Ration card holders still waiting for Ramadan grant
Halfway through Ramadan, ration card holders across Egypt are still waiting for the exceptional grant announced by Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk in February.
The grant — set at LE125 per card for households with one child and LE250 for those with two children — was meant to be distributed for two months starting in Ramadan, benefiting around 10 million families nationwide. But so far there is no sign of the funds.
Two sources in the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce's General Grocery Divisions in Cairo and Luxor confirmed that the grant is yet to be released, telling Mada Masr they have not received any instructions on its disbursement.
Earlier this month, MP Samira al-Gazzar asked Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuly and Supply Minister Sherif Farouk to explain the delay in the grant's disbursal, after receiving numerous complaints from her constituents.
'First, how can the prime minister announce increases without implementing them?' she asked.
'Second, failing to act on his statement is both an insult to his authority and a disregard for the public. Third, why didn't the government secure the necessary funds before making the announcement? And fourth, who will compensate these vulnerable families for the disappointment and embarrassment caused by the absence of the promised increase?' the MP concluded.
The Supply Ministry previously denied responsibility for the grant's delay, telling Mada Masr that it was not the issuing authority. Meanwhile, Finance Ministry spokesperson Ibtisam Saad only said: 'The ministry has nothing to announce at this time.'
The head of the Grocery Division in Giza told Mada Masr earlier this month that a ministry official had said they were working on adjusting the distribution system to facilitate the grant's payment 'without causing issues.'
'People accuse us [retailers] of stealing the funds,' the source added. 'The Finance Ministry should have coordinated with the Supply Ministry before announcing the grant to avoid fueling public frustration.'
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Mid East Info
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GC Coupons Simplifies Smart Shopping: Discover Big Savings on Calo and Airalo with Just a Click
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Mada
2 days ago
- Mada
St. Catherine: Monks in the face of the state
In late May, the Ismailia Appeals Court ruled to evict the archbishop of Saint Catherine's Monastery from 14 land plots in South Sinai, part of a larger dispute with the Egyptian government over 71 plots in total. The government argued that the archbishop, in his capacity as head of the monastery, had seized land without legal basis and carried out construction without official permits. According to the verdict obtained by Mada Masr, the court granted the monastery usufruct rights over the remaining 57 plots, located both inside and outside the monastery walls. The decision triggered a wave of condemnation. The Greek orthodox churches in Athens, Jerusalem and Constantinople denounced the decision as an 'existential threat' and 'yet another historical fall' for orthodoxy and Hellenism. In response, Egypt's presidency spokesperson and Foreign Ministry swiftly defended the court order, framing it as a landmark ruling that formally established the monastery's legal standing for the first time. The verdict marked the culmination of a legal battle that had stretched over a decade. Sources familiar with the proceedings told Mada Masr the outcome came as a surprise, as expectations had favored the monastery — especially following President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's visit to Athens in early May, when he publicly reaffirmed the state's commitment to its 'eternal and untouchable' agreement with the monastery. 'The monastery holds the relics of a great saint,' he said at a press conference. 'I insisted on clarifying this point personally and I say it directly to dispel malicious rumors.' Parallel to the legal battle, Greek-sponsored negotiations were launched in June 2024 between the monastery and the South Sinai Governorate. The talks brought together officials from Greece's foreign and culture ministries, alongside the South Sinai governor, according to Christos Kompiliris, the monastery's legal advisor and representative. These negotiations resulted in a draft agreement recognizing the Greek Orthodox monastery's ownership of all 71 disputed plots, affirming its autonomy in managing its internal affairs, and establishing coordination with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, according to the draft obtained by Mada Masr and cited by Greek media and official statements. Although the agreement was initially scheduled to be signed in early 2025, it has since been postponed. The court ruling, however, took a different path. While Egyptian authorities portrayed the dispute as a long-overdue legal clarification of the monastery's informal use of land, the Greek Orthodox Church and its patriarchates abroad saw it as an attempt to erode the legacy and holdings of the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery. The ongoing dispute, as reflected in the recent court ruling and its broader context, highlights the monastery's exceptional status — not only as a place of