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Satterfield Visits Khartoum to Advance Democratic Transition

Protesters march during a rally against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan, January 24, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Protesters march during a rally against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan, January 24, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Satterfield Visits Khartoum to Advance Democratic Transition

Protesters march during a rally against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan, January 24, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Protesters march during a rally against military rule following last month's coup in Khartoum, Sudan, January 24, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa David Satterfield was in Sudan on Thursday on a two-day visit to discuss with military and civilian leaders efforts to put the country back on the transition track following the army’s coup in October 25.

The US State Department said Satterfield aims “to engage stakeholders in support of the Sudanese people’s desire to advance their country’s democratic transition under a civilian-led government.”

The Oct. 25 military takeover has upended Sudan’s transition to democratic rule.

The coup prompted mass protests during which 81 people have been killed and more than 2,000 injured, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors.

US Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee and Satterfield, who had been newly appointed, visited Sudan in January during which they met with pro-democracy activists and ruling generals.

The US has criticized a pattern of arrests and detentions of civil society activists, journalists, and humanitarian workers in Sudan. It has also condemned the use of live fire against demonstrators and has called for a transparent investigation into the deaths of protesters.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.