Africa

April 21, 2018 (JUBA) - The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) delegation on Thursday urged all parties involved in the South Sudan conflict to honour their commitments to the peace process.

The mission, at the end of their six-day visit to the war-torn nation, urged the warring parties to allow for genuine reconciliation and healing and ensure that next round of high level revitalization forum (HLRF) succeeds.

“The PSC delegation assured all stakeholders of AU's readiness and determination to spare no efforts in supporting IGAD and the South Sudanese parties to overcome the challenges facing the peace process,” the delegation said in a joint statement.

The AU team, which was headed Nigeria's Bankole Adeoye, expressed the solidarity and total support of the African Union towards finding lasting peace in South Sudan.

“The PSC delegation reiterated the AU's appreciation to IGAD, neighboring countries and UNMISS, as well as international partners for their relentless efforts to help restore sustainable peace, security and stability in South Sudan,” it noted Thursday.

The AU team's visit followed the visit by the chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat to South Africa to meet South Sudan leader, Riek Machar.

The AU delegation interacted with all South Sudanese stakeholders, African and international actors, to assess the challenges still impeding the implementation of the 2015 agreement on the resolution of the South Sudan conflict.

The AU mission team said it looks forward to a new schedule for the concluding phase of the peace talks to provide opportunities for more consultations with all stakeholders.

They stressed the important role of the AU High Level Ad Hoc Committee on South Sudan, with a view to restoring the long awaited peace in the country and put an end to the humanitarian challenges, particularly the suffering of the South Sudanese.

During their interactions, the mission shared concern with Juba on the centrality of Hybrid Court to the peace process and underscored the need for enhanced cooperation between the AU and the Government towards firming up all arrangements for the establishment of the Court in pursuit of transitional justice.

The South Sudanese government and several rebel groups in December 2017 signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) in a bid to end fighting and revive the stalled peace deal, but the truce was broken the same day it came into effect on Dec. 24, 2017.

South Sudan has been mired in conflict between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebels led by Machar, the country's former first vice-president since mid-December 2013. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced almost over 2 million people from their homes, including over a million refugees who have fled into neighbouring nations.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders led to the establishment of a coalition government in April 2016, which later on collapsed.

(ST)

April 21, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) said arrangements have been completed to kick off the dialogue with the political forces.

The Sudanese Parliament building

NCP political secretary Omer Basan said his party would meet with all political forces except the unregistered parties and the armed movements that have not yet been transformed into political parties.

He pointed out that the meetings with the political forces would focus on the outcome of the national dialogue particularly the issues of the constitution, elections commission and the law of the political parties' council.

Basan added the NCP would hold a meeting next week to form 20 committees to contact the political parties and engage in the dialogue.

He said these committees include names of top NCP members in the Leadership Office and the political sector.

In October 2016, the political forces participating in the government-led national dialogue concluded the process by signing the National Document which includes the general features of a future constitution to be finalised by transitional institutions.

The National Consensus Government (NCG) was installed in May 2017 to implement the outcome of the dialogue conference.

The opposition groups boycotted the national dialogue because the government didn't agree to a humanitarian truce with the armed groups and due to its refusal to implement a number of confidence-building measures aiming to create a conducive environment in the country before to hold the inclusive dialogue.

(ST)

April 21, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali on Saturday discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

Al-Bashir, who arrived in Ethiopia on Friday to take part in Tana Forum which is hosted by the Ethiopian city of Bahr Dar from 21 to 22 April, met with Ethiopia's premier on Saturday.

During the meeting, al-Bashir stressed the Sudanese government and people support for Ethiopia in order to achieve aspirations of the two countries in all fields.

He pointed out that the Sudanese-Ethiopian relations are strong and eternal, expressing keenness to promote bilateral ties in all fields.

For his part, the Ethiopian premier expressed deep gratitude for al-Bashir's participation in Tana Forum, describing Sudan as his second home and al-Bashir as his older brother.

He also expressed gratitude for the generous treatment received by the Ethiopian citizens in Sudan.

Meanwhile, Sudan's State Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdallah Idriss told reporters following the meeting the two leaders underscored the need to strengthen coordination and cooperation between the two countries in regional and international forums.

He added the two also discussed ways to activate and secure the border trade between the two countries.

On the other hand, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister, Workneh Gebeyehu, said al-Bashir is the first president to meet the newly appointed Ethiopian premier which indicates the strength of bilateral ties between the two countries.

He described the meeting between the two leaders as historic, saying it is an important step towards promoting bilateral relations.

Ethiopia's top diplomat added the two leaders underlined they would work together on the bilateral level and within the framework of the regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

He vowed to exert every possible effort to enhance bilateral relations between Sudan and Ethiopia to reach the highest levels of relations in Africa.

Ethiopia and Sudan are engaged more and more in joint security, military and economic cooperation.

In April 2017, the two sides signed a number of joint agreements to promote economic relations and strengthen ties between the two countries.

Also in February, they signed multiple agreements to further boost up cooperation on a range of development activities.

In March 2012, al-Bashir announced his support to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), saying his government understands the mutual benefits the project could offer Ethiopia and Sudan.

(ST)

April 21, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Saturday managed to arrest a group of 66 migrants with their smugglers in the remote North Darfur area of Wadi Hawar, in a joint operation with the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).

NISS Director in North Darfur State Brigadier General Awad al-Qurashi said that the operation was carried out in coordination and cooperation with the RSF militiamen deployed in the remote area.

He further told the official news agency SUNA that the RSF arrested the gang of human traffickers with two four-wheel-drive vehicles (Land Cruisers) carrying 66 migrants including 26 Ethiopians and 37 Sudanese nationals, pointing that there were 8 women and 7 children among them.

Sudan is considered as a country of transit for migrants and refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia, heading to Europe.

There are two routes for human trafficking from Sudan to Libya used by human smugglers one from Khartoum through Northern State and Darfur route via El-Fasher in North Darfur which has gained importance since 2017.

From 1 January to 31 March 2018, the number of refugees and migrants arrived in Italy by sea had decreased significantly. According to the UNHCR, there were 6,296 persons during the first trimester of this year against 24,292 persons reached Italian shores in the same period last year.

"This is a 74 percent decrease".

However, Sudanese remain among the ten most common countries of origin of migrants with Eritrea, Tunisia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan, Guinea, Senegal, and Mali.

Also, despite an overall decrease in sea arrivals, the UN refugee agency noticed that the numbers of Eritreans reaching Italian shores have been on the rise.

(ST)

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