عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

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
TT
TT

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.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
TT
TT

Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.