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Hemedti to Visit Qatar in First Sudanese Official Trip Since Bashir's Ouster

The Vice President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (file photo: Reuters)
The Vice President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (file photo: Reuters)
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Hemedti to Visit Qatar in First Sudanese Official Trip Since Bashir's Ouster

The Vice President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (file photo: Reuters)
The Vice President of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (file photo: Reuters)

Sudanese Vice President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, arrived Saturday in Doha marking the first visit of a Sudanese top official after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir.

Hemedti was accompanied by Foreign Minister Omer Gamereldin and head of the General Intelligence Service Gamal Abdel-Majid to hold talks with Qatari officials on bilateral relations and Sudan's position on the border dispute with Ethiopia.

The VP announced his arrival to Doha on his Facebook page, indicating that the visit will address the bilateral ties and promotion of cooperation in a way that serves the interests of both states.

The visit aims to highlight the Sudanese position on the border dispute with Ethiopia and the negotiations concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), as part of a government’s diplomatic campaign to explain its stance to brotherly and friendly countries.

The Sudanese-Qatari relations were strained after the Transitional Military Council, which took power after Bashir, refused to receive the Qatari Foreign Minister in April 2019.

The Council did not grant permission to the official's plane to land after it arrived in Sudanese airspace. The incident took place less than a week after the Sudanese revolution which toppled the Islamist regime.

Earlier, the Sudanese delegation visited Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Chad, South Africa, and Kenya, and discussed with the participating states in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the dispute with Ethiopia after Sudan retrieved control over al-Fashagah area.

The ICGLR is an inter-governmental organization of African countries in the African Great Lakes Region and was established in 1994 to resolve peace and security issues.

In 2020, ICGLR held its ordinary summit of heads of state and government meeting in Angola via video link.

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Lebanon Working on Technical, Security Levels to Avoid New ‘Support War’ against Israel

President Joseph Aoun chairs a meeting with ministers and security ministers to address the Israeli-Iranian conflict and its impact on Lebanon. (Lebanese Presidency)
President Joseph Aoun chairs a meeting with ministers and security ministers to address the Israeli-Iranian conflict and its impact on Lebanon. (Lebanese Presidency)
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Lebanon Working on Technical, Security Levels to Avoid New ‘Support War’ against Israel

President Joseph Aoun chairs a meeting with ministers and security ministers to address the Israeli-Iranian conflict and its impact on Lebanon. (Lebanese Presidency)
President Joseph Aoun chairs a meeting with ministers and security ministers to address the Israeli-Iranian conflict and its impact on Lebanon. (Lebanese Presidency)

Lebanon is intensifying efforts to avert any consequences of the Israeli-Iranian war and avoid dragging the country to a new conflict under the pretext of “supporting” Iran.

Hezbollah had launched a “support front” with Gaza by launching attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Flood Operation that sparked the ongoing war on Palestinian enclave.

Lebanese authorities are exerting efforts to distance the country from the latest conflict under the slogan “No new support war ... this is not our battle”.

Contacts are being held on the highest levels with countries with influence to avert any escalation in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.

Internally, technical and security measures are being taken. Cutting short a trip to the Vatican, President Joseph Aoun held a meeting on Saturday morning with security leaders.

He met with concerned ministers to discuss the latest security developments as a result of the confrontation between Iran and Israel, said a presidency statement.

The meeting tackled the measures Lebanon needs to take to address the impact of the conflict and aviation at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, it added.

Several measures have been taken to maintain stability in Lebanon and secure civil aviation, it said.

Aoun urged security authorities to remain on alert to maintain stability and security. Meetings will remain open to assess the developments as they unfold, said the statement.

The meeting included Minister of Defense Michel Menassa, Minister of Interior Ahmed al-Hajjar, Minister of Transportation and Public Works Fayez Rasamny, army commander Rodolphe Haykal, Internal Security Forces chief Raed Abdallah, General Security chief Hassan Choucair and others.

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that official efforts are operating on the technical and security levels and by holding contacts with foreign parties.

The technical efforts are focused on the airport and safety of aviation whereby flights will be halted whenever danger is detected and in coordination with regional countries, namely Syria and Jordan, they explained.

On the security level, efforts are focused on preventing Lebanon from being dragged into the conflict, with emphasis that no new “support front” will be opened in the South. Priority will be on “preemptive security intelligence,” said the sources.

Patrols along the border will be intensified and coordination will continue between the security forces so that they remain on alert for any possible emergency and prevent any security breach, they stressed.

The sources said they were optimistic that Hezbollah will not become involved in the conflict, adding that the Iran-backed party seems “aware of the consequences of any intervention.”

The danger lies in the Hamas group and other Palestinian factions that may want to attack Israel. Contacts are taking place with the concerned parties to deter them from taking any risky move, such as firing rockets at Israel from the South the way Hamas had done in the past, said the sources.

On the external level, contacts had kicked off from the moment the attack on Iran had taken place with American and French officials, with Lebanon asserting that it is not involved in the conflict and will not be a battleground for others, revealed the sources.

Efforts are underway to keep Lebanon away from the fight, they said.

The Lebanese government - through the army - had informed Hezbollah as soon as the conflict erupted that there was no need to involve Lebanon in the fight.