Africa

August 29, 2016 (JUBA) – Paramount chiefs in South Sudan hailing from the Nuer community have issued a joint statement disowning the newly appointed First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, who on 24 July replaced Riek Machar, another Nuer fellow, in a controversial process contested by supporters of the latter.

Jikany-Nuer community leaders posing picture with South Sudan Vice President, Riek Machar in Juba, May 4, 2013 (ST)

In a statement bearing names of 14 paramount chiefs representing Nuer communities in the 14 greater counties in the states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, inhabited by the Nuer, they rejected what they said was an illegal replacement of Machar.

“The above communities do not support the illegal move by Pres. Salva Kiir replacing Dr. Riek Machar Teny as the First Vice President of South Sudan with Gen. Taban Deng Gai,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday.

“The Naath communities believe that Gen. Taban Deng Gai defected from the SPLM-IO and joined the SPLM In Government (IG). So, we take Gen. Taban Deng Gai treacherous manoeuvres as a mere propaganda played by the tribal Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) to prolong the suffering of the people of South Sudan for the selfish and tribal interests,” it reads.

“Therefore, we stand strong behind the able and wise leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, the undisputed First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan,” the statement further asserted.

The chiefs also condemned the continued attacks by government forces “on civilians in Upper Nile Region, Equatoria and Northern Bhar el Ghazel”, including what they said was the “earth scorching searches” to eliminate them and Machar.

“So, we reject the defected Gen. Taban Deng Gai from our Nuerland and do not support him. We also condemn President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Gen. Taban Deng Gai government for violating the peace agreement (ARCISS) signed by both leaders in August 2015.”

The traditional leaders also called on President Kiir to resign, charging that his leadership has been a reason for the prolonged suffering of the people of South Sudan.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim has promised to release Prisoners of War (POWs) from government forces at the request of a Sufi Islamic cleric.

JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim talks to reporters in Addis Ababa on 13 August 2016 (ST Photo)

On 10 August, the leader of the Kabashi Sufi sect Abdel-Wahab al-Khalifa al-Hibir al-Kabashi sent a letter to JEM's leader appealing to him to release government POWs.

In a letter he wrote in response to al-Kbashi's message, Ibrahim said he appreciates the latter's request, pointing the religious leader and the POWs families would soon hear good news in this regard.

According to the political advisor of the (JEM-Dabago), a breakaway group from JEM, Nahar Osman Nahar, more than 100 POWs and detainees are currently being held in JEM's prisons including former members of the executive office and commanders from the movement such as Hashim Haroun besides other civilian detainees.

He told Sudan Tribune that nine detainees from JEM-Dabago are still detained by JEM after 9 others managed to flee from the movement's prisons in Deim Zubeir Camp in Western Bahr el Ghazal region, South Sudan.

For his part, JEM-Dabago leading figure Issa Mohamed Issa said that JEM currently detains 48 people besides a similar number of POWs from the Sudanese army.

Issa, who escaped from JEM prisons in South Sudan, added the movement had more than once in the past released government POWs through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

He called upon the humanitarian groups and the international community to check on the conditions of the detainees at JEM prisons.

JEM-Bashar, a breakaway group from JEM, inked a peace agreement negotiated with the Sudanese government on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in the Qatari capital in 2013.

Following that, JEM killed the leader of JEM-Bashar, Mohamed Bashar, and his deputy Suleiman Arko, and detained more than 20 others in an attack near the Chadian border while they were returning to Khartoum.

JEM-Bashar subsequently appointed Bakheit Abdallah Dabago as Bashar's successor.

(ST).

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's internal opposition umbrella, the National Consensus Forces (NCF) has expressed full support for any peace talks that aims to stop the war and allow humanitarian access to the affected population.

FILE - NCF leaders

Earlier this month, the African mediation suspended the latest round of talks between the government and the rebel movements on Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile after the negotiating parties failed to reach agreement on the security arrangements and humanitarian access.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday, the NCF reiterated its position to overthrow the regime and establish a transitional government to address the security, social, political and economic problems caused by the “dictatorship regime”.

It held the regime responsible for aborting the idea of a national dialogue that leads to a comprehensive and democratic solution for the Sudanese crisis, expressing absolute support for any talks that stops the war and allows humanitarian access to the affected.

