Category Archives: North Africa

South Sudan’s Kiir criticises AU over Sudan oil threat

Posted on June 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sudan Tribune

June 10, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan leader, Salva Kiir on Monday questioned the credibility of the African Union (AU), saying the continental body failed to take the lead in resolving its current oil row with neighbouring Sudan.

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South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir delivers a speech in the capital Juba, June 10, 2013. (REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu)

Kiir said the 54-member body specifically failed to impose its own recommendations as per its communique, which stipulated that both countries must resolve their differences according a designated time frame before any unilateral decision can be made.

“This latest turn of events brings into question the credibility of the African Union mediators but we remain optimistic that they will intervene accordingly”, Kiir told reporters in the capital, Juba.

“We urge both regional and international governments to diplomatically engage with Sudan in order to protect the lives of the citizens of both nations and to encourage Sudan to engage in peaceful dialogue with their internal rebellion,” he added.

In September last year, Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, and border trade, among others.

On 25 January, at the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), convening during the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, adopted a communiqué on Sudan-South Sudan, which among others, stressed the need for he two countries to unconditional implement the 27 September 2012 agreements.

But while Kiir and his Sudan counterpart Omer Hassan Al-Bashir met on the margins of the AU Summit on 27 January, the two failed to make progress on how to implement the 27 September agreements.

Meanwhile, the South Sudanese leader said his government had still not received any official notification from the government of neighbouring Sudan despite its president threatening block its oil flow to export markets.

He warned that any attempt to block the flow of oil to international markets would undermine implementation of a cooperation agreement signed by both leaders in September 2012 as part of attempts to resolve a number of ongoing disputes over post-secession issues.

The South Sudanese president was forced to call an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday following remarks made by Bashir, in which he ordered his oil minister, Awad al-Jaz, to block the flow of South Sudan’s crude oil to international markets via Sudanese pipelines.

Bashir’s announcement on Saturday came in response to allegations that the new nation supports Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels fighting Khartoum on multiple fronts.

Kiir said his government had been relying on media reports for information, following the threatened shut down, but had yet to receive any further communication from its northern neighbour on the matter.

“We are reading these statements and orders to block the oil flow from the media, but the oil continues to flow. Sudan cannot just decide to stop the flow. There are certain things and procedures to be followed because it involves other stakeholders. Closing it abruptly will undermine implementation of the cooperation of the agreement”, Kiir told journalists on Monday.

According to the cooperation agreement, however, Khartoum has to inform Juba two months in advance before it can take any decision to shutdown its oil pipelines.

It will be a huge setback, analysts argue, to the agreements brokered by African Union mediation team, should Sudan implement its plan to shut the oil pipeline.

KIIR DENIES REBEL SUPPORT

Meanwhile, the South Sudan leader denied his government was providing support to the SRF – a coalition of Sudanese rebel groups fighting to topple the Bashir regime in the war-ravaged region of Darfur and in the two border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

“It is not true that we support these groups. Where do we get these facilities when there are a lot of demands and needs to provide basic services to our people? Our people need roads to link them. They need health service. If we have these facilities we will channel them [in]to improving the lives of our people. We will not buy weapons to other armed any other groups”, said Kiir.

He maintained his government was still committed to fully implementing the cooperation agreements, despite ongoing disagreements, saying ultimately it was in the best interests of the two countries to live in peace and develop better relations.

“We are committed to implementing the cooperation [agreements] so that we build mutual trust and live in the two viable states in pursuit of mutual benefits. This is what we are after. We are not after anything that will destabilise any of our neighbours, including the Republic of Sudan”, he said.

“NO BENEFITS FOR WAR”

The former rebel commander turned politician, who went on to become president after the South gained independence in July 2011, called on South Sudanese people to remain calm and exhibit self-control despite provocative remarks from his Sudanese counterpart and members of his administration.

He also reiterated his government’s commitment to peaceful dialogue.

“While president al-Bashir has declared jihad (holy war) and is mobilising for war, I maintain my pledge to you and the world that I will not take the people of South Sudan unnecessarily back to a state of war. I therefore call you to remain calm and be patient as we work with the African Union (AU) to resolve this impasse with Sudan”, Kiir told reporters.

“There are no benefits for war. We know it. This aggressive attitude of Khartoum is not new and we should not be surprised,” he stressed.

(ST)

 

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Egyptian warning to Ethiopia over Nile dam

Posted on June 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

BBC

Ethiopian works to divert the Blue Nile in Guba, Ethiopia, 28 May 2013
Ethiopia recently started diverting the Blue Nile

 

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has said “all options are open” to deal with any threat to his country’s water supply posed by an Ethiopian dam.

Mr Morsi said he was not “calling for war”, but that he would not allow Egypt’s water supply to be endangered.

Egypt was apparently caught by surprise when Ethiopia started diverting the Blue Nile last month, amid works to construct a hydroelectric dam.

