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.



Italy's ITA Airways Resumes Flights to Libya's Tripoli after 10-year Gap

An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
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Italy's ITA Airways Resumes Flights to Libya's Tripoli after 10-year Gap

An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

Italy's ITA Airways resumed direct flights to Libya's Tripoli on Sunday, the first airline from a major west European nation to do so after a 10-year hiatus due to civil war in the north African country, ITA and Tripoli's transport minister said.

ITA said it would operate two direct flights a week from Rome's Fiumicino airport to Tripoli's Mitiga airport, Reuters reported.

“We are proud to inaugurate today our first direct commercial flight between Tripoli and Rome Fiumicino, strengthening commercial and cultural ties between Libya and Italy in support of bilateral relations between the two countries,” Andrea Benassi, ITA airways general manager, said in a statement.

Many international airlines have suspended flights in and out of Libya since the civil war in 2014 that spawned two rival administrations in east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Some airlines resumed flights to Libya after security was restored when major fighting paused with a ceasefire in 2020. But efforts to end the political crisis have failed, with factions occasionally staging armed clashes and competing for control over economic resources.

The European Union still bans Libyan civil aviation from its airspace

The minister of transport in the government of national unity, Mohamed al-Shahoubi, said the resumption of ITA flights between Tripoli and Rome confirmed "the safety and security of our airspace and the eligibility of Libyan airports".

Shahoubi said at a ceremony marking the arrival of the ITA flight at Mitiga that Tripoli is ready "to grant ITA additional transport rights to connect Libyan airports with other destinations in European Union countries."