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Libeth Werhahn: "Er war wirklich warmherzig!" || >> als Leseprobe online verfügbar!

Konrad Adenauer war für die Menschen in der DDR die Verkörperung des verführerischen Westens. Die Genossen der SED hassten ihn dafür – mit aller ideologisch legitimierten Wucht. >> als Leseprobe online verfügbar!

June 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - A senior official at the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Hassan al-Turabi said that differences within the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have presented the major obstacle to the national dialogue process.

From left to right: Leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan Al-Turabi, Reform Now Party (RNP) head Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani, National Umma Party (NUP) Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi and second vice-president Hassabo Abdel-Rahman attend a speech by the president announcing a national dialogue initiative on 27 January 2014 (SUNA)

In an interview with Sudan Tribune, PCP external relations official Bashir Adam Rahma, said that the government and the opposition forces supporting the dialogue agreed on a roadmap including allowing freedoms, stopping the war, opening safe corridors to deliver humanitarian aid to the needy, releasing political detainees and offering the necessary guarantees for the rebel groups to take part in the national dialogue conference inside Sudan.

“However the government slowed down the implementation of the roadmap in order to hold the general elections,” Rahma further said.

He pointed that the national dialogue mechanism known as 7+7 had met after the elections and decided to call on the dialogue's executive committee to meet, adding the move is contingent upon approval by president Omer al-Bashir.

Rahama said the delay of the process from the government side was likely due to their hopes that rebel groups could join it. But he was quick to add that there are divergences within the government on how to deal with them.

“Apparently the position within the government [towards the rebels] is not unified because some [government parties] speak of crushing them militarily along the lines of the Sri lanka's experience while others say weakening rebels is enough to force them to join the process,” the PCP official said.

“It seems the view which calls for achieving decisive military victory [against the rebel] had the upper hand particularly following the recent defeat of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which is the most powerful rebel force, in Gouz Dango”, he added.

Nonetheless, Rahama stressed the PCP adheres to dialogue because it is the only safe option for Sudan, saying no negotiating party could achieve 100% of its demands but could arrive at a middle ground and hence achieve large parts of it.

He said they hope to see more pressure being put on the NCP to start the dialogue particularly as it held the general elections and formed the new cabinet. He pointed that it is imperative that rebel groups and opposition forces take part in the internal process.

The ruling NCP refused to participate in a pre-dialogue meeting called by the African Union mediation last March, stressing that the priority should be given to ensure the political stability. It also vowed to participate in the preparatory meeting after the elections.

The PCP also rejected the invitation to take part in the meeting based on their position that the national dialogue process should take place inside the country and without any external intervention.

Rahama said that the NCP represents the main obstacle to the dialogue process.
The opposition official believes that the formation of the cabinet and appointment of the speakers of the parliament and the States Council reflects internal division within the ruling party.

“We fear that some of those who have been excluded [from the cabinet posts] could obstruct the dialogue,” he added.

“I call them [those who have been excluded] the “deep state” because they ruled the country for 25 years and they have supporters within the army, security and business and economic society and they could easily obstruct the dialogue and stir up the streets,” the PCP official said.

Rahama said it is impossible to exclude a group of people who have been ruling the country for long years just by a “stroke of a pen”, calling for reassuring them for the benefit of the country.

He urged the NCP to unify its internal ranks particularly as many people think that the ruling party became nothing but president Bashir.

“He [Bashir] appointed the “yes men” in the NCP posts, National Assembly and States Council and this makes other groups within the ruling party particularly the Islamists see the work they made since the coup d'état [of June 1989] is now being controlled by a single person [Bashir] ,” he added

Earlier this month, the NCP delayed twice the announcement of the Sudanese cabinet last following differences over the composition of the government and the appointment of the speakers of the lower and upper houses.

Rahma expected that political parties which withdrew from the national dialogue including the Reform Now Movement (RNM) and the Just Peace Forum (JPF) would return to the process again, noting that leaders of those parties signalled readiness to join the dialogue particularly as there are no other options available.

