Africa

May 31, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government backtracked on its announcement this week that Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad will fly to Sudan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir raises his arm as his supporters cheer at his victory speech after he won the presidential election at the National Congress Party headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, April 27, 2015 (AP Photo/Jason Patinkin)

Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti said that Saudi Arabia will be represented by Prince Mansour bin Mutaib who is a state minister and an adviser to the king.

Sudan's state news agency (SUNA) said that Qatar's deputy Prime Minister Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud will arrive on Monday for the ceremony.

There was no word on the level of representation by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sudan has recently managed to normalize its ties with Saudi Arabia and UAE and it was expected that the thaw in ties would be reflected in the delegations they send to this event.

One Gulf observer told Sudan Tribune that it is not customary for these nations to dispatch senior officials for these kind of ceremonies.

Karti said that leaders of Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Chad and Ethiopia will be present.

His spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq earlier confirmed that South Sudan, Comoros Island and Uganda will be represented at the Vice President level.

Bahrain will send its deputy Prime Minister, al-Sadiq said while Turkey and Algeria will send their parliament speakers along with representatives from Russia, China, Morocco, Tunisia and Malaysia.

Late last month, Bashir won re-election with 94% of the vote, extending his nearly three-decade rule for another five years.

(ST)

May 31, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – A court in Khartoum resumed its sessions in the trial of two pastors from South Sudan charged with espionage and trying to foment sedition and incite hatred among tribes and religious sects.

A Bishop stands in front of the altar during Easter Sunday service at Episcopal Church of the Sudan Diocese of Khartoum All Saints Cathedral in Khartoum April 24, 2011 (Reuters)

Reverend Yat Michael and Reverend Peter Yen – of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (PEC) – have been detained by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Khartoum at two separate occasions.

Michael, a visiting pastor from South Sudan, was taken into custody in December after giving a service at the Khartoum North church of the PEC.

Reverend Peter Yen was also visiting Khartoum when he was arrested last January after responding to a summons to report to an office of the NISS.

The investigator in the case Mohamed Khair Ibrahim told the court on Sunday that the second defendant managed an organization working to distort the image of Sudan through reports sent to circles hostile to the country so that the information would be used in human rights reports.

He said that lectures and training packages belonging to the NISS were found in the personal computer of the first defendant.

"It is the same curriculum that is taught in all stages at the NISS, including a package on psychological aspects to deal with investigators which is one of the advanced courses in the bureau,” Ibrahim said.

He said the defendant was unable to provide any explanation for the possession of such data.

"But through investigation [we found] that there is an intelligence work [done] by the first defendant which prompted him to keep the curriculum despite its secrecy".

Ibrahim displayed a picture of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir with the word "WANTED" underneath and pointed out that it demonstrates that the first defendant tried to portray a bad image of the president.

He also presented a drawing found in the first defendant's PC showing a map of Sudan divided into five, ethnic states and said that the goal was to show South Kordofan and Darfur as part of South Sudan.

He added that the information seized reveal maps and statistics which have been compiled to tarnish the image of Sudan.

Among them was a report claiming that children in Darfur are not allowed to enter school until they have memorized the Koran which was cited as a reason for under-enrolment in schools and illiteracy in Darfur.

He stressed that such information is false and that memorizing Koran is not an enrolment perquisite to enter the schools.

(ST)

May 31, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The rapid and surprising shift in Sudan's regional alliance from the Iranian axis to the Gulf one led by Saudi Arabia came at a surprise to observers, given Khartoum's insistence over the years that its relationship with Tehran is a normal one that is not directed against any country.

FILE - Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir shaking hands with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (Riyadh newspaper)

Sudan has been unable to persuade the Gulf states with this argument, particularly Saudi Arabia, which has seen its relations with Khartoum severely strained during the reign of late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz who avoided meeting president Omer Hassan al-Bashir since 2012 until his death earlier this year, despite Bashir's repeated visits to the Kingdom.

In August 2013, Saudi Arabia made the unprecedented move of closing its airspace to the plane carrying Bashir on his way to Iran where he was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of then president-elect Hassan Rouhani thus forcing him and his delegation to return home.

Riyadh at the time blamed Khartoum for failing to obtain the necessary permits to pass through Saudi airspace, a claim which was refuted by Sudanese officials.

Sudan has been regularly allowing Iranian warships to dock in Port Sudan, adjacent to Saudi Arabia, sparking concern by the United States and its allies in the Gulf region.

The mostly Sunni Muslim Arab Gulf states are wary of Iranian influence in the Middle East, fearing the Shiite-led country is seeking regional dominance that will stir sectarian tensions in countries like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Observers believe that economic pressures faced by Sudan caused by multiple military conflicts, US sanctions and most importantly the loss of oil due South Sudan's secession in 2011 prompted the government to reconsider its regional alliances.

Late last year, Sudanese authorities ordered the closure of the Iranian Cultural Centre in the capital Khartoum and other states and asked the Iranian cultural attaché to leave the country in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill towards the Arab Gulf states.

This shift was culminated by Sudan's announcement following Bashir's visit to Riyadh in March that it has joined the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in the framework of a coalition comprised of ten Arab and Islamic states.

There have also been some unconfirmed reports recently that Sudan could provide troops for the next phase of the military operation in Yemen.

The Iranian government has formally opposed the military operation in Yemen, but did not comment on the Sudanese role or their strategic shift away from Tehran.

But the pro-hardliner Mashregh newspaper in Iran fiercely attacked Bashir and described him as an ingrate.

Bashir “found a better meal and traded Iran's generous help for a seat at Al Saud's table,” an article on the newspaper said according to Al-Monitor website.

