Will Trump Allow Russia to Set up a Military Base in Sudan?

Senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Cameron Hudson. (Just Security)
Senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Cameron Hudson. (Just Security)
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Will Trump Allow Russia to Set up a Military Base in Sudan?

Senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Cameron Hudson. (Just Security)
Senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Cameron Hudson. (Just Security)

American former diplomat Cameron Hudson said US President Donald Trump’s new administration will show an interest in the war in Sudan because it does not want the country to become a haven for terrorism.

Hudson, who is a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Asharq Al-Awsat from Nairobi that Washington wants to preserve security along the entirety of the Red Sea coast.

This means that Iran and Russia will not be allowed to establish any bases there, he stressed.

Moreover, Hudson revealed that the Trump administration wants to expand the Abraham peace accords in the Middle East. Sudan is a signatory to the accords, he noted, while wondering how it can be implemented there amid the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Peace in the Middle East is essential for there to be peace in Sudan, he remarked.

Noting a previous agreement between Sudan and Russia for the latter to set up a naval base there, Hudson questioned the credibility of the deal.

If it is true, then it will certainly be a major problem for Trump, he added. He will most likely make a strong reaction that will inform Sudan that it made the bad decision.

Trump does not want Russia to threaten his interests in the Red Sea, he went on to say.

The administration has yet to name a team on African affairs, he added, but hoped that it will do so soon because the situation in Sudan is pressing.

He expected Washington to remain abreast the developments and changes in the war in Sudan.

The army appears to be on the way to recapturing the capital Khartoum, but the RSF may seize the city of Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which will in turn allow it to capture the whole of Darfur.

Hudson said he does not know how the Trump administration would respond to such a scenario. As it stands, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused the RSF of committing genocide, so it is unlikely that Washington will talk to them should any negotiations take place.

Regardless of what happens, Hudson said he was confident the Trump administration will do better than its predecessor which had viewed both the army and RSF equally.

Moreover, he said former President Joe Biden’s administration was slow in responding to the October 25, 2021, coup that took place in Sudan. The war soon followed.

The administration only hired an envoy to Sudan a year after the war erupted, he noted. It also wavered in how it dealt with the army and RSF, treating them both equally, before later saying it will only talk to the civilian forces.

The forces, however, were not organized and did not have a vision over how to stop the war, Hudson continued.

On sanctions against army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, Hudson said the administration should have done so at the beginning of the war, not the final weeks of its term.

The sanctions are still in place and the Trump administration has an opportunity to use them to determine how thing unfold in Sudan, such as set conditions that could pave the way for lifting them, specifically off Burhan, Hudson explained.

The former diplomat described Burhan as “very wise” and that he is aware of how destructive the war has been on Sudan, its people and economy.

Burhan wants to stop the war, but there should first be a solution to the RSF threats. A sustainable solution is needed in Sudan so that war does not erupt again, he urged.

Furthermore, he added that Trump enjoys good ties with the Arab countries neighboring Sudan. These countries have interests in Sudan and they can be part of a deal that can help end the war.



Moving Heaven, Earth to Make Bread in Gaza

Displaced Palestinian girls bake bread at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip - AFP
Displaced Palestinian girls bake bread at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip - AFP
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Moving Heaven, Earth to Make Bread in Gaza

Displaced Palestinian girls bake bread at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip - AFP
Displaced Palestinian girls bake bread at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip - AFP

In Gaza, where hunger gnaws and hope runs thin, flour and bread are so scarce that they are carefully divided by families clinging to survival.

"Because the crossing points are closed, there's no more gas and no flour, and no firewood coming in," said Umm Mohammed Issa, a volunteer helping to make bread with the few resources still available.

Israel resumed military operations in the Palestinian territory in mid-March, shattering weeks of relative calm brought by a fragile ceasefire.

The United Nations has warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the besieged territory, where Israel's blockade on aid since March 2 has cut off food, fuel and other essentials to Gaza's 2.4 million people, AFP reported.
Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow aid in, accusing Hamas of diverting the supplies, a claim the Palestinian militant group denies.

Once again, residents have had to resort to increasingly desperate measures to feed themselves.

To cook a thin flatbread called "saj", named after the convex hotplate on which it is made, Issa said the volunteers have resorted to burning pieces of cardboard.

"There's going to be famine," the Palestinian woman said, a warning international aid groups have previously issued over the course of 18 month of war.

"We'll be in the situation where we can no longer feed our children."

- 'Bread is precious' -

Until the end of March, Gazans gathered each morning outside the few bakeries still operating, in the hope of getting some bread.

But one by one, the ovens cooled as ingredients -- flour, water, salt and yeast -- ran out.

Larger industrial bakeries central to operations run by the UN's World Food Programme also closed for lack of flour and fuel to power their generators.

On Wednesday, World Central Kitchen (WCK) sounded the alarm about a humanitarian crisis that is "grows more dire each day."

The organization's bakery is the only one still operating in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of bread per day.

"Bread is precious, often substituting for meals where cooking has stopped," it said.

"I built a clay oven to bake bread to sell," said Baqer Deeb, a 35-year-old father from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

He has been displaced by the fighting, like almost the entire population of the territory, and is now in Gaza City.

"But now there's a severe shortage of flour," he said, "and that is making the bread crisis even worse."

There is no longer much food to be found for sale at makeshift roadside stalls, and prices are climbing, making many products unaffordable for most people.

- 'Mould and worms' -

Fidaa Abu Ummayra thought she had found a real bargain when she bought a large sack of flour for the equivalent of 90 euros at Al-Shati refugee camp in the north of the territory.

"If only I hadn't bought it," the 55-year-old said. "It was full of mould and worms. The bread was disgusting."

Before the war, a typical 25-kilo sack like the one she bought would have gone for less than 10 euros.

"We are literally dying of hunger," said Tasnim Abu Matar in Gaza City.

"We count and calculate everything our children eat, and divide up the bread to make it last for days," the 50-year-old added.

"We can't take it any more."

People rummage through debris searching for something to eat as others walk for kilometres (miles) to aid distribution points hoping to find food for their families.

Germany, France, and Britain on Wednesday called on Israel to stop blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning of "an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death".

According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, displaced people at more than 250 shelters in Gaza had no or little access to enough food last month.

True to their reputation for resilience after multiple wars, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have devised countless ways to cope with growing hardship.

But in interviews with AFP, many said these improvised solutions often make them feel as though they've been thrust back centuries.