Armed Sudanese Opposition: Improved EU Ties Depend on Bashir’s Departure from Power

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. (Reuters)
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. (Reuters)
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Armed Sudanese Opposition: Improved EU Ties Depend on Bashir’s Departure from Power

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

The armed Sudanese opposition said that improving its ties with the European Union depend on the departure of President Omar al-Bashir.

It said that the ties depend on achieving peace, a democratic transformation and preventing Bashir from running in the 2020 presidential elections.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement – North leader Malek Akar said that the movement was meeting in Brussels with EU officials, including its envoys to Sudan and South Sudan.

Discussions also addressed African and Sudanese migrants.

Deputy chief of the movement Yasser Arman said that he urged the EU against allowing a constitutional amendment that would give Bashir an opportunity to run in the elections.

He stressed that improving living conditions, combating corruption and resolving the war are linked to ending the rule of the National Congress.

The EU must support the Sudanese people’s demands to hold free and transparent elections and provide basic freedoms to create a suitable election environment, he added.

Arman stated that his movement does not seek an agreement or sharing authority with Bashir’s National Congress.

“We have a vision that is not about dividing power and wealth, but in carrying out structural reform for the sake of the people and the marginalized, not for the interest of the powerful,” he explained.

The Sudanese government had announced that Bashir is not seeking to run in the next presidential elections.

Some sides in his party are however seeking otherwise.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour had previously told Asharq Al-Awsat that there is a great popular desire for him to run in the elections.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.