The river is a tributary of the Nile, on which Egypt is heavily dependent.

The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a $4.7bn (£3.1bn) project that Ethiopia says will eventually provide 6,000 megawatts of power.

It says the Blue Nile will be slightly diverted but will then be able to follow its natural course.

“Egypt’s water security cannot be violated at all,” Mr Morsi said on Monday. “As president of the state, I confirm to you that all options are open.”

“If Egypt is the Nile’s gift, then the Nile is a gift to Egypt,” he said, quoting popular sayings about the river in an emotive televised speech.

“The lives of the Egyptians are connected around it… as one great people. If it diminishes by one drop then our blood is the alternative.”

Analysts say Mr Morsi could be using the issue to distract attention from severe domestic political and economic challenges.

Egypt is particularly dependant on water supply from the Nile, and its growing population has been placing that supply under increasing strain.

Sudan is also reliant on Nile waters.

Egypt cites a colonial era ruling to claim a right to the majority of the Nile’s waters for itself and Sudan, but Ethiopia says the ruling is outdated.

Mr Morsi said Egypt had no objection to development projects on Nile basin states, “but on condition that those projects do not affect or damage Egypt’s legal and historical rights”.

Last week, Egyptian politicians were inadvertently heard on live TV proposing military action over the dam.  bbc

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South Sudan says Sudanese troops entered its territory

Posted on June 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

BBC

South Sudan says Sudan troops enter Upper Nile state

Sudanese soldiers in a truck on 24 July 2008 Sudan’s army is battling rebels along the border with South Sudan

South Sudan has accused Sudanese troops of crossing into its territory, as tension between the two states rises.

The troops moved about 10km (six miles) into Upper Nile state, Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said.

On Saturday, Sudan said it would block oil exports from the South after accusing it of backing rebels fighting President Omar al-Bashir’s government.

But Sudanese officials now say the ban will take effect in 60 days. Oil is vital to the economies of both states.

South Sudan became independent in 2011 after decades of conflict with Khartoum and the two neighbours still disagree on several issues.

‘Wounded rebels’

South Sudan, which gets 98% of its revenues from oil, has massive deposits but is landlocked and reliant on Sudan’s ports for export.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

They [rebels] get supplied with weapons, ammunition, petrol, spare parts for cars, food”

End Quote Mohammed Atta Sudan’s intelligence chief

The two countries have long disputed how much the South should pay to use Sudan’s pipelines.

Mr Benjamin said South Sudan would protest to the African Union (AU) and the United Nations about Sudan’s actions.

“They always violate agreements…. Sudan must be brought to book,” he told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

On Sunday, Sudan’s intelligence chief Mohammed Atta said South Sudan had failed to stop supporting rebels operating in Darfur and two border states.

“They [rebels] get supplied with weapons, ammunition, petrol, spare parts for cars, food… They send their wounded to hospitals in the south. Tens of wounded [rebels] are now being treated in the South,” he said at a press conference in Khartoum, Reuters news agency reports.

Sudan’s Information Minister Ahmed Belal Osman said Sudan planned to close the oil pipelines within 60 days.

However, it would reverse its decision if South Sudan stopped backing the rebels, he said, Reuters reports.

Correspondents say his comments suggest that Sudan is rowing back from a report by state media on Saturday that Mr Bashir had given an order to shut the pipeline.

The Sudanese army is fighting a rebel insurgency in at least three regions.

An umbrella rebel group called the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) has launched attacks on several towns, briefly occupying the major city of Um Rawaba in central Sudan in April.

Sudan and the South came to the brink of war last year, prompting Juba to shut down production – badly hitting both countries.

It only resumed pumping oil in April.  bbc

 

Sudan Tribune

(JUBA) – South Sudan on Sunday accused neighbouring Sudan of “making up” claims that the new nation supports rebel groups fighting to topple the northern regime.

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South Sudan’s SPLA soldiers hold up their weapons as they shout at a military base in Bentiu 22 April 2012 (Reuters)

In an interview with Sudan Tribune, the army (SPLA) chief of general staff, described as “unfounded” allegations made by Khartoum, and instead accused the latter of aiding militia groups destabilising the south.

“First all I want to make it very clear that the SPLA is an army of a democratic country. We operate within the legal parameters of the constitution which is clear on foreign relations. Our mandate as defined in the Transitional of the republic of South Sudan is very clear,” said Gen. James Hoth Mai.

He further stressed that the army’s role was to uphold the constitution, defend the sovereignty of the country, protect its citizens and assist government in managing emergency situations.

“We have nothing to do with what is happening in Sudan. We do not provide any support whatsoever. What they are say is simply a cover up for their support to the rebel they wants to use to fight their proxy wars and to divert attention of the Sudanese people from holding them to account for their own failure”, said the senior army official.

The Sudanese leader, Omer Hassan Al Bashir, on Saturday, ordered oil minister Awad al-Jaz to block the pipeline carrying South Sudan’s crude all the way to Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan.

