The United States on Saturday appointed the first ambassador to Sudan since 1996, elevating its diplomatic representation in the capital Khartoum from charge d'affaires, Sudanese news agency SUNA reports.

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Veteran Middle East diplomat John Godfrey will serve as the new US envoy.

Godfrey is currently acting coordinator for counterterrorism at the US State Department, as well as acting special envoy for the global coalition to defeat the Islamic State.

Previously, he was deputy head of mission at the US embassy in Riyadh and before that chief of staff to then deputy secretary of state Bill Burns, who is now director of the CIA. Godfrey also held positions at the US embassies in Iraq and Libya.

The US broke diplomatic ties with Sudan in 1996 over its support for Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Following the ouster of then-Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, the US announced it would normalize relations with the African country and exchange ambassadors. Sudan sent an ambassador to Washington, but the Trump administration did not reciprocate.

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A Mossad delegation traveled to Sudan after last week's military coup, Israeli media reported late Monday night.

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The reigning assessment is that the purpose of the trip was to ensure that the process of normalization between Israel and Sudan, which began when Sudan joined the Abraham Accords in 2020, continued. Sudan has yet to open an official diplomatic mission in Israel or dispatch a diplomatic envoy to take charge of bilateral ties.

Last week, Sudan's military seized power, dissolving the transitional government hours after troops arrested the prime minister, and thousands flooded the streets to protest the coup that threatened the country's shaky progress toward democracy.

Security forces opened fire on some of them, and three protesters were killed, according to the Sudan Doctors' Committee, which also said 80 people were wounded.

The takeover, which drew condemnation from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, comes more than two years after protesters forced the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and just weeks before the military was supposed to hand the leadership of the council that runs the country over to civilians.

Some three weeks ago, the Saudi Al-Arabiya outlet reported that a Sudanese security delegation had visited Israel. According to that report, the visit lasted two days and participating representatives discussed relations between the two countries.

Not long after the reported visit to Israel, senior Israeli and Sudanese officials held a rare public meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Sudanese Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari met with Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll and Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej, and the officials pledged to strengthen the nascent ties between Jerusalem and Khartoum.

Roll said the sides agreed on future cooperation. "Our goal is to join hands in technological training in order to help young people of all sides" enter the modern labor market. "We also spoke about the importance of normalizing the relations between both countries," he added.

"The two agreed [on] promoting joint projects and activities," Frej said and quoted Abdulbari as saying it was important to "strengthen human bonds."

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Nurse Amina Ben Hammou beamed with pride when President Kais Saied named Najla Bouden Romdhane as Tunisia's first woman prime minister on Wednesday.

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"I am optimistic about a woman being prime minister, so let's try it," she said.

"And I imagine, according to my opinion, that a woman will make Tunisia succeed because women are serious, combative, and patient, and these three things are very important."

Saied asked Bouden, a little-known professor of geophysics who implemented World Bank projects at the education ministry, to form a government quickly amid a political crisis following his near-total seizure of power.

Last week, Saied suspended most of the constitution, saying he could rule by decree during an "exceptional" period with no set ending, calling into question democratic gains after Tunisia's Arab Spring uprising in 2011.

Elected in 2019, Saied has been under domestic and international pressure to name a government after he dismissed the prime minister, suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority in July in moves his foes call a coup.

However, Bouden's appointment marks a social advance in the Muslim country, which has some of the most progressive laws governing women's rights in North Africa and the Middle East.

Religion-based personal status laws govern marriage, child custody, divorce, and inheritance although activists say Tunisia still discriminates in men's favor when it comes to inheritance rights.

Saied asked Bouden to propose a cabinet in the coming hours or days "because we have lost a lot of time.".

His closest adviser is also a woman - presidency office director Nadia Akacha. She had been tipped as one of the likely candidates for prime minister before he tapped Bouden.

Women have only rarely held senior political roles in Arab countries. Yet Saied's actions raise questions over whether Bouden will be given the tools to govern in a nation facing a crisis in public finances after years of economic stagnation were aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic and political infighting.

The new government urgently needs financial support for the budget and debt repayments after Saied's changes put talks with the International Monetary Fund on hold.

Bouden's appointment lifted some spirits, despite the limitations she will face.

"We were waiting for this moment, and I imagine that any woman, not only in Tunisia, but in the world, and any woman in the free world, is waiting at a moment like this that a woman is appointed to this position," said teacher Mouna Ben Sad.

'I just hope that she will do a good job and I hope that she will carry out a good program."

