RSF Ready for a Ceasefire, Hemedti to Meet Al-Burhan Anywhere

Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) expressed readiness for a cease-fire and meeting with Al-Burhan. (AP)
Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) expressed readiness for a cease-fire and meeting with Al-Burhan. (AP)
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RSF Ready for a Ceasefire, Hemedti to Meet Al-Burhan Anywhere

Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) expressed readiness for a cease-fire and meeting with Al-Burhan. (AP)
Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) expressed readiness for a cease-fire and meeting with Al-Burhan. (AP)

With the renewed battles in Khartoum, a source in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced the readiness of Lieutenant General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) to stop the fighting and meet with the Army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, to put an end to the war.

In parallel, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its desire to host negotiations between the parties to the Sudanese conflict in Moscow.

The office of the President of South Sudan said that the RSF commander agreed to a cease-fire and a halt to all forms of hostilities in Sudan.

During a meeting in Juba with the RSF envoy, Youssef Ezzat, South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardir expressed his concern about the suffering of the Sudanese people and urged both Al-Burhan and Hemedti to agree on the cease-fire.

In a press conference following the meeting, Ezzat voiced Hemedti’s readiness to meet with Al-Burhan anywhere and at any time, provided that a ceasefire be declared.

“Dagalo fully supports the peace process led by Mayardit through the IGAD organization,” Ezzat said, stressing that Juba was “an ideal place for Sudanese peace talks.”

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced, on Thursday, that Moscow was ready to “host negotiations between the Sudanese parties.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that his country “opposes external interference in Sudanese affairs.”

“They must sort out their own problems, and we are ready to assist in this since we have long-standing ties,” he declared.

Moscow had denied Western reports about the Wagner Group’s involvement in the fighting between the Sudanese parties, but confirmed that Sudan can benefit from the group’s services.

The founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in earlier comments that he was ready to help the Sudanese parties if asked to do so, adding that he had “good relations with all parties, which makes him an acceptable mediator.”

 



Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar sl-Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family's decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose" and suffers from insecurity following Assad's fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity," Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad's government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its armed proxies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that Tehran did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.