Sudanese Envoy Visits Israel to Promote Ties

 Former US President Donald Trump in a phone call with Israel's Netanyahu to discuss the normalization agreement between Sudan and Israel, October 2020. (FILE/Getty Images)
Former US President Donald Trump in a phone call with Israel's Netanyahu to discuss the normalization agreement between Sudan and Israel, October 2020. (FILE/Getty Images)
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Sudanese Envoy Visits Israel to Promote Ties

 Former US President Donald Trump in a phone call with Israel's Netanyahu to discuss the normalization agreement between Sudan and Israel, October 2020. (FILE/Getty Images)
Former US President Donald Trump in a phone call with Israel's Netanyahu to discuss the normalization agreement between Sudan and Israel, October 2020. (FILE/Getty Images)

A Sudanese envoy was in Israel on Wednesday in order to promote ties between the two countries, a source with close knowledge of the visit said.

The presidential envoy arrived in Israel at the beginning of the week, the source said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Israeli and Sudanese government spokespeople.

Sudan moved toward normalizing ties with Israel in 2020. Envoys have travelled between Israel and Sudan since then, though no official pact has yet been signed.

Sudan's military is seen to have led the move toward Israel while civilian groups have been more reluctant about it. The Sudanese military seized power in the country on Oct. 25, ending a partnership with civilian political parties that began after the army toppled Omar al-Bashir as Sudan's ruler in 2019.

White House officials have repeatedly called on Israel’s leaders to pressure the Sudanese army to end the coup and resume the Sudan's transition to democracy.

Last month, a high-ranking official Israeli security delegation arrived in Khartoum to meet with Sudanese military and security leaders.



Libya's Eastern Parliament Approves Transitional Justice Law in Unity Move, MPs Say

Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
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Libya's Eastern Parliament Approves Transitional Justice Law in Unity Move, MPs Say

Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo
Members of Libyan legislatures known as the High Council of State, based in Tripoli in the country's west, and the House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, meet for talks in Bouznika, Morocco, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Eljechtimi/File Photo

Libya's eastern-based parliament has approved a national reconciliation and transitional justice law, three lawmakers said, a measure aimed at reunifying the oil-producing country after over a decade of factional conflict.

The House of Representatives (HoR) spokesperson, Abdullah Belaihaq, said on the X platform that the legislation was passed on Tuesday by a majority of the session's attendees in Libya's largest second city Benghazi.

However, implementing the law could be challenging as Libya has been divided since a 2014 civil war that spawned two rival administrations vying for power in east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

"I hope that it (the law) will be in effect all over the country and will not face any difficulty," House member Abdulmenam Alorafi told Reuters by phone on Wednesday.

The United Nations mission to Libya has repeatedly called for an inclusive, rights-based transitional justice and reconciliation process in the North African country.

A political process to end years of institutional division and outright warfare has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.

In Tripoli, there is the Government of National Unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah that was installed through a UN-backed process in 2021, but the parliament no longer recognizes its legitimacy. Dbeibah has vowed not to cede power to a new government without national elections.

There are two competing legislative bodies - the HoR that was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a political transition, and the High Council of State in Tripoli formed as part of a 2015 political agreement and drawn from a parliament first elected in 2012.

The Tripoli-based Presidential Council, which came to power with GNU, has been working on a reconciliation project and holding "a comprehensive conference" with the support of the UN and African Union. But it has been unable to bring all rival groups together because of their continuing differences.