France urges ceasefire in Sudan war, pledges aid to Chad

France urges ceasefire in Sudan war, pledges aid to Chad
France's foreign minister on Thursday called on foreign nations to stop helping the warring sides in famine-stricken Sudan's civil war as he visited refugee camps in neighbouring Chad. (AFP/File)
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Updated 29 November 2024
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France urges ceasefire in Sudan war, pledges aid to Chad

France urges ceasefire in Sudan war, pledges aid to Chad
  • French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot denounced the attitude of Russia, which vetoed a UN resolution last week that urged a ceasefire and the protection of civilians in Sudan
  • Russia has “abandoned the Sudanese” and “unveiled its relationship with Africa, a relationship based on greed, cynicism and hyprocrisy“

ADRE, Chad: France’s foreign minister on Thursday called on foreign nations to stop helping the warring sides in famine-stricken Sudan’s civil war as he visited refugee camps in neighboring Chad.
Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in conflict between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Both sides face accusations of war crimes, including targeting civilians, shelling residential areas, and blocking or looting aid.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced over 11 million people out of their homes, with 2.1 million fleeing the country. The United Nations estimates that more than 25 million people — over half the population — facing acute hunger.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot denounced the attitude of Russia, which vetoed a UN resolution last week that urged a ceasefire and the protection of civilians in Sudan.
Russia has “abandoned the Sudanese” and “unveiled its relationship with Africa, a relationship based on greed, cynicism and hyprocrisy,” the minister said.
Around 1.5 million Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad, a country of 20 million people.
Barrot urged the Sudanese armed forces to “keep the Adre crossing open and lift all bureaucratic impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
Adre, leading into Chad, is the only access point to famine-stricken Darfur in western Sudan.
He urged the RSF to “cease looting, racketeering and the diversion of humanitarian convoys to allow them to arrive at their destination.”
Chad’s Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah, who was with Barrot said that Chad “remains strictly neutral in the conflict.”
“We have an interest in bringing peace back to Sudan and remaining as neutral as possible in this war,” he added.
Barrot pledged an additional seven million euros ($7.4 million) in aid to support efforts to fight cholera and help women and children in Chad.
Paris had already vowed to donate $110 million in April.
Several nations have promised more than $2 billion for Sudan, but voiced concern about getting the aid to the population.


Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike

Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike
Updated 17 sec ago
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Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike

Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike
The dawn strike killed one person
The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon“

SIDON, Lebanon: Hamas said one of its commanders was killed in an Israeli strike on the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Wednesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the dawn strike killed one person.
Hamas named him as Khaled Ahmed Al-Ahmed and said he was on his way to pray.
“As we mourn our heroic martyr, we pledge to God Almighty, and then to our people and our nation, to continue on the path of resistance,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon.”
It alleged he had been engaged in weapons smuggling and advancing “numerous” attacks against Israel.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five positions that it deems “strategic.”
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Hezbollah had withdrawn fighters from south of the Litani and dismantled most of its military infrastructure in the area.
Lebanon says it has respected its commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw from the five border positions.
Last week, Lebanon’s top security body the Higher Defense Council warned Hamas against using the country for attacks on Israel.
The group has since handed over several Palestinians accused of firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in March.

Yemen, Iran will be left ‘unrecognizable’ if attacks continue, says Israeli envoy

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon delivers remarks during Israeli Independence Day celebrations at the UN Headquarters.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon delivers remarks during Israeli Independence Day celebrations at the UN Headquarters.
Updated 07 May 2025
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Yemen, Iran will be left ‘unrecognizable’ if attacks continue, says Israeli envoy

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon delivers remarks during Israeli Independence Day celebrations at the UN Headquarters.
  • UN Ambassador Danny Danon was speaking at Israeli Independence Day celebrations
  • Warning came as Israel ‘fully disabled’ Sanaa airport in retaliatory strikes on Tuesday

NEW YORK CITY: Israel’s UN ambassador threatened Yemen’s Houthi militia and Iran in remarks made during Israeli Independence Day celebrations.

“If the Houthis and their Iranian masters want to play with fire, they will find their own lands unrecognizable,” Danny Danon said on Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York City.

