US Approves Sudan Ambassador, First in 23 Years

US approves a Sudan ambassador, the first in 23 years. (AFP)
US approves a Sudan ambassador, the first in 23 years. (AFP)
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US Approves Sudan Ambassador, First in 23 Years

US approves a Sudan ambassador, the first in 23 years. (AFP)
US approves a Sudan ambassador, the first in 23 years. (AFP)

Sudan announced Monday that the United States had approved Khartoum's pick of a veteran diplomat as ambassador to Washington, the first such envoy in over two decades.

Ties between Khartoum and Washington had been strained during the three-decade rule of Omar al-Bashir, but eased after he was ousted by the army last year following mass protests.

Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok visited Washington in December and the two countries agreed to exchange envoys.

In a statement, Sudan's foreign ministry said Monday "the US government approved the nomination of Nour Eddin Satti as an ambassador and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Sudan."

A veteran diplomat, Satti served as Sudan's ambassador to France in the 1990s and later worked with United Nations peacekeeping missions in Congo and Rwanda.

Monday's step of recognizing Satti as Sudan's first to Washington since 1998 comes as part of "normalizing relations" between Khartoum and Washington, the ministry said.

Sudan is currently ruled by a transitional administration that took power in August last year after Bashir's fall.

During Bashir’s rule, Washington slapped sanctions on Sudan and designated the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Hamdok's government has sought to bolster its international standing and mend ties with the US.

In February, Khartoum agreed to compensate the families of American victims of a suicide bombing targeting navy destroyer USS Cole in Yemen's Aden harbor in 2000.

The attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda.

The US had for years accused Sudan, which once hosted the global network's leader Osama bin Laden, of training and supporting the attackers.

Sudan always denied the charges but agreed to the settlement to fulfil a key US condition to remove it from Washington's terrorism blacklist.

The 1993 designation by Washington has decimated Sudan's economy.



Syria Arrests Officer Linked to Notorious ‘Death Checkpoint’ Near Damascus

Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
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Syria Arrests Officer Linked to Notorious ‘Death Checkpoint’ Near Damascus

Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 
Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armoured Division (Interior Ministry) 

Syrian authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested Maj. Gen. Mowaffaq Nazeer Haidar, a former commander of the Syrian army’s Third Armored Division, over allegations of war crimes and abuses committed at a notorious checkpoint near Damascus.

Haidar, who oversaw the Qutayfah checkpoint along the Damascus-Homs highway north of the capital, is accused of playing a direct role in the disappearance of thousands of Syrians during the country's civil war.

The checkpoint, located near the Third Division’s headquarters, one of Syria's most powerful military units, was widely known among Syrians as a site of torture and arbitrary detention.

In a statement, the Internal Security Directorate in the coastal city of Latakia said Haidar had been detained and described him as a “criminal responsible for the so-called ‘death checkpoint’ at Qutayfah,” and a leading figure in raids carried out by pro-government forces across various parts of the country.

He has been referred to the counter-terrorism unit for interrogation on charges including war crimes and grave violations against civilians, the statement added.

The Qutayfah checkpoint, located at the northern entrance to Damascus, was one of the most notorious and feared military checkpoints during Syria’s civil war, widely associated with the regime’s crackdown on dissidents and army deserters.

Once operated by the Syrian army’s powerful Third Armored Division, the checkpoint was known by Syrians under grim monikers such as the “Death Checkpoint,” the “Checkpoint of Fear,” the “Checkpoint of Horror,” and the “Checkpoint of Arrests and Executions.”

It became a symbol of terror, particularly for residents of the Qalamoun region, but also for Syrians across the country.

According to earlier media reports, thousands of Syrians vanished at the Qutayfah checkpoint during the height of the conflict, many detained without formal charges or due process, often on mere suspicion of opposition sympathies or draft evasion.