Bashir, who was speaking in Khartoum state, said this decision was in response to Juba’s continued support to the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels fighting Khartoum on multiple fronts.

But Gen. Mai told Sudan Tribune that the wars in Sudan’s conflict regions were “purely internal matters, which should not be blamed on any foreign government”.

“What they are saying about the [alleged] support we provide to their rebels are simply makeup allegations. It is actually the government of Sudan, which provides all type of military supports to the militia groups they use as mercenaries to fight proxy war for them so as to destabilise this country,” he said.

The senior official also claimed South Sudan had documentary evidences, which showed Sudan was aiding militia groups opposed to the southern establishment.

“They are not just claims,” he stressed, adding that three militia groups, who recently surrendered their weapons to the SPLA, confessed that Khartoum supported their activities against the south.

SUDAN INVADES UPPER NILE

Meanwhile, the south has accused the north of invading Kuek; an area located about 10km North West of Renk county in its Upper Nile state.

Philip Aguer, the SPLA spokesperson said Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) crossed into the area on Saturday, forcing the army on the ground to retreat.

Aguer said the actions of the SAF represented a clear violation of the cooperation agreement signed between the two countries.

“The Sudan Armed Forces violated the security arrangement and crossed into Kuek. They have remained there. They are still in the area until this moment. They are in control”, Aguer told reporters in the capital, Juba Sunday.

Aguer did not, however, elaborate on the number of casualties involved.

Upper Nile state’s information minister, Phillip Jaden, also confirmed the attack on Kuek in a separate interview, saying many people have fled the area.

(ST)

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Sudanese president orders government to stop oil flow from south over rebel row

Posted on June 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sudan Tribune

June 8, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir on Saturday has ordered oil minister Awad al-Jaz to block the pipeline carrying South Sudan’s crude all the way to Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan.

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President Omer Hassan al-Bashir addresses a crowd in North Khartoum, June 8, 2013 (Reuters)

Bashir who was speaking in Khartoum state said this decision was in response to Juba’s continued support to the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels fighting Khartoum on multiple fronts.

“O’ Awad [oil minister] tomorrow direct oil companies to close the pipeline and after that let them [South Sudan] take it via Kenya or Djibouti or wherever they want to take it”, the Sudanese president said at a rally at the inauguration of an electricity plant in Shil’ab area.

“The oil of South Sudan will not pass through Sudan ever again,” Bashir added.

The Sudanese president said the decision was taken after thorough study to examine its advantages and drawbacks.

He revealed that Khartoum previously gave Juba a two weeks ultimatum to suspend its support to SRF whom he described as “traitors” and “mercenaries” after which Sudan made this move.

Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti was in Juba last month where he asked Juba to allow the army to pursue rebel groups inside the South Sudanese territory and to close business offices allegedly supporting rebels, president Kiir disclosed in two different speeches.

Last April, SRF launched attacks on several towns, briefly occupying the major town of Um Rawaba in North Kordofan state. They also took control of Abu-Kershola in South Kordofan for one month.

The rebels who control areas in Blue Nile state and South Kordofan also vowed to carry out further attacks in order to topple down the regime.

Bashir pledged never to allow South Sudan to use oil revenues to buy SRF rebels weapons and equipments used in fighting the Sudanese army.

“We gave the South a full cream state with services and money but they decided to bite the hand extended to them,” he said.

He also called on youth to join military training camps to prepare for Jihad (holy war).

He added that our message to Sudan’s enemies is that we will continue cleansing the country of traitors and mercenaries, saying “they know us, even their masters who support them knew us as well from previous experiences, we are very hard to be eaten or swallowed”.

After the Sudanese army reasserted control over Abu-Kershola in South Kordofan in late May, Bashir announced that they will no longer negotiate with SRF and warned Juba that they will shut down the northbound oil pipelines if they do not cease backing the insurgents.

If Sudan goes ahead with shutting the pipeline, it will be considered a heavy blow to agreements brokered by African Union mediation team.

In September of last year, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

Last March, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements.

The most notable provision in the agreement is related to resumption of oil exports by landlocked South Sudan which were suspended more than a year ago because of a dispute over transit fees. Oil started flowing again in April.

Both countries fell under economic duress during the stoppage. Ninety eight percent of South Sudan’s revenues come from oil. Sudan’s economy was also hit hard.

South Sudan said it had not been informed about the decision.

“We haven’t heard anything about that yet. We had agreed that the oil would flow,” Barnaba Marial Benjamin told Reuters, adding that South Sudan rejected Bashir’s claims that it was supporting rebels operating on Sudanese soil.

‘TWO DAYS’

In a separate event, Bashir’s second vice president Al-Haj Adam Youssef warned that Sudan will cancel all cooperation agreements signed with Juba unless South Sudan president Salva Kiir takes right decision to halt rebel support.