The article stated that given Sudan's closing of Iran's offices, maybe Sudan's support for Saudi's bombing of Yemen was not unexpected, but “at the same time, everyone who is aware of our country's support and help of [Bashir] during the most difficult times of his rule, did not expect this level of political immorality and obscenity.”

Saudi Arabian journalist and researcher in Middle Eastern Affairs Abdul Aziz al-Khamis argued that Saudi diplomacy achieved a major diplomatic victory by succeeding in pulling Sudan out of "Iran's bosom".

In an telephone interview with Sudan Tribune from London, al-Khamis said that despite the strategic importance attached by Saudi Arabia to Sudan, relations between them have all but been severed over the years.

He blamed Islamic forces allied with Bashir for "dissociating Sudan from its Arab perimeter".

"Cooperation with Iran cost [Sudan] its Arab attachment and they are now trying to return back to it. There has recently been a breakthrough in easing relations [with Saudi Arabia] especially that Sudan is going through tough economic times because of the secession of the south and the serious ramifications of the Darfur conflict including the indictment of Bashir by the International Criminal Court" al-Khamis said.

Al-Khamis, who was until recently the editor in chief of the London-based al-Arab newspaper, disclosed that Sudanese businessmen dealing with Arab Gulf states pressured their government to mend relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in particular in order to relieve Sudan's economic woes and restore the flow of investments.

"Sudanese businessmen [working] in the Gulf have a special characteristic which is the strong relationships they build in the surroundings in which they work in so they are keen that their ties with Bashir would not to be at the expense of their relationship with UAE or Saudi Arabia".

He said that Khartoum "tried the alliance with Qatar in the past period, which did not lead to an economic recovery and allowed more Iranian penetration in Sudan".

"The return of Sudan to its Arab surrounding is now occurring after they paid a hefty price from its territory and reputation and after the [Sudanese] government transformed Sudan from a country of tolerance and coexistence to a country notorious for its policies" al-Khamis added.

He assrted that the improvement in relations between the two countries will make Sudan a supporting force to Saudi Arabia and vice versa in the framework of mutual interests.

Asked about the possibility that Saudi Arabia could mediate between Sudan and the United States, al-Khamis said that this is possible and that Riyadh may stand with Khartoum in some issues "if it is convinced that Sudan is on the right side of these issues."

"But Saudi Arabia cannot stand with Sudan in the repression of its people in Darfur for example. Saudi Arabia in the past tried to help on Darfur but failed due to the intervention of several axis" in reference to Qatar which until recently had strained relations with Riyadh.

"From a strategic standpoint, Saudi Arabia can help Sudan especially in light of the harmony that exists now between Saudi Arabia and Qatar which goes in favor of Sudan".

Al-Khamis downplayed the divergence in views between Sudan and Saudi Arabia on Syria after Bashir's recent announcement that President Bashar al-Assad must be part of any political settlement.

"Bashir wants concessions from the West, which could prompt him to take positions different from that of Saudi Arabia .... but in reality he has no leverage with Syria."

Al-Khamis also expressed doubts on Sudan's announcement that King Salman would attend Bashir's swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday given the recent developments in Saudi Arabia "unless there is a very important reason for the King to visit".

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry declined on Saturday to confirm the presence of the Saudi monarch contrary to what the inauguration committee said on Thursday.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (BOR) – The experience of a young family losing two of their children to unknown abductors can not only be sad and devastating, but equally hearth-wrecking.

A couple in South Sudan's Jonglei state has appealed to government and the Greater Pibor Area Administration (GPAA) to help them recover two lost children.

Thon Malual Garang, 33, and his wife Ayen Madit are in tears after their four and half year old girl and a boy less than three years were abducted by unknown people from their home in Block Nine zone.

“My children are two, the girl is the elder one and her follower is a boy. My home was attacked in the evening when I was still at work. I was not at home [but] if I were home, I would have given my life to save them”, Garang Sudan Tribune in the capital, Bor on Saturday.

“What I know from my wife and the rest of the eyewitnesses is that the abductors where Murle, their place in Pibor is not known, but I guess they are from western Pibor areas like Manybol, Koth-char, or Gumuruk,” he added.

Malual called on both Pibor administration and the Jonglei state government to coordinate, trace and bring back all the children abducted by Murle tribesmen, including his children, saying this would be the starting point for peace between these two tribes.

During the attack, Malual, an officer at the state fire brigade, said his mother and his youngest son were shot, but the duo were now getting better.

“There is nothing more frustrating than losing your child to abductors. I suffered for years since I was married to raise them, only to see them being taken at a gunpoint,” a tearful Ayen narrated.

Early this month, the GPAA under David Yauyau's leadership, returned four abducted children who were reunited with their parents. At the event, Yauyau pledged to end all criminal activities such as raiding and abduction with support from Jonglei authorities.

The GPAA was created following the 9 May, 2014 peace agreement the Yauyau-led South Sudan Democratic Forces-Cobra faction signed with South Sudan government.

(ST)

May 31,2015 (KHARTOUM) - The opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) said Sunday they conducted a series of contacts with the rebel groups to join the national dialogue process which would start after the swearing-in ceremony of president Bashir.

Kamal Omer Abdel Salam of the Popular Congress Party (Reuters)

Earlier this month Omer, who represents his party in the national dialogue committee told Sudan Tribune that they decided at the level of the dialogue body to meet the rebels to convince them to join the internal political process

Last March, the PCP refused to take part in a preparatory meeting for the national dialogue saying they refuse any external involvement in the process even from the African Union.

The opposition leading member reiterated his party commitment to an internal process, adding that the dialogue is a strategic option for his party and they have no other alternatives.

He scoffed at the opposition call for a new process with an international participation saying the "Sudan Call" has become the "Call of Paris and Cairo".

"One day they are going to Germany and another day to Egypt while the problem of is inside the country," he said.

