Africa

Runner Salah Ameidan takes part in the Sahara Marathon every year - it's the closest he can get to his family, who live in territory governed by Morocco.

Horticulturalist Rodney Saunders and his wife disappeared in February, in a suspected IS kidnapping.

The graves are believed to date from the 1994 genocide, which left about 800,000 people dead.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that Mohamed Elneny should recover from an ankle injury to be available for Egypt's World Cup campaign.

Kenya defender Aboud Omar wants to complain to Fifa over his sacking by Bulgarian side Slavia Sofia as he denies the club's allegations.

Ghanaian journalist Elizabeth Ohene supports the name eSwatini, but suggests "land of many wives".

Ghanaian journalist Elizabeth Ohene supports the name eSwatini, but suggests "land of many wives".

The Ugandan entrepreneur finding success using African fabric to style car interiors.

Old rifts between farmers and herders have led to conflict, but a new tin mine may heal the wounds.

Despite a history of tension and violence, some Fulani herdsmen and Berom farmers in Nigeria now work together.

Mohamed Salah was named England's best player at the weekend. On Tuesday, he established himself as one of Europe's finest. Next step: the world?

April 24, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) has called on the opposition forces to escalate peaceful resistance in order to overcome what it described as “quagmire of crises”.

Since January, the economic conditions have deteriorated significantly as prices reached high levels and the Sudanese pounds hit historic low against the US dollar leading to an unprecedented rise in the cost of living. Also, since last week, the East African nation has suffered a severe shortage in gasoline.

Last week, President Omer al-Bashir fired his Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour after the latter complained to the parliament about the central bank's failure to pay the salaries of Sudanese diplomats for seven months.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, the SCoP called to overthrow the regime through peaceful protests and establish a transitional authority to achieve stability, end the war and address the economic crisis.

The statement pointed out that the sacked foreign minister revealed the regime is bankrupt and government organs are suffering from the failed policies.

The SCoP called on the Sudanese people and the opposition forces to build on the recent experience of peaceful protests and continue to coordinate in order to escalate resistance and form a unified opposition front.

The opposition party added the regime is making every possible effort to draft a new constitution to allow President Omer al-Bashir to run for a third term in 2020 elections.

“We renew our refusal to amending [the 2005 constitution] or drafting a new one to allow al-Bashir to continue to hold power. We also reject the policies of starvation and impoverishment,” read the statement.

Following the increase of bread prices earlier last January, opposition groups staged several protests against the austerity measures and called to overthrow the regime of President al-Bashir.

Secretary-General arrested

In a Separate development, the Secretary-General of the Sudanese Congress Party, Mastor Mohamed Ahmed was arrested upon his arrival to Khartoum from London on Monday.

Mastor represented his party at the meeting of the Sudan Call alliance in Paris in mi-March. After the meeting, President Omer al-Bashir warned that he would no longer tolerate any alliance of registered political parties with the armed opposition groups.

The security services arrested leaders of the opposition groups and dozens of activists, sometimes, even before an announced street protest last January.

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April 24, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Commissioner of Al-Fashaga County Mohamed Adam said joint committees between Sudan and Ethiopia have been formed to tackle disputes over borderland, particularly during the rainy season.

Speaking during a visit to Upper Atbara and Setait dam on Monday, the commissioner said preparations are ongoing for the 2018 growing season.

He revealed that a number of Kuwaiti companies have made requests to invest in Al-Fashaga area, saying his county is well connected to Port Sudan and Sheikh Zayed airport which give it a preferential exportation advantage.

Adam added Al-Fashaga County has developed a plan to build tourists resorts during the next period.

Ethiopian and Sudanese farmers from two sides of the border dispute the ownership of land in Al-Fashaga area located in the southeastern part of Sudan's eastern state of Gedaref.

In the past years, Sudanese authorities accused Ethiopia of controlling more than a million acres of Sudanese agricultural land in the area of Al-Fashaga, saying the area has been completely isolated from Sudan.

Al-Fashaga covers an area of about 250 square kilometres and it has about 600.000 acres of fertile lands. Also, there are river systems flowing across the area including Atbara, Setait and Baslam rivers.

The current borders between Sudan and Ethiopia were drawn by the British and Italian colonisers in 1908. The two governments have agreed in the past to redraw the borders and to promote joint projects between people from both sides for the benefit of local populations.

The joint Sudanese-Ethiopian High Committee announced in December 2013 that it reached an agreement to end disputes between farmers from two sides of the border over the ownership of agricultural land.

