Egypt hosts US envoy as regional talks continue on Sudan, Lebanon, and Iran

CAIRO, Egypt 

Diplomatic efforts are back in focus across the Middle East as key leaders engage in talks on regional conflicts.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi met in Cairo with US envoy Massad Boulos to discuss developments in Sudan and Lebanon. During the meeting, el-Sissi praised US President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

However, new developments have complicated the situation.

Shortly after Trump announced plans for renewed negotiations with Iran, US forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz, raising questions about the future of those talks.

Iran has condemned the seizure as “piracy” and indicated it has no current plans to participate in upcoming negotiations with Washington.

Meanwhile, Israel confirmed another round of discussions with Lebanon, signaling continued diplomatic engagement on that front.

As talks continue, attention now turns to whether these efforts can move forward in the days ahead.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 21/04/2026

 

Israel condemned over appointment of ambassador to Somaliland

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia 

A dozen Muslim-majority nations have condemned Israel's appointment of a diplomatic envoy to the breakaway region of Somaliland.

In a statement posted on social media by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministers from over a dozen governments, including Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait, called the move a "flagrant violation" of Somalia's territorial integrity.

The African Union also denounced the decision, saying any unilateral recognition of the territory is "null and void." It also warned that such actions risk undermining regional stability.

There are rumours of Israel planning to build a military base in Somaliland, which sits across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen.

It would allow Israel to conduct strategic airstrikes and attacks on its adversaries in the wider region, including Houthi rebels in Yemen, but also Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In December, Israel officially recognised Somaliland as an independent state, becoming the first country to do so. The move that provoked an immediate international backlash.

On Wednesday, Israel announced Michael Lotem (above), its former ambassador to Kenya, as its first envoy to the territory.

Israel has granted diplomatic approval to Mohamed Hagi, a presidential adviser who helped broker the recognition, as Somaliland’s first ambassador to Israel.

Iran not planning to attend talks with US in Pakistan

TEHRAN, Iran 

Iran is not currently planning to attend talks with the United States, state media said, after President Donald Trump ordered US negotiators to travel to Pakistan on Monday, just days before a ceasefire in the Middle East expires.

The US military seized an Iranian-flagged container ship, Touska, after it allegedly tried to bypass a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel ignored repeated warnings, prompting a US Navy destroyer to disable its engine before Marines took control.

The ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports has been a significant sticking point, an issue further complicated by an American destroyer on Sunday firing on and seizing an Iranian ship that tried to evade it.

Tehran said it would retaliate with Tasnim news agency reporting that Iran had sent drones in the direction of US military ships after its vessel was seized.

State broadcaster IRIB on Sunday cited Iranian sources as saying "there are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks".

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies had earlier cited anonymous sources as saying "the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive", adding that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for negotiations.

State-run IRNA meanwhile pointed to the blockade and Washington's "unreasonable and unrealistic demands", saying that "in these circumstances, there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations".

Iran and the United States, along with Israel, are just days away from the end of the two-week ceasefire that halted the Middle East war, ignited by surprise US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

There has so far been only a single, 21-hour negotiating session held in Islamabad on April 11 that ended inconclusively, though groundwork for fresh talks continued afterwards.

"We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it," Trump said in a post on Sunday, while also renewing his threats against Iran's infrastructure if a deal is not made.

Trump has been under pressure to find an off-ramp since Tehran moved early in the war to choke off the Strait of Hormuz.

The vital waterway is a conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas in peacetime, and its closure has hammered the global economy and roiled markets.

Having failed to force it open again, Trump countered with a US naval blockade on Iranian ports in an attempt to cut off Tehran's oil revenues.

On Sunday, he announced that a massive Iranian-flagged cargo ship "tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them."

A US destroyer warned the ship to stop and then forced it to by "by blowing a hole in the engineroom", Trump said, adding: "Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel."

Trump said the Iranian-flagged ship, Touska, is under US Treasury sanctions "because of prior history of illegal activity."

The ISNA news agency later cited a spokesperson for Iran's central command centre as warning that "the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy and the US military".

Tasnim news agency reported Tehran had sent drones in the direction of US military ships after it "attacked" and seized Touska.

Iran had briefly reopened the strait on Friday in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but closed it again the following day in response to the United States maintaining its blockade.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission "will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted".

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on Sunday said the blockade was "a violation" of the ceasefire and illegal collective punishment of the Iranian people.

A handful of oil and gas tankers had crossed the strait early on Saturday during the brief reopening, but by early Sunday morning tracking data showed the waterway empty of shipping.

The afternoon before, a trio of incidents involving Iranian fire and threats towards commercial vessels demonstrated the danger of any attempted crossing.

In spite of the uncertainty surrounding the talks in Pakistan, security was visibly stepped up in Islamabad on Sunday in anticipation of the negotiations.

Authorities announced road closures and traffic restrictions across the city, as well as in neighboring Rawalpindi.

The US president said his negotiators, whom he did not name, would arrive in the Pakistani capital on Monday evening.

A White House official said the delegation would be led by Vice President JD Vance and include Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

A major issue in the negotiations has been Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 20/04/2026

 

Pope Leo challenges Angola's leaders to break 'extractivism'

LUANDA, Angola 

Pope Leo XIV challenged Angola’s leaders to break the "extractivism” that has plundered and exploited Africa for centuries, as he arrived in the southern African country on Saturday with a message of encouragement for its long-suffering people.

“How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism,” the pontiff said.

Leo's arrival in Angola, the oil-and-mineral rich former Portuguese colony, marked the third leg of his four-nation African voyage.

En route from Cameroon, he spoke again of the ongoing back-and-forth with United States President Donald Trump over the Iran war.

Leo, history’s first US-born pope, said that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace, justice and brotherhood in Africa.

In Angola, Leo met with President João Lourenço and delivered his first speech to Angolan government authorities, in which he referred repeatedly to Angola’s tortured history of colonial plunder and civil war.

“I desire to meet you in the spirit born of peace and to affirm that your people possess treasures that cannot be bought or stolen,” he said. "There dwells within you a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish.”

Angola, which has a population of around 38 million, gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

It still bears the scars of a devastating civil war that began straight after independence and raged on and off for 27 years before finally ending in 2002. More than a half-million people are believed to have been killed.

For years, the civil war was a Cold War proxy conflict, with the United States and apartheid South Africa backing one side and the Soviet Union and Cuba backing the other.

Angola is now the fourth-largest oil producer in Africa and among the world’s top 20 producers, according to the International Energy Agency.

The country is also the world’s No. 3 diamond producer and has significant deposits of gold and highly sought after critical minerals.

But despite its varied natural resources, the World Bank estimated in 2023 that more than 30% of the population lived on less than $2.15 a day.

“You know well that all too often people have looked — and continue to look — to your lands in order to give, or, more commonly, in order to take,” Leo told the Angolan authorities.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 19/04/2026