US Sanctions Target 3 Former Sudanese Officials

Sudanese warring parties signing the Jeddah Talks agreement (Reuters)
Sudanese warring parties signing the Jeddah Talks agreement (Reuters)
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US Sanctions Target 3 Former Sudanese Officials

Sudanese warring parties signing the Jeddah Talks agreement (Reuters)
Sudanese warring parties signing the Jeddah Talks agreement (Reuters)

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on three former Sudanese officials for their role in undermining the country's peace, security, and stability.

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the designations support diplomatic efforts by the international community to end the conflict and demonstrate the US commitment to achieve a civilian government and a transition to democracy.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, the Treasury continues its efforts to "identify and take action against individuals contributing to the instability in Sudan and undermining prospects for a peaceful resolution."

"The United States will not tolerate the continuing exploitation of the Sudanese people by those who seek to extend and deepen the conflict."

The sanctions include Taha Osman Ahmed al-Hussein, a former State Minister and Presidential Office Director to former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Hussein was pivotal in managing the relationship between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and regional actors to advance the RSF's warfighting efforts.

They also include Salah Abdallah Mohamed Salah, a former high-ranking Sudanese government official who left his position following the fall of the al-Bashir regime and, since that time, has undertaken efforts to destabilize Sudan.

The Treasury also included Mohamed Etta Elmoula Abbas, a former Sudanese Ambassador and leader of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service under the al-Bashir regime.

Meanwhile, sources revealed new details regarding disputes and mutual accusations between the Sudanese army and the RSF, threatening the second round of negotiations in Jeddah, sponsored by Saudi-US mediation.

The sources explained that negotiations may be resumed later without an official announcement, noting that the army delegation had previously agreed to a proposal submitted by an Intergovernmental Development Organization (IGAD) expert.

The sources reported that the IGAD expert proposed freezing all movements and each force remaining in its area of control, which would be done immediately after signing the cessation of hostilities agreement that both parties approved.

The army later rejected the proposal.

The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army negotiating delegation also rejected another item that called for a comprehensive political dialogue 15 days after agreeing to cease hostilities.

The army also rejected the Joint Center tasked with monitoring the ceasefire. The center includes four countries and is chaired by Saudi Arabia.

The army also insisted on the exit of the RSF from the capital, Khartoum.

- Confidence-building measures

The RSF accused the army of not committing to implementing the "confidence-building" measures agreed upon in the Jeddah Platform.

The Arab World News Agency quoted a source familiar with the course of the negotiations as saying that the Sudanese army's attempts to involve "members of the former regime" were one of the reasons for the failure of the Jeddah talks.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said that the army sought to "fail the negotiating platform" by including two members of the former regime, Ambassador Omar Siddiq and Brigadier General Saleh al-Mubarak.

Both figures were rejected by the RSF, delaying the talks for three days before they agreed to dismiss them and retain them as experts.

- Negotiations suspended without any progress

The source confirmed that the second round of negotiations had faltered, and mediation was suspended without progress, especially in the humanitarian and ceasefire issues.

Last November, the second round of the Jeddah negotiations began with two main items: humanitarian aid and confidence-building measures.

On November 7, the two parties signed commitments to deliver humanitarian aid and confidence-building measures, which included four essential items, namely arresting the Islamists who escaped from prisons.

The source confirmed that the agreement set ten days to arrest the wanted persons.

The Rapid Support delegation handed over a list of wanted persons, and the army delegation requested five days, but it did not implement its pledges even after extending the deadline ten more days.

According to the same source, the army delegation refused to send humanitarian aid to the affected areas in Darfur and other regions around the country.

He also refused to open the airports of Nyala, el-Geneina, and el-Fasher for humanitarian purposes and insisted on delivering aid through Port Sudan airport.

- Controlling the capital

The Rapid Support Forces controlled large areas of the capital, forcing the army to retreat in Darfur and Kordofan.

Last month, the RSF took control of significant army strongholds in Nyala, Zalingei, and el-Geneina in the Darfur region.

The source told the Arab World News Agency that the army delegation asked Doctors Without Borders and the Italian and Norwegian organizations to stop their work in Khartoum, refusing to grant visas to humanitarian and medical workers.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Sudan said on Friday that it was forced to make the difficult decision to reduce the number of employees to the minimum in al-Ban al-Jadeed Hospital.

The organization noted that the measures come from the strict restrictions imposed on employees' movements and the authorities' delay in issuing travel permits.

- Umma Party: Disappointment

The head of the National Umma Party, Fadlallah Burma Nasser, said on Monday that the collapse of the Jeddah negotiations disappointed the Sudanese people.

In a statement, he stated that the National Umma accuses the extremist forces of the negotiations' failure, pointing out that the irresponsible statements and spreading of accusations confirm the lack of national will to reach an agreement.



Egypt’s Prime Minister and FM Head to Washington for Trump Peace Council Meeting

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)
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Egypt’s Prime Minister and FM Head to Washington for Trump Peace Council Meeting

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly headed to Washington on Tuesday ‌to ‌participate in ‌the inaugural ⁠meeting of a "Board of Peace" established by US President Donald ⁠Trump, the ‌cabinet ‌said.