He said the government, from its side, is required to allow freedoms and stop crackdown on media and confiscation of newspapers besides stopping detentions, demanding it to declare a cease-fire in order to allow passage of humanitarian assistance and hence gaining confidence of the opponents and the international community.

The PCP official also called on the 7+7 committee to intensify its work with the political parties which refused to join the dialogue besides the Western nations and the United States taking into consideration the latter's support for the national dialogue and their large influence on rebel groups.

Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative more than a year and a half ago in which he urged opposition parties and rebels alike to join the dialogue table to discuss all the pressing issues.

But the initiative faced serious setbacks after the government refusal to create suitable atmosphere by releasing political prisoners, ensuring freedoms, and postponement of elections.

The rebel groups and the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) refused to join the process from the beginning while the National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi withdrew from the process in protest of al-Mahdi's arrest in May 2014.

Later on, several political parties including the RNM, JPF the Alliance of the Peoples' Working Forces (APWF) announced they had decided to suspend participation in the national dialogue until the requirements of a conducive environment are met.

The PCP was among the first political forces to approve Bashir's call for the national dialogue. Also, the lslamist party is the only significant political force that didn't suspend its participation in the process.

(ST)

June 16, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan has accused neighbouring Sudanese government of carrying out air attacks inside South Sudan at a border area in the oil-rich Upper Nile state on Tuesday.

A SPLA soldier looks at warplanes as he lies on the ground to take cover beside a road during an air strike by the Sudanese air force in Rubkona near Bentiu April 23, 2012 (Photo Reuters/ Goran Tomasevic)

Upper Nile state officials said warplanes sighted as coming from neighbouring Sudan entered its airspace twice on Sunday and Monday this week in Maban county area, dropping bombs and injuring at least four children, including a woman.

The air attack, according to Upper Nile state minister of information and communications, Peter Hoth Tuach, took place on Sunday in Khor Tumbak, an area at the border with Sudan in Maban county, saying this was a clear “violation” of international law.

“Sudanese warplanes, Antonov, dropped two bombs on Sunday and again on Monday in Khor Tumbak area in Maban county, wounding four children including a woman,” Tuach told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

“This is not the first time the Sudanese warplanes have dropped the bombs in the same area. They have done that before, destroying schools and local health centre,” he said.

Maban county commissioner John Ivo also told Sudan Tribune that the area witnessed two warplanes flying over again on Tuesday and dropped more bombs, calling it “a barbaric act in violation of the international norms and practices.”

South Sudanese army spokesperson Colonel Philip Aguer in a statement to the state owned South Sudan television on Monday accused Sudanese army of violating international law by repeatedly entering the airspace of another independent country without permission.

Aguer said the army was capable of defending the country against foreign aggression but added that the military leadership and its general command remained committed to respecting political process and bilateral agreement as a way to addressing security concerns at the common border with neighbouring country.

It remained unclear why this particular area in the border state has continued to be targeted by the Sudanese military.

Maban, which hosts over 130,000 Sudanese refugees, was bombed several times in 2014 by the Sudanese army, as Khartoum accuses the south Sudanese army of supporting the rebel Sudan people's Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N).

The Sudanese army recently intensified attacks on the positions of the rebel SPLM-N, which controls some areas near the Upper Nile state.

Sudan and South Sudan have been trading accusations about the activities of their respective rebel groups at the border.

Last April, Sudanese government troops ambushed in a remote area in South Darfur near the border western the fighters of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who reportedly crossed from the South Sudan Western Bahr el-Ghazal.

(ST)

A U.S. drone strike killed Nasir al-Wuhayshi. But the real threat is AQAP’s elusive master bomb-maker.

En RDC, la Cour pénale internationale change d'avis. Le procès de l'ex-rebelle congolais Bosco Ntaganda s'ouvrira bien au siège de la CPI à La Haye le 7 juillet et non dans le nord-est de la RDC, en Ituri, comme la CPI avait d'abord recommandé de le faire. Pourquoi ce changement ?

