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Washington Finalizing Draft Sudan Ceasefire Mechanism

Sudanese PM Tells Asharq Al-Awsat that Truce Deal Should Include Relocation of Militias

A man walks near heavily-damaged buildings in the Lamab suburb on the southwestern outskirts of Sudan's capital Khartoum on July 30, 2025 as residents return amidst reconstruction efforts. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A man walks near heavily-damaged buildings in the Lamab suburb on the southwestern outskirts of Sudan's capital Khartoum on July 30, 2025 as residents return amidst reconstruction efforts. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
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Washington Finalizing Draft Sudan Ceasefire Mechanism

A man walks near heavily-damaged buildings in the Lamab suburb on the southwestern outskirts of Sudan's capital Khartoum on July 30, 2025 as residents return amidst reconstruction efforts. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A man walks near heavily-damaged buildings in the Lamab suburb on the southwestern outskirts of Sudan's capital Khartoum on July 30, 2025 as residents return amidst reconstruction efforts. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)

Washington is preparing to send the final draft of a proposed UN-backed mechanism to monitor a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan to the warring parties, according to Massad Boulos, special adviser to US President Donald Trump for Middle East affairs.

Speaking at a Sudan session during the Munich Security Conference, Boulos said work on the monitoring mechanism - coordinated with the United Nations - has been under way for weeks as a prelude to a broader political process.

He stressed that Trump is determined to “end the war in Sudan and stop the suffering of Sudanese facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

His remarks came during a panel alongside British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Reem Alabali-Radovan, following a brief exchange with Sudanese Prime Minister Kamel Idris, who moderated the session.

Idris said the Sudanese government would not negotiate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), arguing that it “no longer exists” as a legal entity.

He noted that the RSF had been established under Sudanese law and later dissolved, saying those currently fighting are “a mix of militias and foreign mercenaries from Colombia and other countries.”

Idris stressed that the Sudanese army is acting defensively, while its rivals are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat after the session, he stressed that the government is not categorically opposed to dialogue, saying it was willing to meet with the backers of the RSF rather than the fighters themselves.

Asked about the US-Saudi initiative referenced by Boulos, Idris said Sudan has its own peace proposal that complements earlier initiatives, including the US-Saudi effort. The plan, he remarked, focuses on protecting the state and ending unprecedented war crimes committed by rebel militias.

He said the Sudanese initiative does not include direct dialogue with militias and does not recognize them, describing them instead as mercenary groups.

Idris rejected the idea of a ceasefire lacking concrete measures, saying any truce must include relocating militias to designated camps, screening their fighters, and examining the possibility of reintegrating some into society.

Boulos, for his part, noted that his efforts are being carried out within an international “Quartet” comprising the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. He stressed that he maintains equal distance from both sides and warned against all forms of external military support.

Alabali-Radovan called for international pressure to end the conflict, citing the scale of the humanitarian crisis, while Cooper stressed the need for accountability, specifically citing crimes committed in El Fasher, saying she is awaiting a UN report to ensure those responsible are held to account.

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Arab World

Sisi Meets Pezeshkian in New Delhi, Calls on Iran to Stop the Escalation

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov / POOL / AFP)
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Sisi Meets Pezeshkian in New Delhi, Calls on Iran to Stop the Escalation

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 13, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov / POOL / AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Iran on Sunday to “stop the escalation” in the region and attacks on Arab countries “to preserve the principles of good neighborliness and boost the historic and cultural ties that bind the people of the region.”

Sisi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

Egyptian presidential spokesman Mohamed el-Shennawy said Sisi stressed to Pezeshkian Cairo’s “firm stance in supporting efforts to restore stability in the region.”

Egypt hopes that Iran would “exert all possible efforts to stop the escalation and reach a sustainable comprehensive peaceful settlement to the crisis that would protect the sovereignty and assets of the nations in the region.”

Egypt has constantly expressed its full support to the security and stability of Arab countries, rejecting any form of violation that may undermine their sovereignty and stability.

