National Umma Party Welcomes UN Mission ‘without Infringing on Sudan’s Sovereignty’

United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) personnel erect barbed wire fencing around Tomping camp in Juba January 7, 2014. (Reuters)
United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) personnel erect barbed wire fencing around Tomping camp in Juba January 7, 2014. (Reuters)
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National Umma Party Welcomes UN Mission ‘without Infringing on Sudan’s Sovereignty’

United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) personnel erect barbed wire fencing around Tomping camp in Juba January 7, 2014. (Reuters)
United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) personnel erect barbed wire fencing around Tomping camp in Juba January 7, 2014. (Reuters)

Sudan’s National Umma Party, headed by Sadiq al-Mahdi, welcomed the United Nations' approval to send a political mission to the country under Chapter 6 of the UN charter.

In a statement on Saturday, the party welcomed the UN assistance without transferring all of the country's civil administration tasks to the UN committee.

It called on political forces to agree on the role required by the mission to ensure it does not infringe on national sovereignty.

On Feb. 10, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok asked the UN to deploy a peacekeeping mission in the country as soon as possible.

The request includes supporting the implementation of the Constitutional Declaration and peace efforts in Juba, mobilizing international economic assistance for Sudan, coordinating in humanitarian assistance issues and offering technical support to the constitutional making.

In other news, the Umma Party called for easing the escalation between Egypt and Ethiopia and avoiding the use of force in their differences over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

It urged the Sudanese government to seek all means to reconcile both countries in order to reach mutually acceptable solutions.

Mahdi expressed in a statement his regret over the “cold war” between Egypt and Ethiopia, praising US efforts to mediate an agreement among the Nile Basin countries.

He urged holding a UN-sponsored conference for all Nile Bain countries to resolve the dispute and reach a common agreement.

On Feb. 29, Egypt was the only country to initial a deal in Washington on the filling and operation of the $4 billion GERD. Ethiopia skipped the meeting.

The Arab League issued a resolution on March 4, stressing the importance of preserving the rights of Sudan and Egypt to Nile River waters.

It also banned any unilateral measures from Ethiopia, binding it to the principles of international law.

The decision was rejected by Ethiopia and Sudan expressed reservations because it was not consulted over it.



French Minister in Western Sahara to Back Moroccan Sovereignty

This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)
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French Minister in Western Sahara to Back Moroccan Sovereignty

This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)
This handout photograph released by Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication on February 17, 2025 shows Morocco's Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid (C-R) and France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati (C-L) visiting Tarfaya, in southern Morocco. (Moroccan Culture Ministry / AFP)

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati began a visit on Monday to disputed Western Sahara where she will meet officials and open a French cultural center in a show of support for Moroccan sovereignty over the desert territory.

The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco, which considers the region its own, against the Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement.

"This is a strong symbolic and political moment," Dati told Moroccan reporters. Her nation in July became the second permanent UN Security Council member after the US to back Morocco's position.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Rabat in October telling parliament that Western Sahara was Moroccan, while his foreign minister promised to expand France’s consular presence to the territory.

Economic deals worth over $10 billion were signed during the presidential visit, following which Morocco mediated the release of four French spies held in Burkina Faso.

French support for Rabat over Western Sahara irks Algiers.

Morocco has also won backing from Western Sahara's former colonial power Spain, as well as Israel and more than two dozen African and Arab nations.

The Polisario in 2020 withdrew from a UN-brokered truce but the conflict remains of low intensity.