Burhan Hopes IGAD Summit on Sudan Will Be a Success

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)
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Burhan Hopes IGAD Summit on Sudan Will Be a Success

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, holds talks with IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu in Djibouti on Sunday. (Sovereign Council)

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, held talks in Djibouti on Sunday with President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who is currently chair of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu.

They agreed on the need for sustainable ceasefire in Sudan.

On his way back to Sudan, Burhan met with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki at Asmara International Airport where they tackled the latest developments in Sudan.

A statement from the Sovereign Council's media office said Burhan spoke with Djibouti’s President about the repercussions of what he called the violations and crimes committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against the citizens and their destruction of the state infrastructure.

He expressed hopes to find a solution to the current crisis in Sudan.

“We hope the upcoming IGAD summit on Sudan will be a success and find a solution to the crisis so that security and stability can be restored,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Sudan announced on Sunday that the IGAD will meet soon, but a date has not been set yet.

Two weeks ago, Burhan met with Kenyan President William Ruto in Nairobi to discuss the security situation in Sudan. The leaders agreed to work to convene an urgent IGAD summit to find ways to accelerate a solution to the crisis.

In Djibouti, Omar Guelleh expressed his country's readiness to provide any assistance and suggestions of solutions to end the conflict.

He also voiced full support to the proposed initiatives and the roles played by Saudi Arabia, the US and IGAD to resolve the crisis.

For his part, Gebeyehu wrote on his X account that the meeting with Burhan focused on the role played by IGAD in facilitating discussions on the conflict.

The Sovereign Council said Burhan and Gebeyehu discussed the progress of the indirect negotiations held in the Saudi city of Jeddah.



Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
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Israeli Settlers Briefly Crossed into Lebanon, the Military Says

UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)
UN "blue line" notifications are pictured near the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon October 14, 2022. (Reuters)

A group of Israeli settlers have briefly crossed the border into Lebanon before they were removed by troops, the military acknowledged Wednesday.

The civilians who crossed the border came from the Uri Tzafon movement, a group calling for Israeli settlement of southern Lebanon. Photos posted by the group online Saturday showed a small group of activists holding signs and erecting tents inside Lebanon while Israeli soldiers were present.

After first denying the reports to Israeli media, the military said Wednesday that civilians had crossed the border “by a few meters” and were removed by troops.

The military called the border breach a “serious incident” and said it was investigating.

“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission,” the military said, using the acronym for the Israel Defense Forces.

The settler group Uri Tzafon, which means “Awaken the North” in Hebrew, crossed the border in the area of the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras. In the past, the movement has said the area is home to an old Hebrew settlement.

Groups of settler activists also have breached the Gaza border more than once since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, at one point erecting small wooden tents before they were evacuated by troops. Daniela Weiss, the leader of the movement to resettle Gaza, claims she has entered Gaza twice since the start of the war.

Israel’s settler movement has been emboldened by its current government -- the furthest-right in Israeli history -- and is now seeking to expand to parts of southern Lebanon and the north of the Gaza.