Sudan’s Dagalo, Burhan Agree in Principle to Civilians Naming Prime Minister, Head of State

Sudanese anti-military protesters took to the street demonstrating against last year’s coup and demanding an immediate transfer of power to civilians, in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (AP)
Sudanese anti-military protesters took to the street demonstrating against last year’s coup and demanding an immediate transfer of power to civilians, in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (AP)
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Sudan’s Dagalo, Burhan Agree in Principle to Civilians Naming Prime Minister, Head of State

Sudanese anti-military protesters took to the street demonstrating against last year’s coup and demanding an immediate transfer of power to civilians, in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (AP)
Sudanese anti-military protesters took to the street demonstrating against last year’s coup and demanding an immediate transfer of power to civilians, in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (AP)

Sudan's military leaders agreed on the appointment of a prime minister and head of state by civilian political forces, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said in a statement on Friday, following a meeting with head of state General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The generals reaffirmed statements from this summer that the military "would exit the political scene and focus fully on its duties as laid out in the constitution and the law," following the appointment of a civilian government, the statement said.

Sudan's military took power in an October coup that ended a power-sharing agreement with civilian pro-democracy parties, plunging the country into political and economic turmoil.

Mediation efforts led by the United Nations, African Union, and foreign powers have not come to fruition. Civilian groups have demanded the complete and immediate exit of the military from politics.

Sources told Reuters that earlier this week Burhan had met with ambassadors from the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss political solutions to the crisis.

A draft constitution circulated by the Sudanese Bar Association in recent weeks has received praise from some political groups, as well as General Dagalo, leader of the controversial Rapid Support Forces, in a statement this week.

Sudan's pro-democracy movement, led by neighborhood resistance committees, has held demonstrations weekly since the coup, with the latest scheduled for Saturday in the city of Bahri.



Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
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Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)

Even before it was signed, the Gaza ceasefire forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a tight spot - between a new US president promising peace and far-right allies who want war to resume. That tension is only likely to increase.
The stakes for Netanyahu are high -- keeping his coalition government on the one hand and on the other, satisfying US President Donald Trump who wants to use the ceasefire momentum to expand Israel's diplomatic ties in the Middle East.
One of Netanyahu's nationalist allies has already quit over the Gaza ceasefire, and another is threatening to follow unless war on Hamas is resumed at an even greater force than that which devastated much of Gaza for 15 months.
The clock is ticking. The first stage of the ceasefire is meant to last six weeks. By day 16 -- Feb. 4 -- Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas are due to start negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire, whose stated aim is to end the war.
Former police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party quit the government on Sunday and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will stay in government only if war resumes after the first phase until the total defeat of Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
"We must go back in a completely different style. We need to conquer Gaza, instate a military rule there, even if temporarily, to start encouraging (Palestinian) emigration, to start taking territory from our enemies and to win," Smotrich said in an interview with Channel 14 on Sunday.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, however, said on Wednesday he was focused on ensuring the deal moves from the first to second phase, which is expected to include a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
"Netanyahu is pressed between the far-right and Donald Trump," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El, with the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. "Netanyahu's coalition now is fragile and the likelihood that it will fall apart sometime in the course of 2025 is high."
Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Witkoff told Fox News on Wednesday that he will be on the ground overseeing the ceasefire, a signal that he will keep up the pressure he applied during the deal's negotiations.
According to six US, Israeli, Egyptian and other Mideast officials who spoke to Reuters in the run-up to the ceasefire announcement on Jan. 15, Witkoff played a crucial role in getting the deal over the line.
The ceasefire's first phase includes the release of hostages, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces and aid flow into Gaza.
The second phase, if it happens, would include the release of remaining hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. A third phase is expected to start Gaza's reconstruction, overseen by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
One of the most difficult issues involved in negotiating the next phases is post-war Gaza's governance. Israel won't accept Hamas staying in power. Hamas so far has not given ground.
Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday, that Hamas will never govern Gaza and if it reneges on the deal, Washington will support Israel "in doing what it has to do."
On Saturday, after his government signed off on the ceasefire, Netanyahu said Israel had US backing to resume fighting if the second stage talks prove futile, leaving himself some political leeway with Smotrich, for now.
"If we need to go back to the fighting, we will do so in new ways and with great force," Netanyahu said in a video statement.