Sudan Deploys Troops on Border with Ethiopia

FILE PHOTO: Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addresses the legislators on the current situation of the country inside the Parliament Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addresses the legislators on the current situation of the country inside the Parliament Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
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Sudan Deploys Troops on Border with Ethiopia

FILE PHOTO: Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addresses the legislators on the current situation of the country inside the Parliament Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addresses the legislators on the current situation of the country inside the Parliament Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo

Sudan has deployed troops on the border with Ethiopia to stop the infiltration of armed elements to its territories.

Member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Mohamed Alfaki Suleiman said on Tuesday that the government has taken all the necessary arrangements to deal with a flow of Ethiopian refugees.

He pointed out that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has visited eastern Sudan, inspected the old refugee camps and prepared for opening new camps if necessary.

This comes in light of the armed conflict in Ethiopia between the Federal government and Tigray region’s forces that resulted in the escape of dozens of Ethiopians across the border to Sudan.

Gedu Andargachew, the Ethiopian National Security Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister, arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday and met with President of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Premier Abdalla Hamdok.

According to the Council’s statement, Burhan stressed the Sudanese government and people’s support for Ethiopia in facing the current crisis.

Hamdok referred to the ongoing contacts with Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed as part of Khartoum’s keenness on the neighboring country’s security and stability.

He received a letter from his Ethiopian counterpart on the latest developments in Tigray region and expressed confidence in Addis Ababa’s ability to overcome the crisis.

Andargachew briefed the Sudanese officials on the developments in Tigray, affirming the Ethiopian government’s ability to address the situation as soon as possible.

Eyewitnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that hundreds of Ethiopians have fled Tigray to Sudan’s Kassalam and Gedaref bordering states.

Sudan’s Security and Defense Council discussed the developments in Ethiopia on Monday and called on all parties to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Last weekend, the Ethiopian army announced an offensive on the northern region following an attack by Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on a federal military base in the area.



Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Lebanon Elects Army Chief as New President

The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
The Lebanese Parliament building a day before a session to elect the Lebanese president, in Beirut, Lebanon, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun head of state on Thursday, filling the vacant presidency with a general who enjoys US approval and showing the diminished sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.
The outcome reflected shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad toppled in December.
The presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, has been vacant since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with deeply divided factions unable to agree on a candidate able to win enough votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Aoun fell short of the 86 votes needed in a first round vote, but crossed the threshold with 99 votes in a second round, according to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement backed him.
Momentum built behind Aoun on Wednesday as Hezbollah's long preferred candidate, Suleiman Franjieh, withdrew and declared support for the army commander, and as French envoy shuttled around Beirut, urging his election in meetings with politicians, three Lebanese political sources said.
Aoun's election is a first step towards reviving government institutions in a country which has had neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Aoun left office.
Lebanon, its economy still reeling from a devastating financial collapse in 2019, is in dire need of international support to rebuild from the war, which the World Bank estimates cost the country $8.5 billion.
Lebanon's system of government requires the new president to convene consultations with lawmakers to nominate a Sunni Muslim prime minister to form a new cabinet, a process that can often be protracted as factions barter over ministerial portfolios.
Aoun has a key role in shoring up a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel which was brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.
Aoun, 60, has been commander of the Lebanese army since 2017.