Omer called to include the release of political prisoners and detainees and measures to guaranty the safety of rebel delegations to the internal conference in the presidential speech at the swearing-in ceremony on 2 June.

The African Union roadmap to facilitate the national dialogue process asks the government to implement a number of confidence building measures aiming to create a conducive environment before to start the political operation.

TRIBAL CLASHES

The PCP political secretary further warned against the renewal of tribal clashes in Darfur, pointing that heavy weapons are still in the hands of the different tribes.

Dozens were killed during clashes between Ma'alia and Rezeigat tribes in Abu Karinka area of East Darfur state earlier this May. The central government in Khartoum admitted the failure of traditional reconciliation approach and warned that it would take the necessary legal steps to impose the authority of the state.

Omer said the root causes of the conflict between Ma'alia and Rezeigat have not being addressed, adding what happened between the two tribes is a serious indicator of a crisis that can develop in the absence of decisive treatment.

He pointed to the negligence in the enforcement of law and called to punish the perpetrators and bring them to trial.

He further said that the tribes, now, have sophisticated weapons, stressing that disarmament is the responsibility of the State.

(ST)

May 31, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese rebels led by former vice president, Riek Machar, on Sunday seized a strategic town of Bazia in Western Bahr el Ghazal state, highlighting the scale at which the opposition fighters are expanding the scope of their operations.

Rebel fighters aligned with former vice-president Riek Machar gather in a village in South Sudan's Upper Nile state on 8 February 2014 (Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

The capture of the town, located some 50km south of the state capital, Wau town, on the way to Western Equatoria state, cuts the traffic between the state and the rest of the country. It also represents a serious security threat to the state capital, Wau.

This came days after forces under the overall command of Major General Dau Aturjong claimed to have captured a number of locations in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, while another General, Abdel Latif, allied to former vice president also gave citizens in Rumbek 72 hours to evacuate the town, pending attack.

Several military sources from the South Sudanese army (SPLA) and state government officials as well as rebel sources told Sudan Tribune that the rebel fighters allied to the former vice president Riek Machar took control of the town on Sunday morning.

Abdallah Kuot, spokesperson of the rebel forces in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that their troops also captured some government soldiers at Bazia, including four police officers and were under their custody.

“Our forces today captured one of the strategic towns in Western Bahr el Ghazal. Bazia has fallen under the control of our forces this morning without major casualties on our side,” said Kuot without giving additional information when contacted on Sunday.

He said the fall of the town was expanding their control in the area after taking its military base, which had been used by the government to defend the military headquarters and state capital in Wau.

Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, also said his office had received a report confirming the capture of Bazia town and other villages, adding that the operation was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Benson Joseph in which different types of war equipment were captured.

Among the captured equipment, he said, included 16 AK rifles, 1 car and 1 communication equipment.

Wau county commissioner, Elia Kamilo Dimo, also confirmed in a separate interview the fall of the town under the control of the rebels, admitting that opposition forces were still in the area at the time of interview.

Fighting escalated in recent weeks following what was said to be a full scale offensive by government to regain control of the territories held by the rebels. The opposition forces retaliated by counter-attacking government's positions in the country.

(ST)

May 31, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan' armed opposition faction of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of the country's former vice president, Riek Machar, said they doubted intentions of members of former detainees, sometimes referred to as G-10 led by the former ruling party's secretary general, Pagan Amum.

Former South Sudanese political detainees hold a press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on 13 February 2014 (Photo: IGAD)

“Yes, we have learnt that members of former detainees want to return to Juba. Our leadership is not however sure about their intentions,” said James Gatdet Dak, spokesman of the opposition leader, Riek Machar.

Dak was reacting to the news coming out from the South Sudanese capital, Juba, as well as from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in which the soon return of former detainees to Juba was announced.

It was not clear under what circumstances the former detainees will return to Juba for the first time since their freedom last year. The ruling party (SPLM) acting secretary-general, Ann Itto, last week announced that the former political detainees would return in implementation of the reunification of the SPLM party per the Arusha intra-party dialogue.

But Amum was quoted in the media as dismissing allegations that his group was returning to Juba as alleged by the SPLM-Juba acting secretary general.

SPLM-IO which has been the main opposition faction and actively fighting the government would not take part in the current ongoing return process to Juba.

However, on Friday, members of former detainees led by former cabinet minister, Deng Alor, met with Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and discussed their return to Juba to try to “reconcile” between president Kiir's faction and that of his former deputy, Machar. Former secretary-general Amum was however not featured in the group that met the Kenyan president.

They said their role would be to try to reconcile between president Salva Kiir's government and the opposition faction led by former vice-president Riek Machar. However the acting secretary-general, Ann Itto, stressed that the members of former detainees were returning in implementation of the SPLM agreement on reunification.

She earlier pointed that the returnees would be reinstated into their former positions in the party, while other sources adding that a new cabinet reshuffle would also see many of them appointed to government positions.

Machar's opposition faction in reaction said they were committed to the Arusha intra-party dialogue as the “three factions” including the former detainees, questioning how the SPLM faction of former detainees had now dropped the initial process and turned into a “neutral reconciling team between warring parties.”

“We know them as party to the conflict whether in Arusha or in Addis Ababa. They have their own grievances and position papers that they present at negotiating tables. We have no idea how they have suddenly become a neutral body which sole role now is to reconcile between us and the government,” Dak told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

“Have they abandoned their position papers at the negotiating table as a party to the conflict?” he inquired.

He said they were detained in 2013 in Juba because they were never neutral whether as former government officials or party leaders, adding they also actively led in the “SPLM reform initiative with the former first deputy chairperson of the party which president Kiir turned into violence.”

The former detainees, he said, however had the right to pursue their interests separately as they liked including a separate “premature” reunification with president Kiir's government.

