Latest news with #Al-Bashir
Ammon
28-05-2025
- Business
- Ammon
Jordan explores energy investment opportunities with Syria
Ammon News - A Jordanian economic delegation visiting Damascus held talks with Syria's Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Mohammad Al-Bashir, to explore opportunities for cooperation in energy projects, particularly in renewable energy. The meeting, attended by Jordan's Chargé d'Affaires in Damascus, Basel Al-Kayed, focused on potential investments in electricity, gas, oil derivatives, mining, engineering consultancy, and clean energy. Discussions aligned with Syria's broader efforts to diversify its energy sources and attract international partnerships. The delegation, headed by Jordan Chamber of Commerce President Khalil Al-Haj Tawfiq, was briefed on Syria's current and planned projects in the electricity, water, and domestic gas sectors. Al-Bashir expressed appreciation for Jordan's longstanding support, including its early role in hosting Syrian refugees and facilitating the delivery of gas to Syria. He described the Jordanian contribution as a reflection of deep, brotherly ties. He also emphasized Syria's openness to expanding investment partnerships, especially in renewable energy, where Jordanian companies have developed notable expertise. Al-Bashir noted that the recent easing of U.S. and European sanctions on Syrian oil institutions could help accelerate the sector's recovery and infrastructure development, potentially paving the way for new investment. Syria is currently reviewing proposals for alternative energy projects with a projected capacity of 300 megawatts. In the coming months, the government is expected to sign agreements with several international companies for projects in oil, renewable energy, and electricity, including plans to build a new oil refinery. Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Al-Haj Tawfiq said the visit reflects the private sector's commitment to redefining the economic relationship between the two countries and supporting Syria's post-crisis recovery. He underscored the importance of drawing on Jordan's experience in renewable energy to support investment, reduce production costs, and spur economic growth. The delegation also included senior representatives from Jordan's trade and industrial sectors. Hassan Al-Hiyari, CEO of the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, confirmed the company's readiness to supply fuel to southern Syria, emphasizing Jordan's role in delivering gas at competitive prices. Additional members of the delegation, including representatives from the Irbid Chamber of Commerce and sectors such as electronics, furniture, and water infrastructure, shared proposals for joint initiatives and stressed the value of Jordanian technical expertise in power, water, and sanitation projects.
Leaders
05-05-2025
- Business
- Leaders
Enhancing Energy Cooperation: Syria to Import Electricity from Turkiye
The Syrian Energy Minister said that his country would import electricity from Türkiye and rehabilitate Kilis-Aleppo natural gas pipeline, according to Arab News. Currently, the Syrian government is finalizing a deal to import electricity from Turkiye via a 400-kilovolt high-voltage transmission line that links the two countries. As for towns in northern Syria, Mohammed Al-Bashir noted that the government is developing another 80-megawatt transmission line between Turkiye's Reyhanli district and Syria's Harem region. 'Additionally, we are working to rehabilitate the natural gas pipeline connecting Kilis and Aleppo,' two cities in southern Turkiye and northern Syria, Al-Bashir added. Importantly, the pipeline could supply 6 million cubic meters of gas per day to Syria's power generation stations. Consequently, this step will strengthen Syria's energy situation. During a meeting with the Turkish side, the minister also discussed the possibility of mining Syria's mineral deposits, such as phosphate and lithium. Furthermore, they delved into the prospect of exploring natural gas in the country's national waters. In this context, Al-Bashir urged Turkish companies to consider investment in exploring Syria's oil and natural gas potential, developing power lines and plants, and rebuilding refineries and transportation systems. Related Topics: Syrian Druze Clerics Head to Israel for Pilgrimage Saudi Arabia Condemns Israeli Strike Near Syrian Presidential Palace GCC Supports Syrian Efforts to Maintain Peace, Security Short link : Post Views: 16
Arab News
04-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Syria to import electricity from Turkiye, rehabilitate Kilis-Aleppo natural gas pipeline
LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic will import electricity from Turkiye and rehabilitate a natural gas pipeline connecting two border regions, the country's energy minister said on Sunday. Mohammed Al-Bashir stated that Damascus is finalizing an agreement to import electricity from Turkiye via a 400-kilovolt high-voltage transmission line that links the two countries. Al-Bashir stated that the government is developing another 80-megawatt transmission line between Turkiye's Reyhanli district and Syria's Harem region to supply electricity to towns in northern Syria. 'Additionally, we are working to rehabilitate the natural gas pipeline connecting Kilis and Aleppo,' two cities in southern Turkiye and northern Syria, the minister added. 'Once operational, (the pipeline) could supply 6 million cubic meters of gas per day to Syria's power generation stations, significantly improving our energy situation,' he added in a statement to the SANA news agency. The minister said he discussed with the Turkish side the possibility of mining Syria's mineral deposits, such as phosphate and lithium, and the prospect of exploring natural gas in the country's national waters. He urged Turkish companies to invest in exploring Syria's oil and natural gas potential, upgrading power lines and plants, and rebuilding refineries and transportation systems.
