Sudan Tribune

Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij is an Open History Book for Readers, Whether He Was Alive or Deceased in the Grace of God

by Mahmoud A. Suleiman

Dear noble reader, this article comes out of the habit, against the backdrop of the saddening news of passing away and paying prayer to the spirit of the late Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij, who answered the call of his Lord Allah, may God Almighty accept his spirit in the gardens of eternity in the Paradise with the prophets, the martyrs and the righteous. Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij has died in the country of Botswana, Southern Africa, departing this mortal world, leaving behind a rich political and societal history about the rule in Sudan in general and the Darfur region in particular. The talk about Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij is considered an open book to read on the most important stations in the political and social history of Sudan. This is because Dreij is considered a witness to the most important political era issues in the history of the Post-independence of Sudan from the Anglo-EgyptianColonialism -aka – Condominium on Sunday, January the First 1956.

The honourable reader is requested to note that my article this time, not, as usual, includes quotes from mourning letters from those who knew the late Dreij and his contemporaries who wrote about him and about his merits as a distinguished politician and statesman. Furthermore, it is more or less in a form of a compilation of articles and condolences written about the statesman Ustaz AHMED IBRAHIM DIRAIG, May Allah have mercy on him and May God bless him and offer a condolence to his family and bless his offsprings. This article, as I said earlier, comes in a sad atmosphere, following the transfer of the late Diraig, Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij to the hereafter with his predecessors from the righteous, martyrs and prophets; thus one has enabled himself to collect quotes from the condolences written by individuals and groups that previously worked with the late Dreij in Various sites during his life of political and social events in the Darfur region and throughout Sudan and in the countries of the world around us and I have compiled those documents and made them as part and parcel of the article.

As for my personal acquaintance with the late Ustaz Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij, the conversation will be prolonged, and the volume of the article will not accommodate that. I am satisfied that I have known him since I was a student at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum in the 1960s. Furthermore, I have met with him at several occasions related to the Sudanese politics in general and the Darfur region in particular. I met him last time about 6 years ago, that is before he left his London home to Botswana, the country in Southern Africa. At this juncture, one says: “Verily we belong to Allah, and truly to Him shall we return”.

The name Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij/Diraig remained linked to the politicians 'disagreements with former President Jaafar Nimeiri, and his relationship with the Republican Palace since his assumption of the position of Governor of the Darfur region in 1982 CE has been marked by the constant tension that culminated in the confiscation of his property by the May regime and his final exodus from Sudan to his self-imposed exile in London.. We are trying to shed light on his political life and the path of his successes and failures on the path of politics.

Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim did not know that the name of the English inspector “Dreij” in the Garsila region, which he admired so much as a nickname for his son “Ahmed” for his light colour compared to his peers, that this would obliterate his father's name. It also did not know that Ahmed, who was born in the village of Kargula, in the countryside of Zalingei District i.e. the state of West Darfur in 1935 AD, he will have an effective political role in Darfur, and his personality is known worldwide, as well as being associated with Germany.

Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij received his first/primary/elementary education in the Zalingei District in the Central district of the then Darfur Province in the countryside. He then moved to the city of Kuwait in the White Nile State, because there was no middle/ intermediate schools at that time in the Province of Darfur. His professional speciality is in Statistics. Before joining the University of Khartoum, he worked as a teacher for a short period at El Fasher National School.

During his studies at the university, he practised his activities as an independent and did not have a clear political activity at the university, but he was gifted with jogging and high jumping that he has practised so far.

It was not long before him as an independent member until he announced his joining the Umma Party, the wing of the Sadiq al-Mahdi, and he was appointed as a central minister to work in the 1967 government, then he became the leader of the opposition in the Second Constituent Assembly (1968). Observers say that his accession and his tenure buried the Darfur Renaissance Front alive and it is a child similar, which led to The people of Darfur, especially the intellectuals who supported him and appointed him president of the front at the university, are accused of aborting the first collective action of the people of Darfur, where Ali Hassan Taj al-Din joined the Umma Party and Ali al-Hajj remained in the Islamic movement and Muhammad Abdel Manan belonged to the Islamic Charter Front. Diraig was accused of giving up his responsibilities after Nimeiri's coup and fled the country to preoccupy himself with his private work, even though he is a public figure whose historical responsibilities prevent him from leaving the country, especially since May was besieging the supporters and in front of them on the Gezira Aba, in the White Nile District.

He is a member of the Umma Party and the leader of the opposition, which made the supporters and people of Darfur feel bitter from this behaviour, which many described as irresponsible.

After the national reconciliation in 1977 AD between Al-Nimeiri and Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, a political breakthrough occurred, and Al-Nimeiri issued decisions to appoint governors, among them was the Brigadier General “retired” Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi. The decision to appoint him sparked an uprising in Darfur, considering that he was from outside of the Darfur region, given the fact that all the other regions in Sudan enjoyed appointment of Governors from their own sons and during the Darfurian uprising “seven” sons of Darfur were killed during the riots, the fact which prompted Nimeiri to acquiesce. Dreij was appointed as the Governor of Darfur as the first of the sons of Darfur, and Dreij found a rally around him from the people of the region and supported him unanimously, and this was evident in the great and massive reception he received at El Fasher airport. However, accusations were levelled against Dreij that he did not exploit this consensus and influence in uniting the people of Darfur. On the contrary, during his tenure in office, he caused many tribal problems due to his misjudgment of things and his irresponsible statements against some tribes.

Dreij is considered one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Daoud Bolad movement, who defected from the rescue and led a rebellion in the early nineties in Darfur. It is said that Bolad consulted Dreij and found support and support for the idea from its early stages until it reached advanced stages.

In 1995, Dreij travelled to Asmara to join the ranks of the National Democratic Gathering opposed to the Islamist/ Muslim Brotherhood's Islamic Salvation Front Government and participated in the gathering conference in the name of the Federal Alliance, the party that was abroad with a number of opponents (Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil, Sherif Abdullah Harir and others. ”

Dreij participated in armed action against Islamic Salvation Front regime from Eritrean lands, and upon the outbreak of armed action in the west of the country, Dreij refused to integrate his forces and unify leadership and said that he “does not want to conclude his political life with military action.”
Dreij's opponents say that his influence at the time was running out, evidenced by the fact that most of his bases and supporters have preferred to join the two rebel movements in Darfur,

Karzai, Darfur
Dreij's opponents, especially in the two Darfur rebel movements, called him "Karzai Darfur" and expressed their surprise at his sudden appearance and his meeting with the First Vice President of the Republic, Mr Ali Osman Muhammad Taha in Naivasha at the beginning of this year .. They denounced his statements in support of a peaceful solution to the Darfur problem and see that there is a contradiction with what was. It is practised from military action against the government in the east of the country. They also accuse him of receiving American and German support for installing "Karzai over Darfur." The rebels in Darfur consider that Dreij's political role has ended, the time has passed, and that the way of thinking in Darfur has become ahead of the old arguments which he himself adopted.

Shartay and Statistics
Professor Abd al-Rahman Bishara Dosa, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Ahfad, a former Minister of Agriculture in the Dreij government, says that Dreij entered political life out of his interest in social reforms in Sudanese society and this helped his association with the civil administration, especially that he belonged to a family of civil administration, and the mother of Shartay died when he was in High school, so he was chosen to be a buyer for his region, but he apologized under the pretext of continuing his studies and relinquished the position to his uncle.

