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Kenyan President, Sudan’s RSF Leader Agree to Support Jeddah Platform

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (AFP)
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (AFP)
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Kenyan President, Sudan’s RSF Leader Agree to Support Jeddah Platform

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (AFP)
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (AFP)

Kenyan President William Ruto has agreed with the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), to support the Jeddah peace process, which is facilitated by Saudi Arabia and the United States, with the participation of the African Union and the Intergovernmental Development Organization (IGAD), with the aim to reach a solution to the conflict in Sudan.

In a statement on X, Hemedti said Friday that he discussed with Ruto during a phone conversation the situation in Sudan.

The two sides stressed the importance of the role played by IGAD, the joint and continuous coordination, and the need to deploy more efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.

The RSF commander thanked Ruto for his continued support for the Sudanese people and for the stability of Sudan and the region.

Kenya chairs the IGAD quartet that is concerned with resolving the crisis in Sudan. The quartet also includes South Sudan, Uganda and Djibouti, the country hosting the organization’s headquarters.

Two weeks ago, the chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Army Commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, made a visit to Kenya, which eased tension and estrangement between the two countries, following the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ accusations of the Kenyan leadership of bias towards the RSF and providing safe havens for its leadership.

Al-Burhan and Ruto agreed on the progress achieved in the Jeddah platform, stressing the need to accelerate the negotiating process to reach a ceasefire and end the hostilities. The two sides also approved the holding of an emergency summit of IGAD leaders, as part of efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and to establish a framework for a comprehensive Sudanese dialogue.

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Syria's New Foreign Minister to Appear at the UN in His First US Visit

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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Syria's New Foreign Minister to Appear at the UN in His First US Visit

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, left, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a round table meeting at the 9th international conference in support of Syria at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani was set to raise his country’s new flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York Friday and to attend a UN Security Council briefing, the first public appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the United States since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning opposition offensive in December.

The three-starred flag that had previously been used by opposition groups has replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the country's official emblem, the Associated Press said.

The new authorities in Damascus have been courting Washington in hopes of receiving relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by the US and its allies in the wake of Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 that spiraled into a civil war.

A delegation of Syrian officials traveled to the United States this week to attend World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington and UN meetings in New York. It was unclear if Trump administration officials would meet with al-Shibani during the visit.

The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the offensive that toppled Assad. Washington has also so far left the sanctions in place, although it has provided temporary relief to some restrictions. The opposition group al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remains a US-designated terrorist organization.

Two Republican members of the US Congress, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, arrived in Damascus last week on an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit and met with al-Sharaa and other government officials.

Mills told The Associated Press before meeting with al-Sharaa that “ultimately, it’s going to be the president’s decision” to lift sanctions or not, although he said that “Congress can advise.”

Mills later told Bloomberg News that he had discussed the US conditions for sanctions relief with al-Sharaa, including ensuring the destruction of chemical weapons left over from the Assad era, coordinating on counter-terrorism, making a plan to deal with foreign militants who fought alongside the armed opposition to Assad, and providing assurances to Israel that Syria would not pose a threat.

He also said that al-Sharaa had said Syria could normalize relations with Israel “under the right conditions,” without specifying what those conditions are.

Other Western countries have warmed up to the new Syrian authorities more quickly. The British government on Thursday lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, and the European Union has begun to roll back its sanctions.