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Saudi-Sudanese Council Forms Committee to Address Saudi Investments in Sudan

A boy stands next to a donkey loaded with jerry cans by the Atbarah river near the village of Dukouli in the Fashaqa al-Sughra agricultural region of Sudan's eastern Gedaref state on March 16, 2021. (AFP / ASHRAF SHAZLY)
A boy stands next to a donkey loaded with jerry cans by the Atbarah river near the village of Dukouli in the Fashaqa al-Sughra agricultural region of Sudan's eastern Gedaref state on March 16, 2021. (AFP / ASHRAF SHAZLY)
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Saudi-Sudanese Council Forms Committee to Address Saudi Investments in Sudan

A boy stands next to a donkey loaded with jerry cans by the Atbarah river near the village of Dukouli in the Fashaqa al-Sughra agricultural region of Sudan's eastern Gedaref state on March 16, 2021. (AFP / ASHRAF SHAZLY)
A boy stands next to a donkey loaded with jerry cans by the Atbarah river near the village of Dukouli in the Fashaqa al-Sughra agricultural region of Sudan's eastern Gedaref state on March 16, 2021. (AFP / ASHRAF SHAZLY)

The Saudi-Sudanese Business Council will form a committee to handle the issues of Saudi investments in Sudan.

Saudi investors in Sudan have expressed concerns about the unstable situation in the country.

An atmosphere of optimism prevailed about a promising future for Saudi investments in Sudan, in light of the positive economic and financial data that emerged recently, after the political agreement that reinstated the Prime Minister back to his position.

The Chairman Council, Hussein Bahri, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Council monitored during the last period several challenges and obstacles facing Saudi investors in Sudan as a result of the current conditions.

The "crisis committee" will hold weekly meetings to address the challenges facing Saudi investments and tackle any complaints.

It called on Saudi investors facing investment problems in Sudan to reach out to the committee.

Bahri stressed the need to protect and secure Saudi investments and solve any issues related to ensure their influential role in supporting the Sudanese economy.

"Saudi investments in Sudan are estimated at more than $4 billion... We are fully confident in the officials' keenness to ensure their operations through the required efficiency and providing its requirements such as fuel, means of transportation, and production requirements," Bahri said.

The Saudi-Sudanese Business Council focused on these issues during recent meetings it held at the Council for Saudi Chambers. Interlocutors discussed the recent developments in Sudan and their potential impacts on Saudi investments, and the options available to deal with the challenges.

The committee is expected to develop a clear strategy to solve the issues facing the investments, with the necessity of activating the Saudi-Sudanese banking mechanisms after Sudan was finally removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Saudi investors look forward to correcting the business environment and creating a climate that encourages investment, contributing to solving the economic crisis while offering ideas that attract investment.

Khartoum had earlier confirmed it would look into several lawsuits filed by Saudi investors in Sudan after confiscating their investment lands.

Sudan's minister of investment and international cooperation, Al-Hadi Mohamed Ibrahim, stressed the need to establish a strategic plan to solve the issues of Saudi investment, adding that he looks forward to activating the banking mechanism between the two countries.

Ibrahim estimated that about $35 billion worth of investments were expected to enter the country, but they stopped after the recent political developments.

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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 11 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."