Africa

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January 2, 2018 (WAU) – The South Sudanese government on Tuesday vowed to pay all the outstanding tuition fees demanded from its students currently studying on scholarship in Zimbabwe.

South Sudanese students at their embassy in Kampala, Uganda (ST/File)

Last year, students occupied the South Sudanese embassy in the capital, Harare after universities threatened to dismiss to non-payment of tuition fees.

But South Sudan's Minister of Higher Education Yien Oral Lam told assured the population that all the unpaid arrears would be sorted.

“The government is committed to pay out their tuition fees and living expenses during these holidays without fails,” Lam said.

“However we the government is worry over the delay in payment process, the finance ministry is currently on the process of delivery the money to the students in Zimbabwe and they have to be patient as the government working on clearing the process,” added.

According to the minister, the government has already paid a sum of 5,000 US Dollar as the first installment payment which is now follow by the last pay.

“In my last year visited to Zimbabwe in June, we paid $5,000 as the first installment. Also the cabinet ministers had directed the ministry of finance to release the money needed after the passing of the budget in August, but our budget delayed, it was passed in October last year,” stressed the minister.

“The ministry of higher education also wrote a letter to the finance ministry in August to release the money, but it seems there is a problem of hard currency, “he added.

Lam, however, appealed to the ministry of finance to expedite the release of funds for the students.

(ST)

by Hussien Arko Minawi

Following the controversial visit of the Turkish president, Mr Erdogan to Sudan, whole the region turned into media uproar and stirred up all the discontent in the Middle East against Sudan, which suggests the sensitivity of the visit. It was a battle possibly sparks a diplomatic tension in the Middle East and could result in further military polarization over the sensitive conclusions of the visit, in particular, the news that Turkey has been given the right to run the island of Suakin.

It is no doubt that this is just an iceberg of a deep conflict between the main religious trends of political Islam and moderate Sunni, throughout the Middle East and the loser in this battle is Sudan and its people.

In a political sense, it seems inconceivable and a pretty provocative step to hand over a part of your sovereignty to another country whatever the mutual ties between the two countries. However normally what goes in line with the principle of Muslim Brotherhood is that the universality of the Islamic Movement nullifies all claims of sanctity of borders among Islamic countries and practically it's not often that the geographical and political borders determine natural foreign relations rather than the factor of brotherhood and perhaps this is the premise that makes Omer Al-Bashir believes that his generosity to Turkey of Erdogan is not a taboo and simply interpreted in the context of expansionary policy of Muslim Brotherhood.

On the contrary, the public opinion was that the majority of Sudanese either strongly denounced the step or demanded Erdogan to apologise for the brutal Turkish crimes in Sudan during its colonization. Suakin is not an ordinary place in Sudanese memory, it is an island associated with the colony and resistance. Just uttering the word Suakin, it immediately replays in Sudanese memory the tape of the Turkish occupation of the island or the struggle of Osman Digna against British colonization,which simply interpreted that the public opinion in Sudan is totally against the step and it considers as reoccupation by the same colonizer even if it happens under the pretext of restoration of the sites in the island.

For Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the location of the island is geopolitically very sensitive as long as it is under Turkish control. Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia represent the moderate Sunni Islam in the region and they have already engaged in a bloody conflict with the Shiite led by Iran and a real confrontation with the political Islam of Muslim brotherhood led by Turkey, Sudan and Qatar.

The countries that obvious at the scene in this particular conflict till this moment are Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on one side and on the other side Turkey, Qatar and Sudan.

In last few days a number of strategists and political analysts have expressed their different views on the crisis. Most analysts think that the main cause of the crisis either due to the expansion of Turkish influence in the region at the expense of Egypt or due to the desperate attempts of Omer Al-Bashir to make breakthrough for the crisis related to his internal and foreign issues at the expense of certain neighbouring countries as seen in disputed Halayeb triangle and the Millennium Dam in Ethiopia. Thus sending troops to Yemen or offering Russia a military base and handover of Suakin to Turkey is a game of trade-off for Al-Bashir's safe exit out of the crisis, by involving not one or two countries, but a large number of countries in the region. Suakin case is a fatal blow to Egypt and Saudi Arabia because it occupies a very sensitive navigating location for both influential States in the Middle East.