worship, but as a living site of spiritual devotion, where monks have spent decades in seclusion. This singular spirituality of the site is being challenged by the state's invocation of public property laws, amid the acceleration of state-led development projects in the area. *** St. Catherine's Monastery sits in a valley at the foot of Gabal Moussa, within a protected natural reserve and a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site. Built in the sixth century by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian, the monastery was named in the 11th century after St. Catherine of Alexandria, a fourth-century convert to Christianity whose relics are said to rest near the monastery's altar. Affiliated with the Greek Orthodox Church, the monastery complex includes several churches, smaller monastic dwellings and a renowned library that houses thousands of rare manuscripts. Today, around 20 monks — most of whom are foreign nationals — live there, according to monastery spokesperson and legal advisor Kompiliris. The Egyptian state recognized the monastery as a historical monument through Decree 85/1993, placing its structures under the supervision of the Antiquities Ministry. In 2002, it was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list. According to three separate sources who spoke to Mada Masr, the current dispute began in 2012 following a visit to the monastery by General Ahmed Ragaey, a former military commander. Though accounts differ on the specifics of his visit, all three sources agreed that tensions broke out between Ragaey and the monks. What is certain is that Ragaey was the first to initiate legal action against the monastery, filing a lawsuit where he accused its foreign monks of unlawfully seizing state land and posing a threat to national security. He claimed the monastery controlled nearly 20 percent of South Sinai's territory and demanded their eviction. Over the years, Ragaey continued to make public accusations, alleging links between the monks and Freemasonry and promoting a conspiracy theory of an 'American-Zionist' plot to prevent Egypt from tapping into Sinai's mineral wealth. Ragaey was not alone in calling for the monastery's removal. Others, including former political and diplomatic figure Mostafa al-Feky, also called for the monastery to be placed under the jurisdiction of the Egyptian church. Ragaey died in 2021, but years prior, the same hostile rhetoric had helped fuel a broader public discourse that was eventually brought into the courts by state institutions. In 2015, the South Sinai Governorate filed a legal complaint against Archbishop Damianos, the head of St. Catherine's Monastery, according to court documents reviewed by Mada Masr. A year later, in 2022, Egypt's antiquities minister and the head of the Environmental Affairs Agency joined the case as co-litigants. They requested the doubling of the usufruct fee from LE5 million to LE10 million and widened the dispute to cover 42 additional plots of land, bringing the total number of contested plots to 71. On May 30, 2022, the South Sinai Elementary Court ruled to evict the archbishop from 29 of the plots, while dismissing the case concerning the rest of the estate. Both parties appealed the ruling — each contesting the portions that went against them — bringing the case before the Ismailia Appeals Court. Three years later, at the end of May this year, the appeals court issued its final ruling: the archbishop is to be evicted from 14 of the contested plots, with the buildings constructed on those lands deemed in-kind compensation to the state for their years of use. The remaining 57 plots would stay under the monastery's control — not as owned property, but under usufruct rights. In its ruling, the court emphasized that 'the monastery's continued use of certain plots does not confer ownership,' but rather reflects 'a special and conditional religious status that justifies reclaiming lands not directly used for religious purposes.' The decision partly hinged on the testimony of Archbishop Damianos, who acknowledged that his role in overseeing the land was religious in nature. He described himself as a custodian of monasteries, buildings and ecclesiastical lands, stating that he 'fully understands that owning these lands is not legally permissible.' Beyond the symbolic significance, the eviction ruling presents practical and economic challenges for the monastery. Many of the reclaimed plots include historic gardens, chapels, water sources, olive groves and other agricultural assets vital to the monastery's self-sufficiency and financial sustainability. The Greek Orthodox Church maintains that the monastery holds the land through historic ownership, citing its uninterrupted presence at the site for more than 1,400 years and the deep religious and cultural symbolism associated with it. The church argues that this legacy makes the monastery one of the oldest inhabited Christian institutions in the world. The Orthodox Church in Jerusalem also referenced the monastery's historical protective documents, including a covenant granted by Prophet Mohamed in 623 and reaffirmed by Ottoman Sultan Selim I in the 16th century, as evidence of the monastery's exceptional status. Following the ruling, Kompiliris warned that the real danger is in the court's refusal to recognize the monastery's ownership over the remaining land. Instead, those plots were merely granted under religious usufruct — a designation that offers no lasting legal protection and, according to the church, represents an existential risk. 