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Sudan’s Hemedti Returns to Khartoum after Meeting with Ethiopian PM

Sudan’s Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) General Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. (SUNA)
Sudan’s Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) General Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. (SUNA)
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Sudan’s Hemedti Returns to Khartoum after Meeting with Ethiopian PM

Sudan’s Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) General Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. (SUNA)
Sudan’s Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) General Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. (SUNA)

Sudan’s Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), General Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, returned to Khartoum after a two-day visit to Ethiopia where he met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Hemedti’s rare visit to Ethiopia comes after relations between Khartoum and Addis Ababa deteriorated due to the territorial dispute over the al-Fashaqa border region.

The TMC issued a statement saying Hemedti discussed with Abiy bilateral relations, reiterating the importance of the strong and historical ties that unite their countries.

The statement said that Hemedti and Abiy discussed issues and topics of common interest.

They pledged to work on the principle of transparent and constructive dialogue, aiming to develop bilateral relations to serve the interests and aspirations of their peoples.

Abiy tweeted: “I am pleased to welcome today Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council of the sisterly Republic of Sudan. I would like to express, once again, my appreciation for the deep historical bonds that bind our two people.”

Hemedti was met at Addis Ababa airport by Ethiopian Defense Minister Abraham Belay and the Director of Intelligence.

Observers linked the visit with the border situation and the outcome of the Ethiopian conflict between the government and the Tigray Liberation Front.

Tensions have been high along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border since December 2020, with intermittent clashes after Sudanese armed forces reclaimed agricultural territories in the fertile al-Fashaqa region, which had been under Ethiopia’s control since 1995.

Ethiopia claims the territories as its own, while Sudan has cited international border agreements that back its claim.

Addis Ababa said that Sudanese forces had breached its borders and demanded their withdrawal, accusing Khartoum of exploiting the war between government forces and the forces of the Tigray regional government.

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US Congressman Discusses with Syrian President Return of Body of American Killed in Syria

US forces patrol for children of suspected ISIS members in the town of Tal Maaruf in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on 15 December 2022. Photo: AFP
US forces patrol for children of suspected ISIS members in the town of Tal Maaruf in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on 15 December 2022. Photo: AFP
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US Congressman Discusses with Syrian President Return of Body of American Killed in Syria

US forces patrol for children of suspected ISIS members in the town of Tal Maaruf in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on 15 December 2022. Photo: AFP
US forces patrol for children of suspected ISIS members in the town of Tal Maaruf in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on 15 December 2022. Photo: AFP

US Congressman Abraham Hamadeh made a brief visit to Syria where he discussed with the country’s interim president the return of the body of an American aid worker who was taken hostage and later confirmed dead in the war-torn country, his office said Monday.

Hamadeh’s visit to Syria comes as a search has been underway in remote parts of the country for the remains of people who were killed by the ISIS group that once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before its territorial defeat six years ago, The AP news reported.

Kayla Mueller, 26, was captured in northern Syria in August 2013 and her family and US officials confirmed her death more than a year later. Hamadeh, an Arizona Republican, has vowed to return Mueller’s body — which has not yet been found — to her family.

Hamadeh’s office said he was in Syria for six hours to meet President Ahmad al-Sharaa to discuss the return of Mueller’s body to her family in Arizona. The statement added that Hamadeh also discussed the need to establish a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to the southern province of Sweida that recently witnessed deadly clashes between pro-government fighters and gunmen from the country’s Druze minority.

Dozens of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, were killed by ISIS militants who declared a so-called caliphate in 2014. The militant group lost most of its territory in Iraq in late 2017 and was declared defeated in 2019 when it lost the last sliver of land it controlled in east Syria.

Since then, dozens of gravesites and mass graves have been discovered in northern Syria containing remains and bodies of people ISIS had abducted over the years.

American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Mueller and Peter Kassig are among those killed by ISIS. None of the remains is believed to have been found.

Mueller, from Prescott, Arizona, was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Omar Alkhani, after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, where he had been hired to fix the internet service for the hospital. Mueller had begged him to let her tag along because she wanted to do relief work in the war-ravaged country. Alkhani was released after two months, having been beaten.

In 2015, the Pentagon said Mueller died at the hands of ISIS and not in a Jordanian airstrike targeting the militant group as the extremists claimed earlier.