US, Russian Officials to Meet Soon over Syria to Avert Military, Humanitarian Clash

A US military vehicle seen in northeastern Syria on November 1, 2021. (AFP)
A US military vehicle seen in northeastern Syria on November 1, 2021. (AFP)
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US, Russian Officials to Meet Soon over Syria to Avert Military, Humanitarian Clash

A US military vehicle seen in northeastern Syria on November 1, 2021. (AFP)
A US military vehicle seen in northeastern Syria on November 1, 2021. (AFP)

US National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and the Russian president’s special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev are scheduled to hold official talks on Syria in Geneva next week.

They are hoping to pave the way to avoiding a diplomatic clash as the deadline looms to extend the United Nations Security Council resolution on humanitarian cross-border aid deliveries to the war-torn country. The deadline is early next year.

The meeting will also be held as the military situation in northeastern Syria grows even more complicated with the deployment of American, Russian and Turkish troops and the regime, as well as Kurdish forces and factions allied to each of Ankara and Tehran.

Moreover, Washington is hoping to coordinate stances with its allies through hosting an expanded meeting for major and regional powers on the sidelines of next month’s conference for the international coalition fighting ISIS. The conference will be held in Brussels. A similar one was held in Rome in June.

Moscow is also organizing a conference for the “Astana guarantors” that will bring together the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey. They are set to meet next month to coordinate their positions in Syria.

Soon after President Joe Biden was elected his political team sought Russia’s approval for the extension of the aid resolution. Washington offered several concessions to Moscow so that the resolution would be passed. After several amendments, including Russia’s addition of funding of the “early recovery” in Syria to the draft, the resolution was passed.

In return, Washington received verbal pledges from Moscow over moving forward the peace process and the work of the Constitutional Committee, consolidating the ceasefire and maintaining the borders of the three zones of influence in Syria.

The McGurk-Vershinin channel of communication now has political and humanitarian dimensions.

Recent weeks, have seen Russia expand its deployment in regions east of the Euphrates River near where American forces are present.

Russia has dispatched fighter jets to Qamishli and Raqqa and expanded its patrols with the aim of “deterring” Turkey from carrying out a new incursion against the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that are allied with the US.

McGurk is not opposed to these Russian moves, but he is aware that Moscow’s expanded deployment will increase pressure on American forces to withdraw from Syria, significantly in wake of the pullout from Afghanistan.

Washington, meanwhile, is encouraging the SDF and its political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), to hold dialogue with Damascus. Moscow is also asking that Damascus show some political flexibility with the Kurds. Prominent Kurdish official Ilham Ahmad was notably recently in Washington and Moscow, while Lavrentiev was in Damascus.

The upcoming dialogue between Russia and the US may act as a test to determine whether political dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus may kick off.

As the deadline for extending the UN resolution approaches, Moscow is unlikely to oppose its renewal since the aid is also going to regime-held areas. The McGurk-Vershinin meeting will likely be an opportunity for new negotiations over a new deal that would see the Americans offer guarantees to implement the articles related to the “early recovery” stipulated by Russia. In return, Moscow would agree to extending the resolution.



Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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Crops Wither in Sudan as Power Cuts Cripple Irrigation

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

Hatem Abdelhamid stands amid his once-thriving date palms in northern Sudan, helpless as a prolonged war-driven power outage cripples irrigation, causing devastating crop losses and deepening the country's food crisis.

"I've lost 70 to 75 percent of my crops this year," he said, surveying the dying palms in Tanqasi, a village on the Nile in Sudan's Northern State.

"I'm trying really hard to keep the rest of the crops alive," he told AFP.

Sudan's agricultural sector -- already battered by a two-year conflict and economic crisis -- is now facing another crushing blow from the nationwide power outages.

Since the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, state-run power plants have been repeatedly targeted, suffering severe damage and ultimately leaving farms without water.

Like most Sudanese farms, Abdelhamid's depends on electric-powered irrigation -- but the system has been down "for over two months" due to the blackouts.

Sudan had barely recovered from the devastating 1985 drought and famine when war erupted again in 2023, delivering a fresh blow to the country's agriculture.

Agriculture remains the main source of food and income for 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Now in its third year, the conflict has plunged more than half the population into acute food insecurity, with famine already taking hold in at least five areas and millions more at risk across conflict-hit regions in the west, center and south.

The war has also devastated infrastructure, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced 13 million.

A 2024 joint study by the United Nations Development Programme and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) found that nearly a third of rural households have lost irrigation and water access since the war began.

Without electricity to power his irrigation system, Abdelhamid -- like thousands of farmers across the country -- was forced to rely on diesel-powered pumps.

But with fuel scarce and prices now more than 20 times higher than before the war, even that option is out of reach for many.

"I used to spend 10,000 Sudanese pounds (about four euros according to the black market rate) for irrigation each time," said another farmer, Abdelhalim Ahmed.

"Now it costs me 150,000 pounds (around 60 euros) because there is no electricity," he told AFP.

Ahmed said he has lost three consecutive harvests -- including crops like oranges, onions, tomatoes and dates.

With seeds, fertilizers and fuel now barely available, many farmers say they won't be able to replant for the next cycle.

In April, the FAO warned that "below average rainfall" and ongoing instability were closing the window to prevent further deterioration.

A June study by IFPRI also projected Sudan's overall economic output could shrink by as much as 42 percent if the war continues, with the agricultural sector contracting by more than a third.

"Our analysis shows massive income losses across all households and a sharp rise in poverty, especially in rural areas and among women," said Khalid Siddig, a senior research fellow at IFPRI.