Sudan Asks UN to Deploy Peacekeeping Mission

 Sudanese PM Abdalla Hamdouk met Sunday with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres (Sudan news agency SUNA)
Sudanese PM Abdalla Hamdouk met Sunday with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres (Sudan news agency SUNA)
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Sudan Asks UN to Deploy Peacekeeping Mission

 Sudanese PM Abdalla Hamdouk met Sunday with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres (Sudan news agency SUNA)
Sudanese PM Abdalla Hamdouk met Sunday with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres (Sudan news agency SUNA)

The Sudanese government asked the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping mission in the country as soon as possible under Chapter 6 of the UN charter, covering the entire territory of Sudan.

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary, the request comes in the backdrop of discussions in the United Nations this month on the post-UNAMID arrangements in Sudan.

The request, which was presented by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on January 22, includes supporting the implementation of the Constitutional Declaration, supporting peace efforts in Juba, mobilization of international economic assistance for Sudan, coordination of humanitarian assistance, and offering technical support to the constitutional making.

The request explains that the transition model in Sudan bears all elements of success and that the international community, including the United Nations, should now come to help with urgent issues raised and to lay the foundation for Sudan's path towards peace and prosperity.

It also indicated that the UN country team should shift its approach from project-based and short-term assistance to long-term development programming that would help Sudan achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.

On the sidelines of his participation in the 33rd African Summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday, Hamdok met with Guterres and discussed the developments in Sudan and South Sudan and the challenges facing the Inter-Governmental Agency for Development.

The UN Chief affirmed the UN support to the transitional period and the Prime Minister, pointing to the international organization’s readiness to provide all the possible assistance to overcome the difficult stage in Sudan.

“The UN Secretary-General is well aware of the difficulties and complications facing the transitional period,” said a press release issued by the PM office.

Guterres renewed his stance to support the removal of Sudan’s name from the list of the countries-sponsoring terrorism, indicating that he will discuss the issue with the US concerned officials.

For his part, Hamdok briefed the UN official on the current developments in Sudan and the difficulties facing the transitional government, in addition to the ongoing efforts for making peace in South Sudan State.

Separately, the German government said that Chancellor Angela Merkel would receive the Sudanese PM in Berlin next Friday, indicating that the meeting will discuss the economic and political situation in the country.



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
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Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.