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January 7, 2017 – (JUBA) – One of the key witnesses in the case involving the alleged theft of $14 million and SSP 30 million from the Office of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, has spoken out during the trial of the 16 accused persons.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (AFP)

The witness, Maj. Gen. Paul Nang Majok was the third prosecution witness to present his case to the court against the 16 accused persons from the Office of the President.

Majok, court documents Sudan Tribune obtained shows, told court that he was called by the Director General of the General Intelligence Bureau (GIB), Gen. Thomas Duoth Guet on 28 May 2015 and ordered to arrest 1st Lt. John Agou.

The arrest came in the wake of an alleged intelligence report implicating Agou in the huge transfers of money from the president's office to his bank account in Nairobi, Kenya in favour of Mayen Wol Jong and Yel Luol Koor.

“On 29/5/2015, I ordered a company of security personnel from GIB under the command of Capt. Gum Bol Noah, Capt. Charles Andrew Churukali and 2nd Lt Adiing Deng to arrest 1st Lt John Agou and other staff of his company and to take them to GIB Headquarters,” Majok told the court.

He further went on to tell the High Court that on 2nd June, 2015, the Director General of GIB General Duoth ordered him in writing through a letter to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, to institute criminal proceeding against Agou and 11 of his employees who had been arrested together with him during the operations on 29 May 2015.

“On 3/6/2015, I opened case number 2158/2015, Agou and others versus the General Intelligence Bureau (GIB) at Juba High court,” he asserted.

However, during cross examination by defense lawyers on whether he was aware about the case against more other accused persons other than Agou and his company's staff, Majok told the court that "he did not have a case against some of the people in court, adding that he was unaware of who ordered for their arrest, investigation, detention and prosecution in court".

The accused persons Gen. Paul referred to as having no case to answer according to court documents are; Susan Anyieth Chaat Paul (John Agou's wife), Yel Luol Koor, Mayen Wol Jong, Ring Ajing Juk, Nhomuot Agoth Cithiik, Anna Kalisto Ladu, Kur Ayuen Kou, Garang Aguer Akok, Chaat Paul Nul, Anyang Majok Ayuen and Francis Yatta Justin.

But when asked by the judge if the National Security Service was subordinate to civilian authority and the constitution, Majok responded that they were required to work within the country's constitution which is the Supreme law of the South Sudan.

He was further asked why the National Security Service stormed someone's business premises without search warrant from the court and if that action is legal and lawfully? He says the searches that were done at Click Technologies Ltd was "illegal and did not follow correct procedures of the law" but he did it because he was "ordered by senior authority" to do so.

He also denied that he personally participated in drafting of the intelligence report that led to Agou's arrest and did not know the source of that intelligence report. What he know is he was acting on orders from his senior General Thomas Duoth Guet, the Director General of GIB.

According to report released by Legal Watch Associates, the case into the alleged corruption in the president's office was formally opened, five days after Agou, eleven of his employees and customers had been arrested and detained without charge in violation of constitutional provisions.

In an interview with Sudan Tribune, one of the lawyer who was representing some of the accused persons by then described the case as “politically motivated”.

“We assumed that day the judge was going to free the people denied by the complainant and continue the case against others he mentioned as having opened the case against, if the complainant abdicated his case against an accused, the judge is under obligation to free the accused there and then because it will be considered as having withdrawn the case against that particular person", said the lawyer.

In the absence of the rule of law in the country, the judge was ordered to sentence them with or without a crime and that is the very reason he passed that severe and uniform blanket convictions,” he added.

The case, currently before the appeal court, places the country's justice system under scrutiny, calling into question public confidence in the independence of the judiciary. The case involved 16 people from different institutions including the President's office, Finance Ministry, Bank of South Sudan and four Kenyan nationals who worked for Click Technologies Ltd.

(ST)

January 6, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The outgoing head of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and joint chief mediator, Martin Uhomoibhi, , is leaving the hybrid operation, the hybrid mission announced.

"On 4 January 2017, UNAMID organized a farewell parade in honour of the outgoing AU-UN Joint Special Representative/Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, Martin Uhomoibhi," said a statement released on Thursday.

The Nigerian diplomat served as head of the joined operation for 12 months. He replaced the Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a diplomat from Ghana who reigned from his post after the publication of reports accusing the UNAMID of denying or or ignoring attacks carried out by Sudanese militia against civilians.