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Sudanese authorities said they had foiled an attempted coup on Tuesday, accusing plotters loyal to ousted president Omar al-Bashir of a failed bid to derail the revolution that removed him from power in 2019, adding that the country's ruling council and military remain in control.

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The development underscored the fragility of Sudan's path to democracy, more than two years after the military's overthrow of longtime autocrat al-Bashir amid a public uprising against his three-decade rule.

Sudan's state-run television called on the public "to counter" the coup attempt but did not provide further details.

"All is under control. The revolution is victorious," Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman, a member of the ruling military-civilian council, wrote on Facebook. He also called on the Sudanese to protect the transition.

A senior military official said an unspecified number of troops from the armored corps were behind the attempt and that they tried to take over several government institutions but were stopped.

He said the attempt began at dawn and that a group of soldiers had tried to seize the military headquarters and the state television station in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman to read a statement to citizens. The content of the statement was not immediately clear.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said over three dozen troops, including high-ranking officers, were arrested.

Brig. Al-Tahir Abu Haja, a media consultant for the military's chief, said in a televised statement that at least 21 suspected officers and some troops were arrested and that authorities were searching for other suspects in the failed attempt.

Footage circulated online showing troops and armored vehicles deployed to main roads and intersections in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Security was also boosted at the military headquarters and other government buildings in the city.

Mohammed Hassan al-Taishi, a member of the sovereign council, called the attempt a "foolish and bad choice."

"The option of military coups has left us only a failed and weak country," he wrote on Twitter. "The path towards democratic transition and securing the country's political future and unity remains one option."

Later, in a statement read on the state-run TV, Culture and Information Minister Hamza Baloul said security forces have arrested civilian and military leaders behind the coup attempt, and that they have been interrogated after the military managed to get the armored corps' camp south of Khartoum under control.

Baloul, who is also the government spokesman, said authorities were chasing others "from the remnants" of al-Bashir's regime who were suspects in orchestrating the attempted coup. He did not give further details.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok blamed remnants of al-Bashir's government for the coup attempt, describing it as an effort to undermine Sudan's democratic transition.

"What happened is an orchestrated coup by factions inside and outside the armed forces," he said.

Hamdok, the civilian face of the Sudanese government, spoke during an emergency Cabinet meeting that was broadcast on state-run TV, saying the attempt "underscored the need for a complete, clear and transparent review of the transition."

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council, and his deputy Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the powerful Rapid Support Forces, visited the armored corps camp Tuesday, according to video footage circulated by the council.

The coup attempt, had it succeeded, would have had "devastating consequences to the unity of the military, and the country as well," Burhan said.

Volker Perthes, the UN political envoy to Sudan, condemned the attempt. "The United Nations condemns any attempt – whether a coup or otherwise – to undermine the democratic political transition process and the pluralistic nature of the state as stipulated in the constitutional declaration," he said.

Sudan has been on a fragile path to democratic rule since the military's ouster of al-Bashir in April 2019, following four months of mass protests. For decades, al-Bashir's government, which was allied with the Islamists, had worked to impede ideologues within the military and other security agencies. Al-Bashir himself had come to power in an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989.

The country is now ruled by a joint civilian and military government. The transitional government has been under increasing pressure to end wars with rebel groups as it seeks to rehabilitate the country's battered economy, attract much-needed foreign aid and deliver the democracy it promised.

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The US government condemned the coup attempt in a statement from Samantha Powers, the administrator of the US. Agency for International Development who recently visited Sudan.

"The United States remains committed – alongside allies in the region and around the world – to supporting the continuation of Sudan's historic transition toward democracy, and to working with actors across Sudan to advance critically needed progress on economic, judicial, governance, human rights, and security reforms," Power said.

Israel and Sudan agreed to normalize diplomatic relations in October 2020, ending decades of hostilities.

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A Jordanian court on Thursday upheld the conviction of two former senior officials on sedition and other charges connected to an alleged plot against the kingdom involving the half-brother of King Abdullah II.

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Bassem Awadallah, who has US citizenship and once served as a top aide to the king, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, were sentenced to 15 years in prison in July by a state security court. They were accused of conspiring with Hamzah, a former crown prince, and of seeking foreign assistance.

They had been swept up in a wave of arrests in April. Prince Hamzah, who was placed under house arrest that month, denied being part of any conspiracy and said he was being targeted for speaking out against corruption. The king later announced that the royal rift had been resolved within the family, and Hamzah was never charged with anything.