Professor Dosa describes Dreij as a social activist and has developed his interest in the problems of his community from a social activist to a political one.

Adam Al-Zein, Director of the Federal Governance Studies Center of the University of Khartoum, added that Dreij benefited from his previous work in the Department of Statistics in using statistics to clarify what the relative backwardness of the Darfur region means in comparison to other regions when he was addressing the people of Darfur in the University of Khartoum Union House, which was crowded with the people of Darfur with their various tribes. He was dealing with the figures, the percentages due to Darfur in the fields of health, education and infrastructure services.

UstazAbdullah Adam Khater, a well-known journalist and writer, adds: Dreij is among the new leaders who emerged after the October Revolution 1964 with theses such as William Deng, who focused on the constitutional aspect that calls for federalism, while Philip Abbas Gabboosh called for the cultural specificity of the Nuba Mountains. The regions and their economic development, which invited him to adopt the idea of the Sudanese Democratic Alliance, and Ustaz Khater considers this a success for Dreij as a political intellectual.

Political Feuds
Professor Dosa believes that Dreij is distinguished by a commitment to honourable political ethics and does not like "political fawas" and considers him chaste in hand, in addition to his wise leadership as the leader of the opposition in Parliament, in addition to his struggle to save Darfur from famine in 1983 AD by confronting the Nimeiri government with facts while it tried to cover Situations there.

Engineer Abdullah Masar, Wali of the Nile River, considers Dreij as one of the people who had positions in the Sudanese political movement in addition to being a convinced man and polite in the conversation, and he continues Masar to say that Dreij was very popular in Darfur and entered politics without a family background, as he is a normal citizen.

Dr Al-Zeinsays Dreij suffered from two main problems, namely the emergence of ethno-ethnic politics in the region and what is known as the current of the Arab group and the Zaghawa group and the Islamic movement group led by Ali Hajj Muhammad and the conflict intensified in 1982 AD between these groups in the elections for the position of governor and the Zaghawa group gathered behind its candidate Mahmoud Bashir Jamaa and the Arab group aligned Behind its candidate, the late Ibrahim Omar, and another Arab group stood behind Youssef Suleiman Takana and Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Tijani is independent and is considered Dr Al-Zein said his troubles increased after his victory.

And Dr.Al-Zein said that among the flaws of Dreij is that he lacks the ability to win the cooperation of the educated elite despite his strong personal connections with them outside of work. Al-Zein said that the man suffers from a problem in dealing with the elite who excels him in education, and this is evidenced by the candidacy of most of his government members in the 1982 elections against him.

Professor Dosa says that the disadvantages of Dreij are that he does not like to read reports and cannot stand sitting in long meetings and does not take notes during them, which makes him vulnerable to forgetting some of the decisions that need follow-up and believes that his failure to return to Sudan is a disgrace.

In addition to being non-violent, it tends to seek solutions through democracy.
Ustaz Khater believes in Direj that he is a friendly, fatherly man who loves the citizen and the simple life and believes that his genius is manifested when he reaches the simplest human being the most complex economic theories and has the ability to promote his ideas through public relations theories.

Dr Al-Zein said that Dreij has unique intelligence and what distinguishes him most is his sympathy with the simple affectionately, in addition to his ability to expressiveness with simple words that everyone understands, especially the uneducated, and believes that he is interesting to talk and can easily attract others.

His downsides
Engineer Masar believes that one of the man's disadvantages is the regional current's predominance over him and his entry into conflicts with Nimeiri and the members of the Socialist Union. He believes that his greatest flaws that affected his weight and his relationship with the people is the installation of Furchildren in most of his government during his tenure as governor in Darfur, which made the sons of some tribes work against him. This was shown in the elections for the governor which most of his cabinet ministers fought against, though Draig won after fierce competition with everyone.
Ustaz Khater believes that his immediate decision to leave Sudan and exile himself to Britain to engage in private business was unsuccessful.

His future
The engineer Masar excludes for a man to have any political role in the coming years. He believes that his age is close to seventy years, in addition to his long absence from the country, in addition to the changes that have occurred that do not work in his favour, and he expects him to play the role of "mentor". Massar believes that Dreij is not in control of his party now, yet he confirms that he is still popular among the Fur and is considered a main political leader for them. He says that Darfur should be respectful to Dreijbecause he is the first to feel the problems of Darfur.

Ustaz Khater says that Draig lived with the mentality of Shartay and kept seeing himself as the first and always willing to pay the cost of leadership. Institutional, however, he reiterated that the name Draig will remain controversial and will be a subject of interest in matters of national construction.

Dr Al-Zein says that he has a role he wants to play in the future of Sudanese politics, as he wants according to Dr Al-Zein is to contribute to solving the problem of Sudan and has proposals that he believes are a process to solve the problem of pastoralists and farmers, which has erupted in the form of war recently in Darfur.

His wealth
The man left Sudan in 1969 after the coup of Nimeiri, who was deposited for a short period of time and contracted to work as an economic advisor in the Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain in the United Arab Emirates, which enabled him to accumulate an estimated wealth and returned to Sudan to invest it, but after his disagreement with Nimeiri, most of his properties were confiscated.

Some reports indicate that Mr Dreij has many funds and huge investments in various parts of the African continent, with the exception of Sudan. In a company, they founded in Botswana.

Craig D. Lounsbrough the US-born and whose background includes over twenty-nine years' experience as a counsellor in a variety of treatment settings that include psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics facilities has been quoted as saying: “Our prayers are something akin to delivering a list, verses surrendering a life. The former will always leave me creating the next list, while the latter will leave me creating a new life.”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/supplication

Dr Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

September 28, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has called for more pressure on the Congress to pass a deal removing Sudan from the list of countries supporting terrorism saying it would be a big diplomatic victory for Trump administration.

Two Democrat Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez say they would not vote legislation restoring Sudan's sovereign immunities because the deal prevents the victims of 9/11 attacks from suing Sudan which is now accused of supporting al-Qaeda group in this horrible terrorist operation.

Initially, Menendez raised the issue of some African victims of Nairobi and Dar es Salam attacks saying they deserve to receive more money because they are now U.S. citizens. But recently he focused on the 9/11 victims.

"Sudan is pulling away from terror networks and toward the West, and the Trump Administration has to push Congress harder on the issue to ensure success," said the WSJ in its editorial on Monday.

"It would be an important diplomatic achievement in a part of the world where those don't come often," further stressed the editorial.

The daily pointed out that the 9/11 victims already have been compensated by Congress, adding that by pushing for more now they risk damaging the antiterror cause and harming U.S. interests in the region.

Trump administration has been under international pressure to remove Sudan from the terror list. European Union countries and Washington allies in the Middle East including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE and others have backed the delisting.

Also, the visibly electoral logic of the two senators who are from New York and New Jersey, two constituencies affected hard by the 11/9 attacks, pushed American Sudanese to launch a campaign to press the two Democrats senators to endorse the legislation.

However, some of them regretted the silence of the Democrat Party leaders who did not intervene to dissuade the two senators from blocking a deal crucial to relieve the whole Sudan.

Also, the deal has bipartisan support in Congress. Senator Christopher Coons, a Democrat, has drafted the legislation to restore Sudan's sovereign immunities before US courts.

This is the second the WSJ dedicate its editorial to support Sudan's removal from the terror list. On 10 August it also exhorted the U.S. administration to speed un Sudan removal from the terror list.