Youssef, who was addressing a graduation ceremony of popular defense female conscripts in the South Kordofan capital city of Kadugli, said that Sudan is capable of running its economy without the revenues of South Sudan oil.

The vice president renewed calls for the rebel armed groups in Darfur as well as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) to engage in negotiations with the government, saying that armed struggle wouldn’t solve Sudan’s problems.

He added that the government will not allow presence of Darfur rebels in South Kordofan state, noting that the government is resolved to cleanse all towns and villages in the state from rebellion.

Yousif also announced that the government would negotiate with the SPLM-N only on the basis of the protocols related to Blue Nile and South Kordofan in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and with the Darfur rebels on the basis of Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

Last April, the first round of talks since 2011 between the SPLM-N and the Sudanese government in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have adjourned without success in bridging the wide gap between the two sides.

OIL MEETING CANCELLED

In a related issue, the pro-government al-Sudani newspaper said that Khartoum’s delegation planned trip to Addis Ababa to participate in oil committee meeting has been cancelled.

The report said that the newly-appointed Nigerian head of the committee called for this meeting to take place on Sunday.

South Sudan’s delegation headed by Pagan Amum are supposed to have already arrived to the meeting venue.  ST

 

BBC

Sudan ‘orders halt to oil transfers’ from South Sudan

Oil production facility in Paloch, S Sudan (5 May 2013)
Oil is vital to the economies of both countries

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has ordered the stoppage of oil transfers through its territory from South Sudan from Sunday, state media report.

State radio gave no further details in a text alert that it sent to subscribers.

Oil only started flowing again in April after the two sides struck a deal.

President Bashir said in May that Sudan would stop the flow of oil if South Sudan continued to support rebels operating on Sudanese soil.

The Sudanese army is fighting a rebel insurgency in at least three regions.

Despite the South’s independence in 2011, tensions over oil and land disputes have continued.

An umbrella rebel group called the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) has launched attacks on several towns, briefly occupying the major city of Um Rawaba in central Sudan in April.

South Sudan took with it nearly three-quarters of Sudan’s oil production when it declared independence. The two sides fell out over how much the South should pay to export its oil through Sudanese pipelines.

At the height of the dispute last year, the South shut down its entire oil output.

Both countries suffered terribly during the stoppage, says the BBC’s Africa analyst, Mary Harper.

Ninety-eight percent of South Sudan’s revenues come from oil. Sudan’s economy also shrank.

Oil started flowing again in April after both sides struck a deal in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in March, helping to ease tensions.

They also agreed to withdraw troops from their border area.

However, the latest violence has put further strain on relations.  bbc

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Sudan – Darfur and the death of Jem-Bashar leader

Posted on June 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

African Arguments - By Aly Verjee

 

Mohammad Bashar – Killed on May 12th on Chad-Darfur border.

The second honeymoon of Darfur’s Doha peace process lasted just over a month.  On April 6, Mohammad Bashar, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement-Sudan (hence referred to as JEM-Bashar) signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD; English, Arabic) in the ballroom of the Doha Ritz-Carlton hotel.

In Doha, Bashar told delegates he was looking forward to going home.  On May 12 he was dead, killed on the Sudan-Chad borderlands at the hands of his former comrades in the mainstream Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Accounts of Bashar’s death vary.  Abdullahi El-Tom, JEM’s head of strategic planning, described JEM forces engaging with a heavily armed JEM-Bashar convoy, resulting in the death of Bashar and his deputy Arko Dahiya.  El Tom writes: “had JEM been interested in sheer massacres of the invaders, it would have not spared the lives of the 20 or so who are now in its captivity.”

JEM-Bashar’s spokesman claimed Bashar and his colleagues were unarmed as they crossed the Chad-Sudan border, and were summarily executed by JEM.  The Government of Sudan condemned “an odious terrorist operation on Sunday [May 12], murdering in cold blood the two leaders.”  The UN-AU mission in Darfur, UNAMID, called Bashar’s assassination “criminal.”  The Government of Chad added its condemnation, also claiming that the attack took place on Chadian, rather than Sudanese, territory.

Do these competing accounts matter?   Perhaps not.  Bashar’s death confirms JEM remains militarily formidable.  Regardless of where precisely the fighting occurred, neither Chad nor Sudan can guarantee security in the borderlands.  If Bashar and his delegation were unarmed (which seems somewhat implausible), then the security arrangements for his return to Sudan were inadequate, and will only provide grist for the rumours of an assassination conspiracy.  But, most importantly, Bashar’s death vividly illustrates that assertions that the war in Darfur is over are wrong.  Today’s conflict may be different, but it is not over.

Doha and the DDPD

At his first and last meeting of the DDPD Implementation Follow-up Commission (IFC) on April 9, the day after the Darfur reconstruction conference, Bashar didn’t have much to say, in contrast to the lengthy statements of the leader of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) and Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) chair Tijani al-Sissi and the head of the Government of Sudan’s delegation, chair of the Darfur Peace Follow-up Office in the Presidency, state minister Amin Hassan Omer.

