Leo Hohmann leohohmann.com June 15, 2023

A US-backed conflict observatory said it was "highly likely" that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary killed the governor of West Darfur.

The Sudan Conflict Observatory, which the US State Department supports, said in an analysis on Thursday it "assesses the death of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar to be an extrajudicial killing highly likely perpetrated by RSF" after analysing open-source information and news reports.

"Social media accounts have circulated multimedia showing persons, some of whom appear to wear RSF uniforms, detaining and abusing Abakar in El-Geneina. News reports and multimedia circulated during the evening of 14 June 2023 appear to show Abakar's body," it said.

In a video verified by Middle East Eye, Abakar is shown being manhandled by RSF fighters and the paramilitary's head in West Darfur, Abdulrahman Gomaa, who appears behind the governor before he disappears into a building in El-Geneina.

Abakar was reportedly killed hours after the video was taken, and graphic footage appearing to show him lying dead on the ground and being kicked in his bloodied face has emerged.

The UN has warned that due to an unprecedented funding crisis, it will be cutting food aid to at least 2.5 million Syrians.

More than 5.5 million Syrians rely on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) for their basic food needs.

The WFP is in the process of drawing up plans to prioritise the remaining three million Syrians who are unable to make it from one week to the next without food assistance.

The UN body warned that if it continued to provide aid to all the 5.5 million people in need it would run out of food completely by October.

Instead of scaling up or even keeping pace with increasing needs, were facing the bleak scenario of taking assistance away from people, right when they need it the most, said WFP Representative and Country Director in Syria, Kenn Crossley, in a statement.

Finding hard cash for Syrians amid the war in Ukraine, a growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and a long-simmering one in Yemen might be difficult.

The amount of money needed to feed Syrians alone is staggering, with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterre...

The Sudanese military has accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of killing the governor of West Darfur state in captivity, an accusation the RSF denies.

Khamis Abdullah Abakar is the most senior figure to be killed since battles rampaged Sudanese cities since April.

The details of his alleged death are still unclear but came hours after he delivered a television interview in which he highlighted the widespread killings in West Darfur's state capital El-Geneina, accusing the RSF of committing genocide. 

"Civilians are being killed randomly and in large numbers," Abakar said on Wednesday, before he was reportedly captured. 

On Facebook, the Sudanese army, which has been battling the RSF since 15 April, condemned Abakar's killing, and said that he was "not involved in the conflict between the armed forces and the rebels".

Two Sudanese government sources also confirmed the governor's death to Reuters, and said the RSF was responsible. 

Mahmoud Abbas' poor health raises concern

Doctors flocked to the residence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah last week as he underwent extensive medical examinations, according to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

Sources told the daily that "doctors were summoned several times to conduct tests for President Abbas, and in addition, [doctors] carried out urgent examinations in Jordan in secret, before he went to the United Nations".

The 87-year-old's poor health has again raised questions within the Fatah movement about who will succeed him.

Sources in Fatah said many in the leadership of the second generation and the popular base of the movement in the West Bank view Marwan Barghouti - currently jailed in an Israeli prison - as Abbas's successor, but the leadership rejects this.

The sources added that Fatah leaders had recently been investigating medical reports about Abbas's health status, and have started preparing for the post-Abbas era.