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Lebanon: Efforts to Ease Tension Between FPM, Hezbollah Supporters

Lebanon: Efforts to Ease Tension Between FPM, Hezbollah Supporters
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Lebanon: Efforts to Ease Tension Between FPM, Hezbollah Supporters

Lebanon: Efforts to Ease Tension Between FPM, Hezbollah Supporters

Contacts are underway between the leaderships of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Hezbollah to reduce tension between the supporters of the two groups over the border demarcation talks with Israel and the government formation.

Hezbollah had expressed reservation over the delegation assigned by President Michel Aoun to represent Lebanon in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel.

Hezbollah supporters went to accuse the FPM of succumbing to American wishes for fear of economic sanctions. The accusations stirred a wave of angry reactions among FPM partisans, who demanded their leadership break up the alliance with Hezbollah, after “its cost has become high on us and on the country.”

“We have reached a stage in which silence is no longer effective because the fate of the country is at stake,” a senior FPM member told Asharq Al-Awsat.

MP Edgard Maalouf, from the FPM’s Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, did not deny the differences in views with Hezbollah on several matters.

He stated: “However, this should not reach the point of undermining the relationship with the party and the fall of the agreement,” known as the Mar Mikhael agreement, which was signed between Aoun and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in 2006.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Maalouf said that the two sides have overcome the dispute over the negotiating delegation by keeping the same lineup put forward by Aoun, without taking into account the observations presented by the Shiite duo, i.e. Hezbollah and Amal Movement.

However, the FPM now fears that an agreement would be reached at its expense, represented by the designation of former Premier Saad Hariri to lead the new government, especially after head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblattand and former Minister Sleiman Franjieh have both joined the Shiite duo to push for Hariri’s designation.

“There are no settlements at the expense of the FPM, but internal and external political changes that need to be taken into consideration,” said Writer and Analyst Qassem Kassir.

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Hemedti Issues Strict Orders to his Forces to Protect Sudanese People

People collect clean water provided by a charity organization to people in Gedaref in eastern Sudan on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
People collect clean water provided by a charity organization to people in Gedaref in eastern Sudan on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Hemedti Issues Strict Orders to his Forces to Protect Sudanese People

People collect clean water provided by a charity organization to people in Gedaref in eastern Sudan on August 30, 2024. (AFP)
People collect clean water provided by a charity organization to people in Gedaref in eastern Sudan on August 30, 2024. (AFP)

Commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti, issued on Saturday strict orders to his forces to protect civilians and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid in line with the commitments his delegation made at the recent peace talks in Geneva.

In a post on the X platform, he said he issued an “extraordinary administrative order to all the forces” to protect civilians and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

He called on all commanders to abide by the orders in line with international humanitarian law. Any violators will be held accountable.

The RSF has been accused of widespread violations against civilians in areas under their control. They have also been accused of committing massacres in Gezira state in central Sudan. The RSF have denied the accusations.

Hemedti announced in August the formation of a “civilian protection force” that immediately assumed its duties in the Khartoum and Gezira states.

According to head of the RSF delegation to the Geneva talks, Omar Hamdan, the force is formed of 27 combat vehicles, backed by forces that have experience in cracking down on insubordination.

Hemedti stressed last week his commitment to all the outcomes of the Geneva talks, starting with ensuring the delivery of aid to those in need.

The RSF and army agreed to open two safe routes for the deliveries and to protect civilians to ease their suffering after nearly a year and a half of war.

The mediators in Geneva received commitments from the RSF that it would order the fighters against committing any violations against civilians in areas under their control.

Meanwhile, aid deliveries continued through the Adre border crossing with Chad. They are headed to people in Darfur in western Sudan.

Fifty-nine aid trucks carrying aid supplies crossed from Chad to Darfur, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Saturday.

“The supplies are estimated to reach nearly 195,000 people in acute need in different parts of the country,” it added.

“About 128 aid trucks carrying supplies for an estimated 355,000 people are being prepared to cross into Sudan in the coming days and weeks to ensure a steady flow of supplies. Despite the surge of supplies through Adre, humanitarian partners have warned that ongoing rains and floods have damaged three major bridges in the region, limiting movements within Darfur,” it revealed.

“While progress has been made on the Adre border crossing, funding resources are depleting, and humanitarian funding is urgently required to sustain the supplies chain,” it urged.