عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Egypt Re-Nominates Aboul Gheit as Arab League Secretary

Secretary-General of Arab League Ahmed Abul Gheit (File Photo: Reuters)
Secretary-General of Arab League Ahmed Abul Gheit (File Photo: Reuters)
TT
TT

Egypt Re-Nominates Aboul Gheit as Arab League Secretary

Secretary-General of Arab League Ahmed Abul Gheit (File Photo: Reuters)
Secretary-General of Arab League Ahmed Abul Gheit (File Photo: Reuters)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced his country's intention to re-nominate the current Secretary-General of the Arab League for a second term.

The Egyptian presidency issued a statement Saturday announcing that Sisi sent messages to Arab leaders to express Egypt's intention to re-nominate Ahmed Aboul Gheit as the League’s chief for another five years.

The statement indicated that Cairo is looking forward to the leaders' support for this nomination, in accordance with the provisions of the League’s Charter.

The presidency spokesman, Ambassador Bassam Rady, explained that the re-nomination of the Sec-Gen comes within the framework of the great interest that Egypt attaches to the work of the Arab League which serves Arab people.

Sisi is keen to provide all possible support to the organization where Arabs’ aspirations are embodied for a coordinated collective action aimed at serving Arab peoples and interests, according to Rady.

He indicated that this characterized the role of the Secretary-General during his first term of the leadership of the joint Arab action system during a challenging phase in the Arab region.

Aboul Gheit, 78, is the eighth general secretary of the League since its establishment. He began his diplomatic career in the mid-sixties, and held various positions, lastly as Egypt’s Foreign Minister between 2004 and 2011 before he was elected to lead the AL.

Abdul Rahman Azzam was elected as the first general secretary of the university in 1945, and seven Egyptian officials held the same position.

The late Tunisian politician, Chedli Klibi, held the position between 1979 until 1990 following Arab countries' boycott of Egypt after it signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

HRW: Both Warring Parties in Sudan Acquired New Weapons

Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

HRW: Both Warring Parties in Sudan Acquired New Weapons

Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)
Women shout slogans as they take part in a demonstration on the opening day of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva, on August 14, 2024. (AFP)

Both warring parties in Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have newly acquired modern foreign-made weapons and military equipment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Monday.

It called on the UN Security Council to renew and expand the arms embargo and its restrictions on the Darfur region to all of Sudan and hold violators to account.

HRW said it analyzed 49 photos and videos, most apparently filmed by fighters from both sides, posted on the social media platforms Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and X, showing weapons used or captured in the conflict.

The apparently new equipment includes armed drones, drone jammers, anti-tank guided missiles, truck-mounted multi-barrel rocket launchers, and mortar munitions, and are produced by companies registered in China, Iran, Russia and Serbia.

Although HRW did not specify how the warring parties acquired the new equipment, it noted that the Sudan conflict is one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises.

“The warring parties are committing atrocities with impunity, and the newly acquired weapons and equipment are likely to be used in the commission of further crimes,” it said.

HRW warned that the SAF and the RSF may use such weapons and equipment to continue to commit war crimes and other serious human rights violations not just in Darfur, but across the country.

It said the UN Security Council is expected to decide on September 11 whether to renew the Sudan sanctions regime, which prohibits the transfer of military equipment to the Darfur region.

The organization noted that since April 2023, the new conflict has affected most of Sudan’s states, but Security Council members have yet to take steps to expand the arms embargo to the whole country.

HRW said its findings demonstrate both the inadequacy of the current Darfur-only embargo and the grave risks posed by the acquisition of new weapons by the warring parties.

“A countrywide arms embargo would contribute to addressing these issues by facilitating the monitoring of transfers to Darfur and preventing the legal acquisition of weapons for use in other parts of Sudan,” it stressed.

The NGO said that the Sudanese government has opposed an expansion of the arms embargo and in recent months has lobbied members of the Security Council to end the sanctions regime and remove the Darfur embargo altogether.

“The prevalence of atrocities by the warring parties creates a real risk that weapons or equipment acquired by the parties would most likely be used to perpetuate serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law, harming civilians,” HRW wrote in its report.

It therefore called on the Security Council to publicly condemn individual governments that are violating the existing arms embargo on Darfur and take urgently needed measures to sanction individuals and entities that are violating the embargo.