It has repeatedly called for an immediate end to the escalation, saying serious dialogue and diplomacy were the ways to resolve pending issues in the region.

During a telephone call with Pezeshkian in May, Sisi called on Iran to show “some flexibility” and “avoid miscalculations”.

He expressed Cairo’s categorical rejection of any attack on the sovereignty of Gulf countries and threats to their territories.

Egypt and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 1979 before restoring diplomatic representation at the level of charge d’affaires eleven years later.

Egyptian and Iranian ministers have held several meetings in the past three years to discuss the possibility of developing relations between their countries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has visited Cairo on more than one occasion where he has met with Sisi and senior officials.

Araghchi met his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

Arab World

Fighting in Yemen Intensifies as Govt Attacks Houthis Along Read Sea

A member of the Yemeni government forces, including National Army and Taiz Axis forces, mans a turret mounted on the back of a pickup truck at a checkpoint along the al-Kadha frontline west of Taiz in western Yemen on September 13, 2026. (AFP)
A member of the Yemeni government forces, including National Army and Taiz Axis forces, mans a turret mounted on the back of a pickup truck at a checkpoint along the al-Kadha frontline west of Taiz in western Yemen on September 13, 2026. (AFP)
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Fighting in Yemen Intensifies as Govt Attacks Houthis Along Read Sea

A member of the Yemeni government forces, including National Army and Taiz Axis forces, mans a turret mounted on the back of a pickup truck at a checkpoint along the al-Kadha frontline west of Taiz in western Yemen on September 13, 2026. (AFP)
A member of the Yemeni government forces, including National Army and Taiz Axis forces, mans a turret mounted on the back of a pickup truck at a checkpoint along the al-Kadha frontline west of Taiz in western Yemen on September 13, 2026. (AFP)

The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday, as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi group along the Red Sea.

The Yemeni government vowed to send more forces to the Red Sea coast after conceding a “painful” defeat last week when Houthis captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Nations estimated that more than 80,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since the start of September.

One woman said a mortar shell fell nearby as she fled in the middle of the night from the town of Khawkha in the Houthi-held Hodeidah province along the Red Sea, shortly before it was captured by the militants.

“I saw with my own eyes cars and buses burning, and bodies of children and women were lying on the road in a horrific scene,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for her and her family’s safety.

The Saudi civil defense overnight said a Houthi projectile fell in a different area near the border with Yemen along the Red Sea, injuring two people and damaging a mosque and several other buildings.

The National Resistance, a government-allied force that had controlled coastal areas, said more than 500 government fighters were killed on the west coast over the past four weeks — its first comprehensive toll. It said about 1,500 others had been wounded in the fighting since August 9.

It said more than 1,000 Houthis had been killed in the Hodeidah and Taiz provinces.

Sultan al-Aradah, a member of the ruling Presidential Leadership Council, described the collapse of government forces in the port city of Mokha and elsewhere on Yemen’s west coast as “painful and regrettable.”

Al-Aradah said in the televised interview aired late Saturday that forces “are currently regrouping and will return to the battle in one form or another.”

On Sunday, the Yemeni military said it launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in Mokha and the coastal town of Dhubab, and elsewhere in Taiz province.

The Houthis also reported strikes by the government forces in the province, as well as artillery shelling in the province of Saada, the Houthi stronghold on Yemen's northern borders.

Displaced Yemenis, from al-Khawkha city, 400 kilometers (249 miles) southwest of Sanaa, walk past their temporary shelter in Aden, Yemen, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP)

The Houthis' advance puts them just 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the US military base in Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. It's the main US base in Africa and one of several foreign military bases in Djibouti, including those of China, France and Japan.

The small Horn of Africa nation is already seeing the arrival of displaced Yemenis making the perilous water crossing. More than 2,000 Yemenis have reached Djibouti, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday.

Djibouti's Economy and Finance Minister Ilyas M. Dawaleh, said on X that the country's navy, coast guard and other specialized agencies were conducting rescue operations and providing emergency assistance.