'Under this ruling, the Egyptian government can terminate the monastery's usufruct rights at any time and the monastery would lose the lands it has cultivated and primarily relied on for its livelihood,' Stephan Dömpke, head of World Heritage Watch, an independent organization dedicated to protecting UNESCO sites, told Mada Masr. From Dömpke's perspective, the ruling reframes the monastery's legal status using the logic of 'terra nullius' — the notion that land was unowned before the establishment of modern state sovereignty. Despite the monastery possessing historical documents of protection, including some dating back to the time of the Prophet Mohamed and the Ottoman Empire, the court treated it as having no acquired rights, leaving it, according to Dömpke, at the mercy of the state, which can revoke its legal standing at any time. The court, however, adopted a different rationale: it considered the monastery an Egyptian antiquity subject to state sovereignty, rather than an independent religious entity. The ruling limited the monastery's function to the performance of religious rites, dismissing the symbolic or economic weight of its broader landholdings. According to the court, the monks' presence in Sinai serves a purely religious purpose — one that does not necessitate land ownership, only usufruct under specific conditions. On this basis, the court drew a line between designated places of worship, which remained under the monastery's control, and the agricultural and residential plots, from which it ordered eviction. 'This is a national issue, not a sectarian one,' Bassem al-Ganouby, a researcher on minority rights, told Mada Masr. He described the ruling as a necessary legal step to address the exceptional status that has surrounded the monastery for decades. The decision to issue a court ruling, rather than sign an agreement between the monastery and the South Sinai Governorate, marks a pivotal shift in the fate of St. Catherine's Monastery — one that has triggered a wave of anger from church institutions and prominent religious figures. In a statement issued May 31, the Panhellenic Association of Theologians said, 'The entire political and church leadership of Greece expressed its dismay and surprise at the hopeless judicial decisions of the Egyptian courts,' which it said contradicted public assurances made by Sisi during his visit to Athens, where he pledged that the monastery's legal and operational status would remain unchanged. Theologians warned that the recent developments risk stripping the monastery of its legal identity and 'converting it into a museum or tourist resort, and perhaps, later, a mosque,' echoing the controversial conversion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia from a church into a mosque. In a statement released May 30, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople called on Egyptian authorities to honor this legacy, stating: 'The centuries have respected the Monastery of Sinai; let Egypt respect it today as well, as a civilized law-abiding nation that upholds religious freedom and human rights.' In a rare public statement, Archbishop Damianos of St. Catherine's Monastery said, 'I am 91 years old today and I have lived at the monastery since the age of 27 — can you imagine the pain in my heart?' Although St. Catherine's Monastery is preparing to appeal the ruling before the Court of Cassation, according to an informed source who spoke to Mada Masr, the court's decision has created a new legal reality that is perceived as a threat to the monastery's continued existence as a living religious institution, rather than merely a historical site. There is growing concern that the ruling, compounded by administrative pressure and ongoing development projects in the surrounding area, could hollow out the monastery's spiritual essence, reducing it to a heritage site without monastic life — a silent facade instead of a vibrant spiritual space. 'Being at the mercy of the Egyptian government is what terrifies the monastery and the whole Orthodox Church,' Dömpke told Mada Masr, 'especially when considering the tourism developments unfolding around them without their consent.' In 2021, the Egyptian government launched the 'Great Transfiguration' project, aimed at transforming the city of St. Catherine into an international center for Abrahamite religions. Since then, large-scale construction has taken place in the city and around the monastery as part of what the government has described as a 'developmental and touristic' initiative. These interventions stirred criticism from researchers and activists concerned with the local heritage of the area. Ben Hoffler, the co-founder of the Sinai Trail, is one of them. He described the government project as 'a physical and cultural takeover of St. Catherine, one that will forever change the position of its native communities in their homeland.' 