The paramilitary force that is fighting Sudan's army in Khartoum and across much of the country said it has released more than 200 Egyptian soldiers, including 177 air force personnel, captured in the north of the country last weekend.
Egyptian security officials said at least 50 troops were flown to Egypt in two batches, on board army transport planes.
The men, captured at a military base in the northern Sudanese town of Meroe, were taken to Khartoum earlier on Wednesday by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF.
The Sudanese military said late on Wednesday that 177 Egyptian Air Force personnel were flown to Egypt on board four military aircraft, after they were released by the RSF.
The aircraft took off from the city of Dongola, in northern Sudan.
The Egyptian military did not announce the evacuation but said earlier on Wednesday that it was coordinating with authorities in Sudan to secure the return of the troops.
An RSF statement that had announced the troops' movement to Khartoum coincided with the emergence of footage purporting to show Sudanese soldiers celebrating the recapture from the RSF of the Meroe base.
Egypt has said its soldiers were in Sudan as part of a training mission under a military protocol signed with Sudan and denied that it was taking sides in the conflict.
Cairo had repeatedly called for the soldiers' repatriation, but the RSF maintained they would be returned to Egypt when circumstances permitted.
“We would like to assure the families and the government of Egypt that the soldiers who were at the Meroe base are all well and being taken care of,” said the RSF statement released after the men were flown home.
“They will be repatriated when the circumstances allow that and according to the conditions the country is going through.”
A video clip posted online last week showed RSF fighters forcing a group of Egyptian soldiers to crawl on their stomachs. An RSF soldier was seen hitting one of them and heard abusing them.
The clip triggered an outcry in Egypt, with social media users airing their anger and demanding retribution.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's government forged close military ties with Sudan following the removal from power in 2019 of dictator Omar Al Bashir, whose 29-year rule saw relations between Cairo and Khartoum often fraught with tension.
Forces from the two neighbours frequently held joint war games.
Egypt has traditionally viewed its neighbour to the south as an extension of its national security sphere.
However, its latest endeavours to establish close relations with Khartoum were in part motivated by Cairo's wish to put pressure on Ethiopia, which is building a dam on the Nile that Egypt says threatens its vital share of the river's water.
Sudan's army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan has visited Egypt at least three times since Al Bashir's removal and was accorded a head-of-state reception, complete with a guard of honour.
In contrast, RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo has visited once in the same time frame.
Mr El Sisi this week reviewed the conflict in Sudan with his top commanders, saying later in televised comments that Egypt was prepared to mediate and that his government was in contact with the warring sides.
Before they were sent home, Mr El Sisi described the captured Egyptian contingent as a “token” force deployed there for joint exercises.
“This must be clear to all of us as a nation that that contingent was not there to support one side against the other,” he said. “That talk is nonsense.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE%20Warriors%2033%20Results
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THREE
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
From this question, a new destiny.
For you are a world, and a meeting of worlds.
Our dream is to unite that which has been
separated by history.
To return the many to the one.
A great story unites us all,
beyond colour and creed and gender.
The lightning flash of art
And the music of the heart.
We reflect all cultures, all ways.
We are a twenty first century wonder.
Universal ideals, visions of art and truth.
Now is the turning point of cultures and hopes.
Come with questions, leave with visions.
We are the link between the past and the future.
Here, through art, new possibilities are born. And
new answers are given wings.
Why are you, you?
Because we are mirrors of each other.
Because together we create new worlds.
Together we are more powerful than we know.
We connect, we inspire, we multiply illuminations
with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Meydan Racecourse racecard:
6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 | 1,900m
7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,400m
7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 1,600m
8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) | Dh165,000 | 1,600m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) | Dh265,000 | 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh190,000 | 1,600m.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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Sweet%20Tooth
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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