Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Blinken Agrees to Bilateral Meeting with Sudan’s Army Chief

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP)
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Blinken Agrees to Bilateral Meeting with Sudan’s Army Chief

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to a meeting with Commander of the Sudanese army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, trusted sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The agreement to meet took place during a telephone call between the officials on Monday.

They agreed to hold a bilateral meeting ahead of negotiations in Switzerland on December 15.

The sources said Blinken suggested that the talks be held in Switzerland, while Burhan proposed Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah that had already held negotiations between the army and Rapid Support Forces and led to the Declaration of Principles.

During a briefing on the telephone call, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that Blinken “reiterated the need for the army to participate in ceasefire talks in Switzerland.”

“The Secretary underscored the need to urgently end the fighting and enable unhindered humanitarian access, including cross border and cross line, to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people,” he added.

In a post on the X platform, Burhan said he discussed with Blinken “the need to address pressing government affairs before starting any negotiations.”

Despite the government’s announcement that it was prepared to take part in the negotiations in Switzerland, it is hoping that they would be preceded by the RSF implementing the Declaration of Principles that was signed in Jeddah in May 2023.

On the Blinken-Burhan meeting, the sources said the government may demand that Washington exert more pressure on the countries that are allegedly supporting the RSF in the ongoing war with the army.

The demands may also include pressing the RSF to agree to a ceasefire and end military operations so that they don’t capture more Sudanese territories, added the sources.

The meeting will also most likely address the “future of the RSF in Sudan’s political scene,” continued the sources.



Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.