(ST)

September 28, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Economic Conference Monday approved a recommendation to replace commodity subsidies with direct cash transfers to vulnerable families.

The three-day economic conference concluded its meetings on Monday. It was organized by the government to discuss needed economic reforms to restructure the budget, control inflation and lay down the needed bases for development.

"Commodity subsidies represent a burden on the budget and the trade balance, also, the rural population does not benefit from it, especially subsidies to electricity and cooking gas. (These reasons) require to convert to direct cash support," provide the recommendations of the conference read by an advisor to the prime minister for economic affairs.

The removal of subsidies would directly hit a population suffering for years from the economic crisis and high inflation. However, the measure is needed to curb the ramping inflation and reduce the budget deficit.

Since last year the transitional government vowed to cut subsidies and pledged to keep subsidies on bread and electricity.

But the Forces for Freedom and Change during the conference voiced their opposition to the removal of subsidies for basic commodities and said it is a continuation of the previous regime's approach in dealing with international financial institutions. They called for an economic plan that mobilizes the country's resources and control of all military companies.

The recommendation to remove commodity subsidies was met with strong opposition from the members of the Resistance Committees who were in the conference, as they chanted slogans rejecting the move and held banners reading "I do not agree".

Outside the meeting hall, the youth continued chanting, "No to subsidies removal" and called to hold sittings and protests".

The government said it would establish a safety net, funded by the international community, to support poor families and absorb the increase of prices.
The Sudan Partnership Conference held on 25 June pledged to fund a Family Support Programme (FSP) by the Sudanese government to vulnerable families to face the subsidies lift.

On 27 September European Union countries signed an agreement with the World Bank to allocate $110 million to a multi-donor trust fund administrated and managed by the international institution to fund the FSP.

At the occasion, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden also announced their support, summing up to $78.2 million USD, bringing the total European contribution to $186.6 million.

Also, the UN Secretary-General in a report to the UN Security Council urged the international community to support the Sudanese government to implement reforms.

"It is imperative that international support is delivered as the transitional Government strives to implement its difficult economic reform agenda," said Antonio Guterres.

(ST)

September 28, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese army on Monday said Darfur holdout rebels attacked one of its positions in Jebel Marra area of Central Darfur, but the group denied the accusation.

SLM-AW fighters on guard during a visit by UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gambari to Fanga Suk village, in East Jebel Marra, West Darfur, on 18 March 2011 (Photo: Reuters)

Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) attacked our forces in Baldong area of Jebel Marra, said a statement by the Military Media Centre in Khartoum.

"Our forces dealt with the assailants and repulsed them," said the statement without further details about the human causalities.

"The armed forces will continue to protect the homeland, complete peace, and confront everyone who targets the security and safety of the country and its citizens," further said the statement.

The statement pointed out that this attack came despite the commitment of the armed forces to a cease-cessation of hostilities and the peace processes that have become a reality in the country.

On October 16 2019, the head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared a ceasefire in the whole country.

Denial of the attack

The SLM-AW Military Spokesman Walid Mohamed Abakar issued a statement dismissing that his group had launched the attack and pointed an accusing finger to the Sudanese army saying they were behind the assault.

"The Khartoum government forces launched a treacherous attack on the sites under our control in the western part of the Jebel Marra. Our forces were able to repel the cowardly aggression, defeated the assailing force and inflicted heavy losses on them," said Abakar

In a recent report to the Security Council covering the period from 1 June to 31 August, the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the SLM-AW attacked the Sudanese army checkpoint in Kutrum, Central Darfur, killing 27 soldiers while they lost 9 elements.

(ST)

September 27, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who is also the head of African Union Bureau would consult the heads of state and government of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt to decide on the next step in the stalled talks on the Ethiopian dam.

Talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) failed to make progress after the unilateral first phase of the filing of its reservoir and demand by Addis Ababa to adopt a new approach to negotiations, putting aside what had been agreed in the past years.

Last August Ethiopia proposed an immediate agreement on the first filling of the mega-dam to be followed negotiations "to finalize a comprehensive agreement in subsequent periods".

However, the Ethiopian proposal triggered a strong Sudanese rejection. Khartoum reiterated that its commitment to what had been agreed and called for a legally binding agreement over the mechanism for resolving future disputes, and how to manage the dam during drought periods.

In a letter to the irrigation and foreign ministers in three countries on 23 September, Naledi Pandor South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation said she would consult the African Union Chairperson on the current pause in negotiations.

"Given the lack of progress in the process, it is perhaps best that the AU Chair President Ramaphosa reverts to the Bureau and the Heads of state of the negotiating parties," Pandor said in her letter seen by Sudan Tribune.

"The African Union Commission will advise as to the date of the next meeting," she further stressed.

The parties had to meet on 14 September but Khartoum declined the meeting as it calls to reshape the process and that the African Union, the European Union and the United States should be more involved in the process than playing the observers.

Sudanese officials say the talks are in a vicious cycle as every party sticks to its position. A mediator can bring the parties to reconcile their positions, they say.
On Friday, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the UN General Assembly that his country has no intention of harming Sudan and Egypt with a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile.

“I want to make it abundantly clear that we have no intention to harm these countries,” he said in a pre-recorded video statement.

"We are steadfast in our commitment to addressing the concerns of downstream countries and reaching a mutually beneficial outcome in the context of the ongoing AU-led process," further stressed Abiy said.

Earlier this month, The United States suspended $130 million in aid because of the unilateral first stage of the filling of the dam last July.

(ST)

September 27, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) and former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi said normalization with Israel a sort of surrender that has nothing to do with peace.

The leader of Sudan's opposition National Umma Party (NUP), Sadiq al-Mahdi (Reuters photo)

"Normalization is a soft name for surrender and has no connection with peace. Now, no Arab country is militarily confronting Israel. The current confrontation is with popular and non-governmental forces," he said.

"As Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer said in their book 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy', these forces give extremists a powerful recruitment tool, broaden the pool of potential terrorists and their sympathizers, and contribute to Islamic radicalism. This is what really happens," he further stressed.

Last week, the head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Minister of Justice Nasr al-Din Abdel Bari discussed for three days in Abu Dhabi normalization with Israel but failed to strike a deal.

The Sudanese delegation requested approximatively $10 billion during the upcoming three years to deal with the economic crisis and debt relief. Also, they said that normalization should intervene once Sudan is removed from the terror list.

Al-Burhan who is more enthusiastic to the normalization than the Prime Minister Hamdok had already met with Israeli Prime Minister in Uganda last February.

Al-Mahdi who is opposed to the move further recalled that the mandate of the transitional government does not enable it to engage in any initiatives that push the country into controversial positions.

The former prime minister stressed that "the current normalization project has nothing to do with peace, but rather a prelude to an upcoming war with Iran, and improve chances of winning the election for the American president and the prime minister of Israel."

The Sudanese street is divided over the normalization with Israel before a peace agreement is signed with the Palestinians.

Sudanese youth who staged six-month protests that led to the collapse of the Islamist regime are generally favourable to the move.

However, the political components of the ruling Forces for Freedom and Change are divided over the normalization.

The DUP of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the Communist party and some small ban-Arab political forces are opposed to the process.

The remaining political forces including the armed groups that will join the government after the signing of 3 October peace agreement are supportive to the rapprochement.

However, Hamdok who seeks consensus among the political forces says Sudanese should hold more dialogue on the issue to ensure a smooth transition in the country towards a democratic rule.

