Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Khalil Charles
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Sudan-Egypt diplomatic impasse persists, despite return of Khartoum's ambassador
As Sudan’s ambassador returns to Cairo today after a two-month absence, the precise reasons for Abdel-Mahmood Abdel-Halim’s dramatic withdrawal remains unexplained. Likewise, there is no available information on the changed circumstances that have made his return possible. Two months ago, troops from Sudan’s Rapid Response Armed forces sealed the country’s...
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The IMF role in Sudan’s bread protests
On 13 November last year, a report was released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the state of consumer subsidies in Sudan. It received scant media coverage but the report predicted future economic stagnation should Sudan’s central government continue to subsidise fuel and basic commodities. Moreover, the IMF report...
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Nile water crisis places Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on the brink of war
The irony of the presence of Egyptian troops gathering on the Eritrean-Sudanese border over its objection to Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam is not lost on legal experts aware of Egypt’s direct responsibility in signing away Sudan’s and its own legal right to permanent access to the Nile river waters. In recent...
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Sudan is preparing its strategy for a conflict with its neighbours
With the recall of Sudan’s Ambassador from Egypt, the closure of the Eritrean Border and a recent visit by Turkey’s President in which a Turkish takeover of a strategic island port fuelled uncertainty, it is safe to say that Sudan has moved closer than ever before to direct military...
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2018 is the year that could make or break Sudan
When Sudan’s Ismail Azhari was sworn into office in 1954 as the nation’s first Prime Minister, he led his country into independence two years later while facing a series of key challenges. Before the end of 1956, he was removed from office having been incapable of reconciling political differences...
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A Sudan-Turkey alliance promises a new direction for the Muslim world
The two-day visit to Khartoum by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir this week, marks a new phase in the relationship between the two countries. It also appears to affirm that a consensus on the Palestinian issue may have been given a new...
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UK-Sudan investment and trading links come under fire
For more than five years the British government have been waiting for the right moment to reengage commercially with Sudan, its former colony. The hope, in the corridors of the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO), was that the lifting of US economic sanctions, which took place officially on 12th...
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Washington responds to Sudan’s changing foreign policy
The timing of the call to withdraw Sudan’s troops from Yemen may just be a coincidence; however, ten days after Sudan’s President, Omar Al-Bashir, met in Sochi the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, fears have intensified that Sudan may pursue a changed foreign policy that would strengthen relations with Moscow,...
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Sudanese President's visit to Russia: What was Al-Bashir thinking?
As the Sudanese President returned home from his trip to Sochi to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the world’s media overwhelmingly seized on his plead that Moscow should provide protection to Sudan against the aggressive actions of the United States of America. Other news outlets quoted Al-Bashir’s veiled invitation to...
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Sudan distances itself from ties to terror
Some 25 years after Sudan was notoriously labelled as a state sponsor of terror, the job of clearing its name and the hope of overturning the classification remains one of Sudan’s top priorities. Without its removal, sanctions linked to the terror listing persist and investment prospects remain diminished. This...
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Sudan: State sponsor of terror or key regional stabiliser?
Amid calls for the arrest of the Sudanese President on his three day visit to Uganda, a Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo defended the decision not to hand over Al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court (ICC). He said Al-Bashir was a sitting head of state with immunity from prosecution...
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US sanctions not the cause of Sudan’s economic problem
Days after the official easing of sanctions, the economic situation in Sudan has prompted the view that US sanctions are not in fact and have not perhaps been the direct cause of Sudan’s economic problems! The claims come from economists and political commentators that have spoken to MEMO and seem...
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Is Sudan’s President’s bid for a third term populism or political suicide?
The news that President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan plans to seek a third term in the forthcoming 2020 election may be music to the ears of his supporters but the move may prove a decisive turning point and could be met with fierce domestic and international opposition just days...
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Will Sudan’s new peace initiative finally bring peace?
As Dr Ali Al-Hajj, the leader of the opposition Popular Congress Party, sat in the presidential office this week to discuss a new peace initiative with the President of the Republic, Omar Al-Bashir, the two men would have been painfully aware that it was the long-standing political differences between...
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Blame the EU for Sudan’s tough border measures and deportations
Sudan’s immigration policy has been notoriously described as a “Border Control from Hell” by organisations critical of its tough entry conditions. In the past, those restrictions were far more relaxed. Sudan was a haven for political activists from Africa and the Middle East escaping persecution, a safe home for...
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Is Sudan about to withdraw troops from Yemen?
In June, Sudan sent additional troops to support the Saudi-led military intervention into Yemen. Exact numbers are not available but estimates and official briefings put the figure at close to 8,000 combat soldiers on the ground. In recent weeks reports of Sudanese casualties have increased with the Houthi media...
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Friends and foes unite to honour Sudan’s first female MP
In life Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim, a committed communist left-wing politician, was perhaps a controversial figure about whom differing opinions were held, but in death her passing has united a whole spectrum of opposition and government politicians in her honour and praise. Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, with whom Ibrahim had major...
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Sudan must jump through more US hoops to get sanctions lifted
Donald Trump’s decision to delay for another three months the lifting of sanctions imposed on Sudan was, by all accounts, greeted in Khartoum with “complete shock”. Sudanese officials were caught off guard, especially as the US had given “firm” assurances that the sanctions would be lifted following intelligence reports...
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Will Sudan side with Russia and Iran if sanctions are not lifted?
The expectation that the United States will completely lift economic sanctions against Sudan is by no means certain. Just days before the 12 July deadline, Sudanese diplomats around the world are getting ready to either welcome the lifting of sanctions and see Sudan amerced into the international community; or defend a dramatic new foreign policy direction which could see a return to an anti-US stance should sanctions be re-imposed. The uncertainty over the decision is being fuelled by the unpredictable mercurial nature of US...
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How long can Sudan stay neutral in the Gulf crisis?
The sacking of the President’s Director of Office today and the circumstances of his detention at Khartoum International Airport present a dramatic picture of the extent to which differences over Sudan’s neutral stance in the Gulf crisis are beginning to emerge. His departure also puts into question how long...
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#CholeraInSudan
Sudan has witnessed 265 deaths and more than 16,000 infections of what the government is called “acute watery diarrhea”, however social media users have launched a hashtag to force Khartoum to admit that the country is in the midst of a cholera epidemic and action needs to be taken. This...
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Will Sudan, South Sudan end the conflict over Abyei?
The similarities between the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Pakistani-Indian Kashmir crisis and the Sudan and South Sudan Abyei question are striking given that they are all disputes over control of territory that was once part of a single country. Like Palestine and Kashmir, a series of agreements and negotiations have...
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REVIEW: The Hamas New Charter and the Western Response
The event served as a review and assessment of the new charter released last month by the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, and explored the impact of the changes on the organisation and on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Chairman and moderator, Adeeb Ziadeh, author of a book on the origins of...
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Sudan: The case for and against lifting economic sanctions
As the deadline approaches for the lifting of sanctions, Sudan may still have not done enough to win the sympathies of the members of the US Congress and other US agencies who will make the final decision on 12 July. There are a number of factors that might work...