African Union Dispatches Delegate to Sudan

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses for a photo with heads of several African states during a summit to discuss Sudan and Libya, in Cairo, Egypt April 23, 2019. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses for a photo with heads of several African states during a summit to discuss Sudan and Libya, in Cairo, Egypt April 23, 2019. (Reuters)
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African Union Dispatches Delegate to Sudan

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses for a photo with heads of several African states during a summit to discuss Sudan and Libya, in Cairo, Egypt April 23, 2019. (Reuters)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses for a photo with heads of several African states during a summit to discuss Sudan and Libya, in Cairo, Egypt April 23, 2019. (Reuters)

The African Union (AU) has sent special envoy Mauritanian diplomat Mohamed El-Hassan Ould Labbat to Sudan following the political crisis the country has seen since the toppling of former President Omar al-Bashir.

The Union said that the new envoy is tasked with providing African assistance to the efforts of the parties in order to lay the foundations for an urgent democratic transitional phase in the country.

The AU stressed that this phase must end with the establishment of a democratic system and civil governance in Sudan.

By choosing Labbat as the envoy, the AU wants to keep abreast of developments in Sudan, facilitate the transition and establish communication between all parties.

AU Commissioner Moussa Faki Mahamat had visited Khartoum and held intensive meetings with the leaders of the ruling transitional military council and the opposition forces.

Mahamat had previously granted the council 15 days to hand over power to civilians.

The AU had held a summit in Egypt on Tuesday and agreed to give Sudan’s ruling military council two weeks to six months to hand over power to a civilian government - a key opposition demand.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who holds the rotating AU presidency, said that the meeting agreed on the need to deal with the situation in Sudan by working to “quickly restore the constitutional system through a political democratic process led and managed by the Sudanese themselves”.

“We agreed on the need to give more time to Sudanese authorities and Sudanese parties to implement these measures,” he added.

The presidents of Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, the Congo, Somalia and South Africa, the AU commissioner and representatives of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria participated in the Cairo summit.

Mahamat warned that if Sudan’s military rulers fail to hand over power to a civilian government by the end of the deadline, the country’s membership in the Union will be suspended.



Syrian Army Takes Control of Tishrin Dam from SDF

Syria's Tishrin Dam. (File photo)
Syria's Tishrin Dam. (File photo)
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Syrian Army Takes Control of Tishrin Dam from SDF

Syria's Tishrin Dam. (File photo)
Syria's Tishrin Dam. (File photo)

Syrian army troops have deployed near the Tishrin Dam in the eastern countryside of Aleppo province, setting up military positions in what appears to be a step toward assuming control of the facility from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Pro-government broadcaster Syria TV cited an official source on Monday as saying the military had entered the outskirts of the Tishrin Dam area and established military outposts in preparation for a handover of the strategic site.

The dam, located near the city of Manbij, has been under the control of the Kurdish-led SDF, which played a key role in the fight against ISIS in northern Syria with the backing of the US-led coalition.

Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement on March 10 aimed at integrating all civil and military institutions of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northern and northeastern Syria into the Syrian state.

Syrian authorities, the SDF, and Türkiye had reached an agreement, brokered by the United States, for the transfer of the Tishrin Dam to the Syrian government.

Under the deal, the military will deploy forces around the dam, while teams from Damascus have already begun maintenance and upgrading works on the facility.

The agreement aims to bring an end to the fighting that had erupted between Syrian factions loyal to Türkiye, which have integrated into the Syrian army, and the SDF. The clashes, which had persisted for over three months since December 12, have now subsided.

On Thursday, Türkiye’s Ministry of Defense announced that Ankara is closely monitoring the implementation of the agreement regarding the handover of the dam.

The deployment of Syrian forces around the dam comes amid reports of renewed tensions in the area, which had been relatively calm for nearly a month. Syria’s state-run Syria TV reported that the military had sent reinforcements to areas previously affected by clashes with the SDF.

Additionally, reports said the SDF and Syrian forces were on alert after Turkish drones launched an attack near the dam, following the death of a fighter from Türkiye-backed factions in the region. The situation continues to evolve as both sides remain on edge in the strategic area.