Over the course of the meeting, Bashar mainly listened to the prepared statements of other speakers.  He raised two points: the need, in his view, for a follow-up IFC meeting in 45 days, to help speed implementation of the DDPD; and swift action to complete the verification of and eventual demobilization or integration of JEM-Bashar forces into the regular forces.  (Essentially, verification is an independent count of how many troops actually exist.)  Bashar also offered his take on recent events in the Jebel Amir area, the scene of fighting over the control of gold mining, and a new addition to Darfur’s list of humanitarian crises, with 60,000 people displaced.

Bashar’s first request, to bring forward the next IFC meeting, was swiftly denied by the chair, Qatari deputy prime minister Ahmad bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud.  Al-Mahmoud announced the next IFC meeting would be held in four months.  (Article 483 of the DDPD states the IFC shall meet quarterly.)  In the context of an already troubled agreement, the IFC is particularly ineffectual; little more than a meeting to hear a series of set-piece speeches, it lacks the regularity of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement era Assessment and Evaluation Commission, or the urgency of the various African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) forums.

The discussion of troop verification was longer.  While no one was opposed to a speedy verification of JEM-Bashar forces, the lengthy delay in completing the verification of LJM forces (for background on problems with the LJM verification process, see paragraph 6 of the UN Secretary-General’s April 10, 2013 Report to the Security Council; paragraph 8 of the UN Secretary-General’s January 10, 2013 Report to the Security Council; the communiqué of the Joint Commission; and a recent Radio Dabanga news report) shows verification of a new signatory party’s forces may in practice be more complicated.

From the meeting, it was hard to gauge how Bashar and al-Sissi would get along.  Although a more significant military force, JEM-Bashar is politically the junior partner to al-Sissi’s LJM.  Bashar’s agreement with the Government of Sudan left the DDPD essentially unchanged, excepting the creation of a number of new government institutions, such as a social welfare fund to be controlled by the DRA.  Al-Sissi, and the LJM, still lead the DRA, hold more influential positions, and are the ones principally responsible for pushing the Government of Sudan to uphold its end of the Darfur deal.

The agreement with JEM-Bashar will probably survive its leader’s death.  The fact that a new agreement was signed in Doha does not improve the substantial lag in implementation of most aspects of the DDPD.  Apart from the continued rejection of the DDPD by JEM, other armed movements, and many ordinary people, conflict and instability in Darfur show no sign of dissipating.  The reinvigoration of the Doha process was even briefer than could have been predicted.  And so peace for Darfur remains elusive.

Aly Verjee is senior researcher at the Rift Valley Institute.

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ICC’s Bensouda criticises UN over Darfur inaction

Posted on June 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

Radio Dabanga (Hilversum)

ICC prosecutor reproaches UN for ‘inaction and paralysis’ on Darfur

“A deep sense of frustration, even despair” is the tone of the latest statement on the situation in Darfur, made to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On Wednesday, the Prosecutor presented her 17th briefing to the UNSC since the situation was referred to her in 2005 in terms of Resolution 1593. “Regrettably, each briefing has been followed by inaction and paralysis within the Council while the plight of victims of crimes committed in Darfur has gone from bad to worse,” Bensouda’s report begins.

“The deep sense of my office’s disappointment should come as no surprise to this Council, given the serious concerns shared within the United Nations about the situation in Darfur,” it continues. Bensouda notes that, in particular, her office “shares the concerns of the head of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, that 300,000 people have been displaced in the first five months of 2013 alone, more than were displaced in the last two years”. She urges the UN to seriously heed Baroness Amos’s warning that “the international community cannot let Darfur slip off the radar”.

Bensouda laments the on-going aerial bombardments in Darfur which, she says “can only be attributed to one party in this conflict”.

“The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war; the deliberate imposition of restrictions on delivery of humanitarian aid even in the face of an urgent humanitarian crisis; and the on-going impunity for these crimes are major problems for Darfur and for all of us who care about what happens to the Darfuri victims who suffer the brunt of these crimes.”

Bensouda cautions that business relations with Sudan, if not monitored carefully, “could have the effect of facilitating, funding and supporting crimes against civilians,” asserting that “normalisation of relations with Sudan should not come at such a high price to victims”.

“I have noted in particular the Council’s concern about the actions of some individuals affiliated with the Government of Sudan and armed groups, who continue to commit violence against civilians, impede the peace process, and disregard the demands of the Council.”

Bensouda asserts that “those individuals who commit crimes are inherently disinterested in the peace process or the demands of this Council. They do not put the true interests of Sudan first. And as long as they enjoy impunity for the crimes they commit, they will continue to represent a threat to international peace and security”.

Ending impunity

The Prosecutor reminded the Council that the reason it referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC in the first place was “to address individual criminal responsibility for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, with a view to ending impunity”.

