Leading Member of Taqaddum Calls for End to Sudan War

Smoke billows from fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF in Khartoum. (Reuters file photo)
Smoke billows from fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF in Khartoum. (Reuters file photo)
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Leading Member of Taqaddum Calls for End to Sudan War

Smoke billows from fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF in Khartoum. (Reuters file photo)
Smoke billows from fighting between the Sudanese army and RSF in Khartoum. (Reuters file photo)

Leading member of the Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum) and head of the Unionist Alliance Babiker Faisal Babiker urged the Sudanese warring parties to end the conflict and resolve disputes through negotiations “to save the country from the fate of others where wars have lasted decades.”

In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat from Addis Ababa, he said: “I call on both parties to show determination to stop the war as soon as possible before it spirals out of their control.”

He called on the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to reach a “peaceful negotiated solution that safeguards our country and places it back on the path of the revolution and democratic civil transition.”

He recalled that before the eruption of the conflict last year and as a member of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) liaison committee, he met with army commander Abdul Fattah al-Burhan for three hours on a Friday during which they agreed to ease the tensions in the country.

They also agreed to form a committee comprised of army, RSF and FFC members. The committee was set to meet the next day, Saturday, and withdraw army forces from Khartoum, Babiker went on to say.

After meeting with Burhan, the liaison committee then headed to meet with RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo at his home but couldn’t find him. It was instead met with his brother and deputy leader of the RSF Abdulrahman, who expressed his support for the agreement reached by the meeting hours earlier.

He pledged to take part in the meeting that was set for Saturday.

Babiker told Asharq Al-Awsat that he returned home after these meetings reassured that they had succeeded in defusing the tensions.

However, they were taken by surprise the next morning when an “armed group” surrounded the sports city - an RSF camp. The war erupted soon after.

Babiker said the group that fired the first shot “had an interest in thwarting the ‘framework agreement’ because it wanted to return to power.”

The agreement details the transition to a civilian democracy in Sudan.

Babiker added that a group “loyal to the Islamist movement and National Congress Party had made several threats about thwarting the transition and it then fired that first shot that sparked the war.”

Asked by Asharq Al-Awsat why the situation spiraled out of control, he replied: “We had to contend with several new factors when the war erupted, such as air strikes that have killed hundreds of people.”

“Every party then amassed its forces. The drive for war was difficult to contain,” he said.



Lebanese President Calls for Pressuring Israel to Implement Ceasefire Agreement

A handout photo provided by the Lebanese Presidency on March 26, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with France's envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (C) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A handout photo provided by the Lebanese Presidency on March 26, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with France's envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (C) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Lebanese President Calls for Pressuring Israel to Implement Ceasefire Agreement

A handout photo provided by the Lebanese Presidency on March 26, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with France's envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (C) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A handout photo provided by the Lebanese Presidency on March 26, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with France's envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian (C) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called on the US and France to press Israel to uphold its commitments under the ceasefire agreement announced between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in November.

During a meeting with French Presidential Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian at Baabda Palace on Wednesday, Aoun highlighted ongoing Israeli violations in south Lebanon, which he said contradict the ceasefire agreement, citing Israel’s continued occupation of five strategic hills and its failure to release Lebanese citizens taken captive during the recent conflict.

Aoun also urged the guarantors of the agreement to press Israel to uphold its commitments to preserve their own credibility and to ensure the restoration of stability and the cessation of hostilities.

The ceasefire ended Israel's intense bombardment and ground operations in Lebanon and Hezbollah's daily rocket barrages into Israel. Each side has accused the other of failing to implement the deal in full.

Israel says Hezbollah still has military infrastructure in the south. Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel is occupying Lebanese land by continuing to carry out some airstrikes and keeping its troops at five hilltop positions near the frontier.

The discussions between the Lebanese president and the French envoy also covered the security situation along Lebanon’s border with Syria.

Aoun told Le Drian that he was looking forward to his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday.

The visit, Aoun said, is an opportunity to express his appreciation for France’s unwavering support for Lebanon and mainly Macron’s personal role in facilitating Lebanon’s presidential election.

The President also stressed that reform remains a top priority, alongside the reconstruction of towns and villages devastated by Israeli bombardment during the recent war.

Le Drian also visited Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Grand Serail and Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.