Sudan Cracks Down on Ex-Ruling Party

Supporters of Sudan's ousted president Omar al-Bashir rally in Khartoum (File Photo: AFP)
Supporters of Sudan's ousted president Omar al-Bashir rally in Khartoum (File Photo: AFP)
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Sudan Cracks Down on Ex-Ruling Party

Supporters of Sudan's ousted president Omar al-Bashir rally in Khartoum (File Photo: AFP)
Supporters of Sudan's ousted president Omar al-Bashir rally in Khartoum (File Photo: AFP)

Sudan's security forces carried out a campaign of arrests against members of the dissolved National Congress Party (NCP), accusing them of inciting acts of violence, sabotage, and looting in a number of states.

The authorities arrested former leaders in Khartoum, most notably the assistant of ousted President Omar al-Bashir Hassabo Mohammad Abdalrahman, the former Minister Al-Amin Dafallah, and Bashir's uncle Tayeb Mustafa.

Earlier, security forces apprehended NCP leader Amin Hassan Omar, journalist Hussein Khojaly, and prominent columnist Ishaq Fadlallah.

This came following days of violent protests across the country.

A number of party leaders and cadres in the capital and various states were also arrested under the direction of the Dismantling of June 30 Regime Committee.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the authorities issued arrest warrants against more than 200 leaders and activists of the National Party in North Darfur and el-Gadarif State, which witnessed major acts of violence.

North Darfur governor, Mohammad Hassan Arabi, said that five members were arrested for their involvement in acts of sabotage, including burning and looting of public facilities and markets and terrorizing unarmed citizens.

“It was an arranged and politically planned action by the former regime,” Arabi said in a Facebook post.

Protests erupted against the backdrop of the high prices and the scarcity of bread and fuel, but the authorities said they were exploited and turned into sabotage.

The committee asserted in a statement that it had sufficient information about the activities of former ruling party members, saying they committed arson acts, plundered properties, and terrorized unarmed citizens, which contradicts the protest pattern that the revolutionary forces have been organizing.

In December 2019, the Transitional Sovereign Council established the committee granting it broad powers to dismantle the former regime, fight corruption, and recover looted funds from the state.



Syria’s Assad: Problem Doesn’t Lie in Meeting Erdogan, but in What Will Be Discussed

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)
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Syria’s Assad: Problem Doesn’t Lie in Meeting Erdogan, but in What Will Be Discussed

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday he was ready to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan if that would serve his country’s interest.

He added that the problem doesn’t lie in the meeting “but in what will be discussed,” questioning the point of a holding a meeting if they won’t discuss the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from northern Syria.

He made his remarks as he cast his vote in his country’s parliamentary elections.

“We have repeatedly said that we are positive towards any initiative aimed at improving relations. This is natural and no one is thinking about creating problems with their neighbors,” he stated.

“We are moving positively, but based on clear principles ... which are international law and sovereignty. We are working according to a specific methodology to guarantee that we will reach positive results,” Assad stressed.

“If we don’t achieve positive results, then that means the outcomes will be negative ... In this case, we either win or lose,” he went on to say.

“On the joint level, we and Türkiye are allies. So, everyone wins or loses; there is no middle ground or grey area,” he continued.

“If a meeting with Erdogan will lead to results ... and achieve the country’s interest, then I will go ahead with it,” he declared.