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.



UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)

The director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon said on Wednesday that the agency had not been affected by US President Donald Trump's halt to US foreign aid funding or by an Israeli ban on its operations.

"UNRWA currently is not receiving any US funding so there is no direct impact of the more recent decisions related to the UN system for UNRWA," Dorothee Klaus told reporters at UNRWA's field office in Lebanon.

US funding to UNRWA was suspended last year until March 2025 under a deal reached by US lawmakers and after Israel accused 12 of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.

The UN has said it had fired nine UNRWA staff who may have been involved and said it would investigate all accusations made.

Klaus said that UNRWA Lebanon had also placed four staff members on administrative leave as it investigated allegations they had breached the UN principle of neutrality.

One UNRWA teacher had already been suspended last year and a Hamas commander in Lebanon - killed in September in an Israeli strike - was found to have had an UNRWA job.

Klaus also said there was "no direct impact" on the agency's Lebanon operations from a new Israeli law banning UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and that "UNRWA will continue fully operating in Lebanon."

The law, adopted in October, bans UNRWA's operation on Israeli land - including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized internationally - and contact with Israeli authorities from Jan. 30.

UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Its commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that UNRWA has been the target of a "fierce disinformation campaign" to "portray the agency as a terrorist organization."