'The new tourism developments in St. Catherine have had a disastrous impact on a landscape of profound significance for humanity. A catastrophic outcome is most likely for the Bedouin community, who risk being dispossessed of their land and rights and absorbed into a new urban tourism realm in which they do not belong,' he said. He cited examples such as Sharm el-Sheikh, 'where it's now rare to see a Bedouin, except in the suburb of Rowaissat, beyond the large wall built around the city, or in the nearby Wadi Mandar, where many communities have been relocated,' as well as the Bedouin of the Laheiwat tribe in valleys outside Taba. The 2002 designation of the St. Catherine area as a UNESCO World Heritage Site offered no real protection, according to international activists and observers, as it has failed to halt the project's expansion or ensure meaningful oversight. Dömpke explained to Mada Masr that UNESCO attempted to send two official missions to assess the situation in St. Catherine: a consultative mission in 2021 and an urgent monitoring mission in 2023. However, the Egyptian government declined to facilitate either visit. Instead, in summer 2023, the government arranged a trip for the UNESCO Cairo Office, including its Director Nuria Sanz, but this delegation did not include UNESCO assessment experts or representatives from ICOMOS, the advisory body on cultural heritage. 'UNESCO's Cairo Office published a report on their visit on its website that contains striking statements disconnected from the reality on the ground and at odds with concerns raised by UNESCO's higher authorities,' Dömpke said. 'Most notably, the report claims that '… the landscaping intervention has been extremely careful with the natural and spiritual environment of the site.' This trip appears to have been organized by the Egyptian government as a positive PR exercise, aimed at suggesting it is fulfilling all UNESCO's requirements — a smokescreen to mask its failure to meet the genuine obligations demanded by UNESCO's headquarters.' Dömpke said that in other reports, UNESCO noted that the Egypt government failed to submit information on the new developments — such as detailed plans or background studies — before proceeding, in violation of paragraph 172 of UNESCO's Operational Guidelines, which govern the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. In 2023, UNESCO advised Egypt to halt construction until an independent assessment of the project's impact on heritage was carried out. Egypt did not comply. After decades of stability, St. Catherine's Monastery — one of the oldest continually inhabited monasteries in the world, where life has unfolded in peace for centuries, untouched by time — is now subject to increasing government control. While the state promotes its 'Great Transfiguration' project as a spiritual and touristic development project, the monastery fears that this may be its final transfiguration. *** Land confiscated by court from the monastery Klisto Garden, located on the Sefsafa mountainside and in the monastery's valley, with an area of 1,688.78 m² Agricultural land at the monastery's entrance, with an area of 35,936.81 m² Agricultural land on the slope of Deir Mountain near Saint Catherine, with an area of 3,310.9 m² Saint Apestemi Garden, in the Upper Magafa area, with an area of 5,722.43 m² Esbaeya Garden, in the Esbaeya area below Hamada Mountain, with an area of 8,463.31 m² Saint Zouny Garden, located on Sefsafa Mountain, includes a chapel, rest house, and stone buildings dating back to the 6th–7th centuries, protected as antiquities; the site includes 6,697.5 m² of agricultural land and 36 buildings Saint Panteleimon Church (the Red Church) and its garden, located on Mount Sinai, dating back to the 6th–7th centuries and protected as antiquities; the site includes 2,600 m² of agricultural land and 36 buildings Erbein Garden, in Erbein Valley, with an area of 18,169.37 m² Agricultural land and buildings in Atlah Valley, with 17,138 m² of agricultural land and 100 buildings 'Ramhan's Room,' in Ramhan Valley, with an area of 14,025 m² Tofaha Garden, located in the Tofaha torrent area, includes an ancient carob tree, two almond trees dating back to the 4th century, and Byzantine remains; the site is protected as an antiquity and covers an area of 2,130 m² Torkeya Garden, in the Qora Mountain area, with an area of 5,000 m² Abou Gifa Garden, in the Abou Gifa area, with an area of 1,989 m²
Mada
2 days ago
- Mada
Sudan Nashra: Military moves warplanes to Eritrea, strikes Nyala, opens new front in North Kordofan Hemedti renews accusations against Egypt, threatens to strike north
On Sudan's eastern coast, the military-led government in Port Sudan is swiftly moving to reshape the political landscape following the appointment of a new prime minister and the containment of a wave of drone strikes on the city as the war shifts from central Sudan to Kordofan. Still, the drone attacks that began on May 4 and hit both civilian and military targets in Port Sudan forced the military to relocate its warplanes to neighboring Eritrea, fearing further strikes, according to security sources who spoke to Mada Masr. The move was followed by a visit to Port Sudan by a high-level Ethiopian intelligence delegation, during which concerns were raised about the growing rapprochement between Sudan and Eritrea — a development viewed with increasing unease in Addis Ababa amid rising tensions with Asmara over Ethiopia's push for maritime access. Meanwhile, the military continues to bombard key RSF positions in Nyala, South Darfur — the paramilitary group's main stronghold in the Darfur region. On the ground, the military has opened a new front in North Kordofan State, seizing