Sudan Shelling Kills 15, RSF Claims Gains In Darfur

Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)
Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)
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Sudan Shelling Kills 15, RSF Claims Gains In Darfur

Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)
Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)

At least 15 civilians in Khartoum were killed on Saturday "when shells fell on their homes", a medical source said, as paramilitary fighters battling Sudan's army claimed gains in Darfur.

The victims' bodies were taken to Al-Nau hospital in Omdurman, a district of greater Khartoum, the medical source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Fighting since April between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has raged in heavily populated areas.

The struggle between the rival generals has crippled essential services in Sudan and razed entire neighbourhoods of the capital and the vast western region of Darfur.

In nearly seven months of war, more than 10,400 people have been killed, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The United Nations says the violence has forced more than 6 million people to flee, both within and outside Sudan.

Representatives of the warring sides are currently in the Saudi city of Jeddah for negotiations mediated by Saudi Arabia and the United States, but the fighting back home has raged unabated.

For weeks, the RSF has been advancing on army bases in Darfur, a region already scarred by decades of conflict and atrocities committed against civilians by armed groups including the RSF's predecessor, the Janjaweed militia.

On Saturday, the paramilitary force announced it had "liberated" an army base in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state where a communications blackout has raised fears of fresh horrors.

According to Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN's most senior representative in the country, reports of "civilians being caught in the ongoing fighting" in Darfur recall "the events in El Geneina" in June, when rights groups and witnesses reported massacres, rampant sexual violence and mass graves.

More than half a million people have fled the violence in Darfur to neighbouring Chad, which is just 30 kilometres (18 miles) from El Geneina.

The events in West Darfur and other reports of ethnically motivated killings by the RSF and allied militias have triggered a new investigation by the International Criminal Court into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The army base in El Geneina is the third the RSF has claimed to have captured in a week, after Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur, and Nyala, the South Darfur state capital and the second largest city in Sudan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued an unusually strong statement on Monday, warning against signs of an "imminent large-scale attack" in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.

The attack "would subject civilians, including hundreds of thousands of displaced persons -- many of whom only recently fled to El Fasher from other areas -- to extreme danger," Blinken said.

Darfur is a region the size of France, and home to a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people.

As Sudan's civilians face what UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has called "one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history", both sides have positioned themselves as peacemakers in the resumed negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

US officials say the goals for now are limited to allowing in humanitarian assistance and pushing for a sustainable ceasefire.

In previous negotiations, every agreed truce was almost immediately violated by both sides, and have both also been accused of obstructing, attacking or looting aid.

The RSF on Monday published a video of its commander, Daglo, who has kept mostly out of sight throughout the conflict, in which he blamed Burhan for the war and congratulated his forces for their "victory" in Darfur.

Daglo said the RSF "has no problem with peace", but it will not agree to "a ceasefire that allows the army" to regroup.



Arab Parliament Reaffirms Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

Arab Parliament logo
Arab Parliament logo
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Arab Parliament Reaffirms Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

Arab Parliament logo
Arab Parliament logo

The Arab Parliament affirmed that the rights of the Palestinian people are inalienable and cannot be erased by the passage of time. Foremost among these rights are self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

It stressed that these rights must be upheld in accordance with the two-state solution, relevant international resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative, in a manner that ensures a just and comprehensive peace.

In a statement issued on Monday to mark the 109th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the Arab Parliament described the declaration as a historic crime against the Palestinian people, whose devastating consequences continue to this day.

It noted that these repercussions are reflected in the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians and its persistent violations across the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. These include killings, forced displacement, starvation, and genocide, all in flagrant violation of international law, norms, and conventions.

The Arab Parliament condemned these continued crimes and violations, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities and take decisive measures to stop them and hold those responsible accountable.


Lebanon’s EDL Begins Cutting Power to Ministries, Municipalities and Public Institutions over Unpaid Dues

The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)
The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon’s EDL Begins Cutting Power to Ministries, Municipalities and Public Institutions over Unpaid Dues

The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)
The offices of Electricite du Liban in Beirut on August 17, 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon’s public power utility, "Electricite du Liban" (EDL), began on Monday implementing measures to disconnect electricity supply to public administrations, public institutions, and municipalities that have failed to settle their financial dues.

This unprecedented move, in terms of its sweeping scope, targets ministries, official bodies, water authorities, and municipalities. It comes amid a severe financial crisis confronting the state utility due to the accumulation of public sector debts.

An initial list obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat revealed the names of institutions and administrations covered by the measures. They include the Council for Development and Reconstruction, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Directorate General of Urban Planning, Directorate General of Education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Land Registry Directorates, and the Directorate General of Customs, in addition to subscriptions belonging to the Ministry of Telecommunications across various regions.

An informed source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "the decision to cut electricity to public institutions and administrations that fail to settle their dues does not aim to punish them or disrupt their work, but rather to enforce respect for the law and establish permanent financial regularity in paying electricity bills, thereby ensuring that EDL secures its rights and the continuity of its operations."

The source explained that "the primary objective is not the power disconnection itself, but rather to push public institutions to assume their financial responsibilities and settle their accumulated obligations on a regular basis, instead of continuing to pile up debts and resorting to temporary fixes whenever the crisis intensifies."

Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut successfully avoided a power disconnection after the Civil Aviation Authority reached an understanding with EDL. The agreement stipulates the payment of a portion of the accumulated dues and the rescheduling of the remaining amounts, alongside a commitment to settle incoming bills on a regular basis.

The accumulated dues owed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation reached around $22.8 million, according to figures circulated regarding public sector debts.

These measures come in light of EDL’s need to collect regular revenues to finance fuel purchases and operate power plants. Its dues from public administrations and institutions reached around a quarter of a billion dollars.

The problem of arrears dates back to years of irregular electricity bill payments and has worsened with the tariff increase and the lack of sufficient credit availability among some administrations. This presents a dual challenge related to settling past debts and ensuring the payment of new consumption.


Lebanese, Syrian Talks in Damascus Tackle Border Security, Refugees

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
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Lebanese, Syrian Talks in Damascus Tackle Border Security, Refugees

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and Lebanon's Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri meet in Damascus. (Syrian Foreign Ministry)

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani received on Monday a high-level Lebanese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri in the Syrian capital, Damascus, for talks on outstanding issues between the neighboring countries.

Informed sources in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian side focused heavily on border control and joint security cooperation and coordination, while the Lebanese side focused primarily on the file of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said: "The meeting discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two brotherly nations and develop joint coordination across various fields, primarily security cooperation and border control. This is in addition to expanding the horizons of partnership in the sectors of education, higher education, social affairs, and labor, as well as following up on the work of joint technical committees to serve mutual interests."

The Lebanese delegation's visit to Damascus comes within the context of strengthening bilateral relations, serving as a continuation of previous talks and a follow-up on the work of the joint committees established between the two sides to address shared files.

This follows an agreement reached by both countries last July to establish a joint higher committee to serve as an institutional framework for coordinating the work of the relevant ministries, developing economic, investment, and trade cooperation, and reinforcing security understandings.

According to informed sources in Damascus, the management of the Syrian–Lebanese border, traffic at border crossings, and security coordination to combat smuggling and infiltration topped the agenda of the talks.

The file of Syrian refugees and the status of residents in Lebanon, particularly those who entered covertly, was brought forward. The discussions sought to address the refugee issue from multiple dimensions, including social, security, and legal aspects. The situation of Syrian students in Lebanese schools was also raised.