The warning came as Israel launched a series of attacks on Yemen in retaliation for a Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv days earlier.

Israeli jets struck Sanaa’s international airport as well as the Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Tuesday.

The Yemeni capital’s airport was left “fully disabled” by the attack, the Israeli military said in a statement.

Washington and the Houthi militia on Tuesday also reached a deal to end the militia’s attacks on Red Sea shipping.

But the ceasefire, mediated by Oman, does not include an agreement to limit Houthi strikes on Israel, officials from the militia said later.

Dozens of ambassadors and Jewish community leaders took part in the Independence Day event in New York City.

Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots football team who has deep ties to Israel, also attended.

Danon said: “Israel is not a footnote in history — it is a driving force in history. Even after 77 years of independence, we are still forced to fight for our very right to exist in security and peace.

“But time and again we have shown the world the unbeatable spirit of the Jewish people — the ability to turn suffering into strength, isolation into unity and despair into hope.”

Malawi’s ambassador to the UN, Dr. Agnes Chimbiri-Molande, also took part in the event. She recently joined an Israeli-organized delegation to Auschwitz as part of the March of the Living organization.

Chimbiri-Molande said: “Visiting Israel was a powerful and unforgettable experience for me. I stood in the face of destruction — but also in the face of hope.

“Israel is a living example to the world of how one can continue to build and believe, even when attempts are made repeatedly to destroy it.”

Kraft, founder of the Stand Up to Jewish Hate initiative, has led extensive pro-Israel campaigning efforts in the US. Last year, he likened nationwide university protests against the war in Gaza to the forces that led to the rise of Nazism in Germany during the 1930s.

Kraft said at the Israeli Mission’s event: “Today more than ever we must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. The Jewish people have contributed to the entire world — in science, technology, medicine and humanity.

“It is time for the world to recognize and protect this contribution.”


Syrian leader arrives in France in first European trip

Syrian leader arrives in France in first European trip
Updated 07 May 2025
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Syrian leader arrives in France in first European trip

Syrian leader arrives in France in first European trip
  • Sharaa, who will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, received an exemption from the United Nations to travel to Paris as he remains on a terrorism sanctions list
  • The two leaders will discuss how to ensure Syria’s sovereignty and security, the handling of minorities after recent attacks against Alawites and Druze

PARIS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa arrived in Paris on Wednesday, his first trip to Europe since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December, as he seeks international support for his efforts to bring greater stability to his war-shattered country.
Sharaa, who will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, received an exemption from the United Nations to travel to Paris as he remains on a terrorism sanctions list for his previous leadership of Islamist armed group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The two leaders will discuss how to ensure Syria’s sovereignty and security, the handling of minorities after recent attacks against Alawites and Druze, counterterrorism efforts against Daesh militants and the coordination of aid and economic support, including an easing of sanctions, French officials said.
The visit marks a diplomatic boost for Sharaa from a Western power at a time when the United States is refusing to recognize any entity as the government of Syria and keeping sanctions in place.
“We are not writing a blank cheque and we will judge (him) on actions,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told TF1 TV channel on Wednesday.
He added that Paris wanted to ensure that Syria focused on fighting impunity to curtail sectarian violence and its full engagement in tackling Daesh militants.
“If Syria were to collapse today it would be like rolling out a red carpet for Islamic State,” Barrot said.
The Franco-Alawite Collective is holding a protest against Sharaa in central Paris on Wednesday afternoon.
The same group filed a legal complaint on April 11 to the Paris prosecutor, seen by Reuters, aimed at Sharaa and some of his ministers for genocide and crimes against humanity over the mass killings in March of Alawaites in the country’s coastal region.

