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Sudanese Public Prosecution Detains Two Senior Forensic Specialists

Part of the popular demonstrations that took place in Khartoum in December 2020 in commemoration of the revolution that toppled Omar al-Bashir’s regime (AP)
Part of the popular demonstrations that took place in Khartoum in December 2020 in commemoration of the revolution that toppled Omar al-Bashir’s regime (AP)
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Sudanese Public Prosecution Detains Two Senior Forensic Specialists

Part of the popular demonstrations that took place in Khartoum in December 2020 in commemoration of the revolution that toppled Omar al-Bashir’s regime (AP)
Part of the popular demonstrations that took place in Khartoum in December 2020 in commemoration of the revolution that toppled Omar al-Bashir’s regime (AP)

The Sudanese Public Prosecution has arrested two senior forensic specialists on charges related to medical reports according to which victims of the violent dispersal of the sit-in were buried in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum in 2019.

In November 2020, the public prosecutor found mass graves near the al-Markhiyat Mountains northwest of Omdurman for the remains of civilians who were killed during the bloody attack by security forces and militiamen outside the army headquarters.

Former director of the forensic medicine authority and the suspended director of the Omdurman morgue were arrested for the illegal burial of the victims, Sudan Tribune quoted judicial officials on Saturday.

Army forces and members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) perpetrated unconscionable acts of violence to disperse the peaceful sit-in in front of the army headquarters on June 3, 2019.

Over 200 people were killed during the brutal attack and 1,000 were injured.

Those acts included “extrajudicial killings and torture, excessive use of force, sexual and gender-based violence, and the forced disappearance of detained protesters,” the newspaper reported.

Health authorities, however, said that the number of the victims reached 85 persons, it added.

The Director of the Omdurman morgue was accused of releasing an autopsy report on the circumstances of the killing of a Sudanese youth under torture inside an RSF prison.

He claimed that the death was not a result of a criminal act but rather a pathological cause, pointing out that there were no visible signs of violence on the body.

Following a request by the deceased’s relatives, the Public Prosecutor ordered a re-autopsy. The probe report found that there were bruises under the scalp and on both sides of the chest, which were not proven in the doctor’s report.

It concluded that the death was due to a hemorrhage in the brain resulting from a head injury, contrary to what was stated by the arrested doctor's report.

A peaceful sit-in in front of the army headquarters on April 6, 2019 led to the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist 30-year rule in Sudan.

Protesters remained on the streets, mainly outside army headquarters, after Bashir's fall, to pressure the military into sharing power with civilians.

They demanded that ousted regime figures be held accountable and its political and economic structure be dismantled.

During negotiations between the military and the rebel leaders on June 3, the military forces dispersed the sit-in.

Head of the Transitional Military Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan then announced the halt of talks, telecommunications companies cut off internet service, and protesters in Khartoum and other cities were chased for more than a day after the sit-in ended.

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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.