In November 2014, the former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and President Omar al-Bashir instructed their Foreign Ministers to fix a date for resuming the border demarcation. The operation had stopped following the death of Ethiopia's former premier, Meles Zenawi.

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The country where a blogging permit costs $900. Some accuse Tanzania of muzzling critics.

Former France midfielder Henri Michel, who coached eight countries during a 30-year managerial career, has died aged 70.

April 23, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - French Ambassador to Khartoum Emmanuelle Blatmann and the French Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Stéphane Gruenberg Monday paid a visit to Kassala to inspect Eritrean refugees camps in the State.

Kassala state, which borders Eritrea, is a transit point for illegal immigrants from Eritrea who seek to reach Europe through Egypt and Libya.

Eritreans made up the largest group of people from Africa making the perilous voyage to Europe last year. The trend continued during the first three months of this year according to the UNHCR.

The French delegation visited Shagara and Wad Sherifai camps near the Eritrean border, and the premises of the France-backed local humanitarian group, Zenab which support Eritrean migrants victim of human trafficking.

The two camps, supported by the French government, provide Education and protection of minors, professional training for women and men, health care and nutrition for children.

During a meeting with Governor of Kassala State Adam Jama'a, the two sides discussed ways to enhance relations between Sudan and France and particularly Kassala besides the situation in the eastern state.

The governor welcomed the visit of the French diplomats to Kassala. He briefed the delegation on the situation in Kassala as well as the efforts being exerted to combat various types of cross-border crimes, expressing hope for continued cooperation between his state and France in all fields.

For her part, the French Ambassador said that the meeting discussed ways to promote future partnership between the two sides, saying the discussions were fruitful and yielded a number of understandings to support joint cooperation.

France, like other European Union countries, seeks to stop the flow of illegal migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa region who take deadly sea crossing to Europe.

Besides the European Union, Germany and Italy have already provided support to the Sudanese government efforts to stop illegal migrants from reaching Libya.

Sudan is the main transit country for the Eritreans and other east African countries.

However, human rights groups criticised EU support to Sudan to curb migrants saying such support would bolster repressive capacities of the abusive security forces. But, they encouraged projects to provide direct support to refugees and local host communities.

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April 23, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudan president Salva Kiir said his country was being punished by western powers for not paying for their support in the long civil war against neigbouring Sudan.

President Salva Kiir addresses the nation at the South Sudan National Parliament in Juba, November 18, 2015. (Photo Reuters/Jok Solomon)

The South Sudanese leader said it is a culture among African people to pay back without being reminded of the support they received from those who provided needed support and the time of need.

“The country is suffering today because of the punishment we are getting from western countries. They think they support they gave during the war of liberation struggle is not being returned,” Kiir told members of the African Union Peace and Security Council last week.

He added, “And they [western powers] have asked me several times in private meetings with their business representatives that whether we still remember those who stood by our [South Sudan] side during the war and how we intend to recognize their role”.

The president did not, however, name any of these western powers he hinted on.

Kiir, a former rebel commander, said he and his colleagues are aware of the support the western powers and African leaders had given the people of South Sudan during different times, but stressed that the continuation of ongoing civil war did not necessarily mean his government does not recognize and appreciate western support.

“We know countries in the west and in Africa which stood by our side during the war. We have mentioned them in our functions and through formal engagement and when writing to them on official and private matters. We do this because we value the support they gave us but this does not mean they teach us how to recognize and appreciate the support,” further stressed the South Sudanese leader.

“It is an African culture and traditions that one returns what he received from the giver without being told to pay back. Because of this, we tell our friends in the west to not take side in a dispute between the same people, brothers and sisters”, he added.

The South Sudanese civil war is an ongoing conflict in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of the country's about 12 million population.

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April 23, 2018 (NAIROBI) – Threats by South Sudan government to hold elections should peace talks fail is a plan to interfere in the peace process mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Pagan Amum, a member of the former political detainees said.

Former SPLM secretary general Pagan Amum (AFP/Getty)

Last month, the South Sudanese government warned it would conduct elections to avoid illegitimacy and a power vacuum if the IGAD-mediated high-level revitalization forum with the country's opposition groups failed to reach a deal.

In an email to Sudan Tribune, the former secretary general of the country's ruling party (SPLM) said it will be a “sham” election process.

South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), an alliance of nine South Sudanese opposition groups formed to accelerate efforts to end the conflict in South Sudan had demanded that the IGAD mediation team deals with them as one political entity in the peace revitalization meeting, which was pushed to May.