The Sudanese army has been fighting Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

The NCF pointed that the Roadmap Agreement brokered by the African Union is inconsistent with its declared position regarding the national dialogue, stressing its rejection to any dialogue that doesn't lead to dismantling the single-party state and to establish a civil and democratic state.

The Sudanese government and four parties and armed movements from the opposition umbrella Sudan Call have signed the Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue brokered by the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

The NCF is a member of the Sudan Call coalition but its parties have taken different positions with regard to the roadmap.

Three parties within the NCF including the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudan Allied Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese Ba'ath Party have supported the singing of the peace plan by the Sudan Call.

However, the major parties of the NCF including the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), the Arab Ba'ath Party (ABP), Nasserite Socialist Party (NSP) have declined to accept the agreement, saying it would reproduce the regime.

The statement stressed that the government continues to impose security solutions for the country's crises particularly with regard to general freedoms, demanding the release of all political detainees and convicts.

The NCF also held the regime responsible for the of the worsening economic crisis and price hikes, pointing to the sharp decline in the value of the Sudanese pound against the US dollar.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - The comissioner of Tawila locality, 60 km west of North Darfur capital, El-Fasher, Adam Yaquob has accused the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nour of killing and injuring cattle herders on Thursday.

A Cattle herder in Darfur region (FAO Photo)

Yaquob told Sudan Tribune that a few pockets of outlaws from the rebel groups still exist in the caves and mountains surrounding his locality, saying that SLM-AW fighters coming from Jebel Marra area attacked cattle herders from Nawaiba tribe killing a woman and a child and injuring two women.

“They tried to steal heads of cattle, goats and sheep but the villagers stood up to them and they fled toward Fanga area in Jebel Marra," said the commissioner.

“They were about 32 fighters armed with automatic machine guns,” he added

The commissioner pointed that the security committee of his locality immediately arrived at the incident scene, saying the bumpy roads prevented the villagers from pursuing the perpetrators.

He said they had previously warned the cattle herders against approaching the border with Jebel Marra, pointing that outlaws had earlier stolen camels but the security organs managed to retrieve some of them.

Last week, unknown gunmen stole dozens of cattle heads and farming machineries at Tarni area in Tawila locality and ran away.

Thousands of residents were displaced by the intense fighting that had erupted in mid-January between the Sudanese army and the SLM-AW in Jebel Marra area.

Last April, the Sudanese army said its forces captured the last rebel stronghold area of Srounq in Jebel Marra from the SLM-AW. The government warplanes continue to bombard the rebel positions in the area.

The SLM-AW is not part of the African Union brokered process to reach a negotiated settlement of the 13 -year conflict.

The Sudanese army and its allied militia have been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

According to the United Nations, 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and 2, 5 million chased from their homes.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (JUBA) – The East African regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said the controversially replaced South Sudanese First Vice President, Riek Machar, must reclaim his position in the transitional unity government in the country as the legitimate First Vice President.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (C) poses for a picture after the government swearing in with his first deputy Riek Machar (R) and second deputy James Wani on 29 April 2016 (Photo Moses Lomayat)

IGAD said they have not changed their position in a communiqué released last month which called for the newly appointed First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, to step down and for Machar to resume his work as the first deputy president.

The comments from IGAD came days after the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the replacement process was an internal matter and did not break the peace agreement.

Kerry made the comments while on a visit to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi last week.

However, IGAD member states including Ethiopia which chairs the body, “questioned” John Kerry's comments, according to the CCTV Africa which reported from Addis Ababa on Friday.

They reaffirmed their position that Machar is the legitimate First Vice President, who should assume his post upon arrival in Juba, the South Sudanese capital.

Earlier, Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, in comments to Sudan Tribune criticized the comments from the US top diplomat, saying Kerry's opinion was against the IGAD communiqué as well as against a resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which described the controversial replacement in Juba as “inconsistent” with the peace agreement.

But President Salva Kiir's spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, criticized IGAD for wanting Machar to return to the position, saying Gai has a better working relationship with President Kiir.

