any help for the people who suffer its effect. malcolm web al jazeera, co wavy democratic republic of congo. finally, to the spanish island over the palmer where the conveyor, how the volcano is still erupting this week, and now the vent cracked open, sending out more ash and lava. 2700 buildings, including homes, have been destroyed since volcano rode back to life in september. ah, this is algebra and these are the top stories, israel's cabinet, his exec it to approve a decision to bar all foreign for 2 weeks. it will be the toughest travel ban. so fall since the only cron variant was detected in south africa this week. australia was the latest country to confirm called the 1900 variant infections to passengers coming from southern africa to sydney and tested positive on the chrome. parts of

the country have only just reopened for international travel. their talk has more from brisbin in australia. the details of these have just been announced by the government. there are 2 positive cases on that flight. the timing from originally from south africa, but by jo honda, those 2 cases, the now in isolation. i should say the both those passages were fully vaccinated and arrive in cities from south africa on a flight on saturday, out on, on that flight, the full team, people all lot who were coming from south africa. the other 12 and now also in quarantine and under watch. now it was the full fly there, about $260.00 packages all out. you might recall recently the strain, government put caps about 30 people between 30 and 50 people on the plot. those kept to be lifted, so the flights are full. the other passengers on board that flight have also been told to go into isolation. now. there be more protests in the french caribbean island of guadalupe against compulsory vaccinations and other restrictions. the

unrest is tapping into other frustrations just to have a 3rd and final referendum on independence from france. people incur casala, braving the snow and sleet to vote in the parliamentary election. president sather japan all has promised to make sure the selection is free. fair and peaceful for dancer, 6 of its soldiers have been killed during an attack by ethiopian forces. at happened at a sudanese army post near a contested border area. the military says its forces repelled the offensive. and on the spanish island of la palmer, the comrade, the hot volcano, is still erupting this week, and other vent cracked open, sending out more ash and lava. 2700 buildings, including homes, have been destroyed since it rolled back to life. in september. as i had lines when use on al jazeera, after talk to al jazeera, he said by war in afghanistan is now will non polar bond figures

make up a part that american or within the caliber with inside story podcast. frank assessment of the div headlines subscribe. now, however, you listen to podcasts, lou, following the military takeover incident on october 25th, that by gentle up to 14 grand and the house arrest or prime minister after lamb 2. it took nearly amount of negotiations to reach a political agreement. the dean was signed on november 21st at the presidential palace between alba han and hom dog. but there is another significant figure in the countries political dynamics. general mohammed ham down dug look commonly called m a t. his general elbow hans,

deputy in the sovereignty council. but he is also the leader of what's perhaps the army strongest division, the rapid support forces. i am russell said that in cartoon, although general douglas appears to play a wall behind the scenes, many in sudan and across the region considered him the most powerful figure in the country. but what does his polar come from? and as you also made years between the army and political parties, would you like to become the company is next press, the deputy chairman of the 7 to cancel or through dan, mom at home, doug douglas talked to al jazeera general mohammed. hum damn douglas. thank you. for talking touches here. i'm with her big her, her vis. so the machine you are welcome. and we are pleased to have you here. oh general. what was happening behind the scenes on october 25th. how did the military takeover happen?

and how did you make the decision for the power crap her from sitting over here? what's happened on october 25th was the ultimate outcome of a long process since a change started in sudan. during such process, many discussions were made. and many initiatives proposed by various parties, the prime minister himself proposed to initiatives during our meetings into transitional partners council or the sovereignty council. with a cabinet of ministers. we made maximum efforts, but we couldn't reach a break through. at that point, we were left with 3 options, the best of which was the move we had taken. such a move was completely agreeable to the prime minister. we did not make such a move on our own. the prime minister was in agreement with us as to the decision we had adopted. however, for him, the decision should have been endorsed by the freedom and change coalition. as i

said, we were left with 3 scenarios. freedom and change coalition, endorsing the disillusion of the government, which was next to impossible. and the 2nd scenario was the move we had taken. and the 3rd was the collapse of our country. we adopted the best option available. we've made the right decision from our perspective at that time and we prevented the collapse. so general, you have been very open about your views on political parties in the transitional government and several times you have demanded the prime minister of the land to dissolve the government. doesn't it seem that it was already set up an please? can you specify your own role in this military take over banana, philip darlena. though we had several meetings with all the political party. we

