US Official Discusses Dialogue Arrangements with Sudan Army Leaders

US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee and Saudi Ambassador to Khartoum Ali bin Hassan Jaafar meeting with the Sovereign Council military committee headed by Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Hemetti to discuss the dialogue process (SUNA)
US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee and Saudi Ambassador to Khartoum Ali bin Hassan Jaafar meeting with the Sovereign Council military committee headed by Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Hemetti to discuss the dialogue process (SUNA)
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US Official Discusses Dialogue Arrangements with Sudan Army Leaders

US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee and Saudi Ambassador to Khartoum Ali bin Hassan Jaafar meeting with the Sovereign Council military committee headed by Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Hemetti to discuss the dialogue process (SUNA)
US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee and Saudi Ambassador to Khartoum Ali bin Hassan Jaafar meeting with the Sovereign Council military committee headed by Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Hemetti to discuss the dialogue process (SUNA)

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee has discussed with Sudanese army leaders the final arrangements for launching direct talks among different parties in Sudan.

Negotiations seeking to solve the worsening political crisis in Sudan are being sponsored by a trilateral mechanism that includes the United Nations, the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

“Phee and her accompanying delegation met on Tuesday the military committee headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) and two council members, Shams El-Din Kabbashi and Ibrahim Jaber Ibrahim,” read a statement released by the Transitional Military Council’s (TMC) media.

According to the statement, the officials met at the Republican Palace in Khartoum. Moreover, the Saudi Ambassador to Sudan, Ali bin Hassan Jaafar, was present at the meeting.

Sudan’s military leaders affirmed their full support for the efforts of the trilateral mechanism facilitating dialogue between the Sudanese parties and for its success.

The Director of the North American Department of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kamal Bashir, said in statements that the meeting affirmed support for the trilateral mechanism in enhancing rapprochement between the Sudanese parties for the success of the transitional period and reaching a consensus leading to the formation of a civilian government.

Additionally, the meeting addressed the details related to the launch of direct dialogue between the Sudanese national parties.

The talks were launched indirectly on May 12 to discuss ways of defusing the crisis that the country has been witnessing since October last year, which triggered the dissolution of the government and imposition of a state of emergency.

Phee posted a tweet saying she and the Saudi Ambassador held a meeting “with the military’s negotiating mechanism to urge real progress towards a civilian-led government and support for the AU-UN-IGAD process.”



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."