Macron’s Letter to Aoun Stresses Discontent With Obstacles Hindering Govt Formation

French President Emmanuel Macron wears a face mask as he arrives to attend a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon September 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool
French President Emmanuel Macron wears a face mask as he arrives to attend a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon September 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool
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Macron’s Letter to Aoun Stresses Discontent With Obstacles Hindering Govt Formation

French President Emmanuel Macron wears a face mask as he arrives to attend a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon September 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool
French President Emmanuel Macron wears a face mask as he arrives to attend a meeting with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon September 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool

A letter sent by French President Emmanuel Macron to President Michel Aoun on the occasion of Lebanon’s Independence Day reflected Paris’ discontent with the obstacles hampering the formation of a new government.

Political opposition sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the letter sent by Macron to congratulate Lebanon on the 77th anniversary of its independence, emphasized the need for the parties involved in the cabinet formation to commit to their obligations in the road map and secure the birth of a strong government.

The same sources noted that Macron called on Aoun to shoulder his responsibility and respond to the demands that were raised by the Lebanese people in their uprising more than a year ago.

The sources in the opposition saw that the French administration was moving along two paths: The first is internal, and aims to clarify the reasons that still impede the practical implementation of Macron’s initiative; and the second is external, through contacts with regional countries and other actors in the international community, in light of Tehran’s unwillingness to intervene to facilitate the birth of the government.

The sources emphasized that Paris would not remain silent and would be forced to announce its position at the appropriate time. This Ex-PM Saad Hariri delay revealing his next step in case the formation of the government continues to be obstructed, according to the sources.

The opposition sources also accused Aoun of wanting to rule the country alone and insisting on acting on most thorny issues as he used to behave during his tenure as prime minister of the military government in the late 1980s.



UN Appalled by Extrajudicial Killings in Khartoum

A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 
A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 
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UN Appalled by Extrajudicial Killings in Khartoum

A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 
A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Thursday said he was appalled by reports of widespread extrajudicial killings of civilians in Khartoum following its recapture by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on 26 March.

“I am utterly appalled by the credible reports of numerous incidents of summary executions of civilians in several areas of Khartoum, on apparent suspicions that they were collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces,” said Turk.

He then urged the commanders of the Sudanese Armed Forces “to take immediate measures to put an end to arbitrary deprivation of life.”

The UN Commissioner said his Office has reviewed multiple horrific videos posted on social media since 26 March, all of them apparently filmed in southern and eastern Khartoum.

“They show armed men – some in uniform and others in civilian clothes – executing civilians in cold blood, often in public settings. In some videos, perpetrators state that they are punishing supporters of RSF,” he said.

The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been battling the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, since April 2023.

Last week the army said it had retaken full control of Khartoum after weeks of attacks on the capital by the paramilitaries, though Daglo said his forces had only “repositioned.”

On Thursday, Sudan's paramilitary said they downed an Antonov military plane, the fourth this month, belonging to the Sudanese army near Al Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State.

The RSF published a video that they said showed the plane wreckage. It said in a statement that the plane dropped “dozens of barrel bombs on innocent civilians in Al Fasher and other Sudanese cities.”

Meanwhile, an activist group said that the RSF killed at least 85 people in one week during attacks south of the capital Khartoum.

“For the seventh consecutive day, the Janjaweed militias continue their violent attacks on villages... west of Jebel Awliya, resulting in the deaths of more than 85 people and the injury of dozens,” said the Sudanese resistance committee, referring to the RSF by the name of its precursor.

Bashir’s Deputy Released

Also on Thursday, Sudanese authorities released former First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh and Youssif Abdel Fattah, a former minister.

Saleh and Abdel Fattah are among some 30 officials who are standing trial for their involvement in the June 30, 1989 coup, that brought former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir to power.

SAF leader Abdel Fattah al Burhan issued the decision based on a judicial ruling that stated the two men need to receive treatment due to deteriorating health conditions.