Egypt Works to Facilitate Return of its Citizens from Sudan

Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)
Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)
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Egypt Works to Facilitate Return of its Citizens from Sudan

Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)
Shoukry participates in a meeting on the situation in Sudan. (Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Ministry)

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that the country’s mission office in Wadi Halfa was communicating with “the Sudanese authorities to facilitate the unimpeded return of Egyptian citizens through the Sudanese land crossings.”

The Ministry of Education has also contacted its educational mission in the country, whose staff accounts for around 151 teachers and administrators, to “check on their safety.”

A statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stressed that the authorities were following up on the conditions of Egyptian citizens in Sudan, and “making every effort to ensure their safety.” It also published phone numbers to communicate with members of the country’s mission in the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa.

The statement added: “The ministry continues, through its missions in Khartoum, Port Sudan and Wadi Halfa, to make all efforts and the necessary contacts to follow up on the conditions of the Egyptian community in Sudan during the crisis and to act quickly and effectively according to the developments.”

In turn, the Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education, Dr. Reda Hegazy, contacted on Friday Khaled Nasreddine, head of Egypt’s educational mission in Sudan, and a number of members of the mission, to convey his wishes on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, and to check on their conditions in light of the recent developments.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, underlined the need to give priority to preserving the Sudanese state institutions and preventing them from collapse.

In remarks on Thursday evening, Shoukry reiterated that it was not permissible to deal with the state’s official bodies and unofficial entities on equal footing.

The minister was speaking during a virtual ministerial meeting of the African Union on the situation in Sudan, with the participation of foreign ministers and senior officials of Sudan’s neighboring countries, Kenya, Djibouti, the permanent members of the Security Council, the African members of the Council, Norway and a number of Arab countries.

The meeting was also attended by the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union, and the Executive Secretary of IGAD.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid said the meeting aimed at joining efforts to make a collective move that aims to end the military confrontations in Sudan.



Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)

thGermany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Annalena Baerbock spoke to reporters after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats.

Germany is one of several countries that imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. Those penalties could hinder Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million, according to The AP.

“Sanctions against Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. “But Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.”

Baerbock announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care, highlighting the ongoing struggles of millions of Syrians displaced by the war.

The sanctions imposed target not only senior government officials, but also the country's oil industry, international money transfers and hundreds of entities and individuals linked to the Assad government, crippling the wider economy.

There are exemptions when it comes to humanitarian aid, but relief organizations have said that overcompliance by financial institutions hinders their operations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to aid Syria in normalizing ties with the international community.

He said it was important to establish “a balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.”

He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the ISIS group. “As Türkiye, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

The United States has eased some restrictions Last week, the United States eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the US Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The US has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian opposition leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaeda militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities.

The opposition factions led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule.

Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders.

With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.