Sudan's Ambassadors Urge Western Governments to Reject 'Coup'

Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)
Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)
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Sudan's Ambassadors Urge Western Governments to Reject 'Coup'

Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)
Sudanese protesters in Khartoum denouncing overnight detentions by the army of government members (AFP)

A statement by a number of Sudanese ambassadors denounced the use of violence against peaceful protests, calling for the release of all detainees and civil officials, namely Prime Minister Abdala Hamdok.

The diplomats call comes as the US governmental and legislative institutions continue to support the popular demands for the return of the civilian rule and the rejection of the military coup.

The US Embassy in Khartoum tweeted a statement expressing its "deep regrets" over the loss of life and injuries of dozens of Sudanese citizens demonstrating for "freedom and democracy" and condemned the "excessive use of force."

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) also expressed its regret at the continued blackout of internet services in Sudan, which marked Monday its third week since the army took power in Sudan against the "will of the people," saying "internet blackout continues for the 22nd day, further exacerbating economic hardships and stifling the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly."

A statement from the "Committee of Sudanese Ambassadors and Diplomats Against the Coup 25" denounced the "unilateral decisions" taken by the country's military leadership by forming a new Sovereignty Council to lead the country, saying, they are "void" in form and content.

The statement, which Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of, demanded the release of the "legitimate" prime minister and all detained prisoners, asserting support to the Sudanese people in their struggle for "freedom, peace, and justice."

"We stand with our Sudanese people" in their protests against the coup to "restore constitutional legitimacy and democratic civil rule in the country."

In their statement, the diplomats, led by the ambassador to Washington Nureldin Satti, warned against violence and bullets during peaceful protests.

They asserted that the right to peaceful demonstration is guaranteed in all national and international constitutions and laws, noting that all previous "marches of millions" were exemplary behavior.

In an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), Satti said he continues to engage with the US administration and Congress to explain the Sudanese position rejecting the coup.

The ambassador asserted that there is overwhelming support to his position and that of his colleagues who have taken the same position.

Satti, who was appointed after Sudan was removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2019, indicated that he held meetings with the diaspora representatives in the US.

"It was a very good meeting, and we agreed to work together. And I believe that my colleagues also in other embassies, like the one in Brussels, and Paris, Geneva, Beijing, South Africa, and New York are doing the same thing."

The Sudanese ambassador, who was asked by the junta to comply with the new decisions or to resign, declared that he is working with the US officials "to put pressure on the coup perpetrators in order to reverse the action that they have taken, and to take the country back to where it was."

He added that they should accept to "engage wholeheartedly with the civilian component in order to take the country out of this crisis. A military coup has never resolved problems. […] The United States [has] to put pressure on the coup plotters in order to change. We have nothing against the military, but our problem is certain people in the military who do not want this revolution to move forward."

Meanwhile, the regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, Hala al-Karib, said in an article in Newsweek magazine that "innocent and unarmed" Sudanese protesters are again demanding their right to live in a peaceful democracy.

"Once again they paid for their demands with their lives."

She said that one week after the military arrested Hamdok and dissolved the country's civilian leadership, tens of thousands rallied in Khartoum and across the country.

She explained that after the security forces fired tear gas and live rounds at least 11 peaceful demonstrators were killed and over 100 injured.

Karib criticized Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's thin excuse that the coup was "necessary to maintain stability," noting that he is exposed by his refusal to transfer leadership of the joint sovereign council to civilian control, which is demanded by most Sudanese.

She held Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagolo accountable for their historic crimes and threatened their illicit economic networks.

"The latest military coup in Sudan is another attempt to draw the country back into a dark corner. It will ultimately fail."



Egypt’s Prime Minister and FM Head to Washington for Trump Peace Council Meeting

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)
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Egypt’s Prime Minister and FM Head to Washington for Trump Peace Council Meeting

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a joint press conference with Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary/Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP)

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly headed to Washington on Tuesday ‌to ‌participate in ‌the inaugural ⁠meeting of a "Board of Peace" established by US President Donald ⁠Trump, the ‌cabinet ‌said.

Madbouly is ‌attending ‌on behalf of President Abdel ‌Fattah al-Sisi and is accompanied by ⁠Foreign ⁠Minister Badr Abdelatty.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will represent Israel at the inaugural meeting, his office said on Tuesday.

Hamas, meanwhile, called on the newly-formed board to pressure Israel to halt what it described as ongoing violations of the ceasefire in Gaza.

The Board of Peace, of which Trump is the chairman, was initially designed to oversee the Gaza truce and the territory's reconstruction after the war between Hamas and Israel.

But its purpose has since morphed into resolving all sorts of international conflicts, triggering fears the US president wants to create a rival to the United Nations.