Yemenis displaced by fighting worry about their survival

The UN migration agency said Sunday that more than 82,000 people in Yemen have been displaced since the beginning of September.

“The displaced people are in a very bad condition,” said Ahmad al-Masawi, the director of the Al Salam camp in the southern port city of Aden, who appealed to international organizations for assistance. “They left their homes quickly without any clothing or anything. They are crammed in camps, houses and even on roads."

Hussein Haydara sat outside a shelter at the camp in a white undershirt, as his children waited to be assigned to a tent. He worried about how far the shelter is from schools, hospitals and markets, and wondered how they will survive the next weeks or months.

Haydara had fled his home in Hodeidah once before, when the Houthis took it over in 2015. But this time feels more precarious.

“With the first displacement, we had time to plan things but this time we were forced to escape all of a sudden. One could hardly take their children and the lightest stuff possible,” he said.

Arab World

Yemeni Leadership Moves to Overcome Shock of Losing West Coast

An internally displaced (IDP) Yemen, one of many who fled their homes due to renewed clashes between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi group, sits in his shelter in the al-Kadha area of the Taiz governorate, southwestern Yemen on September 6, 2026. (AFP)
An internally displaced (IDP) Yemen, one of many who fled their homes due to renewed clashes between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi group, sits in his shelter in the al-Kadha area of the Taiz governorate, southwestern Yemen on September 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Yemeni Leadership Moves to Overcome Shock of Losing West Coast

An internally displaced (IDP) Yemen, one of many who fled their homes due to renewed clashes between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi group, sits in his shelter in the al-Kadha area of the Taiz governorate, southwestern Yemen on September 6, 2026. (AFP)
An internally displaced (IDP) Yemen, one of many who fled their homes due to renewed clashes between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi group, sits in his shelter in the al-Kadha area of the Taiz governorate, southwestern Yemen on September 6, 2026. (AFP)

The Yemeni leadership is moving to deal with the loss suffered by government forces on the west coast as a painful field setback, but one that should not become a turning point in the conflict with the Houthi group.

The government and Presidential Leadership Council are, meanwhile, seeking to rearrange forces and regain the initiative, while containing the humanitarian consequences of displacement and maintaining the operation of state institutions.

PLC member and Governor of Marib Sultan Al-Aradah said the developments on the west coast are "painful and regrettable," but are part of wars that witness advances and retreats.

The developments will not deflect from the main goal, he added.

In remarks carried by state media, he said the forces that withdrew from the coast are rearranging their ranks and will return to the battle "in one way or another."

Field developments on the west coast had forced government troops to redeploy after losing positions and areas, amid a broad Houthi escalation. The developments led to new waves of displacement, while a number of military personnel relocated to Marib, where Al-Aradah said authorities had prepared a camp for them and made arrangements to secure their needs.

Al-Aradah's remarks reveal that the Yemeni leadership is attempting to shift the handling of the west coast loss from a state of field shock to restoring combat capability.

This approach aligns with what Prime Minister Shaya Al-Zandani put forward during a cabinet meeting in the interim capital Aden, when he stressed that the difficult developments over the past days should not be understood as an end to the confrontation.

He stressed that battles are not measured by the outcome of a single day or a change in a position, but rather by the state's ability to reorganize its efforts, mobilize its resources, support its forces, maintain the cohesion of its institutions, and regain the initiative.

It appears that the Yemeni leadership's priority in the coming phase centers on rearranging the forces that withdrew from the coast and reintegrating them into operations, alongside elevating government support for the armed and security forces.

The cabinet confirmed that it reviewed a report from the minister of defense regarding the military situation across various fronts, operational readiness levels, and requirements, while underlining the need to boost the forces' capacity to confront the escalation and regain the initiative.

In Marib, Al-Aradah said that the governorate's forces are focused on victory and supporting various fronts, noting that the ultimate goal in the fighting, in Marib and elsewhere, remains the liberation of the capital, Sanaa, from the Houthis.

The forces and commanders on the ground bear a historic responsibility to defend the state and national dignity, he said.