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RSF Commander Affirms Commitment to IGAD Decisions for Sudan Peace

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohammed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo and President Yoweri Museveni (Hemedti X account)
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohammed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo and President Yoweri Museveni (Hemedti X account)
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RSF Commander Affirms Commitment to IGAD Decisions for Sudan Peace

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohammed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo and President Yoweri Museveni (Hemedti X account)
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohammed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo and President Yoweri Museveni (Hemedti X account)

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohammed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, announced his readiness to meet with Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan at any place or time determined by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD).

Following an invitation from the IGAD presidency, the RSF prepared for a meeting between the two officials without specifying the place and time.

Conflicting reports discussed the upcoming meeting, with some saying it would be held on Thursday in Djibouti or Entebbe, Uganda, while others suggested it would be postponed or even potentially canceled.

On Wednesday, the RSF spokesman, Al-Fatih Qureshi, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that arrangements were underway, with IGAD's primary concern being peace in the Horn of Africa.

- Hemedti in Uganda

Hemedti arrived in Uganda and held talks with President Yoweri Museveni. The latter shared images of their meeting on his X account, saying he was thoroughly briefed on the situation in Sudan.

During their discussion, Hemedti provided a comprehensive account of the origins of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, attributing it to remnants of the former regime, who received support from certain elements within the armed forces.

He also outlined his vision for negotiation, war cessation, and establishing a just Sudanese state.

President Museveni expressed his unwavering support for the Sudanese people and pledged to bolster efforts to achieve peace and stability within Sudan.

Museveni asserted to Hemedti that he would harness all his capabilities and relationships to help the Sudanese overcome this challenging period.

Hemedti emphasized his commitment to the resolutions arising from the recent IGAD Presidents' Summit held in Djibouti.

- RSF conditions to meet Burhan

Qureshi confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the RSF Commander was ready to meet with the Army Commander at any place or time determined by IGAD, but he stipulated that Burhan must come to the meeting in his capacity as Commander of the Sudanese Army and not in any other role.

Qureshi reiterated the RSF's dedication to the outcomes of the IGAD summit on Sudan, held in Djibouti earlier this month.

Hemedti will only meet Burhan as commander of the Sudanese army, and the meeting will be held without preconditions, said the spokesman, adding that Burhan also agreed to the meeting without any preconditions.

- Foreign Ministry confirms the postponement

For its part, the Foreign Ministry said the meeting between Burhan and Hemedti was postponed till January after the latter could not reach Djibouti on time, citing "technical reasons."

The ministry said in a statement that it was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Djibouti, the current chair country of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), that Dagalo was unable to attend the meeting scheduled for Thursday due to technical reasons.

There would be coordination again to hold the meeting next January, added the statement.

It noted that Burhan, out of his keenness to end the suffering of the Sudanese people caused by the "rebel militia," was prepared to leave Wednesday evening for the IGAD-proposed meeting.

The ministry further expressed regret over "the RSF's procrastination and its unwillingness to stop the destruction of Sudan and harming the people."

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Former Israeli Spies Describe Attack Using Exploding Electronic Devices against Lebanon’s Hezbollah

An ambulance rushes wounded people to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP)
An ambulance rushes wounded people to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP)
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Former Israeli Spies Describe Attack Using Exploding Electronic Devices against Lebanon’s Hezbollah

An ambulance rushes wounded people to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP)
An ambulance rushes wounded people to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Two recently retired senior Israeli intelligence agents shared new details about a deadly clandestine operation years in the making that targeted Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Syria using exploding pagers and walkie talkies three months ago.
Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war, The Associated Press said.
The agents spoke with CBS “60 Minutes” in a segment aired Sunday night. They wore masks and spoke with altered voices to hide their identities.
One agent said the operation started 10 years ago using walkie-talkies laden with hidden explosives, which Hezbollah didn't realize it was buying from Israel, its enemy. The walkie-talkies were not detonated until September, a day after booby-trapped pagers were set off.
“We created a pretend world,” said the officer, who went by the name “Michael.”
Phase two of the plan, using the booby-trapped pagers, kicked in in 2022 after Israel's Mossad intelligence agency learned Hezbollah had been buying pagers from a Taiwan-based company, the second officer said.
The pagers had to be made slightly larger to accommodate the explosives hidden inside. They were tested on dummies multiple times to find the right amount of explosive that would hurt only the Hezbollah fighter and not anyone else in close proximity.
Mossad also tested numerous ring tones to find one that sounded urgent enough to make someone pull the pager out of their pocket.
The second agent, who went by the name “Gabriel,” said it took two weeks to convince Hezbollah to switch to the heftier pager, in part by using false ads on YouTube promoting the devices as dustproof, waterproof, providing a long battery life and more.
He described the use of shell companies, including one based in Hungary, to dupe the Taiwanese firm, Gold Apollo, into unknowingly partnering with the Mossad.
Hezbollah also was unaware it was working with Israel.
Gabriel compared the ruse to a 1998 psychological film about a man who has no clue that he is living in a false world and his family and friends are actors paid to keep up the illusion.
“When they are buying from us, they have zero clue that they are buying from the Mossad,” Gabriel said. “We make like ‘Truman Show,’ everything is controlled by us behind the scene. In their experience, everything is normal. Everything was 100% kosher including businessman, marketing, engineers, showroom, everything.”
By September, Hezbollah militants had 5,000 pagers in their pockets.
Israel triggered the attack on Sept. 17, when pagers all over Lebanon started beeping. The devices would explode even if the person failed to push the buttons to read an incoming encrypted message.
The next day, Mossad activated the walkie-talkies, some of which exploded at funerals for some of the approximately 30 people who were killed in the pager attacks.
Gabriel said the goal was more about sending a message than actually killing Hezbollah fighters.
“If he just died, so he’s dead. But if he’s wounded, you have to take him to the hospital, take care of him. You need to invest money and efforts,” he said. “And those people without hands and eyes are living proof, walking in Lebanon, of ‘don’t mess with us.’ They are walking proof of our superiority all around the Middle East.”
In the days after the attack, Israel's air force hit targets across Lebanon, killing thousands. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was assassinated when Israel dropped bombs on his bunker.
By November, the war between Israel and Hezbollah, a byproduct of the deadly attack by Hamas group in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, ended with a ceasefire. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants, health officials have said.
The agent using the name “Michael” said that the day after the pager explosions, people in Lebanon were afraid to turn on their air conditioners out of fear that they would explode, too.
“There is real fear,” he said.
Asked if that was intentional, he said, “We want them to feel vulnerable, which they are. We can’t use the pagers again because we already did that. We’ve already moved on to the next thing. And they’ll have to keep on trying to guess what the next thing is.”