Jordan is a close Western ally that hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees and has long been seen as an island of stability in a volatile region. But the rare palace feud exposed deep-rooted economic and social challenges in the country, which borders Israel, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Awadallah's US-based lawyer, Michael Sullivan, had slammed the initial verdict, saying there had been a "complete lack of due process" and that his client had suffered "inhumane treatment, including beatings and psychological torture." Jordanian prosecutors denied those allegations.

In a statement Thursday, Sullivan called the decision "a dark day for justice."

"This decision to uphold the original, predetermined verdict and outrageous sentence by a secret court in Jordan violates every international standard for justice and human rights and makes a mockery of the rule of law," he said.

He said Awadallah continues to be held in solitary confinement and denied contact with his family. Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor, urged the US government to "continue its investigation" into Awadallah's treatment and to demand the release of the full transcript of the closed trial.

Last month, the US Embassy in Amman expressed concerns about allegations of mistreatment and the denial of family visits.

On Thursday, the Court of Cassation dismissed an appeal field by lawyers for the two men, saying they were convicted in accordance with the law, according to the state-run Petra news agency.

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We were hosting madrichim from Israel and USA for Shabbat dinner. They were in Turkey to help the Jewish community in Istanbul, specifically Büyükada (Prinkipo). Most of the local Jews spend the summer out of the city on the islands of Marmara.

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My phone rang a couple of times before I decided to answer it. Two of my close friends were calling me. One asked me if I was OK and told me that the Bosphorus Bridge had been closed and it was impossible to travel from the European side to Asian side. She told me there was a chance this might be a coup.

I told everyone at the table what she had told me. My parents, who experienced the 1980 coup, and my grandparents who experienced both 1960 and 1980 coups, didn't believe it. A couple of minutes later another friend reached out. Her voice was frightened and anxious. She told me that they keep hearing planes flying very low, and were hiding under their beds.

We decided to check Twitter, which in those days was banned when a public event took place. But Twitter was operative, and scary images were on display. Soldiers, police and even the general public were fighting with each other. People were killing each other, parliament was being bombed and planes were shooting innocent citizens. We were glad that we were away from all this chaos.

After dinner we decided to go out to the island port. People who had been through the 1980 coup were very afraid. They wanted to go to the market and stock up on food, then draw money out of an ATM. When we got there, there was an enormous line. The island only had a few, and by the time we got there, there was no cash left.

We decided to meet friends at a new café at a historic hotel named Splendid. A few minutes after we arrived,, we received news claiming that the coup had been arranged in that very hotel where we were watching the news. It took us a couple of minutes to decide whether to keep staying in the cafe or leave.

It was the first time we heard this particular prayer from the mosques, called "Sela," and it wasn't the right time for Muslim prayers, either. It was running continuously on the island, fire engines raced around, their engines blaring. I didn't know what was really going on at that point. I didn't know if it was a real coup, if it was successful or if it was staged.

The next week, we started to realize what was going on. A state of emergency was declared. People were afraid curfews were going to be applied. But with fresh power in its hands, the government enacted countless laws, declared war against Fetullahçı Terör Örgütü (FETÖ) – the organization accused of orchestrating the attempted coup, and fired everyone related to this organization from universities, and public office. This was just the beginning. Later, they were detained and their assets seized.

The Erdoğan government emerged from the attempted coup more powerful than ever. It cleared its ranks of local opposition, found a "just" reason to get severe, and created a new fund to concentrate assets in its hands.

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Jordan's Prince Hamza on Sunday made his first public appearance since he was placed under house arrest last week, attending a ceremony with King Abdullah II in what appeared to be an attempted show of unity on a major Jordanian holiday.

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But it remained unclear whether the king and his popular half-brother had put aside the differences that escalated last week into the most serious public rift in the ruling family in decades.

Hamza joined members of the Jordanian royal family marking the centenary of the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate that preceded the kingdom. The royal palace released a photo and video with Abdullah, Hamza, Crown Prince Hussein and other dignitaries at the grave of King Talal in Amman, Jordan's capital.

It was the first time that Hamza was seen in public since he was placed under a form of house arrest on April 3 following accusations that he was involved in a "malicious plot" to destabilize the kingdom. In statements leaked to the media, Hamza denied the accusations and accused the country's government of corruption and incompetence.

Abdullah subsequently said authorities had thwarted an attempt at sedition involving his half brother and some 18 suspects, while saying he was angry and in shock. Abdullah also suggested there was continued control over Hamza's movements, saying the prince was "with his family at his palace, under my care."

