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PLO Factions Seek to Postpone National Dialogue

A delegation from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine arrives at the headquarters of the Palestinian Dialogue in Cairo in January 2021. (AFP)
A delegation from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine arrives at the headquarters of the Palestinian Dialogue in Cairo in January 2021. (AFP)
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PLO Factions Seek to Postpone National Dialogue

A delegation from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine arrives at the headquarters of the Palestinian Dialogue in Cairo in January 2021. (AFP)
A delegation from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine arrives at the headquarters of the Palestinian Dialogue in Cairo in January 2021. (AFP)

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) factions want to postpone the second round of the national dialogue in Cairo, scheduled for March, said member of the PLO’s Executive Committee Ahmed Majdalani.

In comments to the Voice of Palestine radio station, Majdalani said discussions are ongoing with PLO political forces that took part in the latest Cairo talks to postpone the upcoming round until after the legislative elections, scheduled for May 22.

He pointed out that any talks now would be “hypothetical” because there are no fundamental issues to be discussed.

According to the first round’s final communique, factions agreed to head to Cairo in March for another round of talks in a bid to settle thorny issues.

They still need to agree on the principles and mechanisms by which the formation of the new National Council will be completed, and bolster the national program.

Hamas, meanwhile, insists on reaching an understanding about the National Council elections before holding the legislative elections.

It wants to ensure that the elections will proceed as scheduled and without an agreed-upon National Council elections, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hamas was aiming to hold simultaneous elections,” they added, but due to the intervention by regional countries that provided guarantees, it agreed on the gradual elections, provided that they all be covered in a single decree setting their dates.

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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a military air base and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, a Sudanese army spokesperson said on Sunday, in the first RSF attack to reach the eastern port city.
No casualties were reported from the attacks, the spokesperson said.
The RSF has not commented on the incident, Reuters said.
The RSF has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months but the strikes had not inflicted heavy casualties.
The drone attack on Port Sudan indicates a major shift in the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The eastern regions, which shelter a large number of displaced people, had so far avoided bombardment.
The army has responded by beefing up its deployment around vital facilities in Port Sudan and has closed roads leading to the presidential palace and army command.
Port Sudan, home to the country's primary airport, army headquarters and a seaport, has been perceived as the safest place in the war-ravaged nation.
In March, the army ousted the RSF from its last footholds in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, but the paramilitary RSF holds some areas in Omdurman, directly across the Nile River, and has consolidated its position in west Sudan, splitting the nation into rival zones.
The conflict between the army and the RSF has unleashed waves of ethnic violence and created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with several areas plunged into famine.
The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It ruined much of Khartoum, uprooted more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes and left about half of the 50 million population suffering from acute hunger.
Overall deaths are hard to estimate but a study published last year said the toll may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the conflict.