To a certain extent I do agree with what was said in the analysis but from the wider scope of the crisis in this fragile region of the Middle East, the magnitude of the conflict is crystal clear and I think what was not emphasized in the scene is the grand project of political Islam as the Turkish journalist Mr Yosif Ogolo summed up in his statement on a Tv interview.

Mr Yosif Kitab Ogolo has clearly demarcated the boundaries over which the renewed old conflict of Islamic visions will erupt in the volatile region of the Middle East as the ambitions of Turkish model and the empowerment of its ally of political Islam at the expense of the moderate Sunni trend in the region is the main concern.

In a response to a question about a potential Turkish presence on the island of Suakin and the significance of alliance of the three State, Sudan, Qatar and Turkey, Ogolo's response was very straightforward. He said, “the alliance is against those who want to undermine the Turkish model”.

In his response Mr Ogolo neither stressed on concern about the Turkish sovereignty nor its territorial water and geographical border, his stress was mainly on the Turkish model.

It is not a matter of disclosing a secret if we say currently Turkey is the State that sponsoring the Muslim Brotherhood across the globe and it seems the first regime along with the Sudan and Qatar to protect the interests of the global network of Islamic Movement, each plays a certain role. Sudan organizes, Qatar funds and Turkey leads. This is certainly the model Mr Ogolo meant by his statement.

With a close follow-up of the political Islam and its ups and downs since Hassan Al-Banna till the movement of Mr Erdogan's visit to Khartoum practically the philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood has been characterised by two facts of exclusion and expansionary policy and therefore it always in a constant clash with its local community as well as the regional and International world.

The depth of the conflict in the region is understood in the context of Ogolo's statement, while any other is just sub-conflict resulted from the major Sunni-Sunni conflict.

Since the birth of the idea of Muslim Brotherhood, political Islam has been in constant evolution to reach its ultimate goal of Islamic Caliphate State' similar to the State of the first century of Islam.

Since its embryonic stage up to the movement, Muslim Brotherhood has passed experiences for reaching statehood. At first, it was just small secret cells then it evolved into civil society organisations, federations, trade unions, financial institutions, political parties and paramilitary units. During this long process of almost eight decades, it also engaged in bloody strife against its own communities or against others in Sudan, Afghanistan, Algeria, Palestine, Somalia and Syria.

In the end, all the experience and the resources gained from the process have been pooled in the mainstream of establishing Islamic State and as a result of the Islamic State in Sudan, Turkey and Qatar have come to fruition.

The late Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Dr Hassan Al-Turabi was one of the architects of the present situation and he was believing in controlling resources if they are to establish a state, so his predecessors follow suit and the next target will be the rich and strategic countries namely Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt.

It seems Sudan for the second time on its way to pay a steep price because of Islamists insanity after we lost Southern Sudan as a reaction to their irrational policy. This time the conspiracy is plotted by the global Islamic network after all favourable conditions are created by the NCP regime in Khartoum and if the situation is exploded, most likely Sudan will be the decisive battleground whether it's diplomatic or economic or harsh battle.

January 2, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Egyptian government denied it seeks to hold bilateral talks with Ethiopia on the disputed Renaissance Dam in a way to exclude Sudan from the discussions on the Blue Nile water shares.

Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi (L), Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir (C) and Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn shake hands during a meeting in Khartoum on 23 March 2015 on the planned Grand Renaissance dam (Photo: Ashraf Shazly/AFP)

Following a meeting in Addis Ababa with his Ethiopian counterpart On 26 December, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry proposed to include the World Bank in the tripartite discussions on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) at the level of the technical committee.

By the end of 2017, The Addis Fortune, an Ethiopian newspaper disclosed that Shoukry proposed also to exclude Sudan from the talks.