CAUTIOUS RAPPROCHEMENT
France welcomed Assad’s fall and has increasingly fostered ties with Sharaa’s transitional authorities. Macron recently held a trilateral video meeting with Sharaa and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun as part of efforts to ease tensions on the border.
France last month appointed a charge d’affaires in Damascus with a small team of diplomats as a step toward fully reopening its embassy.
Paris believes it has a card to play in Syria, having cut ties with Assad in 2012 and having refused thereafter to restore ties with his government even after opposition fighters were badly defeated and confined to northern pockets of the country.
It traditionally backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, where it already has special forces.
Over the past months France played an intermediary role between Sharaa and the Kurds as the United States began reducing its presence and the new Syrian leader looked to bring the area back under centralized control from Damascus.
A French presidency official said Paris had been holding talks with the Americans on how to handle Washington’s withdrawal and how France could play a bigger role.
With the World Bank estimating reconstruction costs in Syria at more than $250 billion, Sharaa is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy battered by 14 years of civil war. During that period the US, the European Union and Britain imposed tough sanctions on the Assad government.
The EU has lifted some sanctions, while some others that target individuals and entities are due to expire on June 1.
Syria hopes the EU will not renew those measures. Their renewal needs consensus among all 27 member states, although the bloc could opt for a limited renewal or delist key institutions such as the Central Bank or other entities that are needed for economic recovery, including energy, infrastructure, finance.


Sisi: Greece, Egypt set to sign deal to boost ties

Sisi: Greece, Egypt set to sign deal to boost ties
Updated 07 May 2025
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Sisi: Greece, Egypt set to sign deal to boost ties

Sisi: Greece, Egypt set to sign deal to boost ties
  • The two countries seek to step up political coordination to help safeguard stability in the Eastern Mediterranean
  • The leaders were expected to stress respect for international law amid the Gaza war

ATHENS: Greece and Egypt will sign a “strategic partnership” agreement on Wednesday as the two countries seek to step up political coordination to help safeguard stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said.
“Our relations are traditional and historical. We have the basis to enhance this relationship,” said El-Sisi during a televised meeting with Greek President Constantine Tassoulas in Athens. “We will have today the chance to sign a joint declaration for a strategic partnership.”
El-Sisi is due to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, more than a year after they agreed to set up a cooperation board of senior officials from both countries to improve ties. The two leaders were expected to reaffirm their joint stance over the need to respect international law to promote peace in a turbulent region amid the ongoing war in Gaza, a Greek government official said.
Migration was also expected to top the agenda of bilateral talks as European governments have long been worried about the risk of instability in Egypt, a country of 106 million people where economic adversity has pushed increasing numbers to migrate.
Egypt largely shut off irregular migration from its north coast in 2016, but the Greek islands of Crete and Gavdos have seen a steep rise in migrant arrivals, mostly from Afghanistan and Egypt. The European Union last year announced a 7.4 billion euro ($8.40 billion) funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt, in part of a push to stem migrant flows from Egypt to Europe.

Last month, its executive arm included Egypt, where human rights have come under scrutiny, on a list of “safe countries” where failed asylum seekers could be returned.


Houthi spokesperson: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel

Houthi spokesperson: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel
Updated 07 May 2025
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Houthi spokesperson: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel

Houthi spokesperson: US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel
  • The US and the Houthis agreed a ceasefire, mediators announced
  • The deal would ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea
  • The Houthis said attacks on Israel will continue

DUBAI: A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the United States does not include operations against Israel "in any way, shape or form," the group's chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters on Wednesday.

Abdulsalam statement came after Israeli military reported on Wednesday that it had intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) launched from the east.

The US and the Houthis agreed a ceasefire, mediators announced, saying the deal would ensure "freedom of navigation" in the Red Sea where the Houthis have attacked shipping for months.
The agreement comes after President Donald Trump announced that the US would end attacks against the Houthis after they agreed to stop harassing ships, though he made no direct mention of recent attacks on ally Israel.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Tuesday said that "following recent discussions and contacts... with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides".
"Neither side will target the other... ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping" in the Red Sea, he added in a statement.
At the White House, Trump said the Houthis had "capitulated" after a seven-week US bombing campaign that left 300 dead, according to an AFP tally of Huthi figures.
The Houthis' political leader Mahdi al-Mashat did not comment on the accord but promised a "painful" response to deadly Israeli strikes in retaliation for missile fire at Israel's main airport.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told Al-Masirah television channel that any US action would garner a response. "If the American enemy resumes its attacks, we will resume our strikes," he said.
"The real guarantee for the accord is the dark experience that the United States has had in Yemen," he added.
Mashat said attacks on Israel, the United States' main ally in the region, "will continue" and go "beyond what the Israeli enemy can withstand".
The Houthi have been attacking Israel and merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since late 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.