Africa

A selection of the best photos from across Africa this week.

The genetically modified insects are part of a project which aims to tackle malaria in Africa.

Emmanuel Ibeawuchi is captain of Nigeria's amputee national team, hoping to compete at the World Cup.

Amid increasingly violent clashes between rival armed groups in Libya’s capital,Tripoli, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has successfully airlifted 135 migrants and refugees to safety in Niger.

Hundreds of civilians who were taken by opposition forces in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria region during an uptick in fighting are still missing, the UN’s top rights official said on Thursday, in a call for their immediate release.

A deadly attack at a gig last year has only made this band from the Central African Republic more determined.

They're history's most prolific serial killers and there's tens of millions of them out there. So why are land mines still around?

Africa is “on the move and on the rise” with communities coming together to resolve their problems and offer mutual support, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted on Wednesday.

October 17, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Wednesday has named Ambassador Jamal El-Shiekh as special envoy for peace in South Sudan.

Speaking to the diplomats at Foreign Ministry headquarters, al-Bashir said South Sudan's peace would positively impact on Sudan and the region in general, describing it as “significant move towards achieving comprehensive peace in Sudan”.

He pointed out that Foreign Minister El-Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed has tackled South Sudan's peace file with “knowledge and wisdom” which contributed to the signing of the peace deal in the world's newest nation.

Al-Bashir added that Ambassador Jamal El-Shiekh has been appointed as special envoy for peace in South Sudan to follow up on the implementation of the peace agreement on the ground.

South Sudan became an independent country on 9 July 2011 after decades of war, lengthy negotiations and a referendum to secede from neighbouring Sudan. Two and a half years later, armed conflict broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied to his then deputy Riek Machar.

However, in August 2015, the two main parties in the conflict agreed a peace deal and later formed a transitional unity government with President Kiir at the helm and Machar as one of his two deputies.

Renewed again fighting broke out in July 2016 with heavy clashes in the capital Juba and other parts of the nation forcing Machar to flee.

On September 12, the South Sudanese rebel leader signed in Khartoum a peace agreement with the government aimed at ending a five-year civil war, which killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

October 17, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Army's Chief of General Staff Kamal Abdel-Marouf has renewed his country's keenness to exert further efforts to promote peace, security and stability in the African continent.

Abdel-Marouf has arrived in Washington last week at the invitation of the Chairperson of Joint Chiefs of Staff of USA, General Joseph Dunford, to participate in a meeting on counter-terrorism organized by the U.S. Army.

On Tuesday, Abdel-Marouf met with Dunford, in the presence of the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

He thanked Dunford for extending the invitation to him to participate in the conference, saying it offered a good opportunity to discuss the future of joint cooperation between the two countries.

Abdel-Marouf also pointed to the upcoming second phase of dialogue between Sudan and the U.S., saying his visit to Washington would enhance military diplomacy and political efforts aiming at achieving full normalization of bilateral ties.

He expressed his country's readiness to activate the joint work with the U.S. particularly on combating terrorism and protecting borders.

For his part, Dunford said Sudan's participation in the conference was crucial to his country, pointing to Sudan's regional roles and its geographic location as well as the importance of issues discussed during the conference.

In April 2017, Sudan participated for the first time in the meeting of the United States Africa Command known as "AFRICOM". At the time, the Sudanese army Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Emad al-Din Mustafa Adawi took part in a meeting of AFRICOM chiefs of general staff in Stuttgart, Germany.

On Wednesday 19 September, the U.S. State Department released its report on terrorism which has kept Sudan on the list of states sponsoring terrorism. However, Washington said Khartoum remains a partner in the counter-terrorism.

After the left of economic sanctions on Sudan in October 2017, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, John Sullivan, was in Khartoum in November of the same year to launch the second phase of the normalization process and pointed to the need for reforms on human rights and religious freedom.

The east African nation was placed on the U.S. terrorism list in 1993 over allegations it was harbouring Islamist militants working against regional and international targets.

(ST)

Angel Wanjiru has overcome bullies and health problems to pursue her dream of a career in music.

October 16, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and South Africa's Deputy-President David Dabede Mabuza Tuesday have discussed the implementation of South Sudan's revitalized peace agreement.

Deputy President David Mabuza (Photo S African Presidency)

Al-Bashir on Tuesday received Mabuza at his office in the Guest House in the presence of the State Foreign Minister Osama Faisal.

In press statements following the meeting, Mabuza said they discussed the significant efforts exerted by Sudan to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement among South Sudan's warring parties.

He pointed out to the significant progress being made in South Sudan's peace that was recently hosted by Khartoum under the auspices of the regional bloc IGAD.

Mabuza further underscored his country's support to efforts of President al-Bashir and the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and other leaders of the region to achieve peace in South Sudan.

