Ukraine Urges Lebanon to Reverse Decision to Clear Grain Shipment for Travel

A view shows the ship "Laodicea" docked at port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
A view shows the ship "Laodicea" docked at port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
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Ukraine Urges Lebanon to Reverse Decision to Clear Grain Shipment for Travel

A view shows the ship "Laodicea" docked at port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
A view shows the ship "Laodicea" docked at port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Walid Saleh

Ukraine called on Lebanon on Thursday to reverse a decision by a court in Tripoli to authorize the departure of a seized Syrian ship carrying what Kyiv says is stolen Ukrainian grain.

In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said it was disappointed by the court's decision to clear the Syrian-flagged Laodicea for departure and said that Kyiv's position had not been taken into account.

Earlier, transport authorities have allowed the ship to depart Lebanon despite the Ukrainian embassy asking Beirut to reopen a probe into the matter after presenting what it said was new evidence.

Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamie told Reuters on Wednesday afternoon that port authorities in the northern city of Tripoli had cleared the ship to depart.

A tweet from his account said the decision was "in accordance with Lebanese legal principles, based on our sovereignty over our land, sea and sky."

On Wednesday, Ukraine had asked Lebanon's top prosecutor to reopen a probe into the Syrian-flagged ship, the Laodicea, which it says is carrying some 10,000 tons of flour and barley plundered by Russia following its February invasion.

Ukraine's ambassador to Lebanon, Ihor Ostash, told a news conference at the embassy near Beirut that the request to investigate further was based on new evidence gathered by a Ukrainian judge and handed over to Lebanon on Monday.

The Lebanese prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, lifted a first seizure order on the Laodicea, issued last week, on Tuesday after finding no criminal offence committed.

A judge in Tripoli told Reuters that a second 72-hour seizure order issued on Monday was no longer in place and the ship could now depart.

Moscow has previously denied stealing grain. Russia's Embassy in Lebanon said it had no information on the vessel or the cargo, which was shipped to Lebanon by a private company.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.