عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

First US Ambassador to Sudan in 25 Years Lands in Khartoum

US Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey (US State Department)
US Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey (US State Department)
TT
TT

First US Ambassador to Sudan in 25 Years Lands in Khartoum

US Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey (US State Department)
US Ambassador to Sudan John Godfrey (US State Department)

John Godfrey landed in Khartoum on Wednesday to assume the position of the first US ambassador to Sudan in almost 25 years.

“Ambassador John Godfrey arrived today in Khartoum, the first US Ambassador to Sudan in nearly 25 years,” the US embassy said in a statement.

“Godfrey will work to strengthen relations between the American and Sudanese people and to support their aspirations to freedom, peace, justice, and a transition to democracy… He also looks forward to advancing priorities related to peace and security, economic development, and food security,” it added.

Godfrey is the first US ambassador appointed to Khartoum since 1996. He is fluent in Arabic, and served as the Acting Coordinator of Counterterrorism and Acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS in the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism. He also worked as a political advisor at the US Embassy in Riyadh, and as a political official at the US Embassy in Damascus.

“I am delighted to arrive in Sudan,” Godfrey said in a tweet on Wednesday. “I look forward to deepening relations between Americans and Sudanese and to supporting the Sudanese people’s aspirations to freedom, peace, justice, and a transition to democracy.”

In the hearing held by Congress to ratify his post, the US diplomat said that the resumption of development aid to Sudan was linked to a democratic, civilian-led and credible transition process.

He added that the United States would use all available tools to support the Sudanese people in their quest for a democratic and prosperous Sudan in which human rights are respected.

In response to a question by Democratic Senator Chris Coons, who introduced a legislation to sanction Sudan’s military leaders, the candidate ambassador did not rule out imposing sanctions of this kind, saying that sanctions were an important tool to reveal the names involved, and push for a change of attitudes.

But he added that he wanted to study their impact on the actions of the army leaders and their financial resources, and on the Sudanese economy, and how they would relate to the US diplomatic strategy in general.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.