The proposition came after the failure of a technical meeting held in Cairo last November to agree on a report prepared by two French consulting firms.

Cairo wants separate technical talks because Addis Ababa refuses to acknowledge the 1959 agreement just like its rejection of the Nile water treaty of 1929, the newspaper explained.

It further cited a statement to the press by the Egyptian top diplomat saying that “The case Egypt has with Sudan is completely different with Ethiopia's case, and it is necessary to differentiate the two”.

But the Egyptian foreign ministry on Tuesday denied that the Egyptian minister had proposed to exclude Sudan from the process, stressing they wanted to include the World Bank for its expertise.

"The Egyptian proposal to request the participation of the World Bank as a neutral party in the negotiations of the Tripartite Technical Committee was also officially submitted to the Sudanese government," said Ahmed Abu Zeid the spokesperson of the Egyptian foreign ministry.

"Egypt is waiting for both Ethiopia and Sudan to respond to the proposal in as soon as possible," Abu Zeid further added.

The Egyptian diplomat called on the media to be cautious against publishing false information poiting that Minister Shoukry told reporters in Addis Ababa about Egypt's intention to submit the World Bank participation proposal to Sudan within days.

Following the failure of the Cairo meeting last November, the Sudanese water resources who represented his country in the meeting said they reject the French study because it ignored the baseline and the terms of reference (ToR) the French consulting firms had to observe in their report.

According to the Sudanese side, the two firms, BRL and Artelia, in their study on the GERD impact on Egypt and Sudan didn't observe the 1959 agreement between Sudan and Egypt over the Nile water based on the 1929 treaty.

In line with the bilateral deal, Egypt has the right to 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water a year and Sudan 18.5 billion cubic meters per year. But in fact Sudan does not use its share.

However, Sudanese officials say the dam will allow the full use of Sudan's share.

(ST)

January 2, 2018 (NYALA) - Two elements from the government militia Rapid Support Forces (SRF) have been seriously wounded in clashes with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Monday at Otash camp, some three kilometres east of South Darfur State capital, Nyala.

Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces sit in an armed vehicle in Nyala, south Darfur, displaying weapons they say they captured from the Justice and Equality Movement rebels on May 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Ashraf Shazly)

Deputy Chairman of IDPs and Refugees Association Adam Abdalla Idris told Sudan Tribune Tuesday the clashes occurred after two RSF elements refused to pay for a meal had eaten at a restaurant inside the camp, forcing the restaurant owner to inform the camp police.

He added the police sought to arrest the RSF elements but they resisted their orders and fired at them until they ran out of ammunition.

“Then a group of IDPs attacked [the two RSF elements] and harshly beat them, causing them serious injuries,” said Idris

According to Idris, the police barely pulled off the two elements of the hands of the IDPs and rushed them to hospital.

He pointed out that the situation at the camp is calm but expressed fear of a possible revenge by the RSF, calling on the government to enhance police presence in the camp to prevent targeting of IDPs.

A reliable source told Sudan Tribune the North Nyala Police hasn't completed the filing of the charges because the injured RSF elements are being treated.

He added the security organs are monitoring the conditions closely to deal with any kind of lawlessness situation.

In 2014, the presence of RSF in North Kordofan state capital of El-Obeid drew widespread condemnation from residents who accused it of spreading terror.

These forces were blamed for looting commercial markets and killing of a merchant in El-Obeid leading to massive protests across the city.

Also, in 2014 the RSF recruits in Sulait camp clashed with residents of Hattab village in Khartoum North leading to the intervention of the Sudanese army.

The RSF militia was originally mobilised by the Sudanese government to quell the insurgency that broke out in Sudan's western region of Darfur in 2003.

Last year, the Sudanese parliament passed RSF Act which integrates the notorious militia in the Sudanese army and provides that its commander is appointed by the President of the Republic.