Oroszország kénytelen lesz azokra az országokra irányítani a fegyvereit, ahonnan fenyegetés éri - jelentette ki kedden Vlagyimir Putyin orosz elnök, miután finn kollégájával, Sauli Niinistövel tárgyalt Moszkva környéki rezidenciáján. A Kreml honlapján olvasható közlés szerint az orosz államfő egy finn újságíró kérdésére válaszolva azt mondta, hogy "ha valakik Oroszország területét fenyegetik, akkor nekünk a fegyveres erőket, a korszerű csapásmérő eszközöket azokra a területekre kell majd irányítanunk, ahonnan a fenyegetés kiindul." "Hogyan is lehetne másképp, hiszen a NATO közeledik a határainkhoz és nem mi mozgunk valamerre?" - tette fel a kérdést Putyin.

On parle souvent des bateaux qui s'échouent dramatiquement sur les côtes méditerranéennes. Mais la route des migrants à destination de l'Europe les oblige souvent à traverser le Sahara. Près de 50 corps inanimés ont été retrouvés au nord-ouest du Niger la semaine dernière.

Le président ivoirien est à Paris. Ce mardi après-midi il a été reçu à l'Elysée par François Hollande. Une séance de travail avec au programme les dossiers continentaux, sécuritaires, mais aussi ivoiriens à quatre mois de la présidentielle.

Instaurée en 2015, la nouvelle Politique agricole commune (PAC) met l’accent sur le bio et le respect de l’environnement. En Lettonie, 10 % de la production agricole est biologique, faisant du petit Etat balte l’un des cinq pays européens où l’agriculture bio est la plus développée. Entretien avec Gustavs Norkaklis, président de l’Association des agriculteurs biologiques lettons, et Andrees Briedis, membre du Conseil letton pour la nature.

The video depicts a towheaded correspondent turning a blind eye to violence and abuse in Gaza.

President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis participated as a speaker in the panel debate on ‘State of the Union’ – Is there a need for a ‘new pact’ and are we ready for it? organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC), in collaboration with leading foundations and think tanks,was held in Brussels on Wednesday, 17 June, at 11.00am. Co-panellists include Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign And European Affairs of Belgium, Elmar Brok and Danuta Hübner, MEPs. You can find more information here.

A new oil field near Venezuela could be the miracle Maduro was waiting for. There's just one problem — it's in territory claimed by Guyana.

In a country that brooks no dissent, Nasrin Sotoudeh's remarkable solo protest keeps finding unlikely allies.

Az első fokon eljáró kairói büntetőbíróság kedden megerősítette a Mohamed Murszi (a felvételen a tárgyalóterem speciális cellájában) volt egyiptomi elnökre egy hónapja előzetesen kirótt, kötél által végrehajtandó halálbüntetést az ellene folyó börtönkitörési perben. Az iszlamista exállamfő mellett halálra ítélték a mögötte álló Muzulmán Testvériség vezetőjét, Mohamed Badíét és másik négy magas rangú tisztségviselőjét is.

A hétvégén 45 perc alatt sikertelenül véget ért újabb brüsszeli „görög forduló” óta megnőtt „görög-ügyben” a kommunikációs zaj, mindenki a csőd lehetőségéről beszél. Mario Draghi EKB-elnök ugyan hétfőn az EP szakbizottsága előtt további segítséget ígért, de ő is úgy vélte, hogy görög térfélen a labda, és „sürgős akciót” várt Athéntól, ahol viszont Ciprász a hitelezőket vádolta „politikai motiváltsággal”.

Politikai vitát tartottak a tagállami belügyminiszterek a migrációs válság kezeléséről, és ennek kapcsán a Bizottság közelmúltba tett kötelező áttelepítési és áthelyezési javaslatairól. A kötelező vagy önkéntes jelleg elfogadása kapcsán változatlanul teljes a megosztottság, jóllehet, diplomáciai források szerint „az önkéntes” vállalás támogatása mintha teret nyerne.

If the IMF wants to keep Beijing in the tent, it's time to reward China's progress on making its currency more free market-friendly.