During his term, Uhomoibhi kept a low profile policy in his management of the peacekeeping force also politically he had not much to do as the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) is now mediating to end the Darfur conflict.

His deputyJeremiah Nyamane Kingsley Mamabolo of South Africa as Deputy will serve as the UNAMID acting chief Darfur until the appointment of a new Joint Special Representative by the African Union and the United Nations.

Speaking at the farewell ceremony Uhomoibhi, thanked his team members for their support and dedication to the UNAMID mandate.

“This team has been professionally committed, full of integrity and honor, committed to the course of the United Nations and the African Union and determined to work for the hope of a better life for the Darfuri people,” he said.

The Nigerian diplomat served as Ambassador of Nigeria to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Uhomoibhi served as the third President of the United Nations Human Rights Council and Chair of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly.

The Security Council has strongly condemned the ambush by unknown attackers late last week against a convoy of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in Bokayai, in the northwest part of the country, in which one Bangladeshi peacekeeper was killed.

January 6, 2017) JUBA) - South Sudan president on Friday oversaw the swearing in ceremony of the two state governors and one presidential adviser at presidential palace in Juba.

President Salva Kiir, in a function administered by ChiefJustice Chan Reec Madut, oversaw the taking oath of Ramadan Hassan Laku as the Advisor on Good Governance and Rule of Law. Laku is a nominee of the armed opposition faction under Taban Deng Gai, who replaced his predecessor, Riek Machar in a controversial appointment after the eruption of conflict in July 2016 at presidential palace, resulting in the loss of several lives.

Laku later fled Juba and refused to take oath of office, citing violation of the peace agreement. He later went and met Machar in Khartoum where he advocated for use of violence as the only best way to either force the government to reinstate Machar and implement the agreement or continue with armed struggle until the regime is removed.

Laku, with global community and the regional leaders citing with the proposal of the united states asking Machar to stay out of the country and also the peace to be implemented, changed his mind and returned to the country with Adel Sandari, a former armed opposition representatives to the Republic of Kenya.

He took up the post which he abandoned and pledged to work with the government of President Salva Kiir which described as illegitimate and deserves removal from power through the use of guns.

The other officials with whom Laku took oath of office are Gen. Gregory Deng Kuac, Governor of Gogrial and Brig. Gen. Kon Manyiel Kuol as the Governor of Twic State.

Gen. Kuac replaced his predecessor, Abraham Gum Makuac and Kuol replaced former Twic Governor, Bona Panek Biar. The two officials were removed from the office at the same time. The circumstances under which they removed from power remain unclear.

Ramadan Hassan Lak, who spoke on the behalf of the three government officials with whom he took oath of office, appreciated President for the trust accorded to them by appointing them and assured him of commitment to support him and the government to deliver services, asserting it was now time for services delivery to the people.

Laku said they will work as a team without boundaries to create a conducive environment to the people of South Sudan.

(ST) [1]

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January 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Justice and Equality Movement Friday denied statements by Sudanese presidential aide that an agreement has been reached with two Darfur rebel movements on major issues at informal meetings held recently.

Chief negotiator of JEM & SLM-MM delegation Ahmed Tugud and his delegation member Sayed Sharif (C) seen after a meeting with the mediation, while the government chief negotiators listens to unidentified interlocutors on Sunday November 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

JEM, Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) and the Sudanese government last held several informal consultations meetings in Addis Ababa and Doha brokered by Uganda and U.S. special envoy for two Sudans, and Qatar.

Following his meeting with the UN Secretary-General Special Envoy, Nicholas Haysom on Wednesday, Sudanese Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid said the “government, in informal meetings held earlier, has reached an agreement with Darfur rebels on the major issues and we hope to settle the issue completely in the coming rounds of talks”.

JEM Chief Negotiator Ahmed Tugod Lissan denied that they had reached any compromise with the government since the end of the peace talks brokered by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

"The Movement did not meet at all - either alone or jointly with the SLM-MM - with a National Congress Party (NCP) delegation to discuss any outstanding issues related to the cessation of hostilities or to the negotiations between the parties since the last round under the auspices of the AUHIP in Addis Ababa," Tugud said.

"We are not surprised that a leading NCP member lies because lying is part of their political methods," to cover up the massacres committed by their militiamen or the failure of the dialogue process, he added

In their last meeting from 9 to 14 August 2016, the government, JEM and SLM-MM discussed the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement and a humanitarian access agreement. The two deals are part of confidence building measures conceived by the mediation to pave the way for an inclusive national dialogue conference inside Sudan.