The official news agency SUNA reported that the visiting South African senior official met with the First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

South Africa, together with Tanzania, sought in the past to bring peace in South Sudan through the reunification of the historical Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in what is known as Arusha process which had been concluded by the signing of an agreement on 21 January 2015.

Before his arrival in Khartoum on Monday, Mabuza was in Juba for talks with President Salva Kiir on the implementation of South Sudan revitalized peace agreement.

After Khartoum, he travelled heading to Kampala for a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni on South Sudanese peace implementation.

South Sudan became an independent country on 9 July 2011 after decades of war, lengthy negotiations and a referendum to secede from neighbouring Sudan. Two and a half years later, armed conflict broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied to his then deputy Riek Machar.

However, in August 2015, the parties to the conflict signed a peace deal and later formed a transitional unity government with President Kiir at the helm and Machar as one of his two deputies.

Renewed again fighting broke out in July 2016 with heavy clashes in the capital Juba and other parts of the nation forcing Machar to flee.

On September 12, the South Sudanese rebel leader signed a peace agreement with the government aimed at ending a five-year civil war, which killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

October 16, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The opposition alliance Sudan Call 's foreign relations official, Yasir Arman, rejected criticism of opposition forces involved in the efforts for a comprehensive settlement saying 'it does not deserve to apologize to anyone."

SPLM-N Yasir Arman (L) in a private discussion on the contentious issues with government chief negotiators Amin Hassan Omer (R) and Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid at the venue of the talks in Addis Ababa,on November 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

Sudanese opposition parties of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) have expressed strong reservations towards what they call "soft landing" in reference to a process brokered by the African Union for peace and reforms in Sudan, involving the government and the opposition groups of the Sudan Call.

"Peace should be the end of every war and the best way to solve Sudan's current wars is through a comprehensive political settlement and a just peace," Arman wrote in an opinion article on Tuesday.

"The search for a comprehensive political settlement and a just peace does not worth apologizing to anyone, it is a strategic issue (...). The challenge we have always faced is how to avoid partial solutions."

He explained that the current division in the SPLM-North occurred due to their adherence to a comprehensive solution and not to limit the process to the Two Areas.

"During (15) round of negotiations and three informal meetings we stuck to the comprehensive solution," stressed the deputy chairperson of the SPLM-N led by Malik Agar.

He further stressed that whoever questions the positions of the armed movements engaged in direct or regional contacts or through the African Union mediation and the international community is "unaware of the nature of the war and the nature of those movements and the interests of civilians in their regions"

The NCF forces and the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) recently escalated a campaign against the Sudan Call as the African Union chief mediator Thabo Mbeki proposed to review a peace roadmap signed in 2016.

The SCP and its allies also pointed out the "negative role" played by the armed groups saying resorting to violence enabled the regime to crack down the popular mobilization to overthrow the regime.
However, he called for the unity of purpose and the coordination of means to achieve change and democratic reforms in Sudan.

"The opposition is different in its political, social, geographical and cultural composition and uses different means. So it cannot be limited to follow one of the chiefdoms, but we need the flexibility to mobilize their energies and coordination among them," he said.

Arman also welcomed the announced return to Khartoum of the Sudan Call leader Sadiq al-Mahdi by the end of the year.

"He will return not only as head of the National Umma party but as the chairman of the Sudan Call," he said adding "His return must be welcomed by all the national forces and any action taken by the regime against him must be resisted."

(ST)

October 16, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on Tuesday said it handed over two policing centres at IDPs camps to the Sudanese government as part of the exit strategy.

“On 14 October 2018 UNAMID officially handed over two Community Policing Centers (CPC) at Ottash and Dreij internally displaced persons' camps in Nyala, South Darfur to the Government of Sudan” read a statement from the Mission on Tuesday

The statement pointed out that “the handover is part of the Mission's ongoing reconfiguration and gradual exit from Darfur, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 2429”.

A tripartite working group including the Sudanese government, African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) has been set up in February 2015 to develop an exit strategy for the UNAMID from Darfur.

In June 2017, the AU and the UN decided to draw down the UNAMID by withdrawing the military personnel by 44% and that of the police component by 30%, the closure of 11 team sites in the first phase and the withdrawal of the military component from another 7 team sites in the second phase.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) admitted that the security situation in Darfur has improved but it decided to reinforce its presence in the mountainous area of Jebel Marra because there is no cessation of hostilities as a Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) refuses to declare a unilateral truce or to engage in peace negotiations.

Last July, the UNSC unanimously decided to extend for one year the mandate of the UNAMID and also to reduce the number of its troops in line with an exit strategy aiming to close the hybrid operation in two years.

The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in western Sudan's region.

It is the world's second-largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops. UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in the Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million are displaced.

(ST)

October 16, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Minister of Interior Ahmed Bilal Osman on Tuesday said the United States has granted $16 million to meet the needs of refugees in Sudan.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) has quoted Osman as saying he met with the U.S. delegation on the sidelines of the 69th session of the Executive Committee of UN Higher Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva.