Authorities have imposed a sweeping gag order on any coverage of the royal dispute in a sign of how sensitive they are to how it is perceived. The gag order and the king's willingness to sanction his own brother also reaffirmed what Jordanians understand as their "red line" — an absolute ban on criticizing the monarch or the royal family.

The appearance by Hamza indicated that he was safe, but it remained unclear whether he had come voluntarily or truly been released from the restrictions on his movement. Hamza, wearing a suit, traditional headdress and blue surgical mask, joined his relatives in prayers but did not comment.

There also has been no sign that authorities have released up to 18 other detainees, including members of one of the powerful tribes on which the monarchy has historically relied.

Even before the palace drama, Jordan was grappling with an economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with one in four people out of work. Longstanding complaints about corruption and misrule have fueled scattered protests in recent months.

At the same time, the region's strategic landscape is shifting as powerful Gulf states pursue closer ties with Israel, potentially undermining Jordan's role in the Middle East peace process.

The United States, along with regional allies, have all rallied behind the king. Jordan has long been seen as a relatively stable western ally in the Middle East in a turbulent region. But the past year of the coronavirus has rocked the country's largely tourism-dependent economy.

Abdullah and Hamza are both sons of King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for nearly a half-century before his death in 1999. Abdullah had appointed Hamza as crown prince upon his succession but stripped him of the title in 2004 and gave his eldest son the title instead.

Jordan has a large Palestinian population, including more than 2 million refugees from past wars with Israel and their descendants. The monarchy has granted most of them full citizenship but has historically viewed them with suspicion. Its main base of support is powerful tribes from east of the Jordan River, who dominate the security forces.

For decades, the monarchy has cultivated close ties with the US and other Western nations, which it has used to press for the creation of a Palestinian state including the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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US President Joe Biden reiterated his country's strong support for the Hashemite Kingdom's monarchy in a call with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Wednesday.

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Biden underscored the importance of Abdullah's leadership to the United States and the region.

Together they discussed the strong bilateral ties between Jordan and the United States, Jordan's important role in the region, and the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, and security arenas, according to a readout of the call.

The reassurance is increasingly important as rumors of a planned coup swept the royal palace over the last week. The king's half-brother Prince Hamza bin al-Hussein said late Saturday he was being held under house arrest, although he denied any role in the alleged plot to overthrow the monarch.

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Asked about the situation in Jordan during press questions following a policy speech on infrastructure, Biden said he remained unconcerned about the situation in Jordan.

In the call, Biden also reaffirmed his support for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

That statement arrived on the heels of an announcement by the US State Department that the US was reinstating some $235 million in aid to the Palestinians.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Jordan's estranged Prince Hamza, under house arrest for his supposed role in an alleged coup attempt, signed a letter of allegiance to his half-brother, King Abdullah II on Monday.

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"The national interest must remain above all else, and we must all stand behind His Majesty the King in his efforts to safeguard Jordan and its national interests, and ensure the best for the Jordanian people, in accordance with the Hashemite legacy of dedication to serving the nation and supporting the head of the family and the leader of the homeland, may God protect him.

"In light of the developments over the past two days, I put myself at the disposal of His Majesty the King, and I reaffirm that I will always remain committed to the covenant of the ancestors, loyal to their legacy, following in their footsteps, devoted to their path and mission, and to His Majesty the King; and committed to the Constitution of the dear Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And I will always remain the supporter of His Majesty the King and his Crown Prince."

Prince Hamza, the former crown prince, signed the letter after he met with Prince Hassan, the king's uncle, and other princes on Monday, the royal court said.

Malik Dahlan, a professional mediator and friend of the royal family who is a confidant of Hamza, was also called in to help mediate between the sides.

"Mediation by [Prince Hassan], the Dean of the Hashemite Royal Family [on Monday] have been successful and I expect a resolution shortly," Dahlan said in a statement.

"This regrettable incident was the result of the clumsy actions of a senior security official and misrepresentation by a government official. It should have remained a family matter. The Royal Hashemite family has a long history and tradition of mediation, which is one of the many reasons for its formidable resilience and popularity.

"This moment can be seen as a pressure valve moment, and the King, in his wisdom, is using this opportunity to bring the family together, uphold the rule of law and resolve this matter with the dignity and the symbolism that it deserves. It is also a reminder for the international community to stand by the Hashemites and commend their honorable stance to address the dire economic situation of the Jordanian people and vulnerable refugee communities during these difficult circumstances.

"Prince Hamza has a lot to offer the Kingdom and the Arab World – and could play a positive role working in a space where his passion for climate action would bring about change," the statement concluded.