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 their prisoners from the Sudanese jails and the need to open the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) for discussions.

At the time, the AUHIP criticized the position of the two armed groups saying they “re-opened numerous issues that had previously been agreed and others which contradicted the Roadmap Agreement”. Also the mediation disclosed they refused the options the mediation proposed on the location sites of fighter.

In a bid to break the deadlock, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, Donald Booth, and before him President Yoweri Museveni organized informal and separate consultations meetings with the parties to narrow the gaps between them.

Also, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister tasked with the implementation of the DDPD Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud and the head of UNAMID and Joint Chief Mediator Martin Uhomoibhi met with the two parties and made some proposals.

(ST)

January 6, 2017 (JUBA) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir expressed readiness and optimism of forging new working relations with the new Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, saying his administration appreciate and wants to enhance better working relations with the new leadership

“Sometimes situation creates misunderstanding, it creates confusion but with leadership, these challenges can be turned into opportunity to address the issues of concern. I extend you, your Excellency, on behalf of the people of South Sudan and the government the support your office would require so that we all work together in championing universal principles and ideals enshrined in the UN charter”, president Kiir said in a congratulatory message address to the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, who assumed office this week.

Kiir said he would like the United Nations and other western countries to look at South Sudan as a member state with equal rights, sovereignty and leadership ready to work with the global community.

He said sanctions and arms embargo would not solve the problem but rather support for peaceful dialogue and nonpartisan engagement of the international community would address the conflict.

“We say sanctions and arms embargo would not contribute to addressing the issues of war, instead they will exacerbate and undermine the process”, he added in a 1st January 2017 message seen by Sudan Tribune on Friday.

The message is his first official reaction to a draft resolution by the United States, backed by Britain and France, seeking to impose arms embargo after it warned of a risk of impending mass atrocities and genocide.

The measure, however, fell short of the nine votes needed for adoption in the 15-member council.

Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Venezuela and three African council members — Angola, Egypt and Senegal, abstained from the voted after they all expressed serious reservations.

Activists and human right groups viewed the rejection of the arms embargo a setback for the United States, which helped South Sudan to gain independence in 2011 but has been unable to steer the country away from a war that erupted two years later.

If the proposal was approved it would have seen rebel leader Riek Machar, Chief of General Staff of the government forces and a key ally of President Kiir, Paul Malong and Information Minister Michael Makuei, put on a sanctions blacklist and subjected to an assets freeze and a global travel ban.

Japan, which has some 350 troops serving in the UN mission in South Sudan, has argued that the measures, if adopted, would antagonize President Kiir's government and put peacekeepers' lives at risk.

Opponents of the sanctions point to Kiir's call earlier this month for a national dialogue process to restore peace, saying that initiative must be given a chance.

However, the former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was backing the U.S. push for sanctions on South Sudan, saying an embargo would reduce the capacity of all sides to wage war.

"If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities," Ban told the Council. The proposal provides for a one-year ban on the “supply, sale or transfer” of “arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment” as well as spares parts.

The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 3.1 million people displaced.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power argued at the time of failing to secure the support of other members that all sides were mobilizing for more fighting and that action was needed to prevent a bloodbath.

"The situation is not getting better, but worse, and we are sitting on our hands," Power told the council on Monday. "Large-scale attacks could start at any moment."

Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev expressed different view of the warning and cast doubt over warnings of a risk of genocide, arguing that criminal groups and "undisciplined" troops were responsible for mass violence, and not the government's policy.

There is growing alarm over the humanitarian crisis in the country as the conflict enters its fourth year.

More than 6 million people — half of South Sudan's population — are in need of urgent aid and humanitarian organizations expect this number to rise by 20 to 30 percent next year.

Some 1.3 million South Sudanese have fled across borders as refugees, including 383,000 who have fled to Uganda since July, according to UN figures.

(ST)

By Trayo A. Ali

On January first 2017 Sudan celebrated Sixty One anniversary of its Independence Day. Unfortunately, neither the political environment is pretty cozy nor the public mood is festive to stomach the occasion. It is rather all out grief, state of mourning, and sorrow. The news is polluted and the air is contaminated with blood. The smell is all gun-powder than an odour. Orphan children, street boys and school dropped youngsters out number their age group who have access to milk, bread, butter and class room. The horizon is getting ever darker and hopes getting dashed. It's a suffocating air. The Six Decades of the independence are lost case and the ordinary Sudanese manages to erase the bad memories while the government insist to force and fool by way of a fake celebration. The government should stop selling the wind to boats.

