US Delegation Discusses Political Crisis in Sudan with Political Actors

Sudanese protesters attend a demonstration in Khartoum (File photo: Reuters)
Sudanese protesters attend a demonstration in Khartoum (File photo: Reuters)
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US Delegation Discusses Political Crisis in Sudan with Political Actors

Sudanese protesters attend a demonstration in Khartoum (File photo: Reuters)
Sudanese protesters attend a demonstration in Khartoum (File photo: Reuters)

A US delegation visiting Sudan met with various political forces and reviewed the national political crisis following the army's seizure of power last October.

The delegation held meetings with the pro-military armed factions which signed the Juba Agreement and the National Umma Party, led by Mubarak Al-Mahdi.

It is scheduled to meet army leaders and the opposition Forces of Freedom and Change-the Central Council (FFC).

Following the meeting, al-Mahdi called in a press statement for expediting the formation of a government consisting of technocrat figures to assume the executive and legislative authorities and lead the country to elections.

He also called for distributing the financial and humanitarian aid to the vulnerable groups that pay the bill for the economic reform agreed upon with international institutions.

Al-Mahdi stressed the importance of lifting the ban on private sector financing from the International Financing Corporation (IFC), affiliated with the World Bank, to ease the burdens on the Sudanese people.

Meanwhile, the FFC-National Accord affirmed its demands for unconditional dialogue, saying it was ready to sit down with all parties.

Spokesperson Mohamed Zakaria Faragallah briefed the US delegation on the peace process developments, including implementing the security arrangements and the challenges such as lack of international support.

Faragallah explained the vision of the forces for a political solution and consensus, including holding dialogue and identifying the parties involved in it.

The FFC wants to hold unconditional dialogue and is willing to meet all parties, Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) quoted Faragallah as saying.

The spokesman indicated that the Forces of Freedom and Change handed over the Tripartite Mechanism a written vision with several observations.

The Tripartite Mechanism consists of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), African Union (AU), and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

He stressed that the international community and facilitators must have a position regarding the parties that refuse to join the dialogue because of their negative role that prevents the completion of the democratic transition and contributes directly to exacerbating the economic and security situations.

The FFC Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Taqd Lisan said the meeting with the US delegation discussed many issues related to the current situation and the initiatives put forward, namely the tripartite mechanism initiative.

Taqd Lisan confirmed the group's desire to participate in the dialogue, noting that it has a clear vision of the talks with the rest of the political blocs without any preconditions.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.