Railway Project Between Egypt, Sudan Moves Forward

Passengers wait for their train near a damaged train carriage (File photo: Reuters)
Passengers wait for their train near a damaged train carriage (File photo: Reuters)
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Railway Project Between Egypt, Sudan Moves Forward

Passengers wait for their train near a damaged train carriage (File photo: Reuters)
Passengers wait for their train near a damaged train carriage (File photo: Reuters)

Egypt's President, Abdelfattah El-Sisi, on Sunday issued a decision approving a grant between Egypt, represented by the Ministry of International Cooperation, and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), to fund a railway project between Egypt and Sudan.

A presidential decree, published in the official gazette, approved a 750,000-Kuwaiti dinar ($2.5 million) grant to contribute to conducting a technical, economic and environmental feasibility study for a rail line project, under a deal signed on April 7, 2022.

The deal came as part of the activities of the joint annual meetings of Arab financial institutions, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

According to the deal, the Kuwaiti Fund would contribute in making a feasibility study to determine the technical, economic and financial feasibility of the project, and study the environmental and social impact.

The Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation had previously said the project comes as part of Egypt’s interest in reinforcing the cooperation between Cairo and Khartoum, along with achieving economic and social integration and unlocking the sustainable development potentials with the neighboring country.

In February, Egypt’s Transport Minister Kamel el Wazir announced that preliminary studies on the first railway line between Egypt and Sudan have been completed.

The first stage of the railway links Aswan to Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, at a length of 285 kilometers, and the second stage, which will reach Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan, is set to be 80 kilometers long.

The project was first proposed at a meeting of Arab transport ministers in Cairo in 2010.

However, it had only started to take effect when Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visited Sudan in 2018.



Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
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Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice president. It’s a major step by the aging leader to designate a successor.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization does not guarantee he will be the next Palestinian president. But it makes him the front-runner among longtime politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Abbas.

Abbas hopes to play a major role in postwar Gaza. He has been under pressure from Western and Arab allies to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.  

The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.