Madbouly is ‌attending ‌on behalf of President Abdel ‌Fattah al-Sisi and is accompanied by ⁠Foreign ⁠Minister Badr Abdelatty.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will represent Israel at the inaugural meeting, his office said on Tuesday.

Hamas, meanwhile, called on the newly-formed board to pressure Israel to halt what it described as ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Gaza.

The Board of Peace, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and the territory's reconstruction after the war between Hamas and Israel.

But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, triggering fears the US president wants to create a rival to the United Nations.

Saar will first attend a ministerial level UN Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday, and on Thursday he "will represent Israel at the inaugural session of the board, chaired by Trump in Washington DC, where he will present Israel's position", his office said in a statement.

It was initially reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might attend the gathering, but his office said last week that he would not.

Ahead of the meeting, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that the Palestinian movement urged the board's members "to take serious action to compel the Israeli occupation to stop its violations in Gaza".

"The war of genocide against the Strip is still ongoing -- through killing, displacement, siege, and starvation -- which have not stopped until this very moment," he added.

He also called for the board to work to support the newly formed Palestinian technocratic committee meant to oversee the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza "so that relief and reconstruction efforts in Gaza can commence".

Announcing the creation of the board in January, Trump also unveiled plans to establish a "Gaza Executive Board" operating under the body.

The executive board would include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi.

Netanyahu has strongly objected to their inclusion.

Since Trump launched his "Board of Peace" at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, at least 19 countries have signed its founding charter.


Palestinian Child Dies After Stepping on Mine in West Bank

Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
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Palestinian Child Dies After Stepping on Mine in West Bank

Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)

A Palestinian child died after stepping on a mine near an Israeli military camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with an Israeli defense ministry source confirming the death.

"Our crews received the body of a 13-year-old child who was killed after a mine exploded in one of the old camps in Jiftlik in the northern Jordan Valley," the Red Crescent said in a statement.

A source at COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry's agency in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, confirmed the death to AFP and identified the boy as Mohammed Abu Dalah, from the village of Jiftlik.

Israel's military had previously said in a statement that three Palestinians were injured "as a result of playing with unexploded ordnance", without specifying their ages.

It added that the area of the incident, Tirzah, is "a military camp in the area of the Jordan Valley", near Jiftlik and close to the Jordanian border.

"This area is a live-fire zone and entry into it is prohibited," the military said.

Jiftlik village council head Ahmad Ghawanmeh told AFP that three children, the oldest of whom was 16, were collecting herbs near the military base when they detonated a mine.

Jiftlik as well as the nearby Tirzah base are located in the Palestinian territory's Area C, which falls under direct Israeli control.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Much of the area near the border with Jordan -- which Israel signed a peace deal with in 1994 -- remains mined.

In January, Israel's defense ministry said it had begun demining the border area as part of construction works for a new barrier it says aims to stem weapons smuggling.


Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament Plan and Government’s Four-Month Timeline

29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
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Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament Plan and Government’s Four-Month Timeline

29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)

Hezbollah rejected on Tuesday the Lebanese government's decision to grant the army at least four months to advance the second phase of a nationwide disarmament plan, saying it would not accept what it sees as a move serving Israel.

Lebanon's cabinet tasked the army in August 2025 with drawing up and beginning to implement a plan to bring all armed groups' weapons under state control, a bid aimed primarily at disarming Hezbollah after its devastating ‌war with ‌Israel in 2024.

In September 2025 the cabinet formally ‌welcomed ⁠the army's plan to ⁠disarm the Iran-backed Shiite party, although it did not set a clear timeframe and cautioned that the military's limited capabilities and ongoing Israeli strikes could hinder progress.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a speech on Monday that "what the Lebanese government is doing by focusing on disarmament is a major mistake because this issue serves the goals of Israeli ⁠aggression".

Lebanon's Information Minister Paul Morcos said during a press ‌conference late on Monday after ‌a cabinet meeting that the government had taken note of the army's monthly ‌report on its arms control plan that includes restricting weapons in ‌areas north of the Litani River up to the Awali River in Sidon, and granted it four months.

"The required time frame is four months, renewable depending on available capabilities, Israeli attacks and field obstacles,” he said.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan ‌Fadlallah said, "we cannot be lenient," signaling the group's rejection of the timeline and the broader approach to ⁠the issue of ⁠its weapons.

Hezbollah has rejected the disarmament effort as a misstep while Israel continues to target Lebanon, and Shiite ministers walked out of the cabinet session in protest.

Israel has said Hezbollah's disarmament is a security priority, arguing that the group's weapons outside Lebanese state control pose a direct threat to its security.

Israeli officials say any disarmament plan must be fully and effectively implemented, especially in areas close to the border, and that continued Hezbollah military activity constitutes a violation of relevant international resolutions.

Israel has also said it will continue what it describes as action to prevent the entrenchment or arming of hostile actors in Lebanon until cross-border threats are eliminated.