Sudan's Hemedti Visits Moscow

The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters
The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters
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Sudan's Hemedti Visits Moscow

The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters
The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Reuters

The deputy head of Sudan's ruling council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemedti, was in Moscow on Thursday for talks with the Russian government.

The official visit comes at a testing time for both countries. Russia is facing new Western sanctions after ordering troops into eastern Ukraine, while the United States has threatened Sudan's military with sanctions after the coup.

"Through this visit, we hope to advance relations between Sudan and Russia to broader horizons, and strengthen the existing cooperation between us in various fields," Dagalo said in a tweet.

The Sudanese delegation's visit to Moscow fell "within the framework of exchanging views and discussing ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between Sudan and Russia," the ruling Sovereign Council said.

The delegation, which also includes Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim as well as senior energy and trade officials, would hold a series of talks with Russian counterparts during the visit, it said in a statement.

Russia was due to send a shipment of wheat to Sudan as humanitarian aid, Sputnik News reported in January.

Military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who visited Russia in 2019, said in December that relations with Russia were strong and that an agreement on a Russian naval base on the country's Red Sea coast was under discussion.

The visit is the latest in a string of diplomatic trips Hemedti has made this year, including to the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Sudan has found itself increasingly isolated since an October 25 coup that has seen foreign aid cut as part of the international community's response to the military takeover.



Stampede Kills Four People, Injures 16 in Umayyad Mosque in Damascus

A crowd gathers outside the Umayyad Mosque as they await updates following a stampede that occurred during Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
A crowd gathers outside the Umayyad Mosque as they await updates following a stampede that occurred during Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
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Stampede Kills Four People, Injures 16 in Umayyad Mosque in Damascus

A crowd gathers outside the Umayyad Mosque as they await updates following a stampede that occurred during Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
A crowd gathers outside the Umayyad Mosque as they await updates following a stampede that occurred during Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, Friday Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)

Four people were killed and 16 injured in a stampede in the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Friday, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) said.

Five children suffered fractures, severe bruises and fainting, the civil defense said in a statement.

Authorities were trying to determine the causes of the incident and will hold those responsible accountable, Damascus Governor Maher Marwan told SANA.

"We are working to take urgent measures to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in public places in the future," SANA quoted him as saying.

Syria's new rulers seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.