Sudan’s Aisha Musa Quits Ruling Council

Aisha Musa in a video statement carried by the state news agency SUNA
Aisha Musa in a video statement carried by the state news agency SUNA
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Sudan’s Aisha Musa Quits Ruling Council

Aisha Musa in a video statement carried by the state news agency SUNA
Aisha Musa in a video statement carried by the state news agency SUNA

Aisha Musa, one of only two women on Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council, said on Saturday that she was holding onto her resignation.

"The civilian component in the Sovereign (Council) and at all levels of government has become just a logistical executive body that does not participate in decision-making," Musa said in a video statement carried by the state news agency SUNA.

"Rather it only stamps the approval of pre-prepared decisions," she added.

The 14-member military-civilian council was set up along with a cabinet of technocrats to steer Sudan through a transition after the army toppled Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Musa said she had submitted her resignation on May 12, a day after the killing of two protesters who had been marking the anniversary of a deadly raid on a protest site during the 2019 uprising. She accused the transitional authorities of leading the country to "more killing, injustice, poverty and suffering."

Musa complained that the investigation into the 2019 raid had not yet been completed and its results had not been revealed. Activists say 130 people died in that raid and ensuing violence; the authorities have acknowledged 87 deaths.

Medics, protest groups and eyewitnesses have said security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at demonstrators marking the anniversary this month.



Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump’s Middle East Envoy Says Progress Being Made on Israeli Hostages in Gaza

Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday he hopes to have good things to report about Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Witkoff, at a press conference held by Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, said: "I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the President."

Republican Trump said of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 2024 attack on Israel: "If the hostages are not back by the time I'm in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone."