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LONDON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed recent developments in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, focusing on humanitarian and security issues, with his Sudanese counterpart Mohieddin Salem on Wednesday.

Abdelatty emphasized Egypt’s strong support for the Sudanese people and its commitment to achieving stability and peace in Sudan. He noted Egypt’s active role in efforts to secure a ceasefire and establish a humanitarian truce to provide assistance and reduce civilian suffering.

He highlighted that Sudan’s security is crucial for the region’s overall stability, and Egypt is committed to Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and stability.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have recently captured El-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur, which the EU has accused of targeting civilians and aid workers in the region. The RSF has been engaged in a deadly conflict with the army since April 2023.

The two ministers also discussed commercial and investment cooperation, as well as infrastructure rehabilitation. Egypt is prepared to enhance support in the electricity, water, health and education sectors for the Sudanese people, Abdelatty said.

The meeting highlighted water security, focusing on the need for unity between the two Nile estuary countries and full compliance with international law in the eastern Nile basin.

GENEVA: The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday it had been ordered to leave Libya by November 9, with no reason given for its expulsion.
MSF had already been forced to suspend its activities in the country in March, and said it was told to leave in a recent letter from the Libyan foreign ministry.
“No reason has been given to justify our expulsion and the process remains unclear,” Steve Purbrick, who heads MSF’s programs in Libya, said in a statement.
“We believe that MSF still has an important role to play in Libya, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, in supporting the Libyan health system, but also in providing access to health care for refugees and migrants who are excluded from care and subject to arbitrary detention and serious violence,” he said.
Purbrick said MSF’s registration with the UN-recognized government remained valid, and the Geneva-based organization still hoped to find a “positive solution” to the situation.
MSF said that in collaboration with the Libyan health authorities, it had carried out more than 15,000 medical consultations last year.
In 2023 it provided emergency medical aid following flash floods in the coastal city of Derna that killed thousands of people.
Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east.
The north African country has remained divided since a NATO-backed revolt toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
In March, MSF’s premises were closed by Libya’s Internal Security Agency, and several of its staff faced “interrogation,” it said.
“This wave of repression also affected nine other humanitarian organizations operating in the west of the country,” said MSF.
“In a context of increasing obstruction of NGO intervention, drastic cuts in international aid funding, and the reinforcement of European border policies in collaboration with the Libyan authorities, there are now no international NGOs providing medical care to refugees and migrants in western Libya,” it said.
Founded in 1971, MSF says it has more than 67,000 staff working in more than 70 countries.