Armed Movements Seek to Oust Ruling Sudan Coalition

The Revolutionary Front held a press conference at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum on Tuesday. (SUNA)
The Revolutionary Front held a press conference at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum on Tuesday. (SUNA)
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Armed Movements Seek to Oust Ruling Sudan Coalition

The Revolutionary Front held a press conference at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum on Tuesday. (SUNA)
The Revolutionary Front held a press conference at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum on Tuesday. (SUNA)

New political disagreements are looming on the horizon in Sudan between the ruling coalition and a group of armed movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement.

The dispute arose after some of those armed movements, mainly chairman and head of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), Mini Minawi, expressed their desire to change the current political reference of the interim government through an operation dubbed “meter zeroing.”

Meanwhile, differences emerged over the division of shares in the government and the ruling bodies during the transitional period between the parties that signed the agreement, including civilians from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), military personnel from the Sovereignty Council and representatives of armed movements.

Based on the Juba Peace Agreement, the transitional period will extend to 2023, with the armed movements having three seats in the currently 11-member Sovereign Council and 25% of seats in the cabinet and soon-to-be-formed Legislative Assembly.

A prominent leader from the Revolutionary Front told Asharq Al-Awsat there was a lack of consensus with the forces of change on the representation of armed movements in the structure of the transitional authority, as well as their representation in the governing body of the transitional government.

The leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “We have had several meetings, but we have not yet reached an agreement. Consultations are continuing on this issue.”

On Tuesday, leaders of the Revolutionary Front called on the Sudanese people to preserve the peace achieved in Juba and to assist in implementing it.

The announcement came during a press conference held by the Revolutionary Front in Khartoum held in the presence of a large number of its leaders, mainly Minawi, a number of local and international media and representatives of the armed struggle movements.

Minawi said the government should focus at this stage on providing the basic needs of the citizens.

He stressed the need to remove the gap between the center and the margin, which he said had lasted for more than 60 years by reaching reconciliations with them in order to create a new Sudan.

He pointed out that the process of returning refugees and displaced persons will begin after the formation of the government, affirming his welcome to those who did not sign the Juba agreement.

He called on the government to continue its efforts to pursue dialogue with them until lasting peace that achieves security, peace and stability in the country is reached.

Also on Tuesday, leaders from the Sudanese Revolutionary Front demanded the restructuring of the Sovereignty Council and the government, stressing the need to agree on criteria for the selection of office holders in both bodies.



Turkish FM Says Sides Are Close to a Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)
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Turkish FM Says Sides Are Close to a Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Minister Hakan Fidan (R) shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Minister Asaad al-Shaibani during a joint press conference after their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 08 October 2025. (EPA)

Talks on bringing an end to the war in Gaza are on the verge of reaching a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday.

Turkish, Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators are working to realize an American plan that calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

“If an agreement is reached today, a ceasefire will be declared,” Fidan told a news conference in Ankara with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

Fidan earlier said that “a lot of progress has been achieved so far” in the negotiations. “What is good news is that the parties have showed great will for the release of the prisoners and the hostages,” he added.

All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of Gaza destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan still haven’t been agreed, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down.

Fidan told reporters that technical details were “being discussed at the moment,” adding that “if the positive views are heard today, the necessary steps will be taken for the first part of the agreement.”

The two ministers also discussed security in Syria — an issue that neighboring Türkiye takes a keen interest in.

Al-Shaibani criticized the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, for delaying the implementation of an agreement made in March for them to integrate into Syria’s new military. The SDF has recently clashed with security forces around the northern city of Aleppo.

“The SDF has taken it very slowly in making the right steps,” he said. “Any delay in terms of implementing this agreement will only serve for further losses and we will have huge trouble in fighting terrorism.”

Both al-Shaibani and Fidan attacked Israel’s involvement in Syria, with the Syrian minister saying Israel’s “aggression still jeopardizes our safety and security.”

Tensions soared between Israel and Syria following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, when Israeli forces seized control of the UN-patrolled buffer zone in Syria set up under the 1974 agreement and carried out airstrikes. Al-Shaibani on Wednesday reiterated Syrian calls to return to the 1974 boundaries.

Israel stepped up its intervention when violence erupted in Syria’s Sweida province in July between Bedouin clans and government forces on one side and armed groups from the Druze minority on the other.


Report: Rubio to Attend Paris Meeting on Gaza Transition

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)
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Report: Rubio to Attend Paris Meeting on Gaza Transition

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to attend a ministerial meeting to be held on Thursday in Paris with European, Arab and other states to discuss Gaza's post-war transition, three diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

The meeting, to be held in parallel with indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Egypt on US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, is intended to discuss how the plan would be implemented and assess countries' collective commitments to the process.

According to a note sent to delegates, the meeting will follow up a conference on a "two-state solution" at the United Nations and is intended to agree on joint actions to make a contribution to the US plan for Gaza. The two-state solution would involve an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Countries attending on Thursday will include France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye and Canada.

The note had said Washington's participation would depend on advances in the negotiations in Egypt.

A European diplomatic source said it was vital to have the United States present. An Italian diplomatic source underlined the importance of supporting Trump's plan, which was "the only one possible".

A French diplomatic source said the United States and Israel had been kept up to date with plans for the meeting and the agenda would include humanitarian aid for Gaza and the enclave's reconstruction, disarmament of Hamas and support for the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian security forces.

The US Embassy in Paris was not immediately available for comment.


Israel’s Ben-Gvir Calls for ‘Gaza Victory’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound 

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir Calls for ‘Gaza Victory’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound 

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in this screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters on October 8, 2025. (Jewish Power/Handout via Reuters) 

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Wednesday and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue "complete victory" over Hamas in Gaza.

In a video on the edge of one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East, Ben-Gvir said that two years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war, Israel was "winning" at the Jerusalem compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

"Every house in Gaza has a picture of the Temple Mount, and today, two years later, we are winning on the Temple Mount. We are the owners of the Temple Mount," Ben-Gvir said in the video released by his Jewish Power party.

"I only pray that our prime minister will allow a complete victory in Gaza as well – to destroy Hamas, with God's help we will return the hostages, and we will win a complete victory," Ben-Gvir said.

His remarks were released as Israel and Palestinian group Hamas are deep in indirect negotiations in Egypt to release all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and end the war there.

Ben-Gvir, known as a hardliner well before he helped Netanyahu form the most right-wing coalition government in Israel's history, heads the pro-settler, nationalist-religious Jewish Power party. He has previously threatened to quit Netanyahu's government unless Hamas is utterly destroyed.

The Al-Aqsa compound, in Jerusalem's walled Old City, is Islam's third holiest site and the most sacred in Judaism. Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.

Ben-Gvir has previously challenged those rules, prompting Netanyahu to issue statements saying Israel was committed to the status quo there.

Suggestions that Israel would alter rules at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked outrage in the Muslim world and ignited violence in the past.