US slaps sanctions on Sudan paramilitary leader

US slaps sanctions on Sudan paramilitary leader
The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions against a senior leader in war-torn Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for his role in obtaining weapons for the paramilitary organization. (AFP/File)
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Updated 08 October 2024
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US slaps sanctions on Sudan paramilitary leader

US slaps sanctions on Sudan paramilitary leader
  • Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa was sanctioned “for his involvement in RSF efforts to procure weapons and other military materiel,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said
  • His actions have fueled war in Sudan “and brutal RSF atrocities against civilians”

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions against a senior leader in war-torn Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for his role in obtaining weapons for the paramilitary organization.
Tens of thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced since war broke out in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the RSF after their head generals refused a plan to integrate.
Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa was sanctioned “for his involvement in RSF efforts to procure weapons and other military materiel that have enabled the RSF’s ongoing operations in Sudan,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
His actions have fueled war in Sudan “and brutal RSF atrocities against civilians, which have included war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing,” Miller said.
The US Treasury said that as a result of such sanctions “all property and interests in property of the designated persons... that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported.”
The United States has led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting in Sudan but has seen limited success and leverage, with RSF commanders unlikely to hold major assets in the West that would be affected by sanctions.


Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 44,930

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 44,930
Updated 3 sec ago
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Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 44,930

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 44,930
The toll includes 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA CITY: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 44,930 people have been killed in more than 14 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 106,624 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future

Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future
Updated 29 min 4 sec ago
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Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future

Top Arab, US diplomats meet to discuss Syria’s future
  • Arab diplomats seek assurances from Turkiye that it supports an inclusive political process

AQABA, Jordan: Top diplomats from the United States, Turkiye, the European Union and Arab nations met in Jordan on Saturday for talks on Syria as regional and global powers scramble for influence over whatever government replaces ousted President Bashar Assad.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration has begun engaging with the victorious militant groups including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which led a lightning assault that ended in the capture of Damascus on Sunday.

Biden sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region this week to seek support for principles that Washington hopes will guide Syria’s political transition, such as respect for minorities.

Meanwhile Syria’s northern neighbor Turkiye has for years supported Syrian opposition forces looking to oust Assad and is poised to play an influential role in Damascus.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that his country’s embassy in the Syrian capital would resume work on Saturday, after Turkiye’s intelligence chief visited this week.

Syria’s neighbor Jordan was hosting Saturday’s gathering in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, who were Assad’s key supporters, were not invited.

Blinken, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Fidan and foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar met around a circular table at a Jordanian government guesthouse. There was no Syrian representative at the table.

The Arab diplomats earlier met separately.

Blinken, meeting Pederson at his hotel earlier on Saturday, said it was a time of “both opportunity but also real challenge” for Syria.

Arab diplomats attending the talks said they were seeking assurances from Turkiye that it supports an inclusive political process that prevents partition of Syria on sectarian lines.

Turkiye and the United States, both NATO members, have conflicting interests when it comes to some of the militants. Turkiye-backed militants in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF, which controls some of Syria’s largest oil fields, is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants. It is spearheaded by YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years and who it outlaws.

Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that Daesh must not be able to regroup, and the SDF must not be distracted from its role of securing camps holding Daesh fighters, according to a US official with the US delegation. Turkish leaders agreed, the official said.

Fidan told Turkish TV later on Friday that the elimination of the YPG was Turkiye’s “strategic target” and urged the group’s commanders to leave Syria.


Palestinian security forces clash with militants in West Bank

Palestinian security forces clash with militants in West Bank
Updated 14 December 2024
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Palestinian security forces clash with militants in West Bank

Palestinian security forces clash with militants in West Bank
  • Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the city, where friction has risen in recent days between militant factions and the Palestinian Authority
  • Residents identified the man who was killed as a militant though none of the factions immediately confirmed his affiliation

JENIN, West Bank: At least one person was killed as Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants and set up checkpoints on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, residents and medics said.
Gunshots and explosions could be heard in the city, where friction has risen in recent days between militant factions and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following raids by the PA.
Residents identified the man who was killed as a militant though none of the factions immediately confirmed his affiliation.
The PA’s security branch said in a statement that its forces were undertaking a security operation to restore law and order to Jenin’s historic refugee camp suburb, a stronghold of Palestinian militants alienated from the Palestinian leadership.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza for more than a year, condemned the PA for the Jenin operation and its allied group Islamic Jihad called for a day of protests.
Jenin has also been a hotbed of conflict between the Palestinian militant groups and the Israeli military in recent years. Since March 2022, Jenin and outlying areas in the north of the West Bank have drawn intensified Israeli raids after a spate of Palestinian street attacks.


Seven Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school, civil emergency says

Seven Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school, civil emergency says
Updated 14 December 2024
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Seven Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school, civil emergency says

Seven Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school, civil emergency says
  • The dead include a woman and her baby, according to medics

CAIRO: At least seven Palestinians were killed and 12 wounded after an Israeli strike on a former school that was sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, the civil emergency service said on Saturday.
The Israeli military is looking into the report, a spokesperson said.
Earlier on Saturday the Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas militants who were operating within a school compound in Gaza City and that it had taken measures to reduce harm to civilians.
The dead include a woman and her baby, according to medics. It was unclear whether the other fatalities were Hamas fighters.
The Palestinian Islamist group denies embedding its fighters among civilians in Gaza


Turkiye to reopen embassy in Syria as diplomats gather for talks

Turkiye to reopen embassy in Syria as diplomats gather for talks
Updated 14 December 2024
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Turkiye to reopen embassy in Syria as diplomats gather for talks

Turkiye to reopen embassy in Syria as diplomats gather for talks
  • Move comes as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats gathered in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria

DAMASCUS: Turkiye was set to reopen its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, nearly a week after president Bashar Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria’s civil war.
The move came as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats gathered in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria, and a day after nationwide celebrations at Assad’s ouster.
Ankara has been a major player in Syria’s conflict, holding considerable sway in the northwest and financing armed groups there, and maintaining a working relationship with the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the offensive that brought down Assad.
Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the new charge d’affaires, Burhan Koroglu, left for Syria on Friday, with the embassy expected to be “operational” the following day.
Fidan also said Ankara had urged Assad backers Russia and Iran not to intervene as the Islamist-led militants mounted their lightning advance last week.
“The most important thing was to talk to the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they didn’t enter the equation militarily... They understood,” Fidan told private television network NTV.
Turkish diplomats joined counterparts from the European Union, the United States and the Arab world on Saturday for talks in the Jordanian city of Aqaba.
A day before the meetings in Jordan, Syrians had celebrated what they called the “Friday of victory,” with fireworks heralding the fall of the Assad dynasty.
Celebrations continued into the night on the first Friday — the Muslim day of rest and prayer — since Assad was ousted.
Umayyad Square in Damascus was jammed with vehicles, people and waving flags as fireworks shot into the air, AFPTV footage showed.
Crowds also gathered in the squares and streets of other Syrian cities, including Homs, Hama and Idlib.