the momentum after expelling the RSF from their last positions in Omdurman, bordering the state. Military units are pushing along the Saderat road in a bid to capture Bara, the largest city under RSF control in North Kordofan. Diplomatically, several informed Sudanese sources told Mada Masr that the United Arab Emirates has reengaged Sudan through Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Arab League, seeking to mediate a political settlement. As part of its proposal, Abu Dhabi is asking to revive its suspended economic projects in Sudan while also pressing to sideline Islamist groups in the country's political landscape. Meanwhile, RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo renewed his accusations in a speech on Monday that Egypt is backing the Sudanese Armed Forces, claiming it has supplied the military with eight aircraft. Domestically, Hemedti also threatened to expand RSF operations into northern and eastern Sudan — including Port Sudan and Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan. Military pushes from Omdurman into North Kordofan, RSF attacks Babanusa, West Kordofan Following its capture of the last RSF strongholds in western Omdurman on May 20, the military advanced into the northern parts of North Kordofan State. Military units moved along the Saderat road linking Omdurman to Bara, reaching northern North Kordofan, a field source told Mada Masr. By Sunday evening, they took control of Rahid al-Nuba in Gabrat al-Sheikh locality — a town previously held by the RSF and used as a fallback position following their defeat in Omdurman, along with other areas. The military also launched a series of drone strikes on Sunday targeting RSF positions and gatherings in the cities of Bara and Gabrat al-Sheikh, north and northwest of the capital Obeid, the source said. Several RSF combat vehicles withdrew from towns at the edges of the area, retreating toward Mazroub and Sodary en route to Darfur. Meanwhile, military operations resumed for the first time in months in Babanusa, West Kordofan. A local source told Mada Masr that clashes broke out on Tuesday in the city, which houses the military's 22nd Infantry Division. RSF fighters infiltrated the eastern outskirts of Babanusa, engaging in several hours of combat before retreating under heavy artillery fire from the 22nd Division, which destroyed several of their vehicles, the source said. According to the source, the RSF may attempt another attack on the city. The recent infiltration and clashes were likely intended to test the military's defenses and identify potential vulnerabilities. *** Military drone strikes target RSF positions in Nyala, South Darfur The military continues to strike RSF positions in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur and the paramilitary group's largest stronghold. The RSF developed a military airbase and strategic cargo facilities at the Nyala International Airport earlier this year, a senior military officer previously told Mada Masr. RSF Deputy Commander Abdel Rahim Dagalo also moved the group's command to Nyala and has been working to designate the city as the administrative capital for the paramilitary group, according to an RSF military source who spoke to Mada Masr in April. Dagalo is now present in the northern outskirts of the city, a local source said. Over the past week, military drones have carried out multiple airstrikes in Nyala, most recently on Wednesday, targeting RSF positions and gatherings throughout the city, a second local source told Mada Masr. A strike on Sunday hit an RSF position near the city's central market. Strikes followed on Wednesday morning, targeting areas in and around the Nyala airport shortly after a plane landed, sending plumes of smoke into the air, according to the source. An eyewitness in Nyala confirmed hearing explosions from the city's eastern side, where the airport is located, and said a drone strike hit a plane on the runway that morning. Two other residents told Mada Masr they no longer hear fighter jets overhead during attacks, as they previously did, suggesting that recent strikes are being conducted exclusively by drones. *** RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo has once again accused Egypt of backing the military, claiming Cairo supplied their forces with eight aircraft, the locations of which are known to the RSF, he said. In a speech on Monday, Hemedti said the RSF targeted those aircraft during its attacks on Port Sudan in May, implying his forces were behind the strikes, although no official statement claiming responsibility was made at the time. Hemedti has repeatedly accused Egypt of directly participating in military operations against his forces. In May 2024, he told Asharq News that the Egyptian Air Force had targeted RSF troops in the Karrari locality in Omdurman. Later in October, he claimed that Egyptian aircraft had bombed his forces at Jebel Moya during the battles that ended in the RSF's defeat. In his Monday speech, Hemedti declared that the RSF is preparing to launch attacks on several areas under military control, including Port Sudan. He said the war has entered 'a new phase' and issued threats to strike targets in central and northern Sudan, naming Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, and Northern State, which he described as a stronghold of Islamist supporters of ousted President Omar al-Bashir. He