“We have done our part and it is up to this Council to live up to the legitimate expectations of Darfur’s victims, namely that individuals alleged to be responsible for their daily sufferings are brought to justice,” Bensouda said.

“I echo the concerns of the African Union Peace and Security Council, publicised in March 2013, that the Government of Sudan must end impunity in Darfur by bringing all criminals to justice, must arrest and try those suspected of crimes against Unamid, and must facilitate the work of humanitarian organisations and the delivery of aid by cancelling visa restrictions for staff, which has been described as a federal government responsibility.”

Bensouda’s statement encourages both the UN and the African Union to work together with her to monitor actual progress in this regard. “We have repeated this call too many times without effect; we cannot simply repeat history in having these discussions. My Office has taken note of some reports of prosecutions of rebels under the Government of Sudan’s anti-terrorism act, but of no real prosecutions of systematic crimes committed by government forces. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

She noted recent reports of ICC indictee Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, with the Sudanese Central Reserve Forces (known as Abu Tira) in clashes in Central Darfur in April 2013. “Witnesses have placed Kushayb at the centre of an attack on the town of Abugaradil, 30 kilometres south of Umm Dukhun, on 8 April, in a government vehicle, together with units from the Central Reserve Police, the Border Guards, and other government-affiliated militia.

“My Office has noted many other such incidents in the past; this is part of an on-going pattern… the on-going involvement of ICC indictees Ahmad Haroun and Abdel Rahim Hussein in alleged crimes elsewhere in Sudan. These alleged crimes are of concern to the international community and require urgent and concerted action. Again, this is a question of potential individual criminal responsibility, not of group or organisational responsibility.”

Critical analysis

Bensouda remarked that “the repeated travels of President Bashir, in particular to Chad, are also a matter of concern… this Council has failed to act on any of the seven formal communications from the Judges of the ICC regarding these matters”.

The Prosecutor urged the UN to make “a critical analysis” before meeting formally with ICC indictees, for example, the 20-23 May visit of UN OCHA Head Valerie Amos to Khartoum, which included a meeting with ICC indictees President Omar Al Bashir, Abdel Rahim Hussein, and Ahmad Haroun.

“While I appreciate the UN’s assessment that the meeting was considered to be strictly required for carrying out essential UN-mandated duties, I strongly encourage the UN to conduct an on-going critical analysis of such contacts. We must ask ourselves whether the gain to the UN is worth the costs of such contact. We must be careful not to embolden fugitives from justice to think that they will be rewarded for manipulating their way into positions of ‘indispensability’ even as they continue to commit crimes.”

Bensouda concludes that “the time is long past due for this Council to act with courage and conviction by adopting appropriate measures within its mandate to ensure that Sudan fugitives are brought to justice sooner rather than later.”  Radio Dabanga

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Sudan: militias accused of atrocities in East Darfur

Posted on June 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

Radio Dabanga (Hilversum)

‘Militias guilty of atrocities in East Darfur’: witnesses

Map%20of%20civilian%20disp%20E%20Darfur_0_1

Witnesses allege that government militias committed various atrocities against civilians in Labado and Muhajeriya in East Darfur following the withdrawal of Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi (SLA-MM) forces from the area.

On 6 April, SLA-MM militants attacked the two strategically located towns Labado and Muhajeriya in East Darfur. The Sudanese Army (SAF) regained control as the rebel forces withdrew ten days later.

According to civilians who fled the fighting to camps for the displaced including El Neem near Ed Daein, capital of East Darfur, Zamzam near North Darfur’s capital EL Fasher, as well as the camps around Nyala in South Darfur, the “government militias shot dozens of civilians, and then pillaged markets, properties and homes before loading their loot onto vehicles”.

The witnesses estimate the value of the pillaged property at more than SDG30 billion ($7 billion), not counting hundreds of head of livestock that were rustled after the SLA-MM withdrawal. One witness who fled Labado to camp Zamzam told Radio Dabanga that he had seen the murder of about sixty people, including children, women and the elderly. During his flight, he also saw at least three women with their children dead of thirst.

“I saw the body of one woman with three children, another with four children and another with six children. They had all died of thirst. The crimes committed by the militias were indescribably terrible, and could not be allowed anywhere in the world,” he said.

He added that the arrival of more than 100 families from Labado and Muhajeriya at Zamzam has deepened the humanitarian crisis at the camp. Pointing out that these people have lost everything, he appealed to all national and international organisations to assist the families, who are now living in the open without food or shelter.

Map: Civilian displacement from Muhajeriya and Labado – OCHA (sources: HAC, Unamid and humanitarian agencies)

Related: UN: East Darfur displaced swell by 10k in one week (8 May 2013)

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Sudan’s economy minister admits major economic problems

Posted on June 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sudan Tribune

June 3, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese minister of finance and national economy Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Rasool has acknowledged that the country’s economy is facing significant headwinds despite an austerity program implemented in the wake of South Sudan’s secession.

