Egyptian-Sudanese emphasis on “preserving sovereignty and mutual respect”

The Egyptian government sent a message of “reassurance” regarding the country’s wheat stocks, and indicated that “increasing local production contributed to reducing the need for imports,” amid concern about raising the prices of “free” or tourist bread.

On Monday, the Cabinet Media Center responded to allegations about the impact of the strategic stock of wheat as a result of the decline in Egypt’s imports of it, noting that the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade reported that “the wheat stock is sufficient for the needs of citizens for several months to come,” and that “the state’s efforts are continuing to secure the needs of the local market for basic commodities.”

The Ministry of Supply explained that increasing local production of wheat in parallel with raising the government supply price to motivate farmers to increase the quantities supplied contributed to enhancing the strategic stock. She said that the country received nearly 5 million tons of local wheat during the 2026 supply season, supported by an increase in cultivated areas.

She added that the increase in local production also contributed to reducing the need for imports, which supports securing the needs of the local market and reduces its impact on the fluctuations witnessed in the global wheat market in light of the disturbances that affected the movement of trade and supply chains.

Egypt's wheat imports jumped during the first half of this year by about 48 percent to record 7.7 million tons after the decision to raise the strategic reserve of basic commodities to be sufficient for 9 months of consumption instead of 6 months, according to circulating news reports.

Egypt is one of the largest importers of wheat around the world, with about 12 million tons imported annually to meet local demand.

The Ministry of Supply confirmed, on Monday, “the continuation of work according to an integrated and proactive vision aimed at maintaining safe levels of the strategic wheat reserve, and enhancing the state’s ability to deal efficiently and flexibly with the changes that may occur in the local and global markets.”

She also explained, “The continued expansion of the use of digital and technological systems in managing silos, and linking the links of the wheat trading system, allowing the movement of wheat, balances, and rates of withdrawal and addition to be followed in real time, and enhances integration and exchange of data between concerned parties, supports decision-making, raises operating efficiency, and reduces waste.”

This comes amid demands from the Bakeries Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce to the government to increase the price of “free bread” to accommodate the increase in cost with regional wars. While these repeated demands raise concerns among Egyptians, the government has confirmed in successive statements that “prices remain the same until now.”

The Ministry of Supply also stressed the owners of tourist bakeries, at the beginning of this month, to “adhere to free living prices and weights,” and intensified its monitoring campaigns on bakeries in various governorates after monitoring violations related to prices and weights.

The government had previously raised the price of “subsidized popular bread” in May 2024 from 5 piasters to 20 piasters per loaf, in a move that it said aimed to “reduce the subsidy bill for a loaf of bread by about 130 billion pounds annually.”

Bread is the main ingredient on Egyptians' tables. According to previous official statistics from the Ministry of Supply, about 73 million citizens receive popular subsidized bread through “ration cards,” which number about 23 million cards.

Ethiopian forces are expanding their control over the Tigray region, about two weeks after renewed clashes with the Regional Liberation Front, which opposes Abiy Ahmed’s government, amid withdrawals by the Front that raise doubts about the possibility that they may be “tactical,” compared to estimates that they are the beginning of the end of the crisis, according to experts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.

An informed Ethiopian source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday, “The Ethiopian Armed Forces and the Tigray Peace Force were able to control most of the cities and sites, and weapons stores belonging to the rebels (Tigray Liberation Front) were seized.”

He pointed out that “many of the members of (that front) surrendered, and others were captured amid the cooperation and hospitality of the people of the region in the places where the Ethiopian army and (the Tigray Peace Force) are advancing,” noting that “the controlling forces may face some security challenges, but they are temporary for some time.”

On Monday, Ethiopian federal forces and their allies entered a major town in the Tigray region in the north of the country, near the border with Eritrea, after the Tigray Liberation Front withdrew from it without a fight, according to what residents told Agence France-Presse.

