Arab League Chief Reiterates Call for Political Solution in Yemen

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul-Gheit with Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani (Saba)
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul-Gheit with Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani (Saba)
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Arab League Chief Reiterates Call for Political Solution in Yemen

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul-Gheit with Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani (Saba)
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul-Gheit with Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani (Saba)

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed on Monday the importance of finding a political solution to the Yemeni crisis based on the three references.

Aboul Gheit's comments came during his meeting with Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani in Cairo on the sidelines of the Arab League Council’s 150th session at the ministerial level.

Aboul Gheit's spokesman Mahmoud Afifi said in a statement that the Sec-Gen was briefed on the latest developments in the Yemeni crisis in light of the failure of the last round of negotiations due to Houthi militia leaders' absence.

The two officials also discussed the military operations in Yemen's western coast and other areas.

During the meeting, Yamani said the Houthis' pretexts for not attending the Geneva talks proved that they do not seek any peaceful solution to the crisis, Afifi added.

The FM renewed the legitimate government's commitment to peacefully ending the crisis despite Houthi attempts to sabotage peace efforts and recent peace consultations in Geneva.

Aboul Gheit stressed the importance of restoring legitimacy through a political solution based on the three references – the Gulf Initiative, the outcomes of the Yemen's National Dialogue Conference and UN Resolution 2216.

He also held the Houthis responsible for prolonging the Yemeni conflict and the people’s sufferings.



Sudan's Army Launches Push to Retake Ground in Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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Sudan's Army Launches Push to Retake Ground in Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Sudan's army launched artillery and air strikes in Sudan's capital on Thursday in its biggest operation to regain ground there since early in its 17-month war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses and military sources said.

The push by the army, which lost control of most of the capital at the start of the conflict, came ahead of an address by its commander, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York later in the day.

Witnesses reported heavy bombardments and clashes as army troops tried to cross bridges across the Nile connecting the three adjoining cities that make up the greater capital, Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.

"The army is carrying out heavy artillery strikes and air strikes on Halfaya and Shambat," Ahmed Abdalla, a 48-year-old resident told Reuters by phone, referring to areas of Bahri close to the river. "The sounds of explosions are very loud."

Video footage showed black smoke rising above the capital and the booms of the battle could be heard in the background.

Army sources said their forces had crossed bridges in Khartoum and Bahri. The RSF told Reuters it had thwarted the army's attempt to cross two bridges to Khartoum. Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts.

Though the army retook some ground in Omdurman early this year, it depends mostly on artillery and airstrikes and has been unable to dislodge nimble RSF ground forces embedded in other parts of the capital.

The RSF has also continued to make advances in other parts of Sudan in recent months in a conflict that has caused a vast humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 10 million people and driving parts of the country to extreme hunger or famine.

This month the battle for control of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state in the west of Sudan, has also intensified as the RSF has tried to advance from positions surrounding the city against the army and allied former rebel groups.