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Sudan’s Finance Minister Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Rasool (REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Sudan lost three-quarters of its oil production when South Sudan became independent in July 2011, worsening an economic crisis as oil was the government’s main source of revenue, providing the cash flow to fund food imports and other basic items.

Last year, the government launched a package of tough austerity measures, including scaling back fuel subsidies to close a fiscal gap, sparking short-lived protests.

Khartoum also moved to effectively devalue the currency which came under enormous pressures as a result of a big shortage in foreign currencies.

Abdel-Rasool listed what he said was signs of trouble in Sudan’s economy which included a deficit in balance of payments deficit, meager outcome to the tripartite economic program, high food prices, growing gap between official and black market exchange rates and the declining rates of economic growth.

The Sudanese official, who spoke at an economic conference in Khartoum on Monday, pledged to curb inflation rate which reached 46% last April frustrating efforts by the government to tame commodity prices which have risen by 300% since 2010.

He also warned against recurrence of the global financial crisis saying that it had negatively impacted African countries including Sudan due to the drop it caused in demand for exports.

Abdel-Rasool said that the government is making strenuous efforts to expand the social security network and fight poverty as well as managing parity in exchange rate and continuing to subsidize wheat and oil.

Statistics indicate that 2 million Sudanese families live in poverty including 300,000 who do not have access to food and drink.

The ministry of social welfare has designated a monthly payment of 100 pounds SDG for poor families out of 450 million pounds SDG allocated for social support.

But economists say that the monthly grant doesn’t meet the basic needs of these families given the high rate of poverty and the significant rise in commodity prices.

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) released last April by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed Sudan’s economy shrinking by -4.4% in 2012.

In 2013, Sudan is expected to achieve a 1.2% growth which is higher than the -0.6% projected by the IMF last year. Next year’s GDP is also forecasted to stand at 2.6% which is slightly better than the 2.1% predicted in the IMF last assessment of Sudan’s economy.

(ST)

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S Sudan’s Kiir tells UN chief it is time to take action over Abyei dispute

Posted on June 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

Sudan Tribune

June 2, 2013 (JUBA)- South Sudan president Salva Mayardit said it is time for the international community “to take action” in order to resolve conflict over the disputed region of Abyei, accusing Sudan of showing lack of political will to forge an understanding.

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President Salva Kiir poses with other leaders of African countries during a photo session before the opening session of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama on June 1, 2013. (Getty)

The president made the remark at a meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations on the side-line of the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yakohama, Japan on Sunday.

“Despite our good intentions and commitment to resolve the difference, we are not making any progress because the other side which is supposed to work together with us as our sincere partner has not been able to move even when we have accepted the request to negotiate past the deadline”, president Kiir reportedly told the secretary General of the United Nations Ban-Ki Moon on Sunday.

The president was further quoted as calling on the international community, particularly the United Nations “to act” because the two leaders (himself and Sudanese president Omer Ahmed Hassan El Bashir) have repeatedly fail to agree on the way forward to end the decade of conflict over the area.

He accused Sudanese government of “lacking interest and will” to the address the issue, describing the request seeking extension of negotiation within the African Union as “a political trick to buy time”

“The intention is to buy time. We have met more than three times this year with president Bashir and we did not resolve anything. They are always going against proposed action plans and implementation modalities which always make delays become another reason for negotiation. This shows that Sudan is not serious about committing to what it takes to get these issues resolved”, he explained.

Kiir was referring to his latest meetings with his Sudanese counterpart Omer Al-Bashir in Juba and Addis Ababa where the two parties failed to agree on the formation of the interim administration and the referendum’s organisation.

The United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on his part commended the progress made you made in the implementation of some aspects of cooperation agreement and urged the South Sudanese government to continue engaging with Sudan to move forward on the implementation of the 27 September 2012 deals.

He further “stressed the increasing concern of the international community with regard to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in South Sudan, and called on the Government of South Sudan to do more to protect civilians in Jonglei State, in particular.

“The world is deeply concern about increasing insecurity situation in Jonglei. We are getting towards a time now where hard decisions need to be made”, said Ki-Moon.

South Sudanese Minister of foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Nhial Deng Nhial said president Kiir had met also with a number of Asian and world leaders on the sideline of the conference, describing all meetings “fruitful with encouraging pledges made for development and humanitarian assistances”.

(ST)

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The Islamic “threat” in Africa

Posted on May 30, 2013 | Leave a comment

BBC

How Islamist militancy threatens Africa

Malian Islamist militants pictured in August 2012

 

With Islamist militant groups across the Sahara region still able to flex their muscles despite the French intervention in Mali, former UN diplomat and security expert Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah considers their threat to Africa.

The countries of North and West Africa have become embroiled in a new war waged by violent Islamist militants – a conflict that has no front line.

