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Syria Arrests Assad-Era Officer Seen as Responsible for Triggering 2011 Uprising

A member of the new Syrian security forces walks into a military headquarters that belonged to the Assad government, in Nawa, near Daraa, Syria, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP)
A member of the new Syrian security forces walks into a military headquarters that belonged to the Assad government, in Nawa, near Daraa, Syria, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP)
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Syria Arrests Assad-Era Officer Seen as Responsible for Triggering 2011 Uprising

A member of the new Syrian security forces walks into a military headquarters that belonged to the Assad government, in Nawa, near Daraa, Syria, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP)
A member of the new Syrian security forces walks into a military headquarters that belonged to the Assad government, in Nawa, near Daraa, Syria, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP)

Syrian authorities have arrested a former senior security officer and cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad seen by some as responsible for sparking the country's 2011 uprising due to a crackdown on protests in the southern city of Daraa, state media said.

Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Department in Daraa, was arrested by General Security forces in the country's western Latakia province, state media SANA said.

Syria's new ruling authority has carried out security crackdowns in several regions that it says aim to detain remnants of the former government, arresting dozens of people, mostly low-level officers or combatants.

Najib is the most senior member of Assad's former political or security structures whose arrest has been announced since the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group seized power from the former president in a lightning offensive last year.

HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has since been appointed president for the transitional phase and has pledged to arrest members of the former government accused of crimes.

"This step comes within the framework of the authorities' efforts to hold accountable those involved in violations against the Syrian people and enhance security and stability in the region," SANA quoted the head of General Security in Latakia, Mustafa Knaifati, as saying.

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Egypt Rejects Attempts to Form Parallel Sudanese Govt

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)
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Egypt Rejects Attempts to Form Parallel Sudanese Govt

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)

Egypt rejected on Sunday attempts aimed at establishing a rival government in Sudan, warning that such moves jeopardized the "unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the war-torn country.

Sudan has been locked in a war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly two years, plunging the country into what the United Nations describes as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory.

A week ago, the RSF and its allies signed a charter in Kenya declaring the formation of a "government of peace and unity" in areas under their control.

"Egypt expresses its rejection of any attempts that threaten the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of brotherly Sudan, including the pursuit of forming a parallel Sudanese government," a statement from Cairo's foreign ministry said Sunday.

It added that such actions "complicate the situation in Sudan, hinder ongoing efforts to unify political visions and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis".

Egypt also called on "all Sudanese forces to prioritize the country's supreme national interest and to engage positively in launching a comprehensive political (peace) process without exclusion or external interference".

Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty voiced the same stance in a press conference alongside his Sudanese counterpart Ali Youssef.

"Sudan's territorial integrity is a red line for Egypt," he said, adding that his country "rejects any calls to establish alternative structures outside the current framework".

The paramilitaries' move to form a rival government has drawn sharp criticism, including from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who warned it would "further deepen Sudan's fragmentation".

Saudi Arabia, which previously mediated ceasefire talks between the warring sides, also rejected the RSF's move.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency on Friday, Riyadh's foreign ministry warned against "any step or illegal measure taken outside the framework of official institutions".

Kuwait echoed that position on Friday, saying it rejected "any unlawful actions taken outside the framework of legitimate state institutions" in Sudan, calling them "a threat to its territorial unity".

At a UN Human Rights Council dialogue on Friday, Qatar also expressed its support for "Sudan's unity and territorial integrity".