Earlier Monday, Prince Hamza said in a voice recording that he would disobey orders by the army not to communicate with the outside world after he was put under house arrest and accused of trying to destabilize the country.

"For sure I won't obey when they tell you that you cannot go out or tweet or reach out to people but are only allowed to see the family. I expect this talk is not acceptable in any way," he said in the recording circulated to friends and contacts.

King Abdullah removed Prince Hamza from his position as heir to the throne in 2004.

In a video passed to the BBC by Prince Hamza's lawyer on Saturday, the prince accused Jordan's leaders of corruption, apparently hoping to tap into the public's frustrations.

Prince Hamza is not seen as a threat to the monarchy, which enjoys the support of the army and security services, but has gained sympathy among Jordanians skeptical of the government's accusations about his foreign links, saying it was a campaign to defame him.

Prince Hamza is the oldest son of the late King Hussein and his wife Noor, who had groomed him as a future monarch. He has served in the Jordanian armed forces.

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Jordan's foreign minister tried on Sunday to shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the nighttime arrests of certain senior officials following a failed coup attempt. But his comments created the impression that the main grounds for the drama were, at the most, conversations and plans that might have been cooked up secretly, rather than concrete actions. No tanks were rolling toward the royal palace in Amman, and King Abdullah's throne was never in any real danger.

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We can assume that if the king had had any real evidence that his half-brother Prince Hamzah was planning to overthrow him, he would have put him in prison rather than under house arrest, and possibly could have denied shutting him in the palace, if it hadn't been for a leaked video that Hamzah managed to smuggle out.

Over 50 years ago, Professor Manfred Halpern, one of the most important Middle East researchers of all time, predicted that the fate of the kings in the region had been clinched, and they would disappear within a few years. Of course, he was wrong. The Arab Spring, which deposed long-reigning tyrants like Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, miraculously skipped over the monarchies and left all the kings on their thrones, from the king of Morocco in the west to the king of Saudi Arabia and the Emirate princes in the east.

But that same Arab Spring, or winter, left the surviving kings more worried and anxious about their reign than ever. They commanded their intelligence services to keep an eye open for any suspicious chatter or undesirable gatherings.

At least some of them are convinced that the main danger to their rule comes not from their militaries and security apparatuses, but closer to home. A year ago, Mohammad bin Salman, son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia, ordered the arrests of three members of the royal family, including two high-ranking princes, on charges of attempting a coup. On Saturday, King Abdullah took exactly the same action when he ordered Hamzah to be placed under house arrest.

The kings' fear of being betrayed by members of their own extended families overlaps with their natural desire for their sons, rather than other family members, to inherit their crowns. There are plenty of examples. Less than four years ago, King Salman ousted his nephew, Mohammed bin Naif, to name his son, Mohammad bin Salman, heir to the throne. Jordan's former King Hussein, on his deathbed, passed over his brother Hassan to name his own son Abdullah his heir.

And following the tradition of giving his son preference over other relatives, King Abdullah II took care to ensure that not Hamzah but his own eldest son Hussein would become king. Only last month, Hussein tried to anchor his status by sparking a spat with Israel about the number of security guards who would accompany him on a visit to the Temple Mount.

As of Sunday afternoon, it still is not clear how far Hamzah was prepared to go, aside from his confession in the leaked video that he had not been part of any coup attempt and had only voiced criticism about years of corruption in the upper echelon of the kingdom.

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But the king's hasty response and the nighttime arrests show how enormously sensitive the Jordanian royal family is about any attempt to topple the king. There a few reasons for this: first, the difficult situation in Jordan, which is battling COVID and an economic crisis and is having difficulty coping with a huge deficit and high unemployment. The economy received a bit of relief from the US Congress' decision to cancel former President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw foreign aid to Jordan.

Another reason has to do with the fact that Hamzah, 41, is well-educated and has an impressive military record as a commander in the country's armored forces, and is more popular and charismatic than Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah. Hamzah also enjoys the support of a few of the tribal leaders in Jordan, who are the mainstay of kingdom's ruling elite. During the wave of demonstrations that erupted across Jordan some three years ago over the economic crisis, Hamzah's name was raised as someone more worthy than Hussein to succeed Abdullah.

In deciding to clip Hamzah's wings and remove any threat, real or imagined, to his rule, King Abdullah had the full support of the United States, the west, and most countries in the Arab world. The calming messages Amman sent Jerusalem about the stability of the kingdom's government show that despite the diplomatic tension between the two countries, the king places great importance on backing from Israel.

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