FM Says Sudan Ready for Negotiations to Restore Peace

Acting Foreign Minister Hussein Awad speaks at a press conference in Port Sudan. (AFP)
Acting Foreign Minister Hussein Awad speaks at a press conference in Port Sudan. (AFP)
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FM Says Sudan Ready for Negotiations to Restore Peace

Acting Foreign Minister Hussein Awad speaks at a press conference in Port Sudan. (AFP)
Acting Foreign Minister Hussein Awad speaks at a press conference in Port Sudan. (AFP)

The Sudanese government announced on Monday its readiness to hold dialogue with any party in order to reach just peace.

Acting Foreign Minister Hussein Awad said: “We are ready to sit down for peace negotiations. Our only condition is adhering to the agreements reached in Jeddah.”

He stressed that the government was ready for talks with all the Sudanese people and parties to form a clear vision that would shape the next phase in the country and form a civilian government.

In turn, the government would pave the way for elections for people to choose their representatives and the army will guarantee that the polls are held, he told a press conference in Port Sudan.

Moreover, he renewed government assertions that the United Arab Emirates embassy in Khartoum was not targeted in an attack.

He said the government has evidence that the mission was not attacked by its forces.

The UAE embassy is the only mission that the Rapid Support Forces have not attacked or looted, Awad stressed, pledging to protect the Emirates’ mission in Port Sudan.

On the ground, witnesses said army jets carried out a raid on the town of Abu Hajjar in Sennar state, leaving dozens of women, children and elderly dead.



EU to Boost Financial Support for Palestinian Authority 

A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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EU to Boost Financial Support for Palestinian Authority 

A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)
A Palestinian walks in front of closed shops during a general strike condemning Israeli bombardment on Gaza, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2025. (Reuters)

The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told Reuters in an interview.

Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance.

"We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won't be strong enough and credible in order to be an interlocutor, not for only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel," Suica said.

The commissioner's remarks came ahead of a first "high-level political dialogue" between European Union foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials including Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Luxembourg on Monday.

The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinians and EU officials hope the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank, may also one day take responsibility for Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas comes to an end.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, however, has so far rejected the idea of handing over Gaza to the PA and shunned the EU's broader aim of a two-state solution, which would include the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Suica said 620 million euros would go to financial support and reform of the PA, 576 million euros to "resilience and recovery" of the West Bank and Gaza and 400 million euros would come in loans from the European Investment Bank, subject to the approval of its governing body.

She said average EU support for the PA had amounted to about 400 million euros over the past 12 years.

"We are investing now in a credible manner in the Palestinian Authority," Suica said.