Previously, he said he had no mandate to engage the process but he accepted to engage discussions on the normalization when he dispatched a delegation to discuss the matter with the American officials in Abu Dhabi.

(ST)

September 27, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The European Union and the World Bank Saturday signed a partnership agreement to manage $110 million to fund Sudan Family Support Programme (SFSP) provided by the European countries.

This European support is critical for the Sudanese government to implement tough economic reforms including the end of commodities subsidies which would affect poor families.

"The signed agreement allocates a total amount of EUR 92.9 million (USD 110 million) to the Sudan Transition and Recovery Support (STARS) Multi-Donor Trust Fund administered and managed by the World Bank," said a statement released by the EU office in Khartoum.

The trust fund is the primary financing mechanism for the government-led and implemented Sudan Family Support Program.

At the occasion, the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden also announced their support, summing up to $78.2 million USD, bringing the total Team Europe contribution to the SFSP to $186.6 million.

The Sweden Ambassador said in a tweet after the signing ceremony that her country signed bilateral support to the programme of almost $25 million, through the World Bank.

The signing ceremony was held at the Prime Minister's Office in the presence of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, the Ministers of Labour and Social Development, Culture and Information, the Acting Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, European Ambassadors and UN officials.

The agreement was signed by Ambassador of the European Union to Sudan, Robert van den Dool and Ousmane Dione, Country Director for Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan of the World Bank.

Hamdok commended the efforts made by the World Bank, the exemplary cooperation with the EU and its member states and the steps in following on the pledges made in the Berlin Conference.

Today's ceremony marks “an important step in enabling the civilian-led Transitional Government to provide the much-needed assistance to the most vulnerable Sudanese as the cabinet accelerates its urgent economic reforms,” he said.

For his part, EU Ambassador Robert van den Dool said that the European Union is making good on its pledge at the Berlin conference in June 2020, to support the transitional government in its efforts to launch economic reforms.

"Together with the contributions announced today by EU member states, we have also shown that this Team Europe Approach allows us to join forces very effectively with our partners to make an even bigger difference for Sudan and its people," den Dool added.

He also, disclosed that the European Union has also helped in triggering the World Bank to consider contributing substantially with resources which will be decided by its Board in the coming days.

The Sudan Family Support Programme is led and implemented by the Sudanese government. The Programme is being implemented by the Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning, Labour and Social Development, and Interior, along with other relevant agencies, and will be executed by the Digital Economy Agency.

The pilot phase is being launched in October 2020 and the program will be gradually scaled up over the next few months, starting with the states of Khartoum, Red Sea, South Darfur and Kassala.

The second phase will roll out to the other most affected states.

(ST)

September 27, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok renewed calls on the international community to support Sudan to overcome the economic crisis that badly hit his country, stressing on the need to remove his country from the blacklist of terrorism.

In a pre-recorded speech to a remote session of the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday, Hamdok said that the transitional period faces huge challenges requiring the continued international support to address it.

The Sudanese premier added that exempting Sudan's foreign debts and obtaining soft loans as well as fulfilling the pledges made during the Sudan Partners Conference in Berlin last June are among the types of support his country is calling for.

"But before all, comes Sudan's removal from the list of states sponsors of terrorism. So that our country could complete its return to the international community after a forced interruption that lasted for three decades," he said.

"In this context, I would like to commend the recent steps taken by the U.S. administration and the U.S. Congress in support of the transitional government, including the determination to accelerate steps to rescind Sudan's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism," he stressed.

Hamdok was alluding to a group of U.S lawmakers including Christopher Coons who drafted legislation to restore Sudan's sovereign immunities before the courts. Also, It was reported the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now supporting the move.

Only remains opposed to this legislation, the Democrat Senator Robert Menendez who previously was very hostile to the regime of Omer al-Bashir.

In a recent letter to Congress, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said that the administration would remove Sudan from the blacklist in October.

The rescission of Sudan designation as a terror state will allow the east African nation to negotiate debt relief and obtain financial support for its development programmes as well as zero-interest loans.

In his virtual intervention before the General Assembly, Hamdok said that the transitional government has inherited a “paralyzed economy” and a “weak, devastated service sector”, including a health system that had been neglected for decades.

Sudan has also been hit by recent torrential rain and floods which have caused severe loss of life and property. Tens of thousands of homes have either partially or completely collapsed, he told the General Assembly.

(ST)

September 8, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has postponed the cabinet reshuffle until the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) scheduled to take place on October 2.

Last July, Hamdok accepted the resignation of six ministers and fired the health minister.

"The prime minister informed us that he has postponed the ministerial reshuffle until the signing of the peace agreement," a member of the Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) Ahmed Hadara told the Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

He pointed out that Hamdok is waiting for the nomination of the SRF candidates to the government to reshuffle the cabinet once for all.

He added that FFC leadership is considering the creation of new ministries to allow the SRF to join the government, as it is agreed in the peace agreement.

Under the peace agreement, which was initialled on August 31, the SRF will nominate five ministers in the government.

On August 23, the FFC picked its candidates for the seven ministries and nominated 3 people for each ministerial portfolio. The prime minister chooses one of them for the position.

(ST)

By Musa Magoor

After fighting for it collectively and subsequently voted together for her independence, South Sudan was born a proud nation created as a result of the unity of its diverse ethnicities, cultures and languages. The peoples of this young Republic, therefore, entrusted President Salva Kiir and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement party a duty to manage the abundant resources of this young nation in order to make the lives of the South Sudanese people better.

Unfortunately, President Kiir and his wife Ayen Mayardit have hijacked our hard-earned nation and turned it into a family and clan property, using national resources to finance family and clan projects in order to execute their clan agenda. Yes! This is what has been going on. The rest of the tribes have been thinking it is a Dinka government, the rest of the Dinka have thought it is a Bahr-el-Ghazal Government when it is, in fact, an Awan Chan Clan and Relatives Government. In Short ACC&RG.

A few weeks ago, South Sudan Central Bank officials declared to the public in a press conference that the central bank had run out of foreign reserves. This announcement left South Sudanese wandering as to what the government has done with the money when the civil servants' salaries have not been paid and implementation of revitalized peace agreement stuck.

Some South Sudanese officials blame the collapsed South Sudan's economy to the civil war, deteriorating oil prices and coronavirus pandemic. But these are not really the causes of what is depriving the bank of foreign reserves and killing the economy of South Sudan. President Kiir family and his clan are.

In 2012, the Bank of South Sudan was doing great under the wise and able leadership of a non-Awan former Governor Late. Elijah Malok Aleng. That time, South Sudan had suspended oil production following some disagreements with Khartoum over transit and tariff fees. Even without oil revenues, the economy of South Sudan was doing great. The reason was that the bank Governor was a nationalist, serving the interest of the South Sudanese people.

Elijah Malok Aleng (Rest in Peace uncle), was at monetary warfare with the first family and the clan of President Kiir. He had the ability to say no and the aptitude to turn down several unnecessary payment requests approved by Mister Kiir so that the bank continues to have enough foreign reserves. As he tried to make sure the nation has enough reserves, the first family took him as a barrier on their way to riches. And as a result, Malok was fired and replaced with Cornelius Koriom, Mister Kiir clansman and family ally whose second name means locust.

