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.



France Says EU Will Lift Some Sanctions Against Syria After Assad’s Fall 

 People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
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France Says EU Will Lift Some Sanctions Against Syria After Assad’s Fall 

 People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
People walk in front of the historic Hejaz train station in Damascus on January 26, 2025. (AFP)

Some European Union sanctions against Syria are being lifted, France's foreign minister said on Monday, as part of a broader EU move to help stabilize Damascus after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December.

EU foreign ministers were discussing the matter at a meeting in Brussels on Monday with the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas having told Reuters that she was hopeful an agreement on easing the sanctions could be reached.

"Regarding Syria, we are going to decide today to lift, to suspend, certain sanctions that had applied to the energy and transport sectors and to financial institutions that were key to the financial stabilization of the country," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on arrival at the EU meeting in Brussels.

He added that France would also propose slapping sanctions on Iranian officials responsible for the detention of French citizens in Iran.

"I will announce today that we will propose that those responsible for these arbitrary detentions may be sanctioned by the European Union in the coming months," he said.

Assad, whose family had ruled Syria with an iron first for 54 years, was toppled by opposition forces on Dec. 8, bringing an abrupt end to a devastating 13-year civil war that had created one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times.

The conflict left large parts of many major cities in ruins, services decrepit and the vast majority of the population living in poverty. The harsh Western sanctions regime has effectively cut off its formal economy from the rest of the world.