He said the SPLM-IO leadership was not against reconciliation between the factions of the party but added this should come as a result of a negotiated peace agreement that shall be reached between the “three SPLM factions” per the initiated intra-party dialogue and in the Addis Ababa peace process.

Dak further explained there were many issues pending which were highlighted in the October 2013 ‘Arusha roadmap agreement on reunification' of the SPLM which should be tackled including a joint mechanism for reconciliation process within the ruling party.

He said that even if there were to be a final agreement on reunification of the SPLM party, full implementation of such an agreement would still be anchored to a final peace agreement in Addis Ababa mediated by the East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The rebel official further pointed that issues such as system of governance, security arrangements during the would-be transitional period, accountability, compensation and reparation and reconciliation as well as reforms in various sectors will be tackled in the IGAD-mediated peace process.

He concluded that the leadership of the SPLM-IO was committed to the intra-party dialogue in Arusha, which he said was complementing the Addis Ababa peace process in addressing the root causes of the conflict so as to reach a final peace agreement.

(ST)

The United Nations human rights chief has urged several States to intensify their efforts to investigate long-standing allegations that soldiers in their forces sent to keep the peace in the Central African Republic (CAR) may have committed very serious violations, including killing of civilians and sexual exploitation of local women.

At the conclusion of his two-day visit to Burundi, Adama Dieng, the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, warned of increased tensions and the risk of further violence, unless all parties engage in open dialogue to resolve the crisis and calm tensions.

May 30, 2015 (JUBA) – The governor of South Sudan's Upper Nile state, Simon Kun Puoc has returned to the oil-rich region after government troops gained its control from rebels.

Governor Simon Kun Pouch (FILE)

The state information minister, Peter Hoth Tuach said the governor landed in Paloch, the main oilfield, which presently has heavy military presence.

“The governor returned today [Friday]. He was accompanied by several officials, including the minister of finance and was received on arrival by the deputy governor and number of officials, including myself”, Tuach told Sudan Tribune by phone.

Military confrontations between Pouc's bodyguards and forces under the command of Johnson Olony, a former government-allied militia leader forced the former to vacate the state capital, Malakal as opposition forces briefly occupied the area a week ago.

Olony was a militia commander between 2010 and 2012, when he fought under the banner of South Sudan Democratic Movement led by late George Athor Deng, who rebelled in protest of the result of 2010 elections in which he contested as an independent candidate for Jonglei state. He later decided with several other militia groups to abandon rebellion in response to the 2012 presidential amnesty.

Governor Puoc, the information minister said, will be in Paloch for at least three days while assessing the security situation in the region.

“He [governor] will visit the internally displaced persons and hold talks with local communities and commanding officers of our gallant SPLA forces in the area, personally congratulate them on behalf of Upper Nile state government for defeating the rebels and demonstrating strong commitment, allegiance and determination to defend the constitution, resources and citizens of South Sudan from physical threat and harm,” said Tuach.

The United Nations expressed concerns over the serious violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law have taken place and are ongoing, as fighting intensifies between forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and Sudan People's Liberation Army–In Opposition in Unity and Upper Nile states.

There are 30,410 people at the protection of civilians sites in Malakal, the UN said.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani announced that it rejected the offer submitted by the National Congress Party (NCP) to join the new cabinet that will be formed after president Omer Hassan al-Bashir is sworn in to a new term.

Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani (file photo)

Osama Hassoun, a DUP leading figure, told Sudan Tribune that the party held a meeting on Saturday evening in which the decision was made to reject the proposal and focus on building the party.

“We want partnership in the homeland not participation in the government,” Hassoun said.

But other government sources dismissed these remarks saying that the DUP completed consultations with the NCP on its allocated posts in the cabinet.

It is understood that the NCP offered the DUP the same posts it currently holds in the cabinet which includes three federal ministries, two state ministers and other posts on the state level.

The NCP said it will look into the DUP's request for an additional post without committing to it which aggravated al-Hassan al-Mirghani who is currently running the party as his father is still out of the country.

But Ali al-Sayed, a long-time DUP figure, dismissed this decision as a manoeuvre by al-Hassan to secure more concessions from the NCP.

He noted that al-Hassan agreed to participate in the elections in order for the party to be able to remain in the cabinet.

President Bashir has warned earlier this year that only parties which contested in April's general elections will be offered posts in the government.

Al-Sayed was dismissed by al-Hassan from the DUP along with other top party figures who challenged his decision to participate in the elections and sought unsuccessfully a court ruling declaring him ineligible to represent the party before the National Elections Commission (NEC).

The DUP left opposition ranks and joined the “broad-based” government of the NCP in December 2011, citing the “need to save the country” in the words of al-Mirghani himself.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (BENTIU) – More displacement of civilians in the South Sudan's oil-rich Unity state has reportedly occurred in the counties of Koch, Mayiandit, Leer, Guit and Rubkotna for the last two weeks. This is due to the ongoing offensive by government's troops on positions of forces loyal to former vice president, Riek Machar.

People wait to fill up their water containers at a camp for internally displaced people in Unity state capital Bentiu (Photo: Matthew Abbott/AP)

United Nations agencies said as a result, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has risen from 40,000 to 60,000 in the UN civilian protection site in the state capital, Bentiu, following the renewed attacks by troops loyal to president Salva Kiir in the area.

Affected civilians said they fled from their areas after government forces attacked them and had to decide to seek shelter and security in the UN compounds.

Nyanen Kuol, told Sudan Tribune over satellite phone from Bentiu on Saturday that life while hiding in the bushes was unbearable and decided with others to walk many days to reach the protection site.

She said there were many children in the UN camp who had no parents as many of their parents might have been killed in the attacks or gone hiding in the bushes. To reach a safer place, she said, had never been easy as some of the IDPs walked for 120 kilometers along the way to Bentiu.

