Pope Urges Lebanon to Elect a New President Immediately

Pope Francis looks on as he holds the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall, at the Vatican, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis looks on as he holds the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall, at the Vatican, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
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Pope Urges Lebanon to Elect a New President Immediately

Pope Francis looks on as he holds the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall, at the Vatican, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Pope Francis looks on as he holds the weekly general audience at the Paul VI Audience Hall, at the Vatican, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Pope Francis called on Lebanese politicians on Sunday to urgently elect a new president, to get the country's governing institutions functioning again.

"I address an urgent invitation to all Lebanese politicians to elect the president of the republic immediately," the pontiff said at Saint Peter's Square at the end of Sunday Angelus prayer, AFP reported.

Lebanon's institutions need to "start functioning normally again to undertake the necessary reforms and sustain the country's role as an example of peaceful cohabitation between different religions", Francis said.

Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri has called a presidential election for January 9 in a bid to end a two-year leadership vacuum.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022.

Neither of the two main blocs in parliament -- the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its opponents -- have the majority required to elect a head of state and they have been unable to agree on a consensus candidate.



Sudan’s Burhan Announces Plans for a Technocratic Government

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
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Sudan’s Burhan Announces Plans for a Technocratic Government

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)
Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan during his meeting with Heiko Nitschke, Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa (Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council)

Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman and Army Chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, reaffirmed on Thursday that the military is committed to creating the necessary conditions for a democratically elected civilian government to take power.

During a meeting with Germany’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Heiko Nitschke, Burhan emphasized that the armed forces have no intention of engaging in political affairs.

A statement from the Sovereign Council said both sides discussed efforts to initiate an inclusive national dialogue and form a technocratic government to oversee preparations for elections, in line with the recently announced roadmap.

For his part, the German envoy expressed Berlin’s readiness to support Sudan’s reconstruction efforts and collaborate with international partners on post-war rebuilding, according to the statement.

Over the past month, the Sudanese army has reclaimed key areas in the capital, Khartoum, including the presidential palace, all ministerial headquarters, the Central Bank of Sudan, and other major government institutions. Meanwhile, columns of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters were seen withdrawing from the capital, crossing Jebel Aulia Bridge toward White Nile State.

Residents reported that the army launched airstrikes in Omdurman on Thursday, following its declared victory over the RSF in a two-year battle for control of Khartoum.

The war has devastated large parts of Khartoum, displaced over 12 million Sudanese, and pushed nearly half of the country’s 50 million people into severe hunger, in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Sudanese army now controls most of Omdurman, home to two major military bases, and appears focused on eliminating the remaining RSF units to secure full control over Greater Khartoum. Thursday’s artillery strikes targeted southern Omdurman.

The Sudanese army and RSF were once allies, having jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup that derailed Sudan’s democratic transition following the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. However, their alliance quickly unraveled, plunging the country into a devastating civil war driven by a bitter power struggle.