Africa

With the next phase of regionally-backed peace talks for South Sudan scheduled for later this month, a senior United Nations aid official in the country has urged the parties involved to find a political compromise and allow peace to take hold in the strife-ridden country.

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March 31, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The quadripartite committee between Sudan and Egypt would meet in Khartoum in April, said the Egyptian Ambassador to Khartoum Osama Shaltout

Sudan's FM Ibrahim Ghandour (L) meets with his Egyptian counterpart Samih Shoukri in Cairo on January 9, 2016 (Photo released by the Sudanese FM)

Following a meeting held on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa in January, President Omer al-Bashir and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed the tensions between the two courtiers and agreed to form a quadripartite committee to develop a roadmap to restore the relationship to the right track.

The quadripartite committee including the foreign ministers and heads of intelligence from both countries met last February in Cairo and agreed on a number of technical measures to diffuse the tensions.

The Egyptian envoy to Sudan told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) on Saturday that the meeting comes within the framework of the political and security consultations between Khartoum and Cairo.

He pointed out that the meeting of the quadripartite committee in Cairo had discussed bilateral relations and ways to address all outstanding issues between the two countries.

The tumultuous relations between Sudan and Egypt experienced last December a new crisis over media attacks against al-Bashir after a visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Sudan. Also, Sudan accused Egypt and Eritrea of supporting rebel groups to attack Kassala state on the eastern border.

But the main differences remain the dispute over the border triangle area of Halayeb and the construction of Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam that Sudan backs.

(ST)

March 31, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Liberation and Justice Party (LJP) has demanded the African mediation to set a time limit for the resumption of the Darfur peace talks.

Tadjadine Bechir Niam (File Photo)

The LJP, which is led by Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, is one of two factions of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) which signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in July 2011. The other faction, National Liberation and Justice Party (NLJP) is chaired by Tijani al-Sissi.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) has quoted the LJP spokesperson Taj al-Din Bashir Niam as saying the armed struggle has become useless and the arms bearers have no option but to join the negotiating table.

He called on the African mediation to set a date to bring the armed movements and the government to a new round of talks soon, saying there are indications that the rebels would resort to peace.

Niam pointed out to the success of the disarmament campaign in Darfur and the return of the refugees and IDPs, saying the region is witnessing unprecedented climate of social peace.

The LJP spokesperson further underscored that the success of the peace talks in Darfur is the responsibility of all parties to the conflict.

The African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) is brokering comprehensive peace talks to end the war and achieve democratic reforms in Sudan.

The two-track process comprises the Sudanese government and opposition forces including the armed groups in Darfur and the Two Areas.

The government and the opposition Sudan Call alliance including the armed groups signed in March and August 2016 the Roadmap Agreement brokered by the AUHIP including several steps towards their participation in a national constitutional process inside Sudan.

Doha brokered the Darfur peace negotiations resulted in the signing of the DDPD by the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) in July 2011. JEM which had initiated the process rejected the deal.

Three rebel movements including SLM-MM led by Minnawi Minnawi, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Gibril Ibrahim and SLM-AW led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nour didn't join the DDPD.

JEM and SLM-MM call for opening the document for negotiations, saying some issues were ignored or not fairly treated, but Khartoum rejects such request.

In their last meeting from 9 to 14 August 2016 under the auspices of the African Union, the government, JEM and SLM-MM discussed the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement and a humanitarian access agreement.

However, the parties diverged on the location sites of rebel fighters and mechanisms for the monitoring of humanitarian assistance. Also, the two groups raised the release of their prisoners from the Sudanese jails and the need to open the DDPD for discussions.

SLM-AW, however, is not part of the African Union-mediated peace talks. The rebel group rejects negotiating a peace agreement with Khartoum government unless the government militias are disarmed and displaced civilians return to their original areas.

UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million were displaced.

(ST)

March 30, 2018 (JUBA) - The armed opposition, SPLM-IO, denied issuing threats to wage "endless war" after the IGAD conditional decision to terminate the confinement of the group's leader in South Africa.

South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, calling for reconciliation and forgiveness at St. Thomas Parish, Juba, 29 May, 2016 (ST Photo)

Last Monday, the IGAd Council of Ministers decided to end the confinement of the armed opposition leader Riek Machar in South Africa "on conditions that ensure he will renounce violence and not obstruct the peace process and he is allowed to relocate to any country outside the region and is not neighbouring South Sudan".