Opposition officials on the other hand said Gai is liked by Kiir because he will not ask for the full implementation of the peace deal, but will instead allow for scrapping of major provisions and block the needed reforms in the country.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Malian Minister of Foreign Abdoulaye Diop will start an official visit to Khartoum on Monday, Sudan's Foreign Affairs Ministry disclosed.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir (ST Photo)

According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir, Diop would extend an invitation from Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to President Omer al-Bashir to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie heads of state and government in Bamako next January.

The summit, Khidir said, would discuss various issues including terrorism, illegal migration, arms and human trafficking and organized crime besides the fight against the extremist group Al-Qaida in Mali.

He further said Diop would hold talks with Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, saying the two ministers would discuss bilateral ties as well as the security and political situation in the region.

Al-Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mali ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC on 16 August 2000 and therefore has an obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

August 28, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Tanzania is set to sign electricity power export deal with Ethiopia making it the fourth African country purchasing electricity from the latter.

The planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project (AP)

Ethiopia's national power company (EEP) on Saturday announced that Tanzania has agreed to purchase 400 MW of Ethiopia's hydro-power processed electricity.

EEP's Chief Executive Officer, Azeb Asnake said the agreement between the two countries will be finalized in the coming weeks.

Azeb said the new power export deal will fosters economic integration and strengthens multilateral ties between the two countries.

The power transaction will create further economic integration between Tanzania and Kenya as the latter sits between Ethiopia and Tanzania, the CEO told the state run Ethiopian News Agency.

“Because when Tanzania gets electric power from Ethiopia, it has to pass through Kenya,” she said, adding, "When two countries are integrated economically, then they have to watch out for their political relationship as well”.

The horn of Africa's nation is investing billions of dollars to construct a number of hydro-electric power plants including what would be Africa's largest Dam known as Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD).

GERD which is being constructed along the Nile River in the Benshangul Gumz region near the Sudanese border is currently over 50 percent complete and will have power generation capacity of 8,000 MW.

The Ethiopian government says construction of the massive dam project will transform the country's vision to become a leading power exporter in the East African region hub for the renewable energy in Africa.

Ethiopia hopes to become a middle income nation by 2025. Currently, it exports hydro-power processed electricity to its neighbors: Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti.

Ethiopia intends to export power to seven neighboring countries after the completion of the mega dam project.

Azeb further said Ethiopia also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Burundi and Rwanda.It also has plans to link its grid with South Sudan, Uganda and Yemen.

According to official estimates Ethiopia's potential power production capacity from hydro as well as geothermal, wind and solar energy over 60,000 MW which is roughly equal to half of Africa's current installed capacity (147,000MW).

(ST)

Aid agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in north-eastern Nigeria, where more than two million people have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

August 28, 2016 (MATHIANG) – Commissioner of Longechuk county in the oil rich Upper Nile region, Lieutenant Colonel Dak Tut Dey, has called on aid agencies to provide emergency relief assistance in response to heavy floods which have submerged several buildings including the main health center in the county's administrative headquarters of Mathiang and other payams of the county.

Food is distributed at a refugee site in South Sudan's Upper Nile state (Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds)

In a statement he issued and forwarded to Sudan Tribune last Thursday, the Commissioner, Dey, said more than 56,000 people with over 11,000 households have been displaced by the floods leaving their shelters underwater and destroyed their properties.

The mostly affected payams, he said, include Mathaing (county headquarters), Jangok, Warweng, Malow, Majiok, Belwang and Palguop.

“I would like to bring this horrific situation to all NGOs partners' attention for quick intervention as many HHs need NFIs (Blankets, Mosquito nets, plastic sheets and buckets or Jerri cans) should be given to the affected populations of Longechuk County. This will assist them rebuild their livelihoods, safeguard them from harsh weather and protect their dignity before they put up the traditional ones [shelters],” Commissioner Dey said.

He said the populations mainly affected include the elderly, underage children, pregnant women, lactating mothers and farmers, whose cultivated crops had been destroyed as well.

Longechuk county is mostly under the control of the opposition faction led by Riek Machar, former South Sudan's First Vice President. Commissioner Dey was appointed by the opposition leader, Machar.

