Sudan army says it has control of presidential palace in Khartoum

Sudan army says it has control of presidential palace in Khartoum
File photo released by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on May 1, 2023, fighters stand at an entrance of the presidential palace in Khartoum.(AFP)
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Updated 22 March 2025
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Sudan army says it has control of presidential palace in Khartoum

Sudan army says it has control of presidential palace in Khartoum
  • The army shared videos of soldiers cheering on the palace grounds, its glass windows shattered and walls pockmarked with bullet holes
  • Images showed the cladding of the recently constructed palace torn off by explosions

DUBAI/CAIRO: The Sudanese army seized full control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday, it said in a statement, in what would be a major gain in a two-year-old conflict with a rival armed group that has threatened to partition the country.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said hours later that it remained in the vicinity of the palace, and that it had launched an attack that had killed dozens of army soldiers inside.
Army sources said the fighters were about 400 meters away. They said the army’s forces had suffered a drone attack that killed several soldiers as well as three journalists from state television.
The army had long been on the back foot but has recently been making gains and has retaken territory from the RSF in the center of the country.
Meanwhile the RSF has consolidated control in the west, hardening battle lines and moving the country toward de facto partition. The RSF is working to set up a parallel government in areas it controls, although that is not expected to receive widespread international recognition.
The RSF rapidly seized the presidential palace in Khartoum, along with the rest of the city, after war broke out in April 2023 over the paramilitary’s integration into the armed forces.

The army shared videos of soldiers cheering on the palace grounds, its glass windows shattered and walls pockmarked with bullet holes. Images showed the cladding of the recently constructed palace torn off by explosions.
Many Sudanese welcomed the army’s statement that it had control of the palace.
“The liberation of the palace is the best news I’ve heard since the start of the war, because it means the start of the army controlling the rest of Khartoum,” said 55-year-old Khartoum resident Mohamed Ibrahim.
“We want to be safe again and live without fear or hunger,” he said.
Late on Thursday the RSF said it had seized a key base from the army in North Darfur, a region in the west of the country.
The conflict has led to what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, spreading famine in several locations and disease across the country of 50 million people.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, while the RSF has also been charged with genocide. Both sides deny the charges.
GUNFIRE IN KHARTOUM
Intermittent gunfire was heard in Khartoum on Friday and bloody fighting was expected as the army seeks to corner the RSF, which still occupies swathes of the territory to the south of the palace.
“We are moving forward along all fighting axes until victory is complete by cleansing every inch of our country from the filth of this militia and its collaborators,” the army statement said.
RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had instructed troops earlier this week to maintain control at the palace.
Although the RSF still has positions in Khartoum, its foothold there is more tenuous than at any point since the conflict began and the trajectory suggests the RSF will be pushed out completely, said Ahmed Soliman, senior research fellow at Chatham House.
The army is likely to continue the war in the west, he added, leaving Sudan facing “a contested, partitioned reality.”
The war erupted two years ago as the country was planning a transition to democratic rule.
The army and RSF had joined forces after ousting Omar Al-Bashir from power in 2019 and later to oust civilian leadership.
But they had long been at odds, as Bashir developed Hemedti and the RSF, which has its roots in Darfur’s janjaweed militias, as a counterweight to the army, led by career officer Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.


Syrian president hails Pope Francis for solidarity in ‘darkest moments’

Syrian president hails Pope Francis for solidarity in ‘darkest moments’
Updated 17 sec ago
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Syrian president hails Pope Francis for solidarity in ‘darkest moments’

Syrian president hails Pope Francis for solidarity in ‘darkest moments’
DAMASCUS: President of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmed Al-Sharaa paid tribute to Pope Francis, saying he had supported the Syrian people in “their darkest moments.”
The Argentine pontiff, who died on Monday aged 88, “supported the Syrian people in their darkest moments, constantly raising his voice against the violence and injustice they faced,” Sharaa said in a statement on Wednesday.
Syria’s civil war began in 2011 with a crackdown by president Bashar Assad on a pro-democracy movement.
By the time Assad was ousted in an offensive led by Sharaa on December 8, more than 500,000 people had been killed and more than half the population displaced.
Syria is home to a majority Sunni Muslim population, but also a sizeable Christian minority from several denominations, as well as other religious minorities.
Extending condolences to Catholics, Sharaa said of Francis: “His calls transcended political boundaries, and his legacy of moral courage and solidarity will remain alive in the hearts of many people in our country.”
Syria’s Christian community has shrunk from around one million before the war to under 300,000 due to waves of displacement and emigration.
The capital Damascus is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world but its Christian population dwindled to only about two percent, the Vatican said last year.
While the war began as a crackdown on peaceful protests, religion and ethnicity swiftly came into focus as groups battling each other became increasingly radicalized.
Syria’s Christian community generally either supported the government or sought to be neutral in the war, with Assad, himself from the minority Alawite sect, portraying himself as a protector of minorities.
Critics of Assad, however, accused him of using minority communities to prop himself up, and of meting out especially brutal punishment for any detained members of minority communities who dared to voice dissent.
Sharaa and the new government are under pressure from Western countries to ensure they are inclusive in their exercise of power.
Sharaa, now the president of Syria, was the former head of the country’s Al-Qaeda offshoot, a radical Sunni Muslim group widely proscribed as a terrorist organization.
Since Assad’s ouster, the most serious violence to hit Syria was a massacre on the Mediterranean coast in March, which according to a war monitor saw more than 1,700 people killed.
The victims were mostly members of the Alawite minority of ousted president Assad.