Knowing what was coming next after his sacking, Malok awarded the new bank governor a broom. His gift was an illustration to President Kiir, his family and the South Sudanese that he has handed the responsibility of the bank to the family and clan of Mr Kiir and that they can now sweep out all the foreign reserves in the bank. It didn't bother Kiir and his associate as much. The barrier was removed. That was the time Mr Kiir started using constitutional powers meant for serving the nation to instead implement his family and clan agenda.

After President Kiir successfully took control of the central bank, foreign reserves surely and quickly became a family property. Clan networks and clan deals penetrated into the bank and took deep root in what was supposedly be a formal regime. Decisions to appointments who would become the next central bank governor or Executive Director of the State-owned lucrative National Petroleum Company were made by the family and clan of Mr Kiir. Decision-making process shifted from the cabinet meeting hall and the SPLM political bureau to Mr Kiir family and clan in what can best be described as “the rise of clan politics in South Sudan”.

Consolidating clan power
After the successful control of the bank and the national finances, President Kiir family and clan then resorted to using the national wealth to consolidate clan power in order to implement a clan agenda which is to terrorize and intimidate the rest of the tribes in the country. Here are some examples.

In 2013, the clan regime of Mr Kiir aggravated the Dinka against the Nuer and managed to divide the nation along ethnic lines. He, therefore, used the national resources and the rest of the Dinka like Paul Malong and Mathiang Anyor (Kiir Militia Unit that fought 2013 war) to fight a clan-based war with a clan schema in the name of protecting the legitimacy of his self-imposed government against the so-called coup plotters.

After he was pushed to the corner to end the war, Mister Kiir reluctantly accepted to sign a peace deal. Although the peace agreement redefined governance in its rightful meaning and management of State resources in a more formal setting, Mr Kiir has persisted on serving the interest of his family and that of his clan over the national interest.

While training of the unified forces, feeding for these forces, forming of State governments, reconstitution of the Parliament and formation of the hybrid court (some of the major parts of the peace agreement) are desperately in need of funding, has continued to fund clan activities leaving major parts of the peace agreement unattended for.

The regime has continued to amass military power which is currently largely and firmly in the hands of the clans. You can see them heavily armed on the streets, in armoured mounted vehicles or at the junctions at night doing patrol to keep the clan regime in power. You can hear them looting property at night in the name of unknown gunmen. You can see them releasing their fellow criminals mistakenly arrested by the National Police Services at detention facilities, you can see as judges in courtrooms passing biased judgments on innocent South Sudanese like Peter Biar and Kerubino Wol. All of them are clan's men in different levels of power executing same clan agenda, which is to marginalize South Sudanese forever.

Funding proxy wars, deadly disarmament and assassinations
After securing all the military hardware, power and all the money, Kiir clan regime then resorted to using national finances to fund proxy wars in an effort to destabilize other clans and the South Sudanese people. You might have heard about the unending Murle verses Dinka-Bor and Nuer conflict.

Before South Sudan's independence, Sudan was the major funder of this conflict. Kiir inherited the style from Khartoum and continued to fund the Murle, arming them against the Dinka-Bor and Nuer people. Millions of our dollars that should have been used to implement the revitalized peace deal have gone to this Clan project in terms of arms, ammunition and other military logistics.

Another major clan project that contributed to the bankruptcy of our bank is the private airstrip in Tonj. In June 2020, South Sudanese learnt of a private airstrip built in Tonj by the Director-General of Internal Security, Akol Khor, who is Mr Kiir's niece and Mr. Kiir right-hand man holding the brutal national security service. The airstrip whose importance is yet to be known by South Sudanese was funded by the clan regime using national finances.

In August 2020, the clan regime also funded a massacre campaign against people of Luanyjang in Tonj East in the name of a disarmament exercise. 127 people, including women and children, were killed; women were raped, and thousands were displaced from their homes. You may wonder why Kiir would target people from his own State of Warrap. Well, let me give you some understanding.

Luanyjang is the same clan Late. Kerubino Wol Agok ails from. You may remember this renowned young businessman who was detained for nearly a year without charges at the national security detention facility without charges. You may remember the abuses inflicted on him at the blue house. You remember how he was unjustly convicted for ten years and late pardoned after spending some months in Juba central prison. You may also remember how he was provoked into forming a rebellion. You may also remember how the national security went after him and immediately killed him weeks after forming his rebellion. This was the cause of the massacre in Luanyjang.

After the clan regime had succeeded in killing Kerubino Wol, they went further to target his clan, terrorizing them in the name of disarmament and showing the people of Luanyjang, how their neighbouring Awan clan has become more powerful than them. This is the same thing they did to sons of Aweil when Paul Malong Awan declared his rebellion against the clan regime. Before his eyes were opened, Malong had served the clan regime as an Army chief to the last atom of his energy and sadly dumped after executing what the clan wanted.

Again, a good amount of our money that was supposed to be used to pay civil servants was used to fund that devastating disarmament exercise.

On August 23, 2020, the clan regime also funded the assassination of Major General of Police Bior Ajoh Bior. A junior army officer was paid to kill a brave high ranking official from Bor who has fought several battles during the war of liberation and come out alive. Gen. Bior assassin had confessed Late. Bior that he was on a revenge mission. He said he has been looking for Bior in order to kill him to avenge Lual Akok wol also known as Lual Marine, President Kiir cousin.

Late. Lual Akok was killed in Sherikat in early June after trying to turn a graveyard with still fresh graves of former war heroes into his makeshift shops. He also closed a public toilet near that area, a case that triggered the dispute which led to the killing of seven civilians including some potential young men from Bor.

Lual had married Ayen's niece and his killing has since become a business and the basis for Ayen and her brother Gorgori to assassinate Dinka Bor high ranking officials. According to the information leaked, Bior is not the only one that was targeted. The family of Mr Kiir and his clan especially Ayen Mayardit has made a long list of generals and many other VIPs, particularly from Bor to be killed in the name to avenging Lual Marine. National Money and State power are being used here to intimidate, maim, and kill innocent people from Bor in the same way they have done in recent years.

In 2017, the clan regime used enough money to deport James Gadet Dak, First Vice President Riek Machar spokesperson from Nairobi to Juba before peace was signed. I think Riek Machar might have used a lot of adjectives to beg Salva Kiir to spare Gadet's life.

Another amount of dollars was used to kidnap Activists Aggrey Idris and Human Rights lawyers Dong Samuel from Nairobi. The two were later killed. In the same way, these projects were carried out in the past, the family has bribed and paid spies and assassins in what they call a revenge project against the Dinka Bor people which is under the lead of Ayen and Gorgori. This is the government that South Sudanese are waiting to bring reforms to the country.

If you are thinking like me then you need to know that the time has come for us to wake up and unite our strength against this clan regime, Mr Kiir. We must not remain at his mercy just like that. Don't be fooled by the Transitional Government of National Unity. The reformists who entered into this government have since remained quiet. The clan government of Mr Kiir must have given them something to keep their mouths busy. And therefore not thinking about reforms they have been singing.

Therefore, let all non-awan officials in the cabinet, in the judiciary, in the parliament, in the army, in the police, university lecturers, schools teachers and others holding some of those fake positions in this clan administration resign and join the rest of the South Sudanese in calling this clan regime to step down. It is the right time for South Sudanese to take back their own country and restore the principles that led to the formation of this great nation that has been under the captivity of Mr Kiir and his clan rule for years.

Let the UNMISS be ready to send its cameras into the skies to documents our new martyrs and unarmed freedom fighters.

