Arab League Calls for Ending War in Sudan

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
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Arab League Calls for Ending War in Sudan

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)

The Arab League called on Tuesday for the immediate cessation of all hostilities in Sudan and a complete ceasefire to save the Sudanese state, its institutions and facilities.

Egypt chaired an emergency meeting of the organization, which convened at the level of permanent delegates, to follow up on the developments in Sudan.

The League strongly condemned the targeting and killing of residents, regardless of their nationalities, and attacks on civilian and medical facilities.

It warned of the consequences and repercussions of these actions, which may intensify the conflict and which violate international humanitarian law.

The organization offered its deepest condolences to the families of Sudanese victims and the Assistant Administrative Attaché at the Egyptian Embassy in Khartoum, Mohamed al-Gharawi.

It called for protecting diplomatic missions and their staff from the fighting in line with the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Furthermore, the organization expressed its gratitude to Sudanese authorities for coordinating, securing, and facilitating the safe evacuation of members of diplomatic missions and Arab and foreign nationals.

The Arab League praised the efforts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Algeria, and Morocco in evacuating their citizens and other Arab nationals, diplomats, and international missions.

It called for military forces or gunmen to leave hospitals and civilian facilities and for facilitating relief aid and humanitarian assistance to all Sudanese civilians and residents.

Arab League member states expressed their readiness to provide all forms of emergency humanitarian support, medical and food aid in coordination with Sudanese authorities and international and regional organizations.

The organization also praised the efforts of the member states and their initiatives towards reaching a ceasefire, and the humanitarian appeal by Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on April 19 for a truce.

He had appealed to warring sides to end the conflict and allow people to access food supplies and medical assistance.

The member states welcomed Aboul Gheit's call to hold an emergency session for the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs and another for the Council of Arab Ministers of Health to form a comprehensive Arab response to the crisis and its humanitarian and health repercussions.

According to the Middle East News Agency (MENA), the Arab League called on the international community to provide all urgent humanitarian needs and provide support to Sudan's neighboring countries that are receiving Sudanese fleeing the fighting.

The League stressed the need to resolve the crisis in a way that guarantees Sudan's security, sovereignty and territorial integrity, protects its institutions and fulfills the aspirations of its people for peace and development.

It stressed its rejection of foreign interference in Sudan's domestic affairs to avoid fueling the conflict, prolonging the crisis, and threatening regional peace and security.



Russian President Vladimir Putin Meets Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Kremlin

Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin Meets Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Kremlin

Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Valery Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin met President Bashar Assad of Syria in the Kremlin, video distributed by the Kremlin press service on Thursday showed.
“I am very interested in your opinion on how the situation in the region as a whole is developing,” Putin said to Assad. “Unfortunately, there is a tendency towards escalation, we can see that. This also applies directly to Syria.”
The Kremlin said Putin and Assad's meeting took place Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
Putin and Assad last met in March 2023 in the Kremlin on the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising-turned-civil war. At that meeting, Putin emphasized the Russian military’s role in stabilizing the country.
Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad’s government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a military foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.
“Considering all the events that are taking place in the world as a whole and in the Eurasian region today, our meeting today seems very important," Assad told Putin via a Russian translator.