Sudan Sending Delegation to Cairo to Meet US and Egyptian Mediators

A woman protecting her face with a cardboard bearing the Sudanese flag as she holds a banner next to the monumental wood sculpture "Broken Chair" (L) during a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
A woman protecting her face with a cardboard bearing the Sudanese flag as she holds a banner next to the monumental wood sculpture "Broken Chair" (L) during a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Sudan Sending Delegation to Cairo to Meet US and Egyptian Mediators

A woman protecting her face with a cardboard bearing the Sudanese flag as she holds a banner next to the monumental wood sculpture "Broken Chair" (L) during a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
A woman protecting her face with a cardboard bearing the Sudanese flag as she holds a banner next to the monumental wood sculpture "Broken Chair" (L) during a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)

Sudan's government said it will send a delegation to Cairo for discussions with US and Egyptian officials on Monday, keeping open the question of participation in peace talks aimed at ending a 16-month war.

The government, controlled by the army which is fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of the country, has said it would not attend the peace talks in Switzerland unless a previous agreement struck in Jeddah is implemented.

The US-led talks, which the RSF is attending, aim to end the devastating war that broke out in April 2023, and address the crippling humanitarian crisis that has left half of Sudan's population of 50 million facing food insecurity.

A statement from the ruling Transitional Sovereign Council said the decision to go to Cairo came after contacts with the US special envoy and the Egyptian government, which is an observer in the talks, and was limited to discussing implementation of the Jeddah agreement, under which the RSF would leave civilian areas.

High-level government sources told Reuters that the government had presented its vision on that and other topics to US and Saudi mediators, and that its approach to further talks would be based on their response.

The sources denied media reports that the government had already sent a delegation to Geneva.

The army on Thursday pre-empted a key topic of the talks when it said it would allow an RSF-controlled border crossing into Darfur to be used for aid deliveries.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had agreed to the opening during a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken the day before.



Israeli Military Issues Evacuation Order for Hadath in Beirut Southern Suburbs

28 March 2025, Lebanon, Khiam: Heavy smoke billows from areas that were bombed by Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam. Photo: STR/dpa
28 March 2025, Lebanon, Khiam: Heavy smoke billows from areas that were bombed by Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam. Photo: STR/dpa
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Israeli Military Issues Evacuation Order for Hadath in Beirut Southern Suburbs

28 March 2025, Lebanon, Khiam: Heavy smoke billows from areas that were bombed by Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam. Photo: STR/dpa
28 March 2025, Lebanon, Khiam: Heavy smoke billows from areas that were bombed by Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam. Photo: STR/dpa

Israel's military on Friday issued an evacuation order to residents of Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs, the first such order since a ceasefire agreement that halted the war between Hezbollah and Israel.

"Anyone located in the building marked in red as shown on the map, and the surrounding buildings... are near Hezbollah facilities... you must immediately evacuate these buildings,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that included a map showing the building.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Education asked schools and the university complex in Hadath to evacuate after the Israeli warning. 

Under the ceasefire deal brokered by France and the United States in November, Hezbollah was to remove its weapons from southern Lebanon, Israeli ground forces were to withdraw, and the Lebanese army was to deploy in the area.

Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel have all accused each other of violating the accords.
The Israeli military said on Friday it was striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, hours after missiles were fired from Lebanese territory into Israel.