The writer is South Sudanese and can be reached at musagor2020@gmail.com

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

At such pivotal occasions one would first find it necessary to pay tributes and ask Almighty Allaah's mercy and prayers for the lives of thousands of the innocent Sudanese citizens that were lost during the years of the futile wars launched by the regime, the ousted Islamic National Congress Party (NCP), and its ousted genocidal fugitive from the international justice the dictator Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, and the hope for a speedy recovery for the wounded, and the hope for the return of the refugee and the internally displaced citizens to their original lands and homes and Welcome, without hesitation or reservation on the outcomes of the Sudanese Peace agreement, signed with initials in the peace platform of Juba, the capital of the sisterly state of South Sudan.

This article comes against the backdrop of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), the coalition of rebel groups from the western region of Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, signing the peace agreement at a ceremony in Juba, capital of neighbouring South Sudan, which has hosted and helped mediate the long-running talks since late 2019. At this occasion, I ask myself as to what am I going to say at this pivotal time when the long-awaited and remotely expected hope has been fulfilled? This state of mind has been lingering within us which was the fact that made us continue dreaming until we lived to witness the celebration of the initial signing of the Sudan Peace Agreement in the Peace Forum in Juba, the capital of the sisterly State of South Sudan under the leadership of the beloved President His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, and in the presence of the components of the Sudanese transitional government and representatives of countries in Our African and Arab surroundings regions, and the whole world around us.

It is a joy that resembles as if we were in a dream; a thousand of congratulations to the mediation committee and to the components of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) and to the Sudanese people as a whole. Indeed, these are historical moments mixed with the slogans of the glorious 19th December 2018 Revolution, which the revolutionaries chanted loudly Freedom, Peace and Justice.

This celebration is not only a moment's event but rather it goes on to address the roots causes of the chronic Sudanese crisis, which has continued unabatedly since the dawn of the departure of the British-Egyptian colonialism aka Anglo-Egyptian Condominium. Sudan has been plugged by an endless series of military putschist - Coup d' état regimes – that amounted to over thirty-odd and lean years.

Sudan has witnessed and suffered 4 military coup d'état and 6 failed coup attempts during the 62 years after the departure of the foreign colonials, and after that came the failed internal colonialism characterised by Arbitrary ruling regimes; the worst and the 30 year-long one has been the International Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MBM), Khartoum branch which the people of Sudan ousted following the Glorious 19th December 2018 Revolution.

At this stage let us leaf through what Ahmed Mohamed Tugud, a leader in the Justice and Equality Movement and chief negotiator for the Darfur track, reported about the outputs of the Juba Peace Platform and what has been achieved and expected include the following:

At the end of August and beginning of September 2020, major work was accomplished on the Juba platform, and the results reached in their entirety were positive and promising, as a number of agreements were signed - the Juba Declaration Agreement, which includes the political declaration and the declaration of a cessation of hostilities, agreements on detailed issues and the signature came On the framework agreement that will draw the road map linked to the multiple files, and accordingly, there were multiple paths and in the Darfur path with its many files, including the following:
• The file of power-sharing
• File of wealth-sharing
• Justice, accountability and reconciliation file
• Compensation and reparation file
• The land and hawakir file
• The nomads and pastoralists sector development file in the Darfur region
• The Internally Displaced People and refugees file
• The file of the permanent ceasefire agreement and final security arrangements

And now negotiations are underway on the file on the final security arrangements, so a great way has been made about the male files, especially in the file of the return of the displaced and refugees, which if fulfilled positively helps the final return of refugees and displaced persons, knowing that this is linked to the land paper and thus has been completed Establishing the historical rights of people for the tribes, which is the restoration of all lands that were previously seized unlawfully or by using force and arms. Mechanisms have been formed for this paper for the return of people to their lands in Hawakeer in an organized manner. This is in addition to the justice paper that talks about the people wanted for international justice And the agreement to hand over the wanted persons to the International Criminal Court, in addition to holding accountable the persons who committed crimes in Darfur who are large in number and whose crimes are many, there should be other mechanisms capable of achieving justice, bringing justice to the victims and realizing the right of people who have been affected by the conflict, and therefore it was agreed to form courts Especially within Sudan, and special budgets and international oversight have been set for it in order for us to properly conduct justice without any external influence, which helps in recovering People have their rights in a quick and efficient manner. This is in addition to the file on wealth that addresses the historical imbalance and injustice in the distribution of resources and wealth in the country, and it was carried out with specific criteria on this division of wealth in addition to determining the region's share of the earth's resources from wealth, taxes, customs and sources of income. Governmental mechanisms were agreed upon, whether central, such as the revenue commission and the commission for resource allocation and revenue inventory, in addition to how to effectively and equitably distribute resources so that the imbalance that occurred in the past is addressed, and this is in the answer to the second paper on nomads, herders and farmers, where The dispute in the centre extended to the outskirts of the country, and we agreed that the region's share would be large with regard to the resources extracted from the ground through mechanisms that were agreed upon, whether local or in the centre in Khartoum, such as the commission for resource allocation and revenue inventory, in addition to how to distribute resources effectively and fairly. In order to address the major imbalances that occurred in the past, either in the nomads, shepherds and farmers paper, which includes a large segment where the dispute with the centre has spread to the parties And clear criteria were agreed upon so that the region's share would be large in all sources of income. The government's powers were also defined and with regard to the authority paper that has thorny issues related to the current political situation, the constitutional document and the mechanisms of transition in it at the level of the sovereign, the Council of Ministers and the Legislative Council. The most important of what has been achieved include the following:

Confirming the idea of a single region for all of Darfur, and this will be done for the regional government after signing the peace, as clear powers have been achieved to enable the current government to implement what was agreed upon, and if this implementation paper is estimated, it will open to people the active political participation in power at all levels in the country of Sudan, starting with, the Council of Ministers, and the Legislative Council, in addition to the governours of states, state governments, and various bodies. This, through negotiation, the principle of the region was established among the marginal masses, especially the masses of Darfur, and this achievement would not have been achieved had it not been for the great effort that was made in the Juba platform, and in addition, A unique investigation has been made for the civil service, where people will be absorbed upon the signing of the agreement. The final agreement will be made directly, where direct appointments are made by ambassadors and agents of ministries and global missions and in the civil service at a rate of twenty per cent only after forty-five days from the signing of the agreement, after which the procedures are followed. And lasts for six months, followed by absorption of ten per cent, to be completed to thirty per cent in less than eight or nine months, and this is without the slightest doubt an achievement Great, as this applies to the judiciary or the public prosecution, and so on in bodies and commissions, and in all public and semi-public companies, and we believe that this is a great precedent for people.

The Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took the opportunity of the initiative to celebrate the signing of the initials of the peace agreement in the peace platform in Juba through an interactive meeting to preach the agreement and set up a meeting in order to reflect on positive engagement in welcoming the peace and looing forwards towards the opportunities for implementing the agreement and on peaceful coexistence and scaling the social fabric by Ustaz Mahjoub Hassan Jalal Al-Din, Secretary of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement in North Darfur State, and on the guarantees for the implementation of the agreement; while the Engineer Abu Bakr Hamid al-Nur, advisor to the Leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said that the guarantee of this agreement is its implementation, on which the Sudanese people will depend on and look forward to its implementation and Applying it to coexistent reality.

