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IGAD to Hold Summit to Address Sudan Crisis

Protesters carry a banner and national flags as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. (Reuters)
Protesters carry a banner and national flags as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. (Reuters)
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IGAD to Hold Summit to Address Sudan Crisis

Protesters carry a banner and national flags as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. (Reuters)
Protesters carry a banner and national flags as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. (Reuters)

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) agreed Sunday to hold a summit at the level of heads of state and governments within the coming weeks to discuss the crisis in Sudan.

During a meeting held on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, African leaders were briefed on a report by IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu, who visited the Sudanese capital last week where he held talks with the military and political leaders.

Meanwhile, member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Malik Agar briefed IGAD ambassadors on the latest developments related to the peace process and efforts by the transitional government to promote peace and stability in the country.

Receiving the ambassadors at the Republican Palace on Sunday, Agar said Sudan is looking forward for IGAD’s effective role in accelerating the peace process.

Kenyan Ambassador to Sudan, Nigwa Mokala said in a press statement that the ambassadors would convey the outcome of the meeting to their countries to prepare a roadmap for pushing forward peace in Sudan.

During his three-day visit to Khartoum, Gebeyehu received pledges from head of the Sovereign Transitional Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that he will continue dialogue with all parties to fulfill the political transition.

The IGAD lent its efforts after the Transitional Council called on the AU to support the initiative adopted by the UN to facilitate dialogue between Sudanese partners.

In June 2019, the African Union Peace and Security Council suspended the participation of Sudan in all AU activities until the effective establishment of a civilian-led transitional authority.

It called on all parties and stakeholders to resolve their disputes peacefully, stressing that the AU would play a greater role in resolving the crisis.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Volker Perthes, the UN Special Representative to Sudan and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), said in an interview with Al Sudaniya 24 that facilitating dialogue between the Sudanese parties falls within the Mission’s mandate to support the transition process in the country.

In recent weeks the UN has been holding consultations in an effort to help achieve a negotiated solution to the political crisis.

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Houthi Network Recruits Hundreds of Yemenis to Fight in Ukraine

Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)
Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)
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Houthi Network Recruits Hundreds of Yemenis to Fight in Ukraine

Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)
Honoring a Yemeni fighter in the ranks of the Russian forces (local media)

In a nearly one-minute video, a young Yemeni man tells how he and his colleagues traveled to Russia on the promise of lucrative employment in fields such as “security” and “engineering”, but ended up fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
The young man, whose face was covered, expressed with his colleagues their desire to return to Yemen. They said they did not wish to suffer the same fate as their friends and get killed.
Last Sunday, The Financial Times said in a report that Russia’s armed forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, brought by a shadowy trafficking operation that highlights the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi militant group.
Later in video recordings, young Yemeni men spoke about the practice of Houthi smugglers who take advantage of the difficult economic conditions of Yemenis to recruit hundreds of them, and send them to fight alongside Russian troops.
The network of traffickers operate from Yemen and other Arab countries, and coordinate with others within Russian territory.
The Houthi network recruited hundreds of Yemenis and sent them to fight in Russia, according to sources close to their families and others in the Yemeni government.
In one of the videos, a group of Yemeni recruits said they worked in Oman, when a medical equipment company founded by a Houthi politician, Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, lured them by promises of lucrative employment in fields such as “security” and “engineering” in Russia.
They said they were promised a salary of $2,500 per month. But arriving in Moscow, they were received by a representative from the Russian Defense Ministry who told them they will work as security guards at Russian facilities.
Two days after their arrival, the recruits were sent to camps, where they trained for combat and received a salary of between $185 and $232 a month. They are now calling on the Yemeni government to intervene to return them to their country.
But another Yemeni, Ahmed, who is familiar with a group of recruits, explains that he and his friends had warned these young men not to go to Russia where they risk getting involved in the ongoing war.
The recruits told him that they could escape to Europe and seek asylum as hundreds of Yemenis did before.
However, after arriving with the help of a Houthi-linked medical company, many have apparently been coerced into the Russian military, forced to sign fighting contracts at gunpoint and sent to the front lines in Ukraine.
A member of the Yemeni community in Russia told Asharq Al-Awsat that smugglers are luring Yemeni young men to go to Russia to work for salaries of up to $2,500 per month and are then transferred to Arab capitals, including Muscat, Beirut and Damascus, to be then transferred to Russian territory.
After their arrival, he said, the recruits are taken to weapons training camps, allegedly as employees of a security company. But they are later sent to fight on the front lines with Ukraine along with mercenaries from other nationalities.
Activists and members of the Yemeni community in Russia estimate that there are about 300 young Yemenis who refuse to join the fighting in Ukraine and want to return to their country.
“Those men were tempted by the dire economic conditions in Yemen due to the ongoing war,” the activists said.
A Yemeni recruit of the shadowy trafficking operation said that Abdulwali Abdo Hassan al-Jabri, a prominent Houthi politician, is one of the main recruiters. He is assisted by his brother Abdul Waheed, who was appointed by the group as director of Al-Masrakh districts in Taiz Province.
The recruit said that the group of traffickers includes Hani al-Zarriqi, who has been living in Russia for years, and Mohammed al-Iyani, who lives in a Yemeni neighboring country.
Two relatives of the recruits accuse al-Jabri and his aides of arranging the transfer of the young men from Yemen to a neighboring country, and from there to Moscow, on the pretext of working for private security companies. The traffickers receive a commission of between $10 and $15 thousand per person.