UNITAMS Calls for Deploying Joint Forces in Darfur


The Rapid Support Forces of the Sudanese army in Darfur (Reuters)
The Rapid Support Forces of the Sudanese army in Darfur (Reuters)
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UNITAMS Calls for Deploying Joint Forces in Darfur


The Rapid Support Forces of the Sudanese army in Darfur (Reuters)
The Rapid Support Forces of the Sudanese army in Darfur (Reuters)

The Sudanese government has expressed willingness to cooperate with all concerned authorities to implement security arrangements, and to achieve mechanisms for merging forces by what was stated in the Juba Peace Agreement document.

The government announcement coincided with The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan describing the security conditions in Darfur as “fragile”.

UNITAMS held on Sunday meetings of the Technical Committee on operationalizing the Darfur Permanent Ceasefire Committee of the peace agreement.

It will serve as the main mechanism for the efforts of monitoring, verification, and implementation of the permanent ceasefire on the ground. It will include stakeholders, military and security entities, the civil community, transitional government and armed groups representatives.

UNITAMS is fully committed to fulfilling this role as Chair of the Permanent Ceasefire Committee, it said.

The United Nations Security Council in resolutions 2524 (2020) and 2579 (2021) emphasized ceasefire monitoring in Darfur as a priority area for UNITAMS' support to Sudan.

Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim Khartoum has said the Armed Forces' were willing to work with all concerned authorities to implement the tasks of the security arrangements and to achieve mechanisms for merging forces by what was stated in the Juba Peace Agreement document.

In the Workshop on Technical Consultations to Reactivate Support of the Permanent Ceasefire Committee, which was organized by the UNITAMS Sunday at Al-Salam Hotel, the minister said that the Armed Forces will work in coordination with the UN mission and that they will accept advice from all concerned parties.

He stressed that the Armed Forces are fully prepared to deploy all over the country to implement the peace agreement.

He stated that the recent developments in some areas in North Darfur State are isolated events, indicating that the shortage in financial resources has hindered the implementation of the security arrangements protocols.

The minister expressed hope that the workshop would come out with recommendations that will contribute to the peaceful transition of power and to achieve the goals of the transitional period.



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)
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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.