UAE, Egypt's FM to Discuss 3 Files

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a joint press conference July 5, 2017 (Photo credit should read KHALED ELFIQI/AFP/Getty Images)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a joint press conference July 5, 2017 (Photo credit should read KHALED ELFIQI/AFP/Getty Images)
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UAE, Egypt's FM to Discuss 3 Files

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a joint press conference July 5, 2017 (Photo credit should read KHALED ELFIQI/AFP/Getty Images)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a joint press conference July 5, 2017 (Photo credit should read KHALED ELFIQI/AFP/Getty Images)

Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry and UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan will discuss a series of political issues, primarily the crisis of Qatar and recent developments in Libya.

Sources informed Asharq al-Awsat that the two officials will also explore the possibility of resuming peace process in the Middle East because of negotiations between Palestine and Israel were suspended.

Shoukry headed Friday night to the UAE on a several days' visit, where he will attend the 8th Sir Bani Yas forum organized by UAE foreign ministry in cooperation with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Foreign ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid stated that the annual event is a platform for figures and senior political officials to touch on regional and international peace and security issues within an unofficial framework.

The officials are expected to discuss several political issues like Qatari crisis, peace process in the Middle East, and situations in Libya and Iraq, added the spokesman.

Shoukry's participation is part of Egypt's keenness to maintain constant contact and exchange views between experts and top officials on peace, security and stability in the Middle East, added Abu Zeid.



Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.