Egypt Renews Complete Support to Sudan’s Security, Stability

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi receives Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Cairo. (AFP file photo)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi receives Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Cairo. (AFP file photo)
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Egypt Renews Complete Support to Sudan’s Security, Stability

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi receives Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Cairo. (AFP file photo)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi receives Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Cairo. (AFP file photo)

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi reiterated his country’s complete support to Sudan’s security and stability during a telephone call with Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Saturday

They agreed to continue intense coordination and consultation in the future, given their national security and the historic bilateral ties.

According to presidential spokesman Bassam Rady, the leaders discussed cooperation and regional developments.

Sisi congratulated the Sudanese government and people on their country’s Independence Day.

Burhan, for his part, hailed the deep popular and government rapprochement between Cairo and Khartoum, as well as the mutual efforts to improve joint cooperation.

He praised Cairo’s full support to preserve Sudan’s safety and stability, Rady added.

Both countries share wide cooperation relations that deepened after the ouster of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and Burhan’s assumption of the Council’s presidency.

Sisi and Burhan last met in October 2020 when the Sudanese leader visited Cairo for talks on the implementation of joint development projects.



UN Migration Agency Head: Interim Syria Leaders Recognize Challenges Ahead

Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS
Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS
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UN Migration Agency Head: Interim Syria Leaders Recognize Challenges Ahead

Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS
Two men wait to pass through the checkpoint on the way to Daraa, Syria, 17 December 2024. EPA/ANTONIO PEDRO SANTOS

The head of the UN migration agency said she was reassured by commitments she heard from Syria’s new caretaker government in meetings in Damascus, as the country seeks to rebuild after more than a half-century of rule under the Assad family.

Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that Syria’s new leaders “recognize the job they have ahead of them is enormous and that they need the support of the international community.”

IOM estimates about 100,000 people — many looking to return to their former homes — have entered Syria from neighboring countries since Dec. 8, the day former President Bashar Assad fled the country as opposition fighters swarmed into the capital.

“We are also seeing about 85,000 people come out” into Lebanon through established border crossing points, she said. “It’s a rough figure: There’s certainly people who cross informally and so they’re not counted.”

Most of those found to be leaving are Shiites, she said.

“There’s no question to me that at this moment in time, they are looking for ways to make this work, to be more inclusive, to build partnerships across the international community, to build partnerships with other governments,” Pope said of the caretaker government. “It’s just going to be a question of whether they can deliver.”

IOM said Pope was one of the first heads of a UN agency to visit Syria since Assad’s ouster, and she met with unspecified members of the caretaker government on Tuesday, as well as UN officials and advocacy groups.

She reaffirmed the IOM's commitment to Syria. The organization has been providing assistance to people in the country since 2014 and is seeking $30 million in urgent aid funding for the next four months to try to help nearly 685,000 people in the northwest of the country.