also reiterated allegations that the military has used chemical weapons against RSF fighters. Hemedti also said that while the military concentrated significant resources and personnel in the Sayyad mobile unit in a bid to retake the cities of Khawi, Nuhud, Daein, and Fasher, they eventually lost them to the RSF. He said his forces are now ready to move toward Obeid and Northern State, calling on civilians not to evacuate but only close their shops and remain in their homes. But a former military officer told Mada Masr that Obeid is fully secured. The military's operations in Kordofan — particularly in Khawi and Debeibat — are being carried out according to a carefully planned strategy designed to draw RSF fighters into a designated battlefield and gradually wear them down before pushing further into western Sudan, according to the officer. A high-level Ethiopian security delegation arrived in Port Sudan last week to discuss mediation efforts between Sudan's military-led government and the United Arab Emirates over Abu Dhabi's backing of the RSF, while also aiming to defuse rising tensions in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopian intelligence chief Radwan Hussein and former Tigray regional leader Getachew Reda touched down at Port Sudan airport on June 1, where they were received by Sudan's intelligence chief Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal. Sudan has increasingly found itself caught in the widening rift between Ethiopia and Eritrea, particularly as Port Sudan has recently received military support from Asmara in the wake of a spate of drone attacks on the administrative capital. Eritrean support, in the form of warships deployed to the coast of Sudan and, sources tell Mada Masr, hosting Sudanese fighter jets, was crucial in absorbing the unprecedented wave of drone attacks that began on May 4 and lasted nearly ten days. In the wake of this deepening relationship, Ethiopia moved to address its concerns about the possible role that eastern Sudanese rebel groups — many with cross-border ties to Eritrea — could play in any future confrontation between the two countries, according to a Sudanese intelligence source. Ethiopia has long been pushing to secure access to the Red Sea via Eritrean territory — a demand the landlocked country considers existential. Asmara, however, sees any such arrangement as a red line, fueling fears that the dispute could spiral into armed conflict between the two countries. Ties between Khartoum and Asmara have recently deepened, with growing political and military coordination. A senior military official at the Osman Digna airbase told Mada Masr that Sudan has relocated all of its fighter jets stationed at the base in Port Sudan to Eritrean airports as a precaution against potential further RSF attacks. The aircraft are currently undergoing full maintenance, they said. The Eritrean navy had also previously dispatched warships to the Sudanese military and trained thousands of fighters from Darfur's armed movements, many of whom have joined the joint force currently active in key battles across Kordofan and Darfur. As regional powers continue to vie for influence in the Horn of Africa, tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have entered a second week of public escalation. Ethiopia insists on what it calls its 'legitimate right' to maritime access, repeatedly pointing to the Eritrean port of Assab on the Red Sea — a port Asmara views as a symbol of national sovereignty and firmly off the negotiating table. A Sudanese Foreign Ministry official, speaking to Mada Masr, warned that the current crisis could mark a turning point in relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia, potentially reshaping regional alliances. While direct military confrontation appears unlikely for now, the official warned that the ongoing war of words could lead to unintended clashes. Radwan's visit also signaled Ethiopia's renewed attempt to mediate between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi — a track first launched during Abiy Ahmed's 2024 visit to Port Sudan, which paved the way for the first phone call between Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Chair and military Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed since the war began and accusations emerged over Emirati involvement in the Sudanese war. A senior official at Sudan's Foreign Ministry said Ethiopia is now acting as an intermediary on behalf of the UAE in Sudan. A Sudanese intelligence source confirmed that during his visit, Radwan proposed Ethiopian mediation to help mend the fractured ties between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi. Ethiopia maintains close ties with the UAE, hosts several Sudanese opposition groups and initially adopted a hardline position against Sudan's military leadership at the onset of the war. But Addis Ababa has since begun recalibrating its position — a shift that started with Ahmed's July 2024 visit to Port Sudan, which made him the first foreign leader to visit the country since the outbreak of fighting. The UAE has laid out conditions for engaging in negotiations with Sudan, according to a source in the Transitional Sovereignty Council. The source said Abu Dhabi has conveyed its position through intermediaries, which they did not name, with two primary demands: restoring Emirati investments in Sudan and excluding