Hailing the conquered is never the answer
The state of Sudan is a failure case and the Six Decades of the claimed Independence are a lost ones. What is there then to celebrate for it at all?.
The independence is meaningless and celebration is worthless unless it's totally associated with the welfare of the people. Progress, prosperity, voluntary unity, peace, security, stability, equality and education for all.
The independence anniversary is usually considered as a time to exercise sober reflection, soul searching and self reexamination for stock taking.
The true independence is measured up by indicators that answer questions such as:
How much prosperity and welfare of the citizen is achieved? How equal are the concerned citizens? How dignified are they before their state? How much security they enjoy? How much its leaders (men or women) are of integrity who cheer accountability? How affordable the necessary services to the disposal of the citizen (education, health, food, clean water, shelter, electricity and roads)? How clean the environment?
This is how the relevancy of any independence is measured. Ask the Koreans, the Ghanaians, the Tanzanians, the Senegalese and the rest of the Sexagenarian nations. All are age group of the Sudan.
The Britons have every right to question the ability and stamina of Sudanese leaders for self management.

The missing link is visionary leadership
"He who has nothing can offer nothing". How can any independence be credible and meaningful if it only generates death, misery, abject poverty, hunger, wars, diseases, ignorance, corruption, thievery, greed, nepotism, racism, hatred, genocide, indiscipline, abuse of power, brutality, displacement, refuge, insensitivity, frustration, extremism, intolerance, exclusion, marginalization, dishonesty, divisions, mediocrity, dependency ?. It only takes a crook regime like the Islamist NCP government to insist on presenting false facts to fool its citizens. You can fool some peole some time or all people for some time but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
So what the celebration for?. Aren't we exercising a kind of self deception in hailing the conquered instead of hailing the conqueror hero? Aren't we only adding insult to injury?. Stupid level of ostracization and a state of living in denial

Challenges and fundamentals. None is fixed
How can the independence be relevant and worth celebrating if it was not able to identify the challenges and failed to fix the fundamentals ? .

Searching for identity: Zebra, Donkey or Zonkey ?
No nation can conduct its affair in this manner. Any meaningful progress and development can only take place in the context of redefined identity acceptable to all. What does it mean when a president of nation confess and publicly declares that his country has failed to redefine its identity after six decades of its independence? Does this situation deserve to be celebrated?
Strange for a sexagenarian nation searching for identity ? Unable to identify itself whether Is it Zebra, donkey or Zonkey ? Are we celebrating Zebra, or donkey or Zonkey for a Zonkey is a hybrid. The celebrators should tell us.

Indeed Fire gives birth to ashes
Sudan (once a cradle of African civilization) is in state of evaporation. It is reduced into smoke. Professor Leopold Senghor of Senegal statement clicks our memory. He once noted that "Sudan made the worst choice. Instead of becoming the best of Africans it chose to be the worst of Arabs". Indeed history does not have a mercy upon a fool who mess and tamper with it. The circumstances will dictate upon a kind of revenge you deserve. It is humiliating.

Aluta must continua till the beautiful ones are born.
Sudanese must continue to fight for conditions that deserve a meaningful and useful celebration. They should first liberate themselves from the yoke of dictatorship. Dignity must reign, prosperity must prevail. Peace and security of the citizen must be the order of the day. That was when it give birth to the beautiful ones. They are not yet born. Only then they can have enjoyable, credible and sustainable independence that is truly independent. Only then Sudan deserve national celebration.

African Peace Information Service (APIN). He can be reached at saharaclub2015@gmail.com

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(Dakar) – The government of President Yahya Jammeh, defeated in Gambia’s December presidential election, has arbitrarily arrested opposition sympathizers and closed three independent radio stations in the past week, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. Jammeh is required under Gambia’s Constitution to cede power to President-elect Adama Barrow by January 19, 2017.