“It took us a whole week to reach here. We have no other option [than] to die in the bush without food. But we offered ourselves to die on the road to reach UN camp,” she added.

Many children and girls between 10 and 16 years old ended up being raped on their way before they could reach a safer place like the UN camps.

UN reports also expressed deep concerns about unusual movement of civilians, describing it life threatening as they walked long distance to reach a protection of civilians site in Bentiu.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has reported over 21,000 people who were displaced by the ongoing offensive by pro-government forces have entered the camps near Bentiu.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The Darfurian Arab Mahameed clan chief, Musa Hilal, has arrived in Khartoum on Saturday to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of president Omer al-Bashir amid remarkable reception by his supporters.

Former janjaweed leader and tribal chief, Musa Hilal welcomed by his supporters at Khartoum Airport on Saturday 30 May 2015 (Photo by Saleh Ajab Aldor)

Hilal, who was one of the main militia leaders that participated in the brutal counter-insurgency campaign during the first years of Darfur crisis, turned his militiamen against the governor of North Darfur state, Osman Kibir and accused him of feeding tribal conflicts in the state.

The notorious Janjaweed leader then started making statements critical of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), of which he is a member, and calling for deep reforms.

He left the capital Khartoum in mid-2013 and retreated to his home town of Misteriya in North Darfur along with his troops and continued blasting the government and the NCP.

The Mahameed chief did not give any statements upon his arrival as he seemed busy welcoming the large crowed of recipients at Khartoum airport.

He said in a written statement that he was concerned about the situation in Darfur, noting he launched a societal dialogue with the various tribes in the region before he left Khartoum in his capacity as a special advisor for the ministry of federal affairs.

Hilal said his dialogue culminated in holding several reconciliations, pointing the dialogue was conducted in coordination with the presidency represented by the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) Commission.

“After we concluded the dialogue in Khartoum, I travelled to Darfur to [oversee] the implementation of the [agreements] on the ground. This [dialogue] had an obvious impact on the establishment of security in the region,” he added.

The Janjaweed leader said he came to Khartoum to participate in president Bashir's swearing-in ceremony and also to accelerate peace moves.

He further vowed to continue his efforts to achieve peace and tribal reconciliations in Darfur, saying many steps would be revealed in this regard in the coming days.

Hilal also demanded the Sudanese people, particularly the people of Darfur, to turn the page on their differences and look to the future, urging the government and the friendly countries to grant reparations to the victims of the conflict.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when an ethnic minority rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, which then was accused of enlisting the Janjaweed militia group to help crush the rebellion.

In April 2006 the UN Security Council imposed financial and travel ban against Hilal for obstructing peace in Darfur. The then US president George Bush issued an executive order enforcing similar sanctions on them.

In January 2008, the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir appointed Hilal as a special advisor for the Ministry of Federal Affairs in Sudan.

In mid-2013, however, Hilal returned to North Darfur, where his fighters launched widespread attacks on government forces and allied militias.

Last year, Hilal's troops seized control of western localities in North Darfur state including Saraf Omra, Kutum, Kebkabiya, Al-Seraif, and El Waha.

The tribal chief announced the establishment of administrations in these localities, naming his forces the Sudanese Revolutionary Awakening Council (SRAC).

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 30, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – One of Ethiopia's main opposition, Semeyawi (Blue) party rejected both the election process and the preliminary results issued on Wednesday from Sunday's parliamentary election.

A woman casts her vote in Ethiopia's general election in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sunday, May 24, 2015. (AP Photo)

“The Blue Party does not accept the process as free and fair and does not accept the outcome of unhealthy and undemocratic elections,” the opposition party said in a statement it issued on Friday.

Partial results announced by the country's National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) showed that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party and its allied regional political organizations have so far won 442 seats declared out of the 547-seat parliament.

“This 100 percent win by the regime is a message of disgrace," stressed the statement, adding that the sweeping victory was an indication that a "multi-party system is over in Ethiopia”.

The youngest Ethiopian political force which participated at national elections for the first time, accused the ruling party of using authoritarian tactics to guarantee victory.

The Blue Party's spokesperson, Yonatan Tesfaye said that candidates were denied for registration and some others were illegally cancelled by the Election Board after they were registered.

Tesfaye claimed that some 200 party candidates were denied the right to stand for parliament and 52 party members and many other supporters were arrested in the run-up to the polls.

“The security forces and cadres of EPRDF continued in harassing, beating, arresting and some cases killing candidates and potential observers of opposition parties without any valid reasons and the order of courts,” he said.

"We don't think there is an independent justice system to deal with our complaints. We'll continue our peaceful struggle," the spokesperson concluded.

Over 90 % of the total registered 36.8 million people have cast their votes on Sunday's national elections; the country's first since Ethiopia's long-time ruler Meles Zenawi, died in office in 2012.

Final election results will be announced on June 22.

The African Union (AU) observers' mission, the only monitoring group deployed to oversee the election process has said that Ethiopia's Sunday general elections were “credible” and in line with African Union standards.

“The Ethiopian Parliamentary elections were generally consistent with the AU guidelines on the conduct of elections in Africa,” said former Namibian president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, in an initial report he issued on Tuesday.

The European Union on Wednesday has also expressed satisfaction at the conclusion of the “largely peaceful and orderly" election process and commended the hard work exerted by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia

According to the state-run Ethiopia Broadcasting corporation (EBC), the EU took note of the preliminary statement of the African Union Election Observation Mission, including the areas for further improvement identified by the Mission.