Roya News
04-05-2025
- Business
- Roya News
Syria to sign electricity deal with Turkey, says minister
Syria is preparing to finalize an agreement to import electricity from Turkey via a high-voltage transmission line linking the two countries, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said on Sunday, according to the state news agency. The 400-kilovolt transmission line is expected to be operational "soon," marking a significant step in Syria's efforts to address its chronic power shortages. In addition to the electricity deal, Damascus is also pursuing the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the Turkish border town of Kilis to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Al-Bashir said the planned pipeline would supply up to 6 million cubic meters of gas per day to Syrian power plants, helping to stabilize the country's energy infrastructure. Syria has faced widespread electricity outages in recent years and has previously announced efforts to cooperate with regional partners, including Gulf countries, to rebuild its energy and electricity sectors.
Arab News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
2019 - The downfall of Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir
LONDON: During his 30 years in charge of Sudan, President Omar Al-Bashir seemed to thrive on conflict. Whether it was with the southern half of his country, the people of Darfur, the US, or the Islamist ideologues who had helped him gain power, the former paratrooper ruled amid a perpetual state of military and political war. When the Sudanese people took to the streets against him for what would be the final time, at the end of 2018, it was a battle too far for the then-75-year-old. Al-Bashir was removed from power in April 2019 by the military after months of protests against his rule. That some of his closest confidants were among those who ousted him showed how his pillars of domestic and international support had collapsed from beneath him. For the protesters who had braved his security forces to voice their desire for change, the moment was bittersweet; Al-Bashir was gone but the military and senior figures from his regime were now in control. His legacy was one of bloodshed, extremism, international isolation and economic ruin. At the time of his downfall, he was the only leader of a nation wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. Born to a farming family north of Khartoum in 1944, Al-Bashir joined the military after high school and rose through the ranks to become a member of an elite parachute regiment. He was deployed to fight alongside Egyptian forces in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and in the 1980s he was involved in campaigns against southern rebels as part of Sudan's decades-long civil war. In 1989, he led the military overthrow of the democratically elected government of Sadiq Al-Mahdi. The coup was orchestrated by Hassan Al-Turabi, an Islamist scholar and leader of the National Islamic Front, an offshoot of the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Bashir banned political parties and dissolved the parliament, while Al-Turabi acted as the ideological spine of the new regime. They swiftly introduced a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, a move that served to intensify the war raging in the south, where most of the population is Christian or animist (people who believe that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence that can influence human events). The conflict is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 2 million people. Al-Bashir extended his allegiance with hardline Islamism by hosting Osama bin Laden, who had been expelled from Saudi Arabia, between 1992 and 1996. It was a move that was to prove disastrous for his country, as the US placed Sudan on its list of 'state sponsors of terrorism' and imposed comprehensive sanctions against it. In 1999, when his alliance with Al-Turabi crumbled, Al-Bashir removed him from his position as speaker of the parliament and threw him in jail. Within a few years, the president was to oversee the darkest episode of his rein. Rebels in the Darfur region in the west of the country took up arms against the government in 2003. Al-Bashir's response was swift and brutal. His regime deployed militias, known as the Janjaweed, to unleash a scorched-earth policy of murder, rape and looting against local populations. The UN estimates that about 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict. In 2009, the ICC indicted Al-Bashir, accusing him of having 'an essential role' in the atrocities. In the eyes of many people, it was the breakaway of South Sudan in 2011 that marked the beginning of the end for him. The secession took with it much of Sudan's oil-producing regions, depriving Khartoum of a key source of revenue and precipitating a steep economic decline. Sudanese Army Gen. Omar Al-Bashir seizes power in military coup. International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant charging him with war crimes in Darfur. Al-Bashir deposed and arrested in military coup. Moved from house arrest