territory they occupy in the northeast.
Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt support for the Kurdish fighters.
Ankara had for years backed opposition groups looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.
Fidan said all international sanctions imposed against Assad must be lifted as soon as possible to help Syria start rebuilding, offering Ankara's assistance on matters such as infrastructure development.
Sharaa told Sunday's press conference his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.