Sudanese Diplomat Criticizes His Country’s Absence from Paris Conference

Displaced Sudanese children play near tents at a camp in southern Gadaref state for people who fled Khartoum and Jazira states, in war-torn Sudan, on March 20, 2024. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese children play near tents at a camp in southern Gadaref state for people who fled Khartoum and Jazira states, in war-torn Sudan, on March 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Sudanese Diplomat Criticizes His Country’s Absence from Paris Conference

Displaced Sudanese children play near tents at a camp in southern Gadaref state for people who fled Khartoum and Jazira states, in war-torn Sudan, on March 20, 2024. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese children play near tents at a camp in southern Gadaref state for people who fled Khartoum and Jazira states, in war-torn Sudan, on March 20, 2024. (AFP)

Sudan’s ambassador to France Dr. Khaled Farah expressed his surprise and condemnation at the absence of his government from a conference in Paris that will focus on the situation in his country.

The event, which will take place at the French Foreign Ministry on Monday, is being organized in cooperation with Germany and the European Union, in the absence of official Sudanese representation.

“The conference addresses a matter that concerns an independent and sovereign state. It was arranged without consulting Sudan,” he said, adding that the legitimate government was not invited to participate at any level.

Farah pointed out that the Rapid Support Forces will be “implicitly present and strongly participating in this conference, through political allies and sympathizers... such as the so-called Democratic and Civil Forces (Taqaddum) ... and other non-governmental organizations, civil society groups, and representatives of some political organizations and individuals.”

He expressed alarm that the conference will ultimately be used to prop up the RSF and back it with diplomatic and financial support “under the pretext of concern for the tragedy of the Sudanese people.”

The Sudanese diplomat criticized equating his government with the “rebel Rapid Support militia” - RSF - rejecting some of the common expressions that describe the ongoing war as between “two warring parties” or “the two sides of the conflict.”

“The matter is simply a failed military coup for the purpose of seizing power, with the support and complicity of some regional and international circles,” he remarked.



Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.