Among the important issues that need to be given great care and attention is the issue of prisoners of war (PWOs) who are in the prisons of the ousted regime, especially prisoners whose place of imprisonment is unknown, and let alone those missing from previous battles and wars. Therefore, the parties that signed the peace agreement in Juba should hurry to disclose the whereabouts of those victims of these absurd wars of attrition.

In sum, the Sudan Peace Agreement, which was signed by initials at the Peace Forum in Juba, the capital of the sisterly state of South Sudan, found unprecedented support from all the Sudanese people and the armed struggle movements. And the Sudanese people have grown more joyful today when the peace agreement that signed in Juba has been resigned in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on the third of September 2020 by Dr Abdullah Hamdok, Prime Minister of Sudan's transitional government, and Commander Abdulaziz Al-Hilu Chairperson of the Sudan People's Liberation Army SPLA-North who will keep his weapons until an agreement on the secular state is reached.
https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article69777

Furthermore, Hamdok returns to the country after promising discussions with Al-Hilu and Sudanile publishes the text of the original joint statement between Hamdok and Al-Hilu and the agreement to negotiate in Juba.http://www.sudanile.com/index.php/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/129134-%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%83-%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%88

Thus, the Juba Sudanese Peace Agreement has acquired unanimous approval by all the rebel movements except the faction chaired by Comrade Abel Wahid Muhammed Ahmed El-Nour, who will, hopefully, get convinced to sign as did his counterpart rebel movements. As they say, it is better to come late than never! The Sudan peace talks lead to 7 protocols signed in Juba, according to the final Documents, as reported by the Dabanga Website. https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-peace-talks-7-protocols-signed-in-juba
The Professionals Association is reported to have expressed its support for the separation of religion and state to advance the peace process.https://www.sudantribune.net/%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%87%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%A3%D9%8A%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn the Russian novelist, philosopher, historian, short story writer and political prisoner and who was an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union and Communism and helped to raise global awareness of the Soviet Gulag forced-labor camp system, has been quoted as saying: “Of course, peace treaties are very attractive to those who sign them. They strengthen one's prestige with the electorate. But the time will come when the names of these public figures will be erased from history. Nobody will remember them any longer. But the Western peoples will have to pay heavily for these overtrusting agreements.”
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/peace-treaty

Dr Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

September 7, 2020 (JUBA) - The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said they are planning to reduce the residents of the displacement camps, previously called e Protection of Civilians (POC) sites

On 4 September, David Shearer announced the withdrawal of UNMISS troops from the POC sites across the country to be under the control of the government security forces.

On Monday Shearer met with President Salva Kiir to discuss UNMISS plans to reshape the now called IDPs cams, according to a statement released by the press unit of the South Sudanese presidency after the meeting.

"Speaking to the media after the meeting, David Shearer said that the UN protection camps are highly congested, and therefore the UN is planning to reduce the population at the sites to curb the spread of coronavirus," further said the statement.

In his press conference of last week, the UN envoy the COVID 19 continues to hit the country before to add that the residents of the POC sites "live closer together so therefore the risk of spreading is a bit higher".

However, he stressed that people in South Sudan die more from malaria than the new coronavirus.

"While we are seeing cases (of coronavirus) in the POC sites, we are not seeing a mass death rate or anything like that. In fact, we are seeing more deaths, at the moment, from malaria and malaria-related issues than we are from COVID".

The statement said that the head of the peacekeeping mission said that there is an improvement in the security situation in Jonglei State.

(ST)

September 7, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The transitional government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) initialled the matrix of the implementation of the peace agreement they reached on 31 August.

The initial signing ceremony which took place on Monday at the venue of the peace talks in Juba was attended by representatives of both sides and the mediation team.

In statements after the event, Tut Gatluak the chief mediator said that the South Sudanese government will invite the Sudanese government, represented by the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers, heads of state and government of the IGAD, representatives of the United Nations, Friends of Sudan group, Arab and African countries to attend the final signing ceremony of the peace agreement.

Gatluak who is also the South Sudanese presidential adviser for security affairs recalled that achieving peace in Sudan is closely linked to the security and stability of South Sudan.

He encouraged the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North Abdel Aziz al-Hilu to resume peace talks with the Sudanese government and called on the holdout rebel leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur to join the ongoing efforts to bring peace in Sudan.

Following a meeting of President Salva Kiir with the member of the Sovereign Council Shams al-Din Kabbashi, Gatluak said that, on Sunday, that the final signing of the peace agreement between the Sudanese parties will take place in Juba on 2nd October.

(ST)

September 7, 2020 (ASMARA) - Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sovereign Council and President Isaias Afwerki discussed the implementation of a bilateral security agreement between the two countries.

Al-Burhan travelled to Asmara for a one-day working visit where he was received by Afwerki before to hold a meeting on bilateral matters.

"Eritrea and Sudan have agreed on concrete measures that will be taken to implement comprehensive bilateral agreements reached in the economic, trade, security and military sectors as well as mechanisms and timelines for their commencement," said the Eritrean information ministry after the visit.

The two parties further "discussed regional issues of common concern, especially frameworks for cooperation in the security field," said the Sovereign Council in a quoting Sudanese Chargé d'Affairs in Asmara Mahmoud Hamza.

The meeting was attended by Osman Saleh Eritrean Foreign Minister, Yemane Gebreab Presidential Adviser.

For his part, al-Burhan was accompanied by Jamal Abdel Majid Director of the General Intelligence Service, and Yasir Mohamed Osman Head of the Military Intelligence.

Before to return to Khartoum, al-Burhan visited agricultural development projects around Mislam and Logo dams.

(ST)

September 6, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Communist Party and the SPLM-N led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu agreed to work together to ensure religious diversity through the inclusion of fundamental principles in the constitution of Sudan that should not be amended under any circumstances.

Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) secretary-general Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khatib (Al-Sudani)

The two parties agreed on a political declaration after a series of meeting that took place between them in the Ethiopian capital, on Saturday and Sunday. The discussions touched issues related to democracy, nationalities and diversity in Sudan.

"The constitution or the law must not violate the freedoms and rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international and regional covenants. Any law issued in contravention of this declaration and charters shall be null and unconstitutional," read the joint declaration.

"The human rights principles included in these charters are fundamental principles in the constitution of Sudan, and it not is allowed to violate, amend, or skip them under any pretext," it added.

The declaration comes after an agreement between the prime minister Abdallah Hamdok and al-Hilu to hold consultative discussions on the separation of religion and the state before to resume formal peace talks.

The agreement prohibits the establishment of any political party in the country on a religious basis. Also, it says that the state should recognizes and respects the religious diversity and ensures peaceful coexistence, equality and tolerance.

The Communist Party and the SPLM-N al-Hilu pledged to work together to protect the Sudanese people's right to change and freedom and to implement the revolution's slogan of "freedom, peace and justice."

The Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khatib, Political secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party his party delegation while the SPLM-N delegation was chaired by al-Hilu.

(ST)

September 6, 2020 (JUBA) - The South Sudanese mediation announced that the final peace agreement between the Sudanese transitional government and the armed groups will be signed on 2 October in Juba.

"The signing of the final peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Front will take place on the second of October in Juba," said the chief mediator Tut Galtuak on Sunday.

Galtuak expected that the two parties will sign the implementation matrix on Monday, in preparation for the final signing of the peace agreement.

The Sudanese parties initialled the one-year negotiated agreement on 31 August.

Following what, they formed a committee to set up the implementation matrix.