The AU added the electoral process was discussed in the framework of the EU-Ethiopia political dialogue with the Government and with the main political actors involved.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (JUBA) - Peace talks between South Sudan's warring parties will not commence next month, despite earlier pronouncements from the country' presidency.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (L) shakes hands with rebel leader and former vice-president Riek Machar after signing an agreement at the end of talks in Arusha, Tanzania on 21 January 2015 (AP)

“Peace talks are not resuming talks on 8th June. The IGAD has called for a consultative meeting between the parties involved in the negotiations. I will be going with other two members as the government delegation as directed by the president in response to the invitation extended to us by the IGAD," Nhial Deng Nhial, South Sudan government's chief negotiator told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol, chairman of the external relations committee for the armed opposition, equally confirmed that his group received invitation from the regional bloc for a consultative meeting to be convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 8-10 June.

The armed opposition leadership, Wol said, will be represented in the upcoming consultative meeting by its chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai and two other members.

He could not disclose names of the officials who will accompany their lead negotiator, stressing that the selection would be made by the leadership of the armed opposition.

South Sudan's former justice minister, John Luk Jok, who speaks on behalf of the former detainees, also said his group had received an invitation letter from IGAD to participate in the consultative meeting to be held in the Ethiopian capital, next month.

“I am not aware of the resumption of peace talks on the date you have said. What I know is that there will be a consultative meeting on 8th June. This is what I know. IGAD has called for consultations and we have received the invitation to participate in these consultations," he said.

Jok did not reveal names of those representing them at the consultative meeting.

The consultations will begin on 7-9 June and compromise of the lead negotiators with two other members from each of the invited parties, explained the former justice minister.

The office of the South Sudanese presidency announced on Wednesday that IGAD, which is mediating the talks aimed at finding a solution to the conflict in the country had invited the rival factions to resume negotiations on 8 June in the Ethiopian capital.

The decision, a presidential aide said, was reached at a consultative meeting between president Salva Kiir and two foreign ministers from Ethiopia and Kenya who visited the world's youngest nation on Wednesday on behalf of regional leaders involved in the talks.

In March, the East African regional bloc proposed an IGAD-Plus structure that will bring in other African regions, including South Sudan's development partners such as the African Union, the United Nations, China and the Troika, the key funders of the peace talks, which comprises of the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA) and Norway.

The mediators' decision came days after the South Sudanese president and opposition leader, Riek Machar failed to agree on a permanent peace deal, despite pledging to end the conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people since it broke out in December 2013.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government has denounced the suicide attack that took place on Friday at a mosque in Saudi Arabia's port city of Dammam.

In this still image taken from video provided by Saudi TV, burnt out cars are seen as investigators collect evidence, in the aftermath of a suicide bomb outside the the Imam Hussein mosque in the port city of Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Friday, May 29, 2015.(AP)

Four people have been killed in Dammam, a city in eastern Saudi Arabia, after a suicide bomber's explosives blew up in the parking lot of a Shiite mosque, according to the kingdom's official news agency.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The spokesperson for Sudan's foreign ministry, Ali al-Sadiq, said in a statement on Saturday that Sudan condemns and denounces the terrorist bombing which targeted the Imam Hussein mosque in Dammam and killed several people.

He stressed Sudan's refusal to any attempts to destabilize Saudi Arabia, noting that such criminal acts would not deter the kingdom from defending truth and goodness and standing by the oppressed people.

Al-Sadiq further underscored that Sudan stands by the kingdom and supports all measures taken by its government to maintain security and stability.

The Saudi press agency quoted the spokesperson of the ministry of interior as saying the explosion occurred when the bomber was parking his car during Friday prayers at the entrance of the Imam Hussein mosque in the port city, home to a large Shiite population.

It said guards approached the car as it was parking and that the driver who had disguised himself in the black all-encompassing garments worn by women in Saudi detonated a bomb.

The Dammam bombing came exactly a week after a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque in a village in Qatif province during Friday prayers, killing at least 21 people and wounding several others.

That attack was also claimed by ISIL.

(ST)

May 30, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Armed opposition faction led by former vice- president, Riek Machar, said they would welcome targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for perpetuating the 17-month long civil war in the country.

South Sudan's rebel leader, Riek Machar (Photo: Reuters/Tiksa Negeri)

Mabior Garang de Mabior, chairman for information and public relations committee in the opposition faction of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), in a press statement issued on Saturday also said that the opposition called for release of the report by the African Union (AU) Commission of Inquiry on atrocities committed by warring parties in South Sudan.

“The SPLM/SPLA takes this opportunity to renew its call for the release of the AU report and application of targeted sanctions,” he said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

United Nations has called for sanctions regime that would target individuals responsible for the continuation of the crisis including freezing of assets and imposition of travel bans on such individuals. Arms embargo would also be imposed on South Sudan.

The rebel official called on the international community to exert pressure on the government of president Salva Kiir to return to the negotiating table in good faith.

Mabior also said the rebel movement welcomed the proposed active participation of the troika countries (United States, Norway and United Kingdom) in the next round of the peace talks.

“The SPLM/SPLA remains committed to the IGAD-led peace process and respectfully urges the region and the world to use all means at their disposal to persuade our partners in peace to return to the negotiating table in good faith,” he said.

He accused the government of allegedly violating the cessation of hostilities agreement (CoHA) which the two parties signed since 23 January 2014.

Direct talks between president Kiir and opposition leader Machar collapsed on 6 March in Addis Ababa when the two principals could not agree on almost every outstanding issue.

The East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has reportedly informed the parties in the conflict to resume the peace process on 8 June.