Even if the decision was taken against the will of Juba government, it was seen by the supporters of the rebel group as unfair and frustrating because they believe that the regional community give more consideration to Juba in its decisions and they have always to pay the price.

There were reports by some media that a rebel official called Mawwil rejected the decision and vowed to carry out "endless war" in the country after describing the IGAD leader as "Kiir agents".

"The SPLM/SPLA (IO) wishes to emphasize that we did not issue any statement threatening to wage war. The intention behind the fabricated information is to categorise the Peoples' movement as the party inciting violence and obstructing the peace process," said a statement released by the SPLM (IO) director of information and public relations.

The rebel official further renewed the group "full commitment to the peace process and to a negotiated settlement as the sole means to end the conflict in the country".

The SPLM-IO signed a cessation of hostilities agreement with the South Sudanese government on 21 December 2017. The IGAD, African Union supported by the Troika countries said they would impose sanctions on any party that breaches the deal.

Speaking to Radio France International on 26 March, Machar's wife leading figure of the armed opposition Angelina Teny said the IGAD decision was, in fact, a transfer "from one prison to another".

"We don't know what crime he has committed that justifies him being kept for a year and a half without charge," she added.

Teny further called for more neutrality from the regional body adding it was a necessary condition to achieve a lasting peace in South Sudan.

(ST)

March 30, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan and South Sudan from 19 to 23 March completed the marking of two border crossing corridors between the two countries in line with the Cooperation Agreement signed in September 2012.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) which is tasked with the support f the Cooperation Agreement implementation said the demarcation done by the African Border Corridor Programme Technical Team (AUBP-TT) together with the Sudan South Sudan Joint Technical Border Corridor Committee (JTBCC).

The demarcation includes, for the time been, four crossing points of the Safe Demilitarized Buffer Zone (SDBZ) between Sudan and South Sudan.

"The marking of crossing points was completed at the Heglig-Bentiu and Al Sumayyah corridors. The Team marked the entry and exit points of the northern and southern limits of the SDBZ," said the UNISFA.

"However, only the North outer limit point was marked at the third crossing point, Kosti Renk, as the Team was denied access to the Southern part by the South Sudanese governor of the area. The Team needed clarification for the fourth crossing point at the El Rodom el Buram-Tumasaha-Raja".

The two countries in a meeting held at the level of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) on 4 February agreed to finalize the activation of the buffer zone between Sudan and South Sudan and decided to withdraw any remaining troops by the end of February.

The meeting further agreed to begin the Phase 1 of the border crossing corridors and the establishment of customs and immigration check-points.

the two countries agreed in April 2013 to open 10 crossing points on the border so as to improve trade and movement between the two neighbouring countries.

But the process had been delayed by the issue of 14 Mile Area which delayed the activation of the buffer zone because the Malwal Dinka refused that the disputed area be part of the SDBZ.

Also, South Sudanese information minister and chairman of the South Sudan border demarcation committee Michael Makuei said the insecurity due to the presence of Sudanese rebels on the border contributed to delay the process.

(ST)

March 30, 2018 (JUBA) - The Opposition SPLM-IO called for urgent regional and international pressures on the South Sudanese government to allow the death-sentenced spokesperson of the group leader James Gadet Dak access to necessary medical care and family visits. to which he is entitled under international human rights law.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday SPLM (IO) Director of Information and Public Relations Puok, Both Baluang said Dak is currently sick and has been suffering from High blood pressure and Typhoid/Malaria.

Riek Machar's spokesperson has been denied access to doctors, medication or visitation rights and "other harsh treatments during nights by the regime security operatives in Juba", further said the statement.

"The SPLM/SPLA (IO) condemns in the strongest words such barbaric and terroristic act, Which amounted to a flagrant violation of human rights. The movement, therefore, calls on the IGAD, AU, Troika and the UN for rapid intervention in order to spare James Gatdet's Life."

On 13 February, a South Sudanese special court sentenced Dak to death by hanging for treason. He had unlawfully detained by the Kenyan authorities and transferred from Kenya to South Sudan in November 2016.

Amnesty International called to quash the death sentence on Dak pointing he had no legal representation for more than a month.

"The South Sudanese government should immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing this cruel and inhuman penalty," said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for East Africa.

(ST)