L’École de Guerre vient de publier, dans un Cahier de la RDN, une belle collection d'articles sur le thème "Penser autrement : pour une approche critique et créative des affaires militaires". On y trouvera beaucoup d'articles de ces officiers confirmés, ainsi que quelques plumes plus connues : David Petreaus, Michel Goya, Christian Harbulot, Eric Fillol, Didier Bolleli. J'y signe un "cyber en opérations". Téléchargeable en lecture libre. Détails ci-dessous, ainsi que l'introduction et la conclusion de l'article

Né de la volonté de pousser la réflexion sur la pratique de la guerre en dehors des sentiers battus, le comité Penser Autrement de l’Ecole de Guerre est mû par le désir de remettre en question certitudes et préjugés. Pour cela, il a suivi une démarche constructive visant à aborder les grandes problématiques de l’art de la guerre de façon originale et parfois décalée. L’activité du comité s’est structurée autour de trois grands piliers : comprendre, créer et décider. Afin de répondre à cette ambitieuse feuille de route, plusieurs séances d’échanges avec des intervenants aussi passionnants que divers ont été organisées ainsi que des temps de réflexion en groupe. Ce Cahier de la Revue de la Défense Nationale est avant tout un recueil de l’ensemble de nos échanges et réflexions menés au cours de cette année. Etant le reflet de ces réflexions très diverses, cette publication ne cherche pas à répondre à une question précise mais tente plutôt une approche critique et créative des affaires militaires. Il a pour modeste ambition de susciter le questionnement et, nous l’espérons, le débat. Vous pouvez le lire et le télécharger gratuitement ici

Le cyber en opérations

Les armées françaises ont conduit, au cours du mois de mars 2015, la deuxième édition de l’exercice DefNet. « Il s’agit d’entraîner l’ensemble de la chaîne de cyberdéfense » explique le lieutenant-colonel Stéphane Dossé, le directeur de l’exercice, qui précise : « Il ne faut pas voir la cyberdéfense comme un grand show hollywoodien. C’est un travail opérationnel du quotidien où il faut maintenir et renforcer une ligne de défense, comme dans l’Armée de terre ».

Désormais, le cyber appartient donc aux opérations. Car si l’on peut discuter de la possibilité d’une « guerre dans le cyberespace » ou de « cyberguerre », malgré l’utilisation abusive de l’expression par de nombreux journalistes, il y a, à coup sûr, du cyber dans la guerre (Kempf, 2014). Succinctement, le cyberespace peut être défini comme de l’informatique en réseau, selon la définition donnée par le Livre blanc de 2008. Cela pose la question du rôle de l’information dans les opérations, mais aussi des conséquences de leur traitement automatisé et en réseau dans les conflits contemporains. Il convient d’examiner comment les armées s’organisent pour manipuler l’information avant d’essayer d’esquisser les fonctions cyberopérationnelles.

(...)

Le cyber appartient désormais à la gamme des opérations. Ce domaine émergent connaîtra à coup sûr des développements nombreux. Pour l’instant, un certain nombre de débats apparaissent : les cyberopérations doivent-elles être conduites seulement au niveau stratégique ou peut-on – et comment ? – les décentraliser au niveau opératif voire tactique ? La question de la lutte informatique offensive pose elle-même des difficultés particulières, notamment celle de l’ouverture du « feu » : celle-ci peut-elle être déléguée ? Et si aujourd’hui on assiste à des mises en oeuvre très prudentes, qu’en sera-t-il demain ? Les cyberopérations doivent-elles constituer une ligne d’opération autonome ou faut-il les intégrer aux autres lignes d’opération, et comment ? On le voit, l’enracinement du cyber dans la conduite des opérations constitue certes une réalité, mais qui devra dans l’avenir être précisée et développée. Incontestablement, il y a encore beaucoup d’objectifs d’entraînement pour les exercices Defnet des prochaines années !

O. Kempf

China isn’t ready to supply the rest of the world with RMB. So why does it matter if the currency gets the IMF's stamp of approval?