The Ethiopian expert in African affairs, Abdel Shakur Abdel Samad, believes that “what is happening in northern Ethiopia is not necessarily a decline in the influence of the Tigray Liberation Front, as much as it is the end of its era unless an emergency occurs that restores the front’s standing and popular acceptance, which has begun to decline due to the accumulation of mistakes that the front has made politically and administratively and their economic and social repercussions.”

It is believed that these developments “may provide an opportunity for the recently established Tigray Democratic Solidarity Party led by Getachew Rada, the prime minister’s advisor on the Horn of Africa, to lead the region.”

This development comes the day after Ethiopian Prime Minister Getachew Ridda's advisor announced, in televised statements, on Sunday evening, that the war in the Tigray region has ended, and that the Ethiopian federal forces have imposed control over most of the major cities in the region at a rate of about 95 percent.

The statements coincided with the arrival of a high-level government delegation, on Sunday, to the regional capital, Mekele, via a private plane, which included the head of the Ethiopian Intelligence Service, Redwan Hussein, with the resumption of flights to the city after they were suspended for two weeks due to the return of fighting in northern Ethiopia.

After months of tension, battles were renewed last September 23 between the Ethiopian federal army and the forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the political party that has practically governed the Tigray region since last April, days after the announcement of an armed alliance of seven opposition forces to overthrow the federal government led by Abiy Ahmed.

On October 4, the “Tigray Peace Force” loyal to Abiy Ahmed’s government entered the city of Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region, and took control of it before the federal military forces joined it, after the “Tigray Liberation Front” forces withdrew from it.

For his part, the Ethiopian expert in African affairs, Musa Shekhu, believes that these developments, along with Addis Ababa’s statements regarding almost complete control over the region, provide an important field basis, but they are not sufficient to prove tight control over it as a whole.

He stresses the necessity of distinguishing between three levels: control over major cities, the ability to secure roads and rural areas, and success in establishing political and administrative authority that is accepted by the population.

It is believed that Ethiopia is entering a turning point in its conflict with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, after the federal forces and their local allies succeeded in recovering strategic cities. He pointed out that this shift is not as important as the Tigray Liberation Front's loss of territory alone, but rather in the emergence of a competing local force capable of challenging its historical monopoly on political and military representation of the region.

He explains that the “Tigray Peace Force,” which includes former elements of the military formations associated with the Front, has become a field partner for the federal forces, and may be a political partner later if Addis Ababa succeeds in building regional institutions capable of representing the various political and social components, while subjecting the armed formations to clear security and legal leadership.

Three scenarios emerge with these developments, according to the Ethiopian expert, the first of which is Addis Ababa’s success in transforming its military advance into institutional stability, by forming a consensual local administration, restoring services, and integrating the armed forces into new security arrangements, or the government retains the urban centers, while the “Tigray Liberation Front” reorganizes its ranks in the rural and mountainous areas, bringing a long war of attrition back to the forefront. In the third scenario, it is not excluded that the confrontation will expand regionally, with the exacerbation of Ethiopian-Eritrean tensions against the backdrop of Asmara’s support for the Front.

Libya, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the interim “National Unity” government in Tripoli, expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the attacks targeting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which witnessed a bloody escalation over the past two days.

In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the Ministry expressed its “deep concern about this escalation and the resulting loss of life and injuries, in addition to the damage to airport facilities and disruption to air traffic,” stressing the full solidarity of the State of Libya with the Kingdom, its leadership, government, and people, in the face of everything targeting its security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Libyan leaders, including Mohammed Al-Menfi, Chairman of the Presidential Council, and Saddam Haftar, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the National Army, have previously condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Saddam said, in a previous statement, that he “denounces the terrorist attacks launched by the Houthi militias against the sister Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, targeting civilian and economic facilities,” stressing that “the General Command stands by the Kingdom, its leadership and its people, and supports it in all the measures it takes to protect its security and sovereignty, and supports its full right to defend itself and confront these terrorist attacks.”

Saddam called on the international community to assume its responsibilities and take serious steps to ensure the full implementation of Security Council resolutions related to the Republic of Yemen, as well as decisions related to ensuring the security of navigation in the Red Sea.