A battle for control of a key city in Sudan’s Darfur region between the army and a rival paramilitary force appears imminent, with both sides looking to tip the balance of the ruinous year-long civil war.
Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, is not only the largest and most important city in the entire Darfur region, but also the only one of Darfur’s five state capitals not controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The other four were seized by the RSF last year.
Its strategic location has for years made it a hub for aid groups operating in western Sudan, providing a key transit stop for aid shipments from neighbouring Chad or Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
“Al Fasher is seen in Sudan as the capital of the entire Darfur region, not just North Darfur,” activist Abdul Rahim Al Sheikh said. “Whoever controls Al Fasher controls Darfur.”
Fighting broke out last April between the national army, headed by Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Dagalo.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, forced more than 8.5 million people to flee their homes and created circumstances for a famine, with 25 million people now in need of life-saving assistance.
RSF fighters have for weeks been laying siege to Al Fasher as a prelude to storming and capturing the city to cement control of the Darfur region.
Army aircraft, meanwhile, have continued to drop food, weapons and ammunition to the garrison inside the city, which is believed to number in the thousands and include fighters from allied rebel groups and volunteers.
A series of ceasefires brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia during the war's early days collapsed shortly after they came into force or were loosely observed.
The outbreak of the war followed months of tension between the two rival generals over details of Sudan’s democratic transition, especially the mandate of the army and associated paramilitaries in a civilian-led Sudan.
The RSF scored a series of battlefield victories in the early days of the war, capturing most of the capital and cities west and south of Khartoum.
In December, it dealt a body blow to the army when it captured Wad Madani, capital of Al Jazeera region – Sudan’s breadbasket – south of the capital.
However, the army has made some symbolically significant gains in recent months, regaining territory in Omdurman across the Nile from Khartoum and halting RSF advances in Al Jazeera and neighbouring regions.
Sudan’s air force has been bombarding RSF positions around Al Fasher and in nearby towns, with the paramilitary claiming the air strikes are killing civilians and livestock, the livelihood of many in Darfur, not its fighters.
“It may at the end prove difficult for the RSF to conquer Al Fasher, given the large number of troops and allied militiamen stationed inside,” said Ammar Awad, a Sudanese expert on Darfur.
“The RSF will also find the locals unwelcoming, unlike in some other Darfur cities where it found popular sympathy.”
'Deep concern'
On Saturday, the UN Security Council expressed its "deep concern" over an imminent RSF attack on Al Fasher.
In a statement, members “called on the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to end the build-up of military forces and to take steps to de-escalate the situation".
Senior UN officials also warned the Security Council last week that about 800,000 people in Al Fasher were in “extreme and immediate danger" as worsening violence threatens to "unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur".
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also called on the warring parties to refrain from fighting in Al Fasher and surrounding areas.
The UN humanitarian office said escalating tensions and clashes around Al Fasher in the past two weeks have displaced 40,000 people and caused an unspecified number of civilian casualties.
“The security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to Al Fasher,” said the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).
Darfur is the birthplace of the RSF’s forerunner, the Janjaweed militia, and its leader Gen Dagalo, a one-time cattle trader who rose to national prominence during the 29-year rule of former dictator Omar Al Bashir.
The Janjaweed joined the government’s forces during the Darfur civil war in the 2000s, fighting ethnic African rebels seeking an end to perceived discrimination by the Muslim and Arabised ruling elite in Khartoum.
The Arab-led Janjaweed has been accused of war crimes against ethnic African civilians during that war.
War crimes took place last summer in Darfur, when the RSF and allied militiamen killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of members of the ethnic African Masalit tribe in El Geneina, near the border with Chad.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said in late January there were grounds to believe both sides in the current war may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.
Al Bashir, ousted in a popular uprising in 2019, is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur.
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Cashew%0D%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202020%0D%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Ibtissam%20Ouassif%20and%20Ammar%20Afif%0D%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%0D%3Cbr%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%2410m%0D%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Mashreq%2C%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