There were unconfirmed reports that the final signing ceremony will be in Khartoum with a popular ceremony.

(ST)

September 6, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council held a meeting with the National Program Group (NPG), which is made up of several groups previously allied with the former regime.

Tijani al-Sissi (SUNA)

The meeting which took place at the headquarters of the Sudanese army raised widespread reactions in social media, given that the group participated in the regime of the ousted president, Omer al-Bashir until his collapse in April 2019.

The National Programme Group (NPG) consists of the Sudan Renaissance Alliance headed by Tijani al-Sissi, former head of the Darfur Transitional Authority, the Popular Congress Party, the Democratic Unionist Party faction of Ahmed Bilal, the Justice Party led by Bechara Aru, the Third Way group, and the Union of Independent Representatives, a group of former MPs in the dissolved parliament, headed by Abu al-Gasim Burtom.

Following the meeting, a spokesman of the Sudanese army issued a statement saying that al-Burhan was briefed about the NPG objectives which call for concerted national efforts to face the serious challenges that Sudan is going through internally, externally, economically and security.

The statement quoted al-Sissi as saying that the way out of these challenges is the agreement of all political forces on a national programme for the transitional period and the development of a permanent constitution for the country.

Al-Sissi further stressed the need not to focus on who governs Sudan, but the constitution that governs it.

"Al-Burhan valued the efforts made by the NPG forces to serve the supreme national interests and stressed the importance of national cohesion," he added.

According to al-Bashir's former partner, al-Burhan further called to hold a workshop for all components of the political forces to develop visions to achieve the goals of the glorious December revolution.

Aru, a former information minister in Bashir's government from Darfur region, said on his Facebook page that al-Burhan had received a copy of their programme.

(ST)

September 6, 2020 (ZALINGEI) - Hundreds of supporters of the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement Abdel Wahid Mohamed (SLM-AW) demonstrated in Zalingei, Central Darfur state, on Sunday, against the peace agreement initialled recently in Juba.

Al-Nur refused to join the peace process brokered by the South Sudanese government saying the parties are negotiating a power-sharing deal that does not address the root causes of the conflict.

Instead, he proposed to hold a peace conference inside Sudan with the participation of all political and civil forces and armed movements, but he did not provide details of his initiative so far.

“Hundreds of al-Nur's supporters in Al-Hamidiyah camp for displaced people in Zalingei demonstrated against the peace agreement, shouting slogans describing it as a compromise that did not do justice to the victims of the war.”

It is noteworthy that the city of Zalingei is the birthplace of Abdel Wahid al-Nur.

The demonstrators held banners saying that the rights of victims and displaced persons are not negotiable, also they chanted slogans describing the peace agreement as bargaining with the rights of IDPs and refugees and as a provocation against them.

The Sudanese government says it is actively seeking to persuade the exiled rebel leader to engage in negotiations but they failed until now.

On Saturday, Faisal Mohamed Saleh Information Minister told Sky News Arabia that al-Nur did not set any conditions for negotiation.

"The condition he had been repeating for a long time is that he does not want to negotiate outside Sudan," Saleh added.

Saleh went further to say that the government welcomes the idea, and is willing to provide all the guarantees that he, the SLM-AW leadership and its negotiating delegation need until to reach Khartoum and begin peace talks inside Sudan.

(ST)

August 19, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The South Sudanese chief mediator announced, on Wednesday, the resumption of talks on the security arrangements between the Sudanese government and Darfur armed groups.

"The session of talks that took place this morning between the government delegations and the armed movements discussed many items in the security arrangements, and that there are no major differences between the two parties," said Tut Gatluak.

The meeting discussed the development of the armed forces and how to integrate the forces in addition to the formation of joint forces tasked with maintaining security in Darfur upon the withdrawal of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur "UNAMID".

The government delegation presented its vision on these issues as the armed groups are expected to reply on Thursday or Friday.

Gatluak expressed hopes that the current round will be decisive, and that a full agreement will be reached on the security arrangements, leading to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The Sudanese Defence Minister Yassin Ibrahim, who leads the government negotiating team for the security agreement, said that the negotiations are proceeding well,

He affirmed the determination of the two parties to overcome all obstacles and disagreement and praised the cooperation of the rebel negotiating delegation.

"The agreement on security arrangements is the basis for the peace process," he further said.

"The meeting discussed mechanisms for reforming, modernizing and developing the armed forces and other security agencies," he added.

"We made clear to the brothers in the delegation of armed struggle movements that the body responsible for modernizing and developing the armed forces is the Security and Defence Council. Also, we said that the armed movements will participate, through the power-sharing process, in the process of reforming, modernizing and developing the military and security institutions."

The minister stated that the meeting also discussed how to integrate forces, which takes place through mechanisms of verification, classification and arrangement, and training and gathering centres.

He expressed optimism that the negotiation in this file would proceed to its goals and desired results.

For his part, the rapporteur of the rebel negotiating team in the file of security arrangements, Mutassim Ahmed Mohamed expected that the differences will be overcome within the next two days and an agreement on security arrangements will be reached.

Once the security arrangements deal is struck, the parties will review the various parts ahead of the initial signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 28 August.

It worth mentioning that the current round of talks is dedicated to the sticky point in the security arrangements, as the government and the armed groups had already discussed the issue.

On 17 August, the government and the SPLM-N of Sudanese Revolutionary Front led by Malik Agar initialled an agreement on the security arrangements.

(ST)

August 19, 2020 (JUBA) - The international medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Wednesday said they treated over 100 civilians wounded during the continued tribal violence in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.

Patient brought from Gumuruk town of Pibor county during clashes between the Lou Nuer and Murle earlier this year (File photo / ST)

Hundreds have been killed and thousands were displaced as a result of the intercommunal fighting between the Murle and the Dinka Bor or the against the Lou Nuer which had begun in December 2019.

"After months of bitter inter-communal clashes, fighting has continued to sweep across Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have treated over 100 war-wounded civilians and evacuated dozens for urgent surgery," said MSF in a statement released on Wednesday.

The latest wave in violence, which started in early June and ended mid-August, has left tens of thousands of people displaced in the bush in need of healthcare, as well as food, clean water and sanitation and basic shelter., further said the group.

"Over the course of just one week, between 29 July to the beginning of August, the MSF medical team in Pieri received an influx of 102 war-wounded patients, the youngest just 15-years-old".

Further, 11 patients were treated for gunshot wounds at the outpatient emergency response in Pibor relaunched on 11 August. Of the 11, six patients, including two women, two men and two children one aged only 3-years-old, were evacuated for specialised treatment.

Furthermore, 36 patients from Pieri were transferred for emergency surgery to the MSF hospitals in Bentiu and to Juba.

on 23 July, UNMISS head and UN Secretary-General Special Representative, David Shearer said concerned by the continued attacks in Jonglei and called to stop the fighting.

"Parties must immediately stop fighting, pull back and return to their home areas. Buffer zones need to be established to protect people and enable reconciliation to safely take place," he said.

"This conflict is not simply intercommunal between ethnic groups. Other political figures are at work. External actors need to stop deliberately stoking the conflict for the sake of local communities," he further stressed.

On17 August, the holdout People's Democratic Movement (PDM) of Hakim Dario denounced the non-intervention of the government forces to stop "recent invasion of the Murle in GPAA by the combined heavily armed tribal armies of Lou Nuer and Dinka Bor".

(ST)