Sudan’s People Await Cabinet Formation

Protests in Khartoum call for civilian rule. AFP file photo
Protests in Khartoum call for civilian rule. AFP file photo
TT

Sudan’s People Await Cabinet Formation

Protests in Khartoum call for civilian rule. AFP file photo
Protests in Khartoum call for civilian rule. AFP file photo

The Sudanese are eagerly awaiting the first of April, for the signing of the final political agreement between civilians and the military, with international and regional support.

However, the political process faces resistance from the Islamist supporters of the former regime and their followers, who “threatened to bring down the prospective government peacefully or by force.”

The Communist Party and other leftist parties describe the upcoming civilian government as “a Western creation and an attempt to circumvent the Sudanese revolution.”

On the other hand, the forces that signed the “framework agreement” on Dec. 5 insist on proceeding to complete the requirements for signing the final agreement at the beginning of April.

The spokesman for the political process, Khaled Omar Youssef, announced that the committee drafting the final agreement was working to complete its mission within the specified deadline.

A security and military reform workshop, which was scheduled to be held last Thursday, was postponed to Sunday, according to a spokesman for the Freedom and Change coalition. The workshop will discuss reforming the security and military apparatus, and integrating the armies of the armed movements into a unified army, including the Rapid Support Forces.

Meanwhile, the Justice and Equality Movement renewed its rejection of the political process, and considered it a commitment to “exclusion and tutelage in its worst forms,” according to its statement.

The Justice and Equality and Sudan Liberation movements, which are signatories to the Juba Peace Agreement, reject the framework agreement, and stipulate that it be signed with the rest of their partners in the Democratic Bloc coalition, an alliance that the Freedom and Change forces accuse of supporting the coup.

The Sudan Liberation Movement vowed to hold demonstrations rejecting the signing of the final agreement and the announcement of the government, and threatened to arrange mass rallies across the country to overthrow any government that is far from what it called “the will of the Sudanese people.”



Yemen’s Houthis Move Weapons to Saada to Avoid More US Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
TT

Yemen’s Houthis Move Weapons to Saada to Avoid More US Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have moved large amounts of their weapons to their main stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen to protect them against US strikes that have intensified on the Amran province in a bid to destroy the militias’ underground arms caches.

Informed Yemeni sources said the Houthis have moved rockets and drones from Amran to Saada in the north, fearing they may be targeted by US strikes.

Western strikes have already destroyed several arms depots.

The US conducted its latest strikes against Houthi positions on Friday, targeting the Harf Sufyan district in northern Amran bordering Saada.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi “weapons engineers and military maintenance” personnel moved sophisticated rockets and drones and other types of weapons to fortified caches throughout Saada.

The process was carried out in utmost secrecy and in stages to avoid detection, they added.

In Amran, the Houthis carried out a series of kidnappings against the local population, even its own supporters, on suspicion the people were collaborating with the US and Israel.

The US has carried out dozens of attacks on military positions in Harf Sufyan, destroying facilities that have been used to launch attacks against ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Harf Sufyan is considered the Houthis’ second major stronghold after Saada given its large area that spans around 2,700 square kms. It also borders four other provinces: Hajjah, al-Jawf, Saada and Sanaa.

Moreover, sources in Amran told Asharq Al-Awsat that Harf Sufyan is a major recruitment center for the Houthis, including the forced recruitment of Yemenis.

They revealed that the US strikes in the area dealt the Houthis heavy blows because they directly targeted their military positions, including a drone factory.

The sources suspected that the Americans intensified their strikes on Harf Sufyan after receiving intelligence information that the Houthis had dug tunnels and underground facilities there to hold meetings and recruit new members.