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Sudan Looks Forward to Resumption of Jeddah Negotiations

Smoke columns rise as a fire engulfs a gas warehouse near the Yarmouk factory, south of Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP)
Smoke columns rise as a fire engulfs a gas warehouse near the Yarmouk factory, south of Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP)
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Sudan Looks Forward to Resumption of Jeddah Negotiations

Smoke columns rise as a fire engulfs a gas warehouse near the Yarmouk factory, south of Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP)
Smoke columns rise as a fire engulfs a gas warehouse near the Yarmouk factory, south of Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP)

The Sudanese people are eagerly awaiting the announcement of a new date for the resumption of negotiations in the Saudi city of Jeddah, hoping to bring an end to the raging war that has been ongoing since mid-April between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Sources confirmed that the army delegation has returned to Jeddah, ready to begin a new round of talks that had been suspended for weeks due to the failure of the warring parties to abide by a number of ceasefires mediated by Saudi Arabia and the US.

As the war enters its fourth month without either side being able to decisively win the battle, calls have instensified in Sudan and by regional and international powers for the need to hold negotiation to end the war.

The UN has warned that the conflict is escalating and transforming into a civil war that may surpass Sudan’s borders and threaten the security of the entire region.

In a statement, Saudi Arabia and the US underlined their commitment to ending the conflict.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the army, emphasized the importance of the Jeddah platform, expressing gratitude to the Saudi and US governments for facilitating the negotiations.

Leader of the RSF, Mohammed Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” announced the formation of a communication committee with political forces and armed movements to reach a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in the country.

Meanwhile, the fifth Coordination Summit of the African Union, which began on Sunday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, witnessed extensive discussions on the ongoing crisis in Sudan.

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Austin Tice's Mother in Damascus, Hopes to Find Son

Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, speaks after an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar 
Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, speaks after an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar 
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Austin Tice's Mother in Damascus, Hopes to Find Son

Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, speaks after an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar 
Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, speaks after an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar 

The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, arrived in Damascus on Saturday to step up the search for her son and said she hopes she can take him home with her, according to Reuters.

Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for the Washington Post and McClatchy, was one of the first US journalists to make it into Syria after the outbreak of the civil war.

His mother, Debra Tice, drove into the Syrian capital from Lebanon with Nizar Zakka, the head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, an organization which is searching for Austin and believes he is still in Syria.

“It'd be lovely to put my arms around Austin while I'm here. It'd be the best,” Debra Tice told Reuters in the Syrian capital, which she last visited in 2015 to meet with Syrian authorities about her son, before they stopped granting her visas.

The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December by the Syrian opposition has allowed her to visit again from her home in Texas.

“I feel very strongly that Austin's here, and I think he knows I'm here... I'm here,” she said.

Debra Tice and Zakka are hoping to meet with Syria's new authorities, including the head of its new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa, to push for information about Austin.

They are also optimistic that US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday, will take up the cause.

Her son, now 43, was taken captive in August 2012, while travelling through the Damascus suburb of Daraya.

Reuters was first to report in December that in 2013 Tice, a former US Marine, managed to slip out of his cell and was seen moving between houses in the streets of Damascus' upscale Mazzeh neighborhood.

He was recaptured soon after his escape, likely by forces who answered directly to Assad, current and former US officials said.

Debra Tice came to Syria in 2012 and 2015 to meet with Syrian authorities, who never confirmed that Tice was in their custody, both she and Zakka said.

She criticized outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration, saying they did not negotiate hard enough for her son's release, even in recent months.

“We certainly felt like President Biden was very well positioned to do everything possible to bring Austin home, right? I mean, this was the end of his career,” she said. “This would be a wonderful thing for him to do. So we had an expectation. He pardoned his own son, right? So, where's my son?”

Debra Tice said her “mind was just spinning” as she drove across the Lebanese border into Syria and teared up as she spoke about the tens of thousands whose loved ones were held in Assad's notorious prison system and whose fate remains unknown.

“I have a lot in common with a lot of Syrian mothers and families, and just thinking about how this is affecting them - do they have the same hope that I do, that they're going to open a door, that they're going to see their loved one?”