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CAIRO — Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said Saturday he dismissed the chief of police, Lieutenant-General Khaled Mahdi Ibrahim Al-Emam, and his deputy.
Lieutenant-General Anan Hamed Mohammed Omar was appointed as the new police chief and Major General Muddathir Abd al-Rahman Nasr al-Din as his deputy, Hamdok added in a post on Twitter.
Source: Voice of America
Several Sudanese political figures arrested since a coup last month have started a hunger strike in protest at their continued detention, the coalition they were part of said on Friday.
An army takeover on October 25 halted a power sharing deal between the military and civilians from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance, and a number of ministers and top civilian officials were detained.
Some civilian figures have been released since the military struck a deal on November 21 with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, freeing him from house arrest and reinstating him. The deal provided for the release of all political detainees.
Those who have gone on hunger strike include deposed minister of cabinet affairs Khalid Omer Yousif, senior Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) official Sharif Mohamed Osman, and a third prominent political figure Jaafar Hassan, the SCP said in a statement.
“The step of the strike comes because of their continuous arbitrary detention since the October 25 coup and the deprivation of their basic human rights,” the statement said.
Protests calling for the military to exit politics and be held to account for the deaths of civilian protesters have been ongoing since the announcement of the deal between military leaders and Hamdok. A call has been issued for more mass rallies Sunday.
Meanwhile, five political figures including former trade minister Madani Abbas Madani and well known activist Mohamed Nagi al-Assam have been released, Madani told Reuters Friday.
Another four prominent political figures including SCP leader Omer Eldigair and SPLM-N rebel group deputy head and former Hamdok adviser Yasir Arman were released Monday.
Source: Voice of America
Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.
UN Libya Envoy Resigns One Month Before Elections:
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted his Libya envoy’s resignation Tuesday, just a month before presidential and parliamentary elections are due to take place in that country. The U.N. Security Council threatened sanctions Wednesday against anyone who undermines the vote or instigates violence.
UN Security Council Threatens Sanctions Against Libya Election Spoilers
New COVID-19 Variant Raises Concerns:
The World Health Organization’s technical working group meets Friday to discuss the emergence of a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa. Several countries have already suspended travel from South Africa and several neighboring nations over transmission fears.
South African Scientists Detect New Virus Variant; WHO to Assess It
Sudan PM Returns Under Controversial Deal:
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was released from house arrest Tuesday following the October 25 military coup. In a deal agreed upon Sunday, he is to lead a government of technocrats in a power-sharing transition with the military. Thousands of citizens oppose the move and took to the streets Thursday.
Thousands Protest in Sudan Against Deal Between Prime Minister, Military
News in Brief:
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres traveled to Colombia this week, where he participated Wednesday in commemorations marking the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Final Peace Agreement between the government of Colombia and the former FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). He met separately with President Iván Duque, as well as with ex-FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño, now president of the Comunes political party, as well as civil society representatives.
As the security situation in Ethiopia continues to deteriorate, the United Nations said Tuesday that “out of an abundance of caution” it is temporarily moving the dependents of its international staff out of the country. The U.N. has just over a thousand international personnel and dependents in the country. Staff will remain to carry out their work.
Some Good News:
The U.N. has been struggling for more than a month to get any aid into northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region where more than 5 million people are suffering under a de facto government blockade. On Wednesday, the U.N. said it was finally able to move nearly 40 aid-laden trucks into the region, as well as resume humanitarian air cargo flights that had been suspended due to air strikes last month. However, the U.N. says 500 trucks of aid supplies are needed weekly to meet needs in Tigray.
Quote of Note:
“Violence against women is an existing global crisis that thrives on other crises. Conflict, climate-related natural disasters, food insecurity and human rights violations all contribute to women and girls living with a sense of danger, even in their own homes, neighborhoods, or communities. The COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated isolation and social distancing, enabled a second, shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls, where they often found themselves in lockdown with their abusers.”
Sima Bahous, U.N. Women executive director on Thursday, launching the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
What we are watching next week:
On Tuesday, the U.N. General Assembly’s 9-member credentials committee will meet. This panel reviews and approves who represents nations at the world body. It will have two thorny credentials to review: Myanmar’s military junta wants to replace the previous democratically elected government’s envoy with one of their own, and Afghanistan’s Taliban also seeks to do the same. Neither group has received international recognition as those country’s formal governments.
Source: Voice of America
Ethiopians living in Djibouti have participated today in the 14th edition of the African Peace Walk held in Arta, Djibouti.
During the 10kms Peace Walk, Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia have voiced the now popular movement dubbed “No More” that called for an end to mainstream media misrepresentations of the situation in Ethiopia and meddling in the country’s internal affairs.
High-level government officials, Heads of Missions and diplomats as well as nationalities from different countries took part in the African Peace Walk, according to Foreign Affairs Minister.
It is to be recalled that tens of thousands of Ethiopians in the diaspora had held demonstrations in 27 major cities across the globe last Sunday under the Motto ” No More”.
The demonstrators denounced foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Ethiopia and urged western nations to stop supporting the terrorist TPLF which is engaged in distractive activities to dismantle the country in collaboration with internal and external forces.
Source: Ethiopia News agency
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s government has asked the United States to stop spreading what it considers falsehoods against the country, the state minister of communication Kebede Dessisa said Thursday, after the State Department issued an alert about potential “terrorist attacks.”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and rebellious forces from the Tigray region in the north have been fighting for more than a year, in a conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions in Africa’s second most populous nation.
This week, the Irish government said Ethiopia had expelled four of six Irish diplomats from the country because of Ireland’s stance on the conflict. Spokespeople for the Ethiopian government also have warned against unnamed external threats and repeatedly criticized Western governments for what they say is inaccurate coverage of the war.
Kebede, the state minister of communication, was quoted by state broadcaster EBC as telling a news conference the U.S. government should refrain from disseminating “shameful fake news and defamation regarding Ethiopia.”
He referred to a statement Wednesday on Twitter by the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa that urged its citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance due to “the ongoing possibility of terrorist attacks in Ethiopia.”
Earlier this month, tens of thousands of Ethiopians lied in the capital to support the government, where they denounced the United States for alleged interference in Ethiopia’s internal affairs. Washington has urged its citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately while the security situation still permits.
On Thursday, dozens of protesters took their anger to the U.S. Embassy in the city, where they displayed banners reading “Interference is Undemocratic” and “Truth Wins.”
Asked for comment, a U.S. Embassy official said the safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the State Department, adding: “We continue to urge U.S. citizens in Ethiopia to depart now using commercially available flight options.”
Tigrayan forces and their allies have threatened to march on the capital Addis Ababa. They also have been fighting fiercely to try to cut a transport corridor linking landlocked Ethiopia with the region’s main port Djibouti.
On Tuesday, U.S. Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman warned of an “alarming” increase in military operations and said both Abiy and the Tigrayan forces seem to believe they are on the cusp of military victory.
Source: Voice of America