to a maximum-security prison. Charged with 'inciting and participating' in killing of protesters. Convicted on corruption charges, he is sentenced to 2 years in a reform facility. Sudan's military-civilian Sovereign Council hints it is prepared to hand over Al-Bashir to the ICC, where he is still wanted on charges of war crimes and genocide. Al-Bashir goes on trial in Khartoum over the 1989 coup that brought him to power. Sudanese army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, takes control of the government in a military coup. Clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces break out in Khartoum, marking start of civil war. Al-Bashir moved to Merowe hospital, 450 km north of Khartoum. Al-Bashir was forced to try to rebuild relations with the West and China, and to shift his allegiances in the Middle East away from Iran and back toward the Arab Gulf countries from which he had managed to ostracize himself. Years of economic problems came to a head in December 2018, when his government tripled the price of bread and public protests began. Al-Bashir desperately attempted to cling to power, appearing at a rally in January 2019 during which he called the demonstrators 'traitors' and 'rats.' In the months of protests that followed, dozens of people were killed by security forces and thousands thrown in jail. On April 6, 2019, tens of thousands of protesters set up camp outside the Defense Ministry in Khartoum, where Al-Bashir's residence was also located. Early on April 11, he was informed that the country's most senior military and security officials had removed him from power. This historic moment dominated the front page of Arab News the next day, a mark of both the scale of the story and the political and economic links between Saudi Arabia and Sudan. 'The end of Sudan's 30-year nightmare' read the headline to the main story, accompanied by a photo of a smiling girl waving the Sudanese flag amid the celebrations in Khartoum. The front page also featured an opinion piece by the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Faisal J. Abbas, which asked 'What next for the Sudanese?' His article highlighted the number of people from the country he had met who had fled Al-Bashir's regime bound for Europe and beyond, often highly educated doctors and other professionals who would never return. 'The Al-Bashir regime did not mind watching institution after institution fail,' Abbas wrote. 'It oversaw Sudan's becoming one of the poorest in the region, despite its abundant resources.' After his downfall, Al-Bashir was held at Kober prison in Khartoum, the same facility in which many of his opponents had been detained after he ordered their arrests. Outside the prison walls, Sudan struggled to move forward, with protests continuing until a deal was struck in August 2019 that led to the establishment of a sovereign council comprising both civilian and military officials. What came next was a catalog of setbacks for the aspirations of the Sudanese people, which ultimately plunged their country into a catastrophic civil war that rages to this day. In October 2021, the military staged a coup, dissolved the power-sharing agreement with the civilian leaders and arrested many of them. With power fully back in their hands, however, the generals struggled to make headway against a deepening economic crisis and ongoing protests. Amid the turmoil, tensions grew between the head of the army, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as 'Hemedti,' who commanded rival paramilitary faction the Rapid Support Forces. These two disparate characters, who had formed a shaky partnership after Al-Bashir's downfall, became locked in a power struggle, clashing over how the powerful RSF should merge with the army. On April 15, 2023, fighting between the two forces broke out in Khartoum and quickly spread to other major towns across the vast country. The nightmare scenario of another devastating conflict in Sudan had come to fruition. It has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and plunged some regions into a famine the UN warns could spread further. That Al-Bashir allowed the RSF to emerge out of the Janjaweed militias from the Darfur conflict, and become a powerful military counterweight to threats against him from within the army, means the ongoing conflict is yet another part of his dark legacy. With no end to the fighting in sight and the international community focused on wars elsewhere, the Sudanese who had dared to dream of a brighter future beyond the shadow of Al-Bashir will continue to suffer. As for the former dictator himself, he was sentenced to two years in prison in December 2019 for corruption. A trial began in 2020 related to his actions during the 1989 coup that brought him to power, but a verdict was never reached. Now in his 80s, time might be running out for Al-Bashir's victims in Darfur to see him handed over to the ICC and brought to justice. With his health reportedly deteriorating, he was moved in September 2024 to a hospital 450 kilometers north of Khartoum, a safe distance from the fighting raging across the country.