Saar will first attend a ministerial level UN Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday, and on Thursday he "will represent Israel at the inaugural session of the board, chaired by Trump in Washington DC, where he will present Israel's position", his office said in a statement.

It was initially reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might attend the gathering, but his office said last week that he would not.

Ahead of the meeting, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that the Palestinian movement urged the board's members "to take serious action to compel the Israeli occupation to stop its violations in Gaza".

"The war of genocide against the Strip is still ongoing -- through killing, displacement, siege, and starvation -- which have not stopped until this very moment," he added.

He also called for the board to work to support the newly formed Palestinian technocratic committee meant to oversee the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza "so that relief and reconstruction efforts in Gaza can commence".

Announcing the creation of the board in January, Trump also unveiled plans to establish a "Gaza Executive Board" operating under the body.

The executive board would include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi.

Netanyahu has strongly objected to their inclusion.

Since Trump launched his "Board of Peace" at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, at least 19 countries have signed its founding charter.


Palestinian Child Dies After Stepping on Mine in West Bank

Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
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Palestinian Child Dies After Stepping on Mine in West Bank

Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli troops conduct a military raid in the village of Al-Yamoun, west of Jenin, West Bank, 17 February 2026. (EPA)

A Palestinian child died after stepping on a mine near an Israeli military camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with an Israeli defense ministry source confirming the death.

"Our crews received the body of a 13-year-old child who was killed after a mine exploded in one of the old camps in Jiftlik in the northern Jordan Valley," the Red Crescent said in a statement.

A source at COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry's agency in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, confirmed the death to AFP and identified the boy as Mohammed Abu Dalah, from the village of Jiftlik.

Israel's military had previously said in a statement that three Palestinians were injured "as a result of playing with unexploded ordnance", without specifying their ages.

It added that the area of the incident, Tirzah, is "a military camp in the area of the Jordan Valley", near Jiftlik and close to the Jordanian border.

"This area is a live-fire zone and entry into it is prohibited," the military said.

Jiftlik village council head Ahmad Ghawanmeh told AFP that three children, the oldest of whom was 16, were collecting herbs near the military base when they detonated a mine.

Jiftlik as well as the nearby Tirzah base are located in the Palestinian territory's Area C, which falls under direct Israeli control.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Much of the area near the border with Jordan -- which Israel signed a peace deal with in 1994 -- remains mined.

In January, Israel's defense ministry said it had begun demining the border area as part of construction works for a new barrier it says aims to stem weapons smuggling.


Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament Plan and Government’s Four-Month Timeline

29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
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Hezbollah Rejects Disarmament Plan and Government’s Four-Month Timeline

29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
29 July 2024, Iran, Tehran: Then Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem is pictured during a meeting in Tehran. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)

Hezbollah rejected on Tuesday the Lebanese government's decision to grant the army at least four months to advance the second phase of a nationwide disarmament plan, saying it would not accept what it sees as a move serving Israel.

Lebanon's cabinet tasked the army in August 2025 with drawing up and beginning to implement a plan to bring all armed groups' weapons under state control, a bid aimed primarily at disarming Hezbollah after its devastating ‌war with ‌Israel in 2024.

In September 2025 the cabinet formally ‌welcomed ⁠the army's plan to ⁠disarm the Iran-backed Shiite party, although it did not set a clear timeframe and cautioned that the military's limited capabilities and ongoing Israeli strikes could hinder progress.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a speech on Monday that "what the Lebanese government is doing by focusing on disarmament is a major mistake because this issue serves the goals of Israeli ⁠aggression".

Lebanon's Information Minister Paul Morcos said during a press ‌conference late on Monday after ‌a cabinet meeting that the government had taken note of the army's monthly ‌report on its arms control plan that includes restricting weapons in ‌areas north of the Litani River up to the Awali River in Sidon, and granted it four months.

"The required time frame is four months, renewable depending on available capabilities, Israeli attacks and field obstacles,” he said.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan ‌Fadlallah said, "we cannot be lenient," signaling the group's rejection of the timeline and the broader approach to ⁠the issue of ⁠its weapons.

Hezbollah has rejected the disarmament effort as a misstep while Israel continues to target Lebanon, and Shiite ministers walked out of the cabinet session in protest.

Israel has said Hezbollah's disarmament is a security priority, arguing that the group's weapons outside Lebanese state control pose a direct threat to its security.

Israeli officials say any disarmament plan must be fully and effectively implemented, especially in areas close to the border, and that continued Hezbollah military activity constitutes a violation of relevant international resolutions.

Israel has also said it will continue what it describes as action to prevent the entrenchment or arming of hostile actors in Lebanon until cross-border threats are eliminated.