extended all advice possible from the beginning till the end. we did not spare any efforts. regretfully, it was their fault. some sudanese are putting the blame on us. on the contrary, we are not to blame. we believe we had taken the right move. during the past 30 years, the country was under the grip of a single party to jane. what we so is that our country was taken by another great. i said that in public we were left again to a single grip roll and the move we had taken has put an end to this. the change was great. it was started by all the sudanese people, especially the youth who are present more than 60 percent of our population. regretfully, such change was hijacked by a single party who was part of the deal we had signed with other parties to such

part. he gripped all the powers and its hand and side lines all other parties. it was even worse than the former single party redeem. according to the deal was saw and the prime minister has helped. he had a media tory role, and the parties were to respond. despite the advice were offered, the 4 major parties manipulated old powers. the prime minister and other small parties were in agreement with us, even before signing the deal. we wished to reach an arrangement on the governors of provinces. the pushed us to sign that earlier without finalizing this issue after the signing the back down. and the issue of governors are still pending for more than a year. are we blamed? simply because we are the ones in the uniform. so then is the country of all of the sudanese but not only ours. so did you decide to come back a militaristic,

over based on that the prime minister was not able to control his own government? reason was it, i'm sure it is not the issue of prime minister losing control according to the deal . the freedom of change coalition was brought on board. so his hands are tied. he cannot make a decision of his own accord without the freedom and change coalition, endorsing such a decision. the prime minister had no leeway, and that was the problem. freedom and change coalition. what again asked all the agreements made from liberating exchange rate to lifting the subsidy. the prime minister should be vocal on this issue. he should admit which side was supporting him over the past 2 years. it was us, you repeat them, say that you are committed to the goals of the revolution yet your forces are

accused of participating in the killings of the protesters in front of the mit headquarters in 2019 have the beam held accountable for what they have done so, would you, this is a good question. all i can say is, there is a prob, committee active on this issue, working on the investigations till date. the findings are not established yet. i cannot comment on the proceedings of an independent committee, and we hope that results are out soon considering the fact that you are so powerful in this country. do you believe that the common can you could be fully independent? living stood in. it is an independent committee, totally independent. so general, your forces have also been accused of arresting politicians, detain an activist, and also or pressing protestors want streets over the past month. have your forces

been involved in any killings of the civilians to the protest to a place last month? the and the i listen, there is an organized campaign targeting that i bet support forces. it aimed at demonizing. these forces. we cannot establish those behind this malicious campaign, but according to the law that i would support forces to support the regular authorities. they have no power to arrest or use force again as for testers, the rapid support forces are deployed at various parts within the capitol. they also have several camps within and around that capital city. so general douglas, just weeks before the military takeover, some tribes in is to them. they have blocked the ways and barricaded the roads to cotton. so it's through done ports with were completely cut off

from the capital. why didn't you interfere? why didn't you stop them in doing so? because many said that you deliberately let them to do in order to paved away for the military. take over. even luna dia, this is part of the malicious campaign 1st, the issue of the east of so dan is not new. since the signing of the dual bag limits for peace, the east was in total rejection of the agreement. second, we have worked hard on this issue. held several meetings more than 50 meetings with the concerned parties. i personally managed to bring them closer to ideal. i even tried with a special committee led by general some so danica, but she assisted by other ministers and advisors to engage with them in dialogue.

such dial it should be added to the public for them to lay out their demands with the aim of reaching an agreement. it was followed by a meeting with a supreme council for peace. but we reached a deadlock. after that, the province was cut off. it was an unprecedented move, which was initiated by the freedom and change coalition. not the people of the east . they blocked the roads. the railway lines and the food was sealed off for 4 months. even when the oil facilities were brought to our home. we did our best to reach an amicable solution through dialogue. we cannot be part of this problem. so general, tell us about what happened in the days that led up to november 21st. the day that the agreement has been signed between the prime minister after hampton and general alper hand. so what are you involved in the negotiations when you consider shooting

since october 25th, we have covered a long distance along the road. many initiatives were proposed by the various parties within sudan and without but with a trade that we are committed to the cause and the goals of that of lucian. we do not wish to see it straying, of course, as they said, we should not read the country from a single party at all and bring a similar one. doctor abdullah ham dukes role is to ensure that of lucian would remain on course. many claim that i do a review of the office from the beginning, but this is not true. we had hoped to have him as the 15th member of the sovereignty council. but we saw it was necessity to have him do as a prime minister to avoid any sanctions from the international community. the general albert han and his team exerted huge efforts, especially at the last 3 days before the recent agreement was made. were part and

