Abdalla Hamdok - The African Mirror

Nov

2020

Ethiopian PM fires army chief as country teeters on brink of civil war

GIULIA PARAVICINI and DAWIT ENDESHAW ETHIOPIA’S Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed replaced his army chief, the head of intelligence and the foreign minister as the military continued a five-day-old offensive in the restive Tigray region with a new round of airstrikes. Abiy's office did not give reasons for the personnel changes, which come as he is pursuing a military campaign against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a powerful ethnic faction that led the ruling coalition for decades until Abiy took office in 2018. Abiy's office said in a statement that Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen had been appointed foreign minister…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Israeli envoys will travel to Sudan for normalisation deal, Netanyahu says

NEWS

AN Israeli delegation will travel to Sudan in coming days after the two countries agreed to take steps to normalise ties, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced. The agreement, brokered with the help of the United States and announced on Friday, made Sudan the third Arab government to set aside hostilities with Israel in the last two months. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "An Israeli delegation will leave to Sudan in the coming days to complete the agreement," Netanyahu said at a news conference. It was unclear, however, how long it will take for an accord to be completed. The military…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia says it will not cave to ‘aggression’ in dam dispute

NEWS

ETHIOPIA has declared that threats of any kind towards resolving a dispute with its neighbours over the filling and operation of a massive hydropower dam were "misguided, unproductive and clear violations of international law". Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office made no mention of any person or any country in a statement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is at the centre of a dispute over Nile water supplies. But his comment came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call with the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in which they called for an amicable solution between…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s premier backs demands for justice as ICC prosecutor visits

NEWS

SUDANESE Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok says his government was committed to achieving justice as an International Criminal Court (ICC) delegation visited for the first time since the overthrow of ex-leader Omar al-Bashir. The ICC issued arrest warrants against Bashir in 2009 and 2010 on charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity during his campaign to crush a revolt in Darfur in which an estimated 300,000 people died. Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda The delegation, led by Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, arrived in Sudan late on Saturday to discuss the cases of Bashir and two other former officials wanted by…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Sudan rejects linking removal from U.S. terrorism list with Israel ties

NEWS

SUDAN does not want to link its removal from a U.S. terrorism list that is hindering access to foreign funding for the country's economy with normalisation of relations with Israel, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has said. Sources said this week that U.S. officials indicated in talks with a Sudanese delegation they wanted Khartoum to follow the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and open ties with Israel. Sudan's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism dates back to its toppled ruler Omar al-Bashir, and makes it difficult for its new transitional government to access urgently needed debt relief and foreign financing.…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Sudan PM tells Pompeo he’s not authorised to normalise ties with Israel

NEWS

KHALID ABDELAZIZ SUDANESE Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday that he was not mandated to normalise ties with Israel, and the issue should not be linked to Sudan's removal from a U.S. state sponsor of terrorism list. Pompeo arrived from Israel on what he said was the first official non-stop flight between the two countries, as the United States looks to strengthen Sudan-Israel ties. He met Hamdok and ruling council head Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, tweeting that Sudan's democratic transition was a "once in a generation opportunity". He discussed the Sudan-Israel relationship with…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Sudan ready to cooperate with ICC over Darfur

NEWS

SUDAN’S prime minister has announced that the country is ready to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) so those accused of war crimes in Darfur appear before the tribunal, a list that includes ousted President Omar al-Bashir. Bashir, who has been in jail in Khartoum since he was toppled after mass protests last year, is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur in a conflict that killed an estimated 300,000 people. The government reached a deal with rebel groups in February that all five Sudanese ICC suspects should appear before the…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Some 120 said to be killed or wounded in attack in Sudan’s Darfur region -U.N.

NEWS

KHALID ABDELAZIZ MORE than 60 people were reported killed and nearly 60 others wounded during an armed attack in a village in Sudan's restive Darfur region, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The attack in Masteri village in the West Darfur state "was one of the latest of a series of security incidents reported over the last week that left several villages and houses burned, markets and shops looted, and infrastructure damaged," the U.N. body added in a statement. It did not cite the source of its information. There was no official word from…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to hold more talks on Renaissance dam

NEWS

ETHIOPIA, Egypt and Sudan have agreed to resume talks to break a deadlock on the Grand Renaissance Dam reservoir on the Blue Nile, the leaders of the three countries have said. The announcements made separately by Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed, Sudan's Abdalla Hamdok and Egypt's presidency, followed a virtual mini-African Union summit that was called after they failed to reach an agreement earlier this month. "The extraordinary meeting... concluded with all parties reaching a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement," Abiy's office said in a statement which was posted on Twitter. South Africa's President Cyril…