Last week’s suicide assaults in Niger on a military base and French-run uranium mine, and a siege in January of the gas plant in Algeria reveal the insurgents’ ruthless tactics.

And the start of the withdrawal of French troops from Mali, four months after recapturing northern cities from Islamist insurgents, is being touted by the militants on internet forums as the beginning of their victory.

Disgruntled young men have been happy to join radical groups that not only offer them an ideology, but money”

But this is no sudden development.

Militants and armed radical groups have expanded and entrenched their positions throughout the Sahel and Sahara over the last decade under the umbrella of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM).

They move from one country to another – a hard core of operatives working in an area that covers parts of south-west and south Libya, southern Algeria, northern Niger, north-east Mauritania and most of northern Mali.

Poorly administrated, these vast desert spaces provide the groups with an ideal terrain.

Map showing Islamist groups in Africa

They also have connections in northern Nigeria, especially with home-grown militant group Boko Haram.

Cocaine

Analysts believe there are dormant cells in many large cities, including most capitals in the Sahel region.

There are several reasons that this network of militancy has flourished.

One significant factor is the perceived arrogance and corruption of urban elites.

The marginalisation of poorer communities – both in rural areas and smaller towns – and minority ethnic groups has further alienated them from the governing classes.

Disgruntled young men have been happy to join radical groups that not only offer them an ideology, but money.

And it is the widespread drug trafficking in the region that is believed to have enriched militant groups.

Details about the operations are sketchy – large amounts of money are involved to ensure secrecy and loyalty.

Drugs from South America are taken across Africa to Europe, where they are more profitable and marketable.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Information technology has been of a great help to a hard core of between 350 and 450 experienced AQIM fighters”

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A kilogramme of cocaine bought in Latin America for $3,000 (£1,990) can be sold in the capitals of West Africa for about $16,000; in North Africa it sells for $25,000 and can fetch about $45,000 in Europe.

Getting involved in the transit business as the conveyor or security agent provides not only a good salary but also the social recognition that money brings.

This is a tantalising prospect to many unemployed young men.

Western hostage taking is no less profitable for militant groups – and is another “business” that has grown in the last 10 years.

Between 80m-100m euros ($103m-130m) is estimated by the Center for Strategy and Security in the Sahel Sahara to have been paid in ransoms in this time, despite both the United Nations and the African Union discouraging such payments.

Information technology has been a great help to a hard core of between 350 and 450 experienced AQIM fighters estimated to work within the coalition of Islamist militant groups in the Sahel and Sahara region.

Co-operation

The leadership and high ranking officers are mostly Algerians and Mauritanians, but increasingly the Sahelians are moving up the ladder.

They are very mobile and knowledgeable about the region, can often avoid detection and the monitoring of their communications, and can count on hundreds of determined militias and armed sympathisers.

AQIM has its roots in groups in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. One of its key affiliates is the well-disciplined Mujao group, which was active in Mali and claimed responsibility for last week’s Niger attacks.

There is also believed to be a connection between AQIM and the growing piracy of the Gulf of Guinea – similar to the situation in Somalia where the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabab group has strong links with pirates operating in the Indian Ocean.

In both cases the main objective is to expand the source of their funding and to enlarge their popular support through redistribution of the loot.

Last summer also saw reports of a liaison between the Islamist militants in the Sahel, al-Shabab and a few other “informal units” operating in the porous borders area between Chad, Libya and Sudan.

Al-Shabab militants were reported to have travelled overland to Mali disguised as Koranic students or merchants.

Arms and ammunitions recovered from Islamist insurgent during a clash with soldiers in the remote northeast town of Baga, Borno state In Nigeria Boko Haram has managed to buy sophisticated weapons

En route it is believed they stayed in safe houses in major cities before joining groups in the AQIM network to share experiences.

The groups interact on more of an informal than a co-ordinated basis – facilitated by lax border controls and territorial continuity.

They also exploit the tribal systems and relationships between ethnic groups, using them to their advantage.

Most rebel groups’ supplies and logistics come down from the Maghreb or the fighters seize them by force from local armies.

Frustrated border populations either help the combatants or fail to report on them to government officials, despite being given Thuraya satellite phones to do so.

Today, however, the Sahel and Sahara region is at a crossroads.

There is an opportunity for the region’s governments to get a grip on the situation and take advantage of France’s gains.

Improving economies coupled with nascent freedoms in North Africa could also help improve weak governance, a major ingredient of terrorism.

In coalition with the private sector and civil society organisations, they could fight poverty and disenfranchisement, which could help quell the rebellion.

But there is only a short window of opportunity.

Combatants presently fighting on far fronts, such as Syria, may well return – whether victorious or defeated – to boost the morale and numbers of the Saharan radical groups confronted by French troops.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah is the former UN envoy for Somalia and West Africa and now runs the Center for Strategy and Security in the Sahel Sahara in Mauritania

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