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US official in Sudan to support transition

CAIRO: The US official who wrote a Pulitzer Prizewinning book on genocide landed on Saturday in Khartoum, aiming to support Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy before travelling to Ethiopia to press the government there to allow humanitarian aid to the war-torn Tigray region.

Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is set to meet with top Sudanese officials including General Abdel-fatah Burhan, head of the ruling sovereign council, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, the civilian face of Sudan’s transitional government.

She will also travel to Sudan’s western region of Darfur where she said she investigated atrocities in the its civil war in the 2000s.

“I first visited Sudan in 2004-investigating a genocide in Darfur perpetrated by a regime whose grip on power seemed unshakeable. I couldn’t imagine Sudan would one day be an inspiring example to the world that no leader is ever permanently immune from the will of their people,” Power wrote on Twiter upon her arrival in Khartoum.

Power’s visit to Khartoum is meant to “strengthen the US Government’s partnership with Sudan’s transitional leaders and citizens, explore how to expand USAID’S support for Sudan’s transition to a civilian-led democracy,” USAID said.

The US official would also meet with Ethiopian refugees in Sudan who recently fled the conflict and atrocities in the Tigray region which borders Sudan.

Since the Tigray war began in November, tens of thousands of Ethiopians have crossed into Sudan, adding to the country’s economic and security challenges.

Power’s five-day trip will also take her to Ethiopia as part of international efforts to prevent a looming famine in Tigray, a region of some 6 million people that has been devastated by the months-long war.

Power will meet Ethiopian officials “to press for unimpeded humanitarian access to prevent famine in Tigray and meet urgent needs in other conflict-affected regions of the country,” USAID said.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for the opening of talks to end hostilities in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement came ater calls Macron held earlier in the day with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok.

Middle East

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2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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Dar AlKhaleej