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Lebanese Ministerial Delegation to Visit Syria

Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Lebanese Ministerial Delegation to Visit Syria

Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Electricity cables are seen in Tyre, Lebanon August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

A Lebanese ministerial delegation is expected to carry out an official visit to Damascus this week for the first time since 2011.

The visit aims to discuss an agreement to import natural gas from Egypt through Syria and Jordan to the Deir Ammar power plant in north Lebanon.

President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab signed an extraordinary decree tasking deputy Prime Minister and caretaker Defense and Foreign Minister Zeina Akar to head the delegation, which should also include Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar and Abbas Ibrahim, who heads Lebanon's General Security Directorate.

“The ministers were surprised by the assignment and said they learned about the visit from the media,” ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.

The sources said the date of the visit has not been set yet, but they confirmed that Ibrahim is coordinating with Damascus on the visit. “Talks in Damascus should reactivate an agreement to import Egyptian gas through the Jordan-Syria line to Lebanon,” the sources added.

They also confirmed that Egypt was willing to export gas to Lebanon, while the US and Jordan have both facilitated the matter.

Lebanon relies on Egyptian natural gas to increase the production of power, as the country struggles with crippling fuel shortages.

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UN: Situation in West Darfur ‘Catastrophic’

A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 
A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 
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UN: Situation in West Darfur ‘Catastrophic’

A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 
A displaced Sudanese woman sits next to children in a town in northern Darfur (Reuters) 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) said on Sunday there is a “massive” need for humanitarian assistance in North Darfur, adding that situation in the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps is catastrophic.

“Civilians are trapped. Aid cannot reach those who need it most,” the office said on its X account, adding that displaced people in the Tawila camp are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, Salwa Abdullah, a Darfur resident, told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday that she buried her five children in the Darfur desert, with no sign to locate their graves if she ever came back to visit them.

“How can I survive without them,” she said.

Salwa dug their graves with the help of her father, during their journey from al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, to the relatively safe town of Tawila.

Speaking on the phone while crying, she said, “I tried to get them to a safe area, away from shells and bullets. I didn’t imagine they will die of thirst and then buried in a vast desert with no sign to mark their graves, only small sand hills that will disappear from wind and rain.”

Salwa’s oldest child was 13. She said she watched her five children struggle to death one by one, after they spent several days on the road to Tawila, located some 65 kilometers from al-Fasher, the last major city controlled by the Sudanese Army in the Darfur region, which has been besieged by the Rapid Support Forces for the past year.

“In just two days I lost two daughters and three sons, and shortly before, I lost my husband. I still ignore if he is alive or dead. Even if I find him how can I tell him that his five children are dead,” said Salwa, who is in her forties.

“I cried a lot hoping my tears will wake them up from their coma. I can't describe my feelings back then. I wished I was dead instead.”

Salaw, who is pregnant, said the family left al-Fasher on foot carrying water bottles. “But due to high temperatures during the daytime hours, the water ran out on the third day,” she explained.

The grieved mother has now reached the Tawila town to join thousands of other families that were displaced from al-Fasher due to fighting between the Army and the RSF.

“Many families lost their children on their journey to Tawila, currently controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid al Nur,” said Adam Rijal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees.

“The displaced are living in dire humanitarian conditions and need basic necessities such as food, drinking water and shelter,” he said.