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.



Gaza Polio Campaign Starts Well, WHO Says, Despite Israeli Strikes

Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
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Gaza Polio Campaign Starts Well, WHO Says, Despite Israeli Strikes

Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it had been able to start its polio campaign in central Gaza and vaccinate tens of thousands of children despite Israeli strikes in the designated protected zone hours before.

As part of an agreement between the Israeli military and Palestinian group Hamas, humanitarian pauses in the year-long Gaza war had been due to begin early on Monday to reach hundreds of thousands of children.

However, hours before then, the UN humanitarian office said Israeli forces struck tents near al Aqsa hospital, inside in the zone, where it said four people were burned to death.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said one of its schools in the central Gazan city of Nuseirat, intended as a vaccination site, was hit overnight between Sunday and Monday, killing up to 22 people.

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a Geneva press briefing that over 92,000 children, or around half of the children targeted for polio vaccines in the central area, had been inoculated on Monday.

"What we have received from colleagues is that the vaccination went without a major issue yesterday, and we hope It will continue the same way," he said.

Other humanitarian agencies have previously voiced concerns about the viability of the polio campaign in northern Gaza, where an Israeli offensive is under way.

Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month, after a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years.