KHARTOUM: Sudan’s army rulers announced talks will resume with protest leaders Sunday, four days after the generals suspended negotiations on implementing civilian rule in the country.
“The Transitional Military Council announces the resumption of negotiations with the Alliance for Freedom and Change on Sunday at the presidential palace,” the ruling army council said in a Saturday statement.
World powers have urged the generals to resume meetings on Sudan’s future leadership, following the ouster last month of longtime leader Omar Al-Bashir after mass protest.
Representatives from the United Nations, African Union and European powers “called for an immediate resumption of talks,” said Tibor Nagy, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa.
They called on both sides to “reach an agreement ASAP on an interim government that is truly civilian-led and reflects the will of the Sudanese people,” Nagy tweeted Friday.
The generals and protest leaders had been expected to come to an agreement on Wednesday on the thorniest issue — the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for three years.
But that meeting never took place and on Thursday the head of the military council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, confirmed talks were suspended for 72 hours.
Demonstrators subsequently spent hours meeting Burhan’s demand to dismantle roadblocks which had paralyzed parts of the capital.
The generals have allowed protesters to hold onto their sit-in outside Khartoum’s army headquarters, where they remain camped out to demand a rapid transition to democracy.

JEDDAH: Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) chief said on Saturday continued instability in Libya could make it lose 95% of its oil production.

“Unfortunately if the situation will continue like this I’m afraid that maybe 95% of production will be lost,” Mustafa Sanalla told reporters in Jeddah ahead of a ministerial panel gathering on Sunday of top OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

Sanalla also said an attack had happened near Zella oilfield earlier on Saturday.

Two guards were killed and four others were kidnapped early on Saturday in a suspected Daesh attack targeting the oilfield, a security source said.

The attackers struck at an entrance gate to the field, which lies near the town of Zella about 760 km (470 miles) southwest of the capital, Tripoli. They killed the two guards before fleeing, the source and local residents asking not to be named told Reuters.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack through its Aamaq news agency later on Saturday.

The Zella field belongs to Zueitina Oil Company, which pumped 19,000 barrels per day on average in the last quarter of 2018 across all its fields.

An engineer told Reuters workers at the field were safe and facilities had not been damaged.

Daesh has been active in Libya in the turmoil since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The militant group took control of the coastal city of Sirte in 2015 but lost it late in 2016 to local forces backed by US air strikes.

In the last two years, the group has targeted three state institutions in Tripoli, home of the Tripoli-based government of national accord led by Prime Minister Fayez Serraj.

Saturday’s assault took place as general Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which is allied to a rival administration in eastern Libya, mounts an offensive to control Tripoli.

DAMASCUS: Syria’s transport ministry says Iraqi Airways flights to Damascus expected for the first time since the war erupted in 2011 have been postponed indefinitely.
The ministry says the two flights scheduled for Saturday were postponed because of administrative issues between the Syrian Civil Aviation and Iraqi Airways.
It gave no further details. The delay was relayed by the Iraqi embassy.
Iraqi Airways announced Thursday it would resume flights, making it the first international company to announce plans to return to Damascus International Airport, beset for years by war and blockade.
Only Syrian Airlines remained operative at the airport, organizing some international flights.
Syria approved in April a request from Qatar Airways to fly through Syrian airspace. Airlines have avoided Syrian airspace since the war broke out, causing long detours.

Yemeni national army recaptured a key district from the Houthi militia in the southern province of Dhale, the official site of the Defence Ministry reported on Friday.

With the support of the Security Belt forces, the army liberated several villages in the province, including the key district of Qataba.

Lt. Col. Abdo Ali Al-Qadi, an officer of the 83th Brigade, told September Net that army forces launched their attack at dawn on Friday in Qataba, causing the militia to flee in the direction of Ibb province in the west.

At least 80 Houthi militiamen were killed in the clashes, including Houthi Commander Mohammed Al-Senhani.

The army also recovered large quantities of various weapons and ammunition.

BENGHAZI, Libya: Libyan officials say Daesh militants have killed at least three troops in an attack on a checkpoint in a desert town.
A statement by the self-styled Libyan National Army said the militants captured four soldiers in the attack at the town of Zallah Saturday, but troops were able to free three of them.
The Daesh group claimed the attack.
The extremist group expanded its reach in Libya after the country was plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed Muammar Qaddafi.
Zallah is about 750 kilometers (466 miles) southeast of the capital, Tripoli, where Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s LNA forces are currently fighting to take control of the city from militias affiliated with a weak UN-supported government.