Sudan’s Bashir to Step down in 2020

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. (Reuters)
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. (Reuters)
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Sudan’s Bashir to Step down in 2020

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. (Reuters)
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. (Reuters)

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir vowed on Monday to step down by the end of his presidential term in 2020.

“Our pledge with you is to hand Sudan over to you by 2020, after achieving peace in the Darfur region and the regions of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan,” said Bashir while addressing the 7th session of the National Union of Sudanese Youth in Khartoum Monday.

Bashir went on to announce the start of the implementation of a package of development and service projects in the five states of the Darfur region.

“The next phase will see the evacuation of displaced persons camps, reconstruction of their hometowns and the provision of basic services for them,” he said.

The president also vowed that he would use force against rebel movements if they rejected peace.

During his speech with the youths, Bashir said that the immigration of Sudanese people was not caused by the isolation of Sudan, but because the foreign labor market is interested in Sudanese youths who have high potential.

Bashir held talks on Monday with visiting Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Sudan and Mauritania agreed on a timeline to implement 35 agreements signed since 2007. They also agreed on joint coordination in regional and international issues.

The Mauritanian president had arrived in Khartoum on a two-day official visit after participating in the inauguration of the World Youth Forum in Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt.



Britain 'Taking Forward' Gaza Food Airdrop Plan, Says PM Starmer's Office

A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
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Britain 'Taking Forward' Gaza Food Airdrop Plan, Says PM Starmer's Office

A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
A volunteer distributes rations of red lentil soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday spoke to his French and German counterparts and outlined UK plans to get aid to people in Gaza and evacuate sick and injured children, his office said.

"The prime minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance," a statement said, AFP reported.

In a phone conversation, Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza "which they agreed is appalling".

"They all agreed it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace," according to a readout released by Downing Street.

"They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan.... which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region. They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it," it added.

The discussion comes a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience".

Aid groups have warned of surging cases of starvation, particularly among children, in war-ravaged Gaza, which Israel placed under an aid blockade in March amid its ongoing war with Hamas. That blockade was partially eased two months later.

The trickle of aid since then has been controlled by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.