The alliance comprises of the Federal Democratic Party, National Salvation Front, National Democratic Movement, People's Democratic Movement, South Sudan Liberation Movement, South Sudan National Movement for Change, South Sudan Patriotic Movement, South Sudan United Movement and United Democratic Alliance.

Amum said IGAD consulted SSOA as one entity and it will deal with it as such.

“Of course the nine parties are invited individually to the talks,” he said.

He accused the Juba regime of obstructing the high-level forum revitalization process, stressing that is was the coalition government's forces continuously violating the cessation of hostilities agreement.

“It is the government that refused to sign the declaration of principles,” the former SPLM secretary general told Sudan Tribune.

Last week, IGAD announced that it said had postponed South Sudan peace talks aimed at securing the implementation of the country August 2015 peace accord to an undisclosed date in May.

The talks were scheduled for 26 April in Addis Ababa, but the regional bloc postponed it, but gave no reasons for their decision.

Amum said the IGAD's move will not affect the outcome of the talks.

“The IGAD postponed the talks for a week to continue their shuttle diplomacy. I do not think that this delay will affect the outcome in anyway,” he observed.

The South Sudanese civil war is an ongoing conflict in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced over two million.

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April 23, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said arrangements are underway to hold the second phase of the strategic dialogue between Sudan and the United Kingdom this week.

On Sunday, Sudan's acting Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdallah Idriss has received a copy of the credentials of the new British Ambassador to Sudan Irfan Siddiq in order to present it to President Omer al-Bashir.

During the meeting, the Sudanese minister stressed his government's keenness to cooperate with the new ambassador in order to facilitate his mission.

For his part, Siddiq conveyed greetings of the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to his Sudanese counterpart.

Meanwhile, the UK embassy in Khartoum said a senior British delegation would arrive in Khartoum on Tuesday to participate in the meeting with the Sudanese side.

In a press release extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday, the UK embassy said the delegation would be headed by Neil Wigan, Director for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom.

According to the press release, the dialogue would include meetings with the Foreign Ministry as well as other Sudanese officials, saying it would cover a number of issues including bilateral relations, migration, Sudan's peace talks, human rights, trade, cultural relations and the situation in the region.

Since 2015, Sudan and the UK have started a dialogue upon request from Khartoum to push forward bilateral ties.

In March 2016, Sudan and the UK held the first strategic consultations meetings between the two countries in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. The meeting was considered the first talks of its kind at the ministerial level in 25 years.

The two countries agreed to exchange visits at the level of senior officials from the two countries along with increasing cooperation in the fields of economy, investment and culture.

The UK Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Chris Trott last year visited Khartoum several times to discuss ways to develop bilateral relations and encourage Khartoum efforts to reduce the illegal immigration from the Horn of African countries towards Europe and Britain especially.

The dialogue also was seen within the framework of the after-Brexit policy aiming to develop trade relations with the former British colonies.

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April 23, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudan's government on Monday received the body of army chief of staff, Gen James Ajongo Mawut, who died on Friday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo after a short illness.

South Sudan president Salva Kiir pays views Gen. James Ajongo Mawut's body at Juba airport, April 23, 2018 (ST)

Mawut died in a military hospital in Egypt and preparations to take his body to his ancestral home in Bar-Mayen village are underway.

Top army officers and government officials upon arrival on Egyptian military on April 23, 2018 at Juba international airport from which it was taken to St. Theresa Church in Hai Kotor area, in Juba for prayers before taken to the residence for family viewing prior to being taken to the military headquarters on 24 April.

The program shows Mawut's body would also be at the national legislative assembly for viewing by legislators before it is taken to the grave yard of John Garang de Mabior, founding leader of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) where speeches eulogizing him would be delivered by the various speakers.

President Salva Kiir would address the mourners before the body is finally taken to his ancestral village. Preparations are underway to receive the body at home. Top military officers and high ranking government officials would accompany the family and stay with them until when the body is laid to rest at designated site at home.

The South Sudanese leader earlier described the fallen army chief of staff as a “remarkable” man and committed founder member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

“He [Mawut] served this nation with dedication and honour and shall be remembered as [a] hero,” Kiir said in a statement issued Friday.

Although it still remains unclear what caused the general's death, a family member said he spent months in Kenya before he was relocated to a Cairo-based hospital.

Meanwhile the government has declared three days of official mourning of Mawut and ordered that all flags be flown at half-mast.

Mawut, who joined the southern-based rebel movement in 1983, became army chief of general staff in May 2017 after President Kiir sacked General Paul Malong Awan.

(ST)