He pointed out that he briefed the U.S. delegation on Sudan's efforts to hosting refugees, saying Washington has provided $16 million to meet the needs of refugees and promised to provide more funding in the future.

Osman also demanded the international community to support Sudan to meet the needs of the continued inflows of refugees, saying the current international funding covers only 32% of the actual needs of refugees.

According to statistics of Sudan's Commission of Refugees, Sudan is hosting around 2 million refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Somalia, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan, Yemen and Syria.

The United Nations says Sudan hosts 110,000 Eritrean refugees, 400,000 South Sudanese refugees and more than 100,000 Syrian refugees.

In addition, some 500,000 South Sudanese who stayed in Sudan following the separation are also in need of humanitarian assistance according to the UN.

(ST)

October 16, 2018 (JUBA) - The National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Gen Thomas Cirilo Swaka Tuesday dismissed accusations of attacking the SPLA-IO positions in Yei River State saying its fighters acted in self-defence.

In a statement issued Monday SPLM-IO Deputy Spokesperson Lam Paul Gabriel said NAS fighters killed 17 civilians in two attacks on their positions in Minyori and Logo of Yei River State.

However, NAS Spokesperson Suba Samuel Manase said his group which rejected the revitalized peace agreement is fully committed to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 21 December 2017.

"On I4th October 2018, SPLM-IO under the command of Col Gadi attacked NAS small patrolling contingency force in Minyori Boma of Yei County," Manase said in a statement released on Tuesday.

"As a result, NAS force responded in self-defence and pursued the SPLA-IO bandits into their operational base in disarray," he stressed.

The African Union Peace and Security Council on Monday issued a statement about the outcome of a meeting held on 10 October about the situation in South Sudan.

The Council called on the parties to not resort to violence.

The Council ''Appeals to all the parties to the conflict to cease all acts of violence in South Sudan and respect for the signed Revitalized Agreement and to remain committed to the peaceful resolution of the conflict".

(ST)

October 15, 2018 (JUBA) - The South Sudan legislators Monday endorsed the full text of the revitalized agreement 33 days after the final signing in Addis Ababa on 12 September.

Members of South Sudan's parliament sing the national anthem during the reopening of parliamentary sessions in the capital, Juba, on 11 June 2012 (Photo: Giulio Petrocco/AFP/Getty)

In line with the implementation matrix of the revitalized peace agreement, the Transitional National Legislature comprising the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) and the Council of States should ratify the peace pact within seven days of the signature.

Once tabled for parliamentary approval by Minister of Justice Paulino Wanawila Unango, the agreement was unanimously adopted by the Members of Parliament (MPs) of the two houses.

NLA Speaker Anthony Lino Makana welcomed this great achievement saying it shows that the MPs of the two Houses are for peace.

Analysts in Juba say now after the parliamentary consent they expect that the release of the political detainees and prisoners of war take place soon.

(ST)

October 16, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir directed the governors and tribal leaders of the states bordering neighbouring Sudan to implement the cooperation agreement particularly the operationalization of the buffer zone.

On Tuesday President Kiir held a meeting attended by his first deputy Taban Deng Gai with the governors, presidential advisers, defence and police senior officials as well as the tribal leaders of the border areas.

The South Sudanese presidential press unit said the president sought "answers on the status of the operationalization of the security arrangements agreed with the Republic of Sudan on the safe demilitarization of the buffer zone".

"While addressing the meeting, President Salva Kiir urged the state governors and paramount chiefs (in the areas) bordering the Safe Demilitarized Buffer Zone to work collectively with the national government to implement the security agreement reached between the two sisterly countries".

On 27 September 2012, the two countries signed a security agreement aiming to stop the flow of guns and supplies to the rebel groups across the border. The deal provides to establish a centreline and a buffer zone, which run 10 km along either side.

It was agreed by the parties that these security measures represent only the location of the separation line between the armed forces of the two States but it does affect the ongoing discussions on the border demarcation.

However, under the pressure of local leaders, South Sudan had stopped its participation in the joint border monitoring operation also suspended the marking of crossing points fearing that delimitation of the centreline, which passes through contested areas, may be seen as the final location of the boundary.

Recently, UN Security Council said it would downsize the international forces deployed in Abyei and involved in the operation if no progress is achieved until next November.

For his part, First Vice President Taban Deng Gai urged the State governors and paramount chiefs to support the national government in enhancing the working cooperation between the two countries. Also, he pointed that the opening of the six joint border corridors will boost trade between the two Countries.

Minister of Defence Kuol Manyang Juuk who signed the implementation matrix stressed the importance of implementing the security arrangements for the safety co-existence between the two Countries.

(ST)

The execution-style killings of two aid workers raised fears that the Islamist insurgency is far from over.

British-Nigerian Filmmaker Adeyemi Michael explains the inspiration behind his short film, Entitled.