Sudan Restores Public Property in Blow to Bashir Allies

Sudan Restores Public Property in Blow to Bashir Allies
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Sudan Restores Public Property in Blow to Bashir Allies

Sudan Restores Public Property in Blow to Bashir Allies

Sudan’s Committee for Dismantling Ingaz (Salvation) Regime and Removing Empowerment has issued decisions to dismiss figures who were serving during the term of ousted President Omar al-Bashir.

The decisions target those in leadership positions in a number of ministries and government institutions and call for seizing their property and preventing them from traveling abroad, pending judicial action.

Member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Mohamed Alfaki Suleiman, vice-chairman of the Committee, affirmed that the decisions are consensual.

He said all the transitional authority’s institutions have agreed that dismantling the ousted regime is a strategic approach that is stipulated in the constitutional document, being one of the most important goals of the protest movement.

At a press conference he held in Khartoum on Thursday, Alfaki said the Committee has taken 13 decisions to end the role of Bashir-era figures in state institutions.

Some decisions have been postponed for further study, he noted.

All ministries are currently reviewing the files of their employees, Alfaki said, adding that a number of decisions have been transferred to the general prosecutor.

The decisions include restoring public institutions and real estate seized by some figures for their own benefit, dissolving unions, and confiscating their assets and funds.

Member of the Committee Wajdi Saleh said 51 employees have been fired from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in addition to 51 Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning staff members.

The Committee decided to dismiss four managers and employees at the Ministry of Urban Planning, and managers of the Land Authority and the Housing and Construction Fund, Saleh added.

It also dismissed the General Manager of the “Blue Nile” channel, Hassan Fadl al-Mawla, in addition to redeeming 16 million shares from the “Nile Bank” for the Ministry of Finance, Khartoum State.

A decision to revoke the licenses of a number of organizations and associations established under Bashir was also issued, Saleh noted, adding that all of their real estate accounts and assets were seized and transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

The Committee also ordered freezing the accounts and shares, and seizing the property of a number of companies and brand names registered under pro-Bashir associations and organizations.



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."