Israel military issues evacuation order for residents of two north Gaza areas

Israel military issues evacuation order for residents of two north Gaza areas
Updated 2 min 46 sec ago
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Israel military issues evacuation order for residents of two north Gaza areas

Israel military issues evacuation order for residents of two north Gaza areas
Civilians in Beit Hanoun and Sheikh Zayed were ordered to move west Adraee said

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military issued an evacuation order on Thursday for Palestinians residing in two north Gaza areas ahead of a planned attack.
“To all of the civilians of the Gaza Strip staying in the areas of Beit Hanoun and Sheikh Zayed. This is a preliminary and a final warning... move west immediately toward Gaza City,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

Israel army says initial probe shows Israeli tank fire killed UN worker in Gaza last month

Israel army says initial probe shows Israeli tank fire killed UN worker in Gaza last month
Updated 31 min 5 sec ago
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Israel army says initial probe shows Israeli tank fire killed UN worker in Gaza last month

Israel army says initial probe shows Israeli tank fire killed UN worker in Gaza last month
  • “The examination indicates that the fatality was caused by tank fire from IDF,” the military said

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Thursday that the initial findings from an investigation into the death of a UN worker in the central Gaza Strip last month showed he was killed by Israeli tank fire.
“According to the findings collected so far, the examination indicates that the fatality was caused by tank fire from IDF (Israeli military) troops operating in the area. The building was struck due to assessed enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a UN facility,” the military statement said, referring to the incident on March 19.


Lebanese PM, speaker of UAE advisory parliament discuss regional issues

Lebanese PM, speaker of UAE advisory parliament discuss regional issues
Updated 24 April 2025
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Lebanese PM, speaker of UAE advisory parliament discuss regional issues

Lebanese PM, speaker of UAE advisory parliament discuss regional issues
  • Saqr Ghobash congratulated Nawaf Salam on forming a Lebanese government in February
  • Salam praised the UAE for promoting regional stability, development 

LONDON: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam discussed the strong fraternal relations between Abu Dhabi and Beirut with Saqr Ghobash, speaker of the UAE Federal National Council, on Thursday.

Ghobash made an official visit to Lebanon, where he extended the wishes of the Emirati leadership to Lebanon and its people for continued progress, prosperity and development, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Salam and Ghobash discussed ways to strengthen and expand cooperation in various cultural, economic and humanitarian fields, and exchanged views on several regional and international issues of mutual interest, WAM added.

Ghobash congratulated Salam on forming a Lebanese government in February and reaffirmed the UAE’s strong support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability and development. He said that the UAE is committed to providing unwavering support to the Lebanese people.

Salam praised the UAE for promoting stability and development across the region, and expressed appreciation for its continuous support of Lebanon during recent challenging times, WAM reported.


France says Tunisian political dissidents did not receive fair trial

France says Tunisian political dissidents did not receive fair trial
Updated 24 April 2025
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France says Tunisian political dissidents did not receive fair trial

France says Tunisian political dissidents did not receive fair trial
  • The comments by France came amid growing criticism of the government of President Kais Saied over its crackdown on dissent
  • The French Foreign Ministry said: “We regret the failure to respect fair trial conditions“

TUNIS: France on Wednesday criticized the lengthy sentences handed down by a Tunisian court against opposition leaders and businessmen on conspiracy charges on the weekend, saying the conditions for a fair trial were not met.
The comments by France, the first country to speak out on the trial, came amid growing criticism of the government of President Kais Saied over its crackdown on dissent.
Rights groups said the mass conviction of dissidents is a disturbing indication of the authorities’ willingness to go ahead with its crackdown on peaceful dissent.
Tunisia’s opposition has said the trial was fabricated and aimed at silencing critical voices and consolidating the authoritarian rule.
“We learned with concern of the harsh sentences...against several individuals accused of conspiring against state security, including French nationals,” the French Foreign Ministry said.
“We regret the failure to respect fair trial conditions,” it added. Journalists, diplomats, and civil society were barred from attending the trial.
The trial highlights Saied’s full control over the judiciary since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. He also dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in 2022.
Forty people were prosecuted in the trial, which started in March. More than 20 have fled abroad since being charged.
Lawyers said the maximum sentence was 66 years for businessman Kamel Ltaif, while opposition politician Khyam Turki received a 48-year sentence.
The court also sentenced prominent opposition figures including Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chebbi, Jawahar Ben Mbrak and Ridha BelHajj to 18 years in prison. They have been in custody since being detained in 2023.
Saied said in 2023 that the politicians were “traitors and terrorists” and that judges who would acquit them were their accomplices.
The opposition leaders involved in the case rejected the charges and said they were preparing an initiative aimed at uniting the fragmented opposition to face the democratic setback in the cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings.