Syrian Opposition Delegation in US, Calls Against Normalizing Ties with Regime

The Syrian delegation meets with American officials in Washington. (National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria)
The Syrian delegation meets with American officials in Washington. (National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria)
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Syrian Opposition Delegation in US, Calls Against Normalizing Ties with Regime

The Syrian delegation meets with American officials in Washington. (National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria)
The Syrian delegation meets with American officials in Washington. (National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria)

A delegation from the National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria and the Syrian Negotiations Commission held talks with Deputy Representative of the United States to the United Nations Richard Mills in Washington on Tuesday.

Discussions touched on the latest developments in the political process in Syria.

The delegation included Coalition President Salem al-Meslet, head of the Syrian Negotiations Commission Badr Jamous, co-chair of the Constitutional Committee Hadi al-Bahra, head of the Syrian interim government Abdurrahman Mustafa, and members of the Negotiations Commission Ibrahim Berro and Fadwa al-Ujaili.

In a statement, the Coalition said the meeting focused on the need to revive the political process, implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254 to reach a real political transition in Syria, and pressure Bashar al-Assad's regime to seriously engage in the political process.

The delegation underscored the importance of maintaining the sanctions imposed on the regime under the Caesar Act and preventing any attempt to normalize ties with it.

Moreover, it stressed that the tepid response to the regime’s crimes encouraged Iran to intervene in the region and Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

The delegation also underlined the need to ensure accountability, seek the release of detainees and the forcibly disappeared in regime prisons, and ensure humanitarian access to Syrians in need.



Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free’ of RSF

Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free’ of RSF

Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)

Sudan’s military on Tuesday said it took full control of the Greater Khartoum region after a long-running battle against remnants of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the region’s west and south. 

The development was the latest victory for the military in its more than two years of fighting against the RSF, a civil war that has pushed parts of the country into famine. 

Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesman for the Sudanese military, said forces retook the Greater Khartoum region, which include the capital city of Khartoum and its sister cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, or Bahri. 

“Khartoum state is completely free of rebels,” he declared in a video statement, referring to the RSF. 

Earlier, Abdullah said troops battled RSF fighters in the western and southern areas of Omdurman as part of a large-scale operation to kick the paramilitaries out of their pockets there. 

There was no immediate comment from the RSF. 

Sudan plunged into civil war on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in Khartoum and other parts of the country. The war has killed at least 24,000 people, though the number is likely far higher. 

The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who crossed into neighboring countries. Parts of Sudan have been pushed into famine. 

The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the UN and international rights groups.