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Sudan's RSF Enters Wad Madani Where Many Were Displaced

Displaced people fleeing from Wad Madani in Sudan's Jazira state arrive in Gedaref in the country's east on December 18, 2023. (AFP)
Displaced people fleeing from Wad Madani in Sudan's Jazira state arrive in Gedaref in the country's east on December 18, 2023. (AFP)
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Sudan's RSF Enters Wad Madani Where Many Were Displaced

Displaced people fleeing from Wad Madani in Sudan's Jazira state arrive in Gedaref in the country's east on December 18, 2023. (AFP)
Displaced people fleeing from Wad Madani in Sudan's Jazira state arrive in Gedaref in the country's east on December 18, 2023. (AFP)

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Monday entered Wad Madani, a city southeast of the capital that had taken in many displaced people and served as an aid hub over eight months of war, witnesses and RSF fighters said.

The RSF has been advancing through western and central areas in its eight-month-old war against Sudan's army and its approach on Wad Madani has caused thousands of people to flee. The city lies in an important agricultural region in a country facing worsening hunger.

There was no immediate comment from the army.

Videos posted by the RSF showed fighters in pick-up trucks driving along city streets and over a bridge across the Blue Nile.

The war between the army and the RSF has displaced nearly 7 million people, left the capital in ruins, caused a major humanitarian crisis and triggered waves of ethnically driven killings in Darfur.

The two forces had shared power with civilians after the 2019 overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir before staging a coup together in 2021 then coming to blows over an internationally backed political transition plan.

The International Organization for Migration says that clashes between the RSF and the army around Wad Madani have led to widespread displacement in recent days.

Nearly 1.5 million have fled Sudan and more than 5.4 million have been forced from their homes internally, according to the IOM, making Sudan the country with the highest number of displaced people in the world.

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Lebanon Parliament Adjourns for Consultations after Failing to Elect Aoun in First Round

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Parliament Adjourns for Consultations after Failing to Elect Aoun in First Round

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri adjourned a session held on Thursday to elect a president for two hours of consultations, after a first round of voting failed to produce enough votes for Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun.
Aoun needs 86 votes to be elected but received 71. Two political sources said he was likely to cross the 86-vote threshold in a second session on Thursday.

Lawmakers began the session amid expectations it could see Aoun elected as president following a vacancy of more than two years.
The 128-lawmaker chamber, which has failed to reach consensus a dozen times amid tensions between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its opponents, started discussions at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
Aoun, no relation to the former president, is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, the leader of Marada movement with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, on Wednesday, Franjieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.
Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.
As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming president by Lebanon's constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.
Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 128-member house in the first round of voting, or by a simple majority in a subsequent round.
But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.
Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias al-Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.
A president is needed to appoint a permanent prime minister and cabinet. The caretaker government that has run Lebanon for the last two years has reduced powers because it was not appointed by a sitting president.
The next government will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.
Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.
The country's leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.