(ST)

January 2, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - A senior diplomat at Sudan's Foreign Ministry Tuesday said his country's foreign policy isn't based on engagement in regional or international axes but seeks to achieve common interests through joint cooperation.

In recent months, Sudan has made some moves that were seen as inconsistent and contradictory to what has been perceived as the country's declared foreign policy.

State Foreign Minister Atta al-Manan Bakhit said Sudan's foreign relation “is based on the joint interests not the policy of axes”.

He told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that Khartoum pursues a balanced foreign policy that takes into consideration the interests of the country and meets aspirations of the Sudanese people.

Bakhit pointed out that Sudan seeks to continue its active role among the international community to achieve regional peace, saying relations with the neighbours has witnessed significant improvement.

He vowed that Sudan would continue to open up to the regional and international community in order to achieve political and economic integration in all fields.

Following the visit of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Khartoum last week, the Egyptian media and a Saudi newspaper slammed an alleged Sudanese - Turkish deal to build a military naval base on Sudan's Red Sea coast island of Suakin.

They pointed that it aims to destabilise the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi who removed from power the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Observers in Khartoum saw the media attack in the Egyptian media and Saudi newspaper as a coordinated campaign by the anti-Qatar alliance countries on the government of President al-Bashir.

Also, the U.S. Administration last October permanently lifted 20-year-old economic sanctions against Sudan citing positive actions on humanitarian access and counter-terrorism.

However, during his first visit to Russia since he came to power in 1989, President Omer al-Bashir last November asked President Vladimir Putin to support his country against American plans against Sudan accusing Washington of planning to divide the country into five states.

(ST)

January 2, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The United States Administration on Monday has expressed hope that the U.S./Sudanese relations witness further improvement during 2018.

“The United States looks forward to another year of growth in the U.S.-Sudan relationship,” said the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a press statement on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of Sudan's independence.

He also wished “the people of Sudan a joyous celebration and a peaceful year ahead”.

Last October, the U.S. Administration permanently lifted 20-year-old economic sanctions against Sudan citing positive actions on humanitarian access and counter-terrorism.

However, Washington left other sanctions in place for the time being, including those against individuals with arrest warrants related to atrocities committed during the conflict in Darfur.

Also, it didn't remove Sudan's name from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The two countries are engaged in a five-track process towards the full normalization of relations.

The process includes the fight against terrorism, Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Sudan's role in the peace process in South Sudan, Sudan's peace and the humanitarian situation in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

(ST)

January 2, 2018 (JUBA)- South Sudan government Tuesday denied violating the cessation of hostilities brokered by the IGAD mediators, saying its cabinet had approved the agreement and directed the army to comply.

The Information minister and the government spokesman told the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation that the practice of apportioning blames was encouraging violations.

“When two people go to court, one of them gets charged and the other gets the answer. Not all of them get punished. What those involved in monitoring the ceasefire do encourages the continuation of violations. You cannot punish all. The violator has to be identified and made to account. The council of ministers after the return of the delegation from Addis Ababa approved the cessation of hostilities agreement and the cabinet gave directive through the ministry of defence and other relevant institutions to comply with the directive,” explained Minister Michael Makuei Lueth.

The government spokesperson blamed the armed opposition forces for having been responsible for violations in a number of places in the country, pointing to recent developments in Equatoria region, Bahr el Ghazal region specifically the incident in which humanitarian workers were abducted and Southern Leer and Koch County in unity region as well as in areas of Akobo.

“The so called rebels of Riek Machar have never violated any ceasefire and instead of holding them to account for these clear violates, those who are charged with the monitoring and report these violations continue to make their reports calling on the parties to stop. This is not correct and this kind of reporting is the one that is encouraging continuous violation by the rebels,” said Lueth.

His comments follow a statement released by members of the Troika countries - Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States - condemning the violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The three countries condemned through a joint statement on Tuesday the violations of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities signed in Addis Ababa on 21 December by what they consider as the warring parties in South Sudan.