(ST)

By Stephen Par Kuol

With its compact cartographic shape and susceptibility to violent armed conflicts, Africa, the second largest continent on the globe has been metaphorically described by some western pundits as a loaded pistol whose trigger is located somewhere in the Gulf of Guinea (Western Congo and Southern Cameroon),with its ammunition magazine somewhere in the extreme Horn of Africa (Somalia) and the barrel on the southern tip of the continent (Cape Province, SAR). This literately means that the African people live inside a loaded automatic handgun ready to fire at any time. Some African gurus of history and political science have dismissed that as Euro-centric prejudice. Arguable or not, the home truth is that humanity has never experienced real peace in the continent since the era of slave trade, colonial conquest, and scramble for Africa and unfortunately up to the independence in 1960s. Things have only gone from bad to worse with liberation and independence. While most of what we have to deal with today is the aftermath of colonialism, bashing the long gone colonialists for everything is really shirking leadership responsibility. Like Asians who have so far overcome the bruises of colonialism, we are masters of our own destiny to make this continent a hell or paradise for our people. We have all it takes to make life fun and liveable in this cradle of humanity. What is missing is the statesmanship in African politics. The African leaders in their club of dictators called African Union (AU) talk very big but do very little in their countries as their own people continue to wallow in misery.

Today, from Eritrea to Zimbabwe and from South Sudan to Uganda and Burundi, the African people have been trapped in what Professor Patrick Lumumba of Nairobi University Law School has called “Martyrs syndrome”. Martyrs Syndrome is a political psychosis of the liberation armies/movements turned –ruling parties in post war African countries. The most common symptom of this psychosis is the paternalistic conviction on the part of the so-called liberators that they deserve everything in the country they martyred liberating. This pathological mentality prescribes that the liberated (the populace) are the ruled and the liberators are rulers with unquestionable authority over them. My own sojourn in Post War South Sudan politics has exposed me to the spectacle of this thing called liberated –liberators discourse. In this discourse, the liberators see everything in their liberated country as dividend of their sacrifice and success. This includes public resources and the political power they earned through bullets (not ballots). Even the term corruption has by implication gained virtuous currency in the society where the so-called political leaders are entitled to loot the country straight faced. One South Sudanese political scientist at Juba University has called those illegally amassed resources “SPLA I fought Wealth” That is called “graft” in the civilized world of sane and sober, but in the world of those goons, it is called “payback” for the time and opportunities lost during the liberation struggle. Even the demand for the freedom we all fought for is now branded as errant nuisance of the west. Meritocracy and institutionalism have been deliberately eschewed to advance this thing we have called lootocracy in our Juba English of drinking joints. Subsequently, South Sudan has been long condemned to the reign of political ineptitude, mediocrity, ethnic bigotry and corruption of the ruling overlords. All this is called “payback”, of course, without term limit!

In Robert Magube's tradition, revolutionaries can be retired only by the Mother Nature. In solemn term, African liberation leaders do not retire without political violence. No wonder, civil wars are raging in most of the African countries ruled by those hooligans who call themselves revolutionaries. I call those “wars of liberation from villainous liberators”. In most of the African countries with former guerrilla leaders at the helm, those “war made politicians “(in the word of Prof. Peter Adwok Nyaba ) have created a sterile world of oppressors. They usurp the rule of law and place themselves above the law and the whole justice system, to the point where a few conscientious judges and lawyers have absconded. The rest have been knuckled down to live with the hollow that even the President can also be the lawmaker when it comes to his throne. The supreme law of the land (the constitution) is amended at the behest of His Excellency the President to extend his own rule of gun. This has been witnessed in Burundi, South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe and so many other African countries. Yowery Musveni of Uganda, the guerrilla commander turned life President has been running his country with iron fist amending the constitution three times since 1985. He shunned multi-party democracy through physical elimination and intimidation. Robert Mugabe, the infamous liberation leader who led his country to independence in 1980 ordered killing of thousands of people who refused to vote for him during the last elections he shamelessly rigged through intimidation and bribery. He has been the only president Zimbabweans have known since then.

President Isiyias Afiworki of Eritrea has executed many of his former comrades in arms and introduced a red terror that has cowed everybody to political servitude in the country. The Red Sea despot has been leading an anti-intellectual movement that has exiled the national intelligentsia and the best cadres of the liberation struggle. He has been the only presidents Eritreans have known since independence in 1991. In truth, what happened in the SPLM of South Sudan, EPLF of Eritrea, ZANUPF of Zimbabwe and NRM of Uganda is a case of chicken devouring its own eggs. In Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza, the former guerrilla leader has been violently wrestling with the people to extend his despotic rule in blatant violation of Arusha Peace Agreement enshrined in the constitution with clearly defined term limit. Despite wise counsels of so many world leaders to yield to the demand of his people, President NKuruniziza insists that there is no Burundi without him in power. He is thus adamant to glide the country back to another civil war to ensure that he is made life president like Mugabe and Musevene. One wonders what President Nkurunziza wants to do with more years in office after squandering ten years without accomplishing a thing for Burundi! This is typical of the so-called African liberation leaders. The typical African dictator will use every tool at his disposal to cling to morally decayed power.

In South Sudan, the cowboy clown called Salva Kiir Mayardit has turned his newly independent country into a bestial human butchery to extend his reign of terror, genocide, widespread insecurity and economic depression. Kiir's oppressive regime has reduced to nothing the meaning of “the rule of law.” It has created a state of affairs in which “terror” has become its definition of liberation. Anyone who does not toe its line is treated as enemy of the state. More than that, he/she may be actually executed by the President's personal hoodlums. Salva Kiir has built a violent kleptocracy fighting for its own survival at the expense of the nascent nation. It is a cult of mediocrity without any program for nation building, if any, it is quite the opposite: “subversion”. One ugly scar Kiir's regime has inflicted on the psyche of South Sudan is the polarization of the nation into sectarian cocoons of mutual hatred. In terms of the quality of life, the economy, morality, culture, justice system, health facilities, quality of education, have pitifully degenerated. Suffering, pain, poverty and oppression have become the core characters of South Sudan independence. Even the freedom of assembly or speech provided for in the national constitution is thwarted by Kiir's Police State. So the question is: where is the freedom we toiled and martyred for as a people? It is unbelievable but it is self-evident that “the self-rule “generations of South Sudanese people have been clamoring for is now synonymous with “self-ruin” under Salva Kiir. In a word, life is miserable!

