Sudan’s Burhan, Hamdok Meet with Senior Military Commanders

 Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)
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Sudan’s Burhan, Hamdok Meet with Senior Military Commanders

 Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abdalla Hamdok during their meeting with senior army commanders in Khartoum on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AFP)

Head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok held Monday a meeting with senior army commanders at the General Command headquarters in Khartoum.

The ministers of cabinet affairs, defense, finance, foreign affairs and communications and information technology attended the meeting, which was the first between Hamdok and leaders of various military units in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

“This meeting is the beginning of a dialogue that targets developing the military institution in a professional national army all the Sudanese are proud of,” Hamdok noted.

He told a press conference that his visit to the army commanders “came late” but represents an “extension of the partnership between the military and civilian components in this complex transition.”

“The partnership aims at laying the cornerstone for building a firm and stable democratic system.”

The December revolution allowed the Sudanese to implement a national project, the PM said, stressing that one of the most important requirements of the transitional phase is building a unified and professional national army.

Hamdok further viewed the partnership between civilians and the military as an “advanced model” that can set an example for the whole of Africa.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.