The statement called on all signatories of the cessation of hostilities agreement, and the field commanders to immediately end all military operations, urging the warring parties to put the South Sudanese people's well-being ahead of their own narrow political interests.

“We also call on all CoH parties, and every level of government, to abide by the November 9 Presidential Order for unfettered humanitarian access. We further call for full cooperation with CTSAMM in meeting its CoH responsibilities, and with UNMISS in carrying out its UN Security Council mandate – as both are working for the South Sudanese people's greater good,” the statement reads.

The troika countries, which are also the guarantors of the peace agreement, pointed out that the field commanders, and their political superiors, will be held accountable for violating the cessation of hostilities agreement, impeding humanitarian aid, and hindering CTSAMM and UNMISS operations.

The countries commended IGAD for its leadership of the High-Level Revitalization Forum, pointing out that: “We insist all participants engage in the Forum with seriousness of purpose and genuine commitment to bringing lasting peace to the South Sudanese people”.

(ST)

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January 1, 2018 (NYALA) - The last batch of Sudanese refugees returning from the neighbouring Central Africa Republic (CAR) arrived in Nyala airport on Monday, ending over 10 years of asylum.

The group is part of over 1500 Sudanese refugees who arrived from Dafak in South Darfur state. they sought protection in the Central African Republic saying their homes had been bombarded by the government planes in May 2007.

On 12 December 2017, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) begun the repatriation of the 402 remaining Sudanese refugees in the troubled Central Africa country.

The Nyala city and UNHCR organized a reception for the last batch of 45 returnees.

Speaking at the reception the head of refugees office at the municipality Mubarak Zachariah welcomed the returnees and announced they would be transported to Dafak on Wednesday.

He added that some 1039 returnees have already arrived to their home area and called on the returnees to renounce tribalism and work to establish a new future.

Earlier last December, the UNGCR said the Sudanese government has pledged to implement international standards governing refugee returns - including the benefit of amnesties, as well as UNHCR's role in monitoring the returns.

For his part, the UNHCR representative thanked the Sudanese authorities for facilitating the return of returnees.

He pledged to provide all services to the returnees including health care, water and education in coordination with the relevant organizations and ministries.

Dafak, group was part of some 3500 Sudanese refugees who fled to the Central African Republic from South Darfur state in 2007 during the armed conflict between the government army and rebel groups.

Sudanese refugees in the Central African Republic were being hosted in Pladama Ouaka camp, near Bambari.

UN agencies estimate that 650,000 Sudanese refugees live in the neighbouring countries - including Chad and South Sudan. The government called on the refugees to return home but the lack of means and infrastructure hamper the refugees' return.

Also, the lack of political agreement with the armed groups is seen as another factor for the slow return of refugees.

(ST)

January 1, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudan rebel leader, Riek Machar on Monday unveil members of the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) who are to be part of the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), the body that monitors the cessation agreement.

South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a news conference in Uganda's capital Kampala January 26, 2016 (Reuters photo)

The SPLA-IO deputy spokesperson, Lam Paul Gabriel on Monday confirmed the decision taken by the exiled armed opposition leader.

“Yes, the Leadership and the Commander in Chief of the SPLA-IO Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon has put in place a body of monitors from amongst the SPLA-IO forces at Sector and Division Levels to monitor and report all violations of the agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian access,” said Lam.

The armed opposition-formed CTSAMM, he said, came into effect on 31 December 2017 and that the body will continue until SPLM/A-IO members are nominated for the restructured (CTSAMM).

“These officers shall receive and work with visiting delegations of the regional and international members of CTSAMM in their respective locations of deployment in the SPLM/A-IO controlled areas,” stressed Lam.

Meanwhile the armed opposition leader, now exiled in South Africa, has urged both the international and regional monitoring groups to reach out to areas under SPLA-IO forces control in order to document any violations of the agreement on cessation of hostilities.

South Sudan's warring factions have each traded accusations against each other for violations, despite signing a ceasefire deal on 21 December as part of the revitalization of the 2015 peace accord.

(ST)