parcel of this agreement, of course, and this agreement will ensure. so dan is back on the right course. again. general, you negotiated an agreement with a prime minister after la handle was on the house arrest. why should sudanese people accept it? if it looks to be a forced agreement, but unless the redated with a lower and let them to see if from the moment the correction move was taken, ham duke was kept in his own residence, not a house arrest. he kept his own guards. on the day we were supposed to meet him, the wives of ministers who had been arrested, stormed the area. that's why i'm duke was moved to the protocol palace for his own safety. after that he returned to his residence in the following days with no money, but with cautious movements. he was being visited by delegates and other politicians. we were in contact with him too. i personally visited him together

with general albert hon. even official delegations were able to meet him if he were put to a house arrest, he wouldn't have been able to receive these delegates or make calls with foreign officials, like the united states secretary of state. we had his safety in mind. i made that volatile situation where any act of violence was not ruled out. general. we see your footprints everywhere in this country, as a mediator between on groups between the tribes. political parties, even the border disputes. and you have the powerful, rapid supple with forces which many states that it has never lost a battle. you're coming from a very humble background. so can you tell us, how did you build such a powerful empire renew really? so a little harder as to the 1st part of the question. we thank god for guiding our steps

to the right move. secondly, i thank all parties involved, especially that i appealed to them old. i thank them for accepting my mediation role. that credit does not go to me alone. i am assisted by some others. we once fought again at each other, but we later came to realize that we should join hands to build our country. that's why we agreed we should reach a compromise. we can build our country by actions, not by hopes. in addition to the job agreement for peace, we managed to reach the south sudan. during the talks with groups, we managed to bring all views together. president silva occurred an opposition leader right much as to the rapid support forces. as you know, old battles involve victory and defeat. i cannot see us as victorious. we fought against our fellow sudanese. i'm old parties are losers. we hope we learn

from the past and turn such last into positive efforts towards building our country . we shall all abandon racial, tribal and provincial divisions. general, do you believe that you have ever killed innocent people or do you feel any regret for the killings that you had to do? an animal ignore all the battles we fought were against armed rebels. i know those rebels out of my fellow sudanese. no sight is victorious, lost is suffered by old. no doubt. i feel deep regret, especially when you look at the number of the fallen, the widows and orphans. we could have all avoided these bitter consequences. we shouldn't have engage in fighting and the 1st place, every drop of blood would be spared. and we should join hands to bel, our country. however, i can say i fought against arm dribbles,

not i'm on innocent civilians. so general, you have participated in the war in yemen. send the troops to fight on the side of saudi last question. why did you accept to do that and are you, are you still in yemen? if so, why not? i don't know that area. another dollar. it was not my personal decision, it was the states, it was made on the coalition to restore legitimacy in yemen. it was also made under the former redeem. and after toppling the redeem, we were supposed to honor all the past agreements, domestic and international. these forces were locked, dispatched on my orders, they were sent under international agreements made with the state, considering the fact that you're one of the most powerful men in this country. i'm sure if you didn't find sending that to us to yemen, moral, you wouldn't do that,

so right there would be a dilemma of mine is still god. i do not see myself as a mighty influential man. i am a simple man, a sudanese citizen, and the 1st place. it is true. i am the vice president of the sovereignty council. but i am a simple sudanese man. secondly, that decision was made on the original agreement involving all the arab countries. not so dana low. almost all the other countries were part of it. above all, our forces are not fighting inside them and now they are inside the saudi arabian borders. fighting in defense, the 2 holly mosques, general, some say that your, your troops salary is not being paid by the state. so how do you pay the salaries done and where do you make that money from that? and even during the day,

this is also part of the malicious campaign aiming at demonizing, the rapid support forces. how can i afford to pay those soldiers? these forces are part of the armed forces. those soldiers, like any other regular force, are paid by the finance ministry. and you can verify this with the finance minister or his under secretary. so do you confirmed that your troops are not being financed by your own resources? then the more across that a very you could say i have my own sources of income. i have my own trade business . i have for my pit degree of merchants. i like any other businessmen can lend a helping hand to the armed forces of the police as a token of appreciation that up it's a port forces are regular forces with their own duties, restrictions, rights and obligations. not my personal militias. i cannot afford it,

but some people said that you didn't only build a military empire, but also business empire by using the powerful rep is supple forces into countries . so would you agree with that good on the river? have this is not true. we have a long history in trade. i personally started my own business in 1919. we were among the 1st to discover gold in sudan. we used metal detectors and ventured out in the desert, searching for the gold. in double, i'm a for example. we like any other sudanese citizen, applied with the mining minister for a license. we paid the relevant fees and satisfied all the formalities. after that, we set up a plan which was running for a while. that's why people have moved heaven, an air claiming we sees tons of gold, and then we handed over the plan to the government with the 11 kilograms of gold in