The county is close to both the Sudanese and Ethiopian borders to the north and east, respectively. In Upper Nile state it borders Maiwut county to the east, Nasir county to the southeast, Akoka county to the southwest, Melut county to the west and Mabaan county to the northwest.

Its administrative payams include Gueng, Warweng, Jangok Udier, Dajo, Chotbora, Pamach, Jongjith, Malual, Guelguk, Belwang and Mathiang administrative headquarters.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (JUBA) - The South Sudanese government has criticised neigbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for allegedly permitting the use of its territory to be used to evacuate armed opposition leader and former first vice president, Riek Machar.

South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, speaks to reporters in Jonglei state capital Bor on 25 December 2014 (ST)

The country's information and broadcasting Minister Michael Makuei Lueth described evacuation of Machar from inside the country using an aircraft coming from Congo as a violation of international law and asked Congolese government through its embassy to explain why they could not inform them if they did not permit the evacuation plan.

The outspoken minister, in a statement on the state-owned SSBC, said "such act does not benefit either of the two countries as well as regional and global peace".

His comments follows a summon by the ministry of foreign Affairs of Congolese ambassador in Juba for a meeting at which the ministry officially protested what it calls border limitation by Congolese authorities. Machar fled the capital, Juba, after government forces attacked his residence following a clash between presidential guard force loyal to president and his (Machar) security details at the presidential palace in Juba, resulting in the death of over 200 soldiers on both sides.

Fearing for his life, he moved out of Juba hoping that the ceasefire he and president Salva Kiir declared would hold for him to return and resume his work at the presidency. But continued attacks by government forces pursuing him forced him to flee into DRC where the United Nations airlifted him after suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.

Commenting on Machar's exit, the foreign ministry spokesman Mawien Makol said the ministry summoned the DRC ambassador in Juba to explain the action by his country. Makol claimed South Sudanese airspace was violated during the evacuation process.

“We summoned the Congolese Ambassador in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because we were protesting on the border limitation that happened last week when the forces belonging to the former First Vice President crossed the border with him,” said Mawien.

“They [DRC] entered with a flight into the border without the knowledge of the government of the Republic of South Sudan, so that thing of course annoyed us and we have explained to him that this is what happened and he is going to convey the message to his country and that we were not informed about the coming into our border with the flight from Congolese. So they shouldn't come to our airspace without getting permission from this country,” he added.

(ST)

At least 34 fighters loyal to Libya's unity government are killed as militia push into the last areas of the coastal city of Sirte held by so-called Islamic State.

Newcastle United sign Ipswich Town striker Daryl Murphy and Moraoccan defender Achraf Lazaar for undisclosed fees.

Leicester City are in talks over forward Islam Slimani, with Sporting Lisbon understood to want £34m for the Algeria international.

Africa's worst yellow fever outbreak in 30 years prompts a race to protect millions of people from the disease, complicated by a shortage of vaccines.

August 27, 2016(BOR) - The office of governor of South Sudan's Jonglei state has described an "error" the increases in the number of the state counties from 11 to 14.

Jonglei state governor, Phillip Aguer speaks during the independence occassion July 9, 2016 (ST)

In a 2 May, decree No. 12/2016, Philip Aguer established 11 new counties in Bor.

The increase in the number of counties from 3 to 11, he said, came as a result of the demand of the people in the state, who wanted more administrative units closer to them.

Among the new counties, Bor county was divided into Bor South county (Kolnyang), Bor East county (Anyidi), Bor Centre county (Makuach), Bor West county (Baidit) and Bor North county (Jalle).

Also, Twic East county was divided into Twic North county (Panyagor), Twic Center county (Wangulei) and Twic South county (Adubaar/Maar). Similarly, former Duk county also have Duk Padiet county (Padiet), Duk Payuel county (Payuel) and Panyang county (Pajut).

Furthermore, the current commissioners of the former counties of Bor,Twic East and Duk counties shall continue to run the 11 new counties until further order is established.

But according order of 17 August 2016, the President of South Sudan has signed a document showing the number and names of the new counties in the 28 states.

In this order, Jonglei state appeared to have 14 counties. Three out of these had been added, namely Athooc county, Anyidi Makuach county and Kolnyang county.

