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Lebanon Stops Migrants Heading to Cyprus, Italy by Sea

Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, 27, who tried with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, as she stands on the coast of Tripoli city, north Lebanon Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, 27, who tried with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, as she stands on the coast of Tripoli city, north Lebanon Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Lebanon Stops Migrants Heading to Cyprus, Italy by Sea

Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, 27, who tried with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, as she stands on the coast of Tripoli city, north Lebanon Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese Afaf Adulhamid the mother of Mohammed Khaldoun, 27, who tried with other migrants to reach Cyprus on a boat, as she stands on the coast of Tripoli city, north Lebanon Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) said Friday it foiled several attempts to smuggle people by sea, arresting suspects.

In a statement, the General Directorate said that ISF intelligence has been following up attempts to leave the country by boat from northern Lebanon to Cyprus.

It said such attempts have increased since late August.

“On several occasions, the ISF was able to arrest a number of Syrians planning to leave the Lebanese territories by sea,” it said.

The ISF also arrested 14 men and women carrying the Syrian nationality who admitted to planning to head to Cyprus by sea.

The smuggler is also a Syrian and was arrested. The ISF found in his possession large sums of money that he received from the migrants.

A boat carrying Lebanese and Syrians that illegally left Tripoli on Sept. 7 to Cyprus without water or food had stirred anger in Lebanon after six people died on board, including two children.

Commenting on the issue, the ISF said that it identified the person responsible for mediation during the smuggling operation. It said the suspect is a Lebanese who was arrested at his residence in Qobbeh, Tripoli.

The ISF also raided a house in northern Lebanon, arresting six people from the Egyptian nationality and one Lebanese for preparing to make the journey by sea to Italy after paying smugglers a sum of money.

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Egypt Rejects Attempts to Form Parallel Sudanese Govt

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)
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Egypt Rejects Attempts to Form Parallel Sudanese Govt

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Murnei in Sudan's Darfur region, walks beside carts carrying her family belongings upon crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad August 2, 2023. (Reuters)

Egypt rejected on Sunday attempts aimed at establishing a rival government in Sudan, warning that such moves jeopardized the "unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the war-torn country.

Sudan has been locked in a war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly two years, plunging the country into what the United Nations describes as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory.

A week ago, the RSF and its allies signed a charter in Kenya declaring the formation of a "government of peace and unity" in areas under their control.

"Egypt expresses its rejection of any attempts that threaten the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of brotherly Sudan, including the pursuit of forming a parallel Sudanese government," a statement from Cairo's foreign ministry said Sunday.

It added that such actions "complicate the situation in Sudan, hinder ongoing efforts to unify political visions and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis".

Egypt also called on "all Sudanese forces to prioritize the country's supreme national interest and to engage positively in launching a comprehensive political (peace) process without exclusion or external interference".

Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty voiced the same stance in a press conference alongside his Sudanese counterpart Ali Youssef.

"Sudan's territorial integrity is a red line for Egypt," he said, adding that his country "rejects any calls to establish alternative structures outside the current framework".

The paramilitaries' move to form a rival government has drawn sharp criticism, including from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who warned it would "further deepen Sudan's fragmentation".

Saudi Arabia, which previously mediated ceasefire talks between the warring sides, also rejected the RSF's move.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency on Friday, Riyadh's foreign ministry warned against "any step or illegal measure taken outside the framework of official institutions".

Kuwait echoed that position on Friday, saying it rejected "any unlawful actions taken outside the framework of legitimate state institutions" in Sudan, calling them "a threat to its territorial unity".

At a UN Human Rights Council dialogue on Friday, Qatar also expressed its support for "Sudan's unity and territorial integrity".