our position at that time. in addition, there are thousands of for implants operating in the area, producing hundreds of cables of gold every month. general. your forces also have been accused by the right groups and the worst wavers in the for off killings, ratings and burning the wheels. so what makes them qualify to be a part of the security make up into that a 100 feet or 4 lower than the warnings are for an attacks on the villages was in 2003. while the rapid support forces were formed in 2013. this is living proof that we are targeted with a malicious propaganda. on the contrary, we were part of the solution in the fall, as we held the displaced return home. when our forces are deployed across the fall to maintain security, i advise you to pay a field trip and see for yourselves you will see all the regular forces fulfilling

the duties. there's the forces, the police and the rapid support forces. go to the food and see for yourselves who is guarding the people and who is protecting their seasonal harvest. so general, why aren't your forces part of the army yet? they have their own uniforms, they own cars. they are on a basis. even their own commander in chief, but the head of the army says that you are one unit. so how's death? all the arms in the world have their own uniform. according to the law, we are part of the regular army. we are reporting to the chief commander of the armed forces. it is true, we answer to the chief command of the armed forces, adding to that, each branch of the armed forces have their own unique uniform, special forces, then century naval and air forces. and this is more me and all armies worldwide.

but in reality, people say that your forces do not get the orders from the head of the army, but from you, because i'm running, this is not true. i am the commander of that up. it's support forces. i receive all those from the chief commander of armed forces, an intern id, lay these orders to that up. it's support forces and all is documented through official correspondence general already to integrate your forces into the army as part of the security sector reform. and if so, how will that happen? and most importantly, when she went to florida with the, the form is an ongoing process. and we are part of the army. but these rumors are circulated by people with agendas. the latest political agreement spoke about with

one unified national army. and the reform will entail all the branches, the army, and the rapid support forces, the police and security forces. we are marching ahead with reforms. in addition, that up it's about forces are not a unique phenomenon in sudan. many other countries have similar forces. so general, the prime minister was very much clear when i had an interview with him regarding the security sector reform. if they insist on your forces to be fully integrated into the army based on a certain timeline, would you agree with that? or would you go against the decision of the prime minister? and the government reason with whom i knew will will. floral me the prime minister is not concerned with the form to the security potters. he is responsible for certain duties under the transitional periods. we are now concerned with the

measure for tasks, the economy, which means the livelihood of our people, security, peace and elections. we are all running the state a fair and consultative manner, not top to bottom orders. in addition, speaking about security arrangements comes before the regular forces. this is the priority general. there are reports off, hundreds of people being killed and injured. several village being burnt in west are 4. so what happened there and what your forces also involved in such act? oh, how are you near the kids mother to begin with the figure, hundreds is not true. lives were lost on both sides, military men and civilians. at the end of the day, they are all human beings. however, a maximum of 14 or 15 persons were killed on both sides. this happened because some

did not honor the written undertakings of non aggression. the rapids about 14 or linchpin to security. guards in the country and the country men and they are not part of any conflict talking if some are accusing that up is support forces of any violations lead them, prove it. are you going to run for president at the end of the transitional period in the elections of 2023. and how many? how many? and also a bit at our top priority now is to take our country to say soul to see a true transition to democracy, not empty slogans. and to lead our people to free and transparent elections. we do not have any personal interests. we wish to brave the road to safety, especially we are surrounded by many troubled countries from libya to with you

appear. our key concern is to cruise to safety donald hummer. tom don douglas, thank you. thank you very much. ah, investigating the use and abuse of power across the globe on al jazeera this one's feared war lord, during lay barriers, decade long civil war says he's now fighting a drug epidemic. the work that the former warlord joshua boy he has done with treat children, has attracted their help. eccentric b as protected, and in effect from public call situation. despite the recommendations made by the truth and reconciliation commission for this former warlord,

liberia has become the frontline of a drug war. it cannot afford to lose. he says it's a battle he will fight out of responsibility and killed for his past crimes and for his country. ah. ready ready australia becomes the nicest country to detect cases of the new of a cron variant of covet. 19 israel's cabinets is set to ban the entry of all foreigners off the discovery of the you varied ah, i'm can vanelle. this is algae. they're alive from dell ha. also coming up to don says 6 of its soldiers have been killed in a board of skirmish with ethiopia and more on doctors and democratic republic call

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