Islamists from the country's political landscape. According to the source, these conditions reflect the UAE's longstanding position, which remained unchanged since the secret negotiations held in January in Manama, Bahrain. Despite shifting military and political dynamics on the ground, the source added, Abu Dhabi's expectations remain disconnected from the current realities in Sudan, particularly given its continued support for the RSF. Deputy Armed Forces Commander Shams Eddin al-Kabashi and a delegation from the RSF — reportedly led by RSF commander Abdel Rahim Dagalo — had held talks in the Bahraini capital of Manama throughout January. Officials from Egypt's General Intelligence Service, the US Central Intelligence Agency, and representatives from the UAE and Saudi Arabia were also present, another source in the TSC told Mada Masr earlier this year. The UAE had backed a draft agreement brokered during those talks that included 22 provisions, among them: integrating the RSF into a unified national army, arresting individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court, and dismantling the Islamist system that had ruled Sudan for three decades. Burhan rejected the framework. But the UAE has kept communication channels open with Sudan's military leadership, the first TSC source said, noting that contact has been maintained via Egypt, the Arab League, and Ethiopia. The source added that the UAE may be pulling back from its earlier bet on the RSF's ability to take over in Khartoum and is now starting to distance itself from the group. This comes amid the first significant diplomatic move on Sudan by the new US administration — one in which the UAE took a seat at the table. On Tuesday, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Senior Advisor for African Affairs Massad Boulos held a meeting in Washington with the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE — Reema Bandar al-Saud, Moataz Zahran, and Youssef al-Otaiba, respectively — focused on the ongoing war in Sudan. According to a statement from the US State Department, Landau warned that the conflict threatens shared regional interests and has fueled a deepening humanitarian crisis. He emphasized that Washington 'does not believe the conflict is amenable to a military solution' and urged the three members of the meeting to push the warring parties toward a ceasefire and negotiated settlement. A humanitarian aid convoy en route to Fasher in North Darfur's Koma area was bombed on Monday night, triggering an exchange of blame between the warring parties. Meanwhile, UN agencies condemned the attack and called for a prompt investigation. According to a joint statement released the following day by the World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF, the assault on their convoy killed five aid workers and injured several others. Multiple trucks were burned, damaging supplies. Darfur Regional Governor Minni Arko Minnawi accused the RSF of targeting the convoy after its crew refused to change course or unload supplies and insisted on continuing to Fasher. Minnawi said that several aid workers were killed and supplies looted, with trucks that survived the fire being emptied amid military strikes on the RSF, an act he said was intended to falsely implicate the military in the attack. He further accused the RSF of pursuing a genocidal campaign by various means, including deliberately targeting a convoy that had traveled thousands of kilometers to deliver aid to Fasher's residents. The UN agencies' joint statement said the convoy, consisting of 15 trucks, was carrying life-saving food and nutrition supplies intended for children and families in famine-stricken Fasher. Hundreds of thousands of residents face high risks of malnutrition and starvation without urgent aid, the statement read. As standard practice for humanitarian convoys, 'the route was shared in advance and parties on the ground were notified and aware of the location of the trucks.' The agencies called for an immediate end to attacks on humanitarian workers, facilities, and vehicles and urged a swift investigation and accountability for those responsible. The convoy had traveled more than 1,800 kilometers from Port Sudan and was in negotiations to complete its journey to Fasher when the attack occurred. 'It is devastating that the supplies have not reached the vulnerable children and families they were intended to,' the statement said. This latest incident, it added, follows a series of attacks on humanitarian operations over the past two years, including last week's bombing of WFP's premises in Fasher. The government and the RSF have traded accusations over responsibility for the attack. In a statement on Tuesday, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it called a criminal drone attack by the RSF on the UN humanitarian convoy in Koma. It called on the international community to condemn the RSF for this aggression and hold it fully responsible, along with its regional sponsor, implicitly referring to the United Arab Emirates. The ministry warned that obstructing aid delivery to those in need puts civilians at risk of starvation in areas besieged by the RSF, including Fasher. In response, the RSF issued a statement condemning what it described as a brutal attack by the military, adding that the convoy had been held up for more than 15 days in Dabba, Northern State.