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Supporters of president-elect Adama Barrow celebrate Barrow's election victory in Banjul, Gambia on December 2, 2016. © 2016 Reuters

Since December 31, intelligence agents have arrested and briefly detained at least six people for wearing or selling T-shirts bearing the logo of the #Gambiahasdecided movement, which has called for Jammeh to respect the election results and step down. Several senior members of the movement have fled Gambia after receiving credible threats from alleged National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officers. On January 1, 2017, intelligence agents forcibly closed three private radio stations, depriving Gambians of independent sources of information during this critical period.

“The targeting of the #Gambiahasdecided movement and the closure of private radio stations threaten the rights of Gambians to express their opposition to Jammeh’s attempt to stay in power,” said Jim Wormington, West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It’s at times like this that free expression is most crucial.”

Jammeh publicly conceded defeat the day after the December 1, 2016 election, but then rejected the results on December 9, criticizing what he called the “treacherous” Independent Election Commission (IEC) for its lack of independence. Gambian security forces on December 13 evicted Alieu Momarr Njai, the commission chairman, and his staff from their headquarters. Njai subsequently told Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that he feared for his safety, and on December 30, he left Gambia to seek refuge abroad.

Jammeh’s party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), on December 13 filed a challenge to the election results in the Supreme Court. Because the Supreme Court has no permanent associate judges, and so hearing the case would require Jammeh to appoint new justices, the Gambian Bar Association has said this appeal is “fundamentally tainted.”

The targeting of the #Gambiahasdecided movement and the closure of private radio stations threaten the rights of Gambians to express their opposition to Jammeh’s attempt to stay in power. It’s at times like this that free expression is most crucial. Jim Wormington

West Africa Researcher

Jammeh’s refusal to accept the election results has been widely condemned internationally, including by the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). On December 17, ECOWAS said that when Jammeh’s term ends on January 19, Barrow “must be sworn in” and promised to “take all necessary actions” to enforce the election results.

Sources in Gambia described to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International how intelligence agents detained two men, Alpha Sey and Muhammed Kuyateh, wearing #Gambiahasdecided T-shirts on the evening of December 31. One witness said five men in civilian clothes forced Sey into a white pickup truck. “They asked to have a word with him and, after a brief conversation, they just pushed him into the car,” the witness said. “Sey was the only one wearing a #Gambiahasdecided T-shirt, and I heard him say, ‘There’s no need for me to get in the car, I can just take it off.’ But they forced him in anyway.”

Another witness described how on December 31, men in civilian clothes forced Kuyateh into a vehicle in Bakoteh, a suburb of Banjul, apparently for wearing a #Gambiahasdecided T-shirt. Kuyateh and Sey were held incommunicado at NIA headquarters, then released on bail on January 3, 2017.

Intelligence officers detained three store managers selling #Gambiahasdecided merchandise in the Westfield area of Serrekunda on the evening of December 31. Ebrima Sambou, Mamie Serreh, and Isatou Jallow told Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that the intelligence officers came to their shops and confiscated T-shirts and other materials featuring the text #Gambiahasdecided, or graphics supportive of president-elect Barrow or the opposition coalition. They were then taken to the intelligence agency headquarters in Banjul, where they were questioned about the suppliers of this merchandise, and released a few hours later.

The store merchandise has not been returned. Serreh said that before she was released, an intelligence officer told her, “Anything you say about this, it will come back to you.” The wife of another of the store managers left Gambia soon after his release, fearing for her safety. Intelligence officers also reportedly detained a coalition supporter, Wandifa Kanyi, for selling T-shirts in Serrekunda on January 2. Kanyi was released on January 3.

Two founding members of the #Gambiahasdecided movement, Salieu Taal and Raffi Diab, fled Gambia on December 31, after receiving what they believe was credible information of their imminent detention by the intelligence agency. The agency has a long track record of arbitrarily arresting opposition activists, many of whom were tortured and sometimes killed while in agency custody. Taal, the movement’s chair, said that NIA officers nearly intercepted him outside his house on December 31. “I believe Jammeh is trying to send a message, to stop us from resisting his attempt to stay in power,” he told Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. “But we won’t be intimidated.”

On January 1, intelligence agents forced three private radio stations, Teranga FM, Hilltop Radio, and Afri Radio, to go off air. Although Afri Radio was reopened again on January 3, it is not currently airing news-related material. Given the government’s control of state television and radio, private radio stations provide an important outlet for Gambians to access dissenting views and opinions, although the security forces’ history of arresting and intimidating journalists have caused many to self-censor. Teranga FM and Hilltop Radio were two stations that discussed diverse political news in local languages.

