Sudan Forms Specialized Committees to Accelerate Peace Talks

Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan. (Reuters)
Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan. (Reuters)
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Sudan Forms Specialized Committees to Accelerate Peace Talks

Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan. (Reuters)
Sudan's Sovereign Council Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok after signing a peace agreement in Juba, South Sudan. (Reuters)

Talks between delegations from the Sudanese government and Abdelaziz al-Hilu’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N al-Hilu) in Juba have so far faltered.

Member of the Transitional Sovereign Council Lieutenant General Shams El-Din Kabbashi led the government delegation, while the movement’s delegation was headed by its Secretary- General Ammar Amoun. The talks had kicked off on Wednesday.

Rapporteur of the Southern Sudanese mediation committee Dr. Dhieu Mathok said both sides discussed notes submitted by the government delegation on the draft framework agreement.

In press statements following the meeting, Mathok said some pending issues require more negotiations.

A decision was taken to form specialized committees from both delegations to discuss each disputed issue separately and bring views closer.

The system of governance and administration, security arrangements, economy and social affairs and the judicial system are among the outstanding issues.

The government delegation’s official spokesman, Khaled Omar Yousef, predicted that a peace agreement would be signed as soon as negotiations are completed.

The formation of specialized committees will eventually achieve a breakthrough, sources stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat.

The committees are expected to submit reports in accordance with the timeline set by the mediation at the end of the round of talks on Sunday to finalize the peace accord.

The Sudanese government and a major rebel group from its southern Nuba Mountains signed in March a Declaration of Principles, which paved the way for a final peace agreement by guaranteeing freedom of worship to all while separating religion and the state.

In the draft framework agreement, the SPLM-N requested a six-month period preceding the transitional period to establish agreed up institutions and mechanisms, hold elections and assess the performance of the elected government.



Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
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Separate Israeli Drone Strikes Kill 4 People in Lebanon

Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)
Forensic experts and firefighters work around the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Araya, east of Beirut, on November 7, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

An Israeli drone strike on Thursday hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others, including Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, Lebanon’s state news agency and the army said.

The Lebanese army said in a communique that three soldiers and four Malaysian peacekeepers were injured.

The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city. There was no immediate information on the identities of those who died.

The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.

A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.

The attack took place near Araya, where several similar drone strikes have taken place in the past week.