A leading US official who visited Sudan last week criticised the country’s military leaders for the continuing use of violence against peaceful protesters and the arrest of pro-democracy activists.
Sudan’s military leaders could face consequences, Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee said late on Monday.
Ms Phee and the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield, met Sudan’s army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and other leading generals when they visited Khartoum last week.
Gen Al Burhan, who led a coup three months ago that upended Sudan’s democratic transition, promised after meeting the two diplomats to start a national dialogue to find a way out of the country's deepening political crisis. He also promised to investigate the killing of protesters since the October 25 coup.
The coup sparked a wave of mass street protests to demand civilian rule. The demonstrations have been met with deadly violence by security forces, who have used live rounds, stun grenades and tear gas. At least 76 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded.
Three were killed on Monday, two in Khartoum and one in the city of Wad Medani, south of the capital.
“After SE [special envoy] Satterfield and I met military leaders … they publicly committed to dialogue to resolve the current crisis,” Ms Phee wrote on Twitter. “Yet their actions – more violence against protesters, detention of civil society activists – tell a different story, and will have consequences.”
The US has been among the most vocal critics of the Sudanese military since the October 25 coup, suspending aid worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It has said there would be no resumption of aid until a civilian government is in office. Ms Phee did not say what further action Washington would take against the military.
Gen Al Burhan, who has promised a free election for 2023, has repeatedly said he will investigate the killing of protesters since the coup as well as sexual assaults on female demonstrators during a rally last month.
The general, however, has consistently failed to explain who will be investigating, the scope of the investigation or when findings will be publicised.
Similarly, Gen Al Burhan signed off on a high-profile, independent investigation into the killing of about 100 protesters in June 2019. The violence happened when security forces broke up a sit-in protest outside the headquarters of the armed forces in central Khartoum.
The investigation, led by a prominent lawyer, was due to present its findings by early 2020. Activists claim that the army's top brass have stymied the inquiry for fear it could implicate them.
Separately, a medical group aligned with the pro-democracy movement said that besides the three killed on Monday, at least 100 others were injured, of whom 32 suffered gunshot wounds. It also accused the security forces of deliberately hindering medics from taking the wounded to hospitals.
In one case, they fired warning shots at the entrance of the Royal Care hospital in Khartoum to stop the medics from taking the wounded inside, said the group, the Central Committee of Sudan's Doctors.
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
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The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Result
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,950m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
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The specs
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- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Price, base: Dh1.2 million
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 12.3L / 100km (estimate)
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
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League D:
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Skoda Superb Specs
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US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
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