Emil Touray, president of the Gambia Press Union, told Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that the radio closures “denied Gambians several essential media outlets during a crucial phase in the country’s history.” Teranga FM has been closed three times in recent years and the station’s managing director, Alhagie Ceesay, was arrested in July 2015, beaten and tortured at the NIA headquarters, and then charged with sedition. He escaped from custody and fled abroad in April 2016.

As the deadline for Jammeh to leave office and transfer power nears, the Gambian authorities and security forces should respect and protect the rights of all Gambians to freely and peacefully express their political views and opinions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. Private radio stations should be free to operate without government interference or fear of reprisals.

“The risk of a crackdown against independent and critical voices will only increase as calls for Jammeh to step down intensify prior to the January 19 deadline,” said Sabrina Mahtani, West Africa researcher at Amnesty International. “The Gambian authorities must send a clear message that human rights abuses, including by members of the security forces, will not be tolerated and that those responsible for abuses during the transition will be adequately investigated and prosecuted.”

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January 5, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Khartoum and Juba governments Thursday signed an agreement extending river and land transit of international humanitarian assistance for the South Sudanese civilians for a six month period.

In July 2014, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to open a humanitarian corridor to deliver food assistance to vulnerable South Sudanese through the Nile river or by road.

The cross-border operation allows the World Foord Programmes (WFP) to reduce the costly airlift or airdrop operations in a time where the international agency faces serious financial challenges.

The MoU was signed by the Sudanese Deputy Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Ahmed Mohamed Osman and South Sudanese Ambassador to Khartoum, Mayan Dut Waal.

Speaking to the media following the signing ceremony, the Sudanese humanitarian official said the extension of the agreement contributes to consolidate human relations between the two countries.

He further stressed that the Sudanese government would continue to exert the needed efforts with international partners to deliver humanitarian assistance to the affected people in South Sudan.

"We reaffirm the keenness of the government of Sudan to provide all possible facilities for the passage of humanitarian aid into South Sudan," he added.

River transport of goods across the joint stopped after the border's closure following South Sudan's independence in 2011 as Khartoum accused Juba of supporting Sudanese rebels in the Two Areas.

The resumption of river and road transport enabled the WFP to deliver hundreds of metric tons of food to South Sudanese. Barges loaded of food reached South Sudanese in the Upper Nile state towns of Renk and Wadakona.

(ST)

January 5, 2017 (JUBA) - A top South Sudanese rebel commander has been killed after squabbles erupted over the allegiance and the objective of the armed struggle.

Gabriel Tanginye shakes hands with leading members of the Nuer tribal community in Unity state, Bentiu on October 19, 2010 (AP)

Gabriel Tanginye was killed on Wednesday during a clash in which more than 20 others lost lives. The exact circumstances under which the attack took place remain unclear. Military sources and relatives have provided conflicting accounts surrounding the incident.

Military spokespersons representing two rebel leaders, Lam Akol and RiekMachar, confirmed his death in separate statements without elaborating on the circumstances under the attack was carried and which the sides initiated it.

Tanginye was one of the senior rebel commanders who switched side from the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition under the overall command and leadership of the former vice president, Riek Machar before the signing of the 2015 peace agreement.

He remains one of the holdout rebel commanders and did not join Machar when the new conflict resumed.

He opted to remain at South Sudan-Sudanese border as independent commander until Lam Akol resigned from the unity government in which he served as the minister of agriculture and formed his own rebel movement.

Sources say Akol later recruited Tanginye as one of his commanders. Others refute the reports of having joined Akol, saying Tanginye was only in the area under the control of Akol's commander Yohanis Okech, whose headquarters came under attack on Wednesday by a group allied to Machar, resulting in the clash in which several lives, including Tanginye and his son were lost.

“As far I know, I don't think Tanginye was one of the commanders under Lam Akol. He was only in the area preparing to go to Fangak area, where he wanted to carry out his own recruitment.

His mission to the area took sometimes due to logistics and so he decided to stay with Yohanis Okich, who is the commander of the forces under Lam Akol. He was there because of personal relations between the two men. They are friends”, a source with the direct knowledge of the situation told Sudan Tribune on Thursday.

The source explained Tanginye became the victim of an internal conflict between Okich and Johnson Olony, who is the commander, allied to Riek Machar forces in the area.

(ST)