I have dwelled more on my native country of South Sudan but what is happening there is not necessarily peculiar to South Sudan. It is a common African neo-colonial experience. Although few did well at governance, majority of the liberation leaders throughout the continent have been political disgrace. The leap to borrow as models could be from that of Melese Zinawe and Paul Kagama in term of institutional reform and the economic development, but the two are also guilty of dictatorship and prima donna. Only Mandela was the polar opposite. Most of the rest have reduced the very noble meaning of the term liberation to what Christopher Clapham of Cambridge University has called “Curse of the Liberation”. In my book, political liberation means much more than taking the means of power from a foreign colonial power or from an ingenious dictator. With specific reference to South Sudan, the meaning of political liberation goes beyond hoisting that blue star flag, composing a national anthem; building mansions, palaces houses and having our own currency. This is, but a very limited meaning of liberation. Liberation must be intellectual .It must be found in the minds and the hearts of the liberated. In another word, it must be holistic for it to mean what we wanted it to mean in the first place. Ultimately, it must include getting rid of neo-colonial greed, which illegally exports national assets off shore.

Historically, there was a time during our liberation struggle when we thought all we wanted was to rule ourselves. The pioneers of African independence movements like Khwame Nkhuruma , Mzee Jomo Kenyata, Emperor Haile Selesia, Mawlimu Nyareer gave it all they had. Paradoxically, the very heroes of the African independence who replaced colonial powers emulated their colonial oppressors and made themselves demigods in their newly independent countries. Preoccupied with self-aggrandizing projects, they miserably failed to deliver on democracy and economic development. That is why so many decades into our political independence, Africa is sinking deeper and deeper into not only material poverty but also spiritually and morally in the midst of political sovereignty. Instead of practicing the founding values of their liberation movements (freedom), the African freedom fighters became anti-freedom. For the worst part, the big men of African liberation movements have introduced vicious political tribalism (politicized ethnicity) which has not only consumed the sense of nationhood but also tends to promote miss rule and dictatorship. In African political culture, national political leaders take refuge in their tribal constituencies whenever the center can't hold for them and that has terribly undermined progress toward democratic transformation in so many African countries. We keep voting back to power the same few greedy, self-centered, corruption-oriented individuals because if we do not, the ruling party will murder us. Even when we do not vote for them, they steal the vote with our permission, knowing that there are no reprisals against them. This is humanly much harsher than residing inside a loaded pistol. Hence, it must not be left to posterity. This continent must be liberated from the greed of its dictators, poverty, disease and ignorance. This must commence with ousting inept tyrants like Kiir, Museveni, Mugabe, Nkurunziza and all their likes. Only then can we realize the true meaning of liberation and turn this loaded pistol into the Garden of Eden God meant it to be from the Genesis.

Stephen Par Kuol is a researcher and freelance writer on African political and humanitarian affairs. He can be reached by e-mail via kuolpar@yahoo

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 29, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday it has relocated a total of 42, 616 South Sudanese refugees from flood prone Leitchour and Nip Nip camps to a newly built Jewi camp in Ethiopia's Gambela region.

Ethiopia has witnessed a huge influx of South Sudanese refugees since conflict erupted in the young nation in December 2013 (AFP)

The relocation operation was temporarily suspended between Sunday and Tuesday 26 May due to the Ethiopian parliamentary elections but recommenced on Wednesday.

The camp-to-camp operations, which begun on May 8, involves over 400 buses, 86 trucks helicopter.

The Nip Nip camp was officially closed on 9 May.

The relocation operation aims to protect refugees from risks of flooding as rainy season approaches.

Last year, Leitchour and Nip Nip camps were severely hit by flooding after heavy rains forced the Baro River to burst its banks.

A total of 51, 300 refugees from flood-prone areas will be relocated.

According to the UN refugee agency currently an average of 407 South Sudanese refugees cross borders to Ethiopia via two entry points (Pagak and Akobo) to escape the ongoing fighting at home.

Since conflict erupted in South Sudan on December 2013, a total of 205,556 South Sudanese of which most women and children have arrived in Ethiopia raising the total South Sudanese population in Gambella region to 260,000.

Following the eruption of the conflict, over half a million South Sudanese have fled to neighbouring countries but Ethiopia has received the highest number of refugees.

UNHCR has met with partners in Addis Ababa to review emergency preparedness levels as almost 6,000 South Sudanese refugees wait at border entry for registration.

As refugees keep arriving, the Ethiopian government has identified a suitable land close to Pugnido refugee camp to build an additional camp.

The UNHCR and its local partner Administration for refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) have undertaken site planning and a budget proposal have been submitted to Headquarters.

(ST)

May 29, 2015 (JUBA) – The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday the appointment of Eugene Owusu as deputy special representative of its mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Deputy head of UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Eugene Owusu (YouTube Photo)

Owusu who hails from Ghana will reportedly also serve as the world body's resident coordinator, humanitarian coordinator, and resident representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The Ghanaian will succeed Toby Lanzer, who is due to take up the new post of regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel region.

“The secretary-general is grateful for Mr. Lanzer's dedicated service with the United Nations in the Republic of South Sudan,” said Ki-moon.

The Ghanaian reportedly brings to his new position extensive experience in international development and humanitarian affairs.

Currently, Owusu is the UN resident coordinator, humanitarian coordinator and resident representative of UNDP in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, a position held since August 2010.

Before joining the UN, Owusu who holds a doctorate degree in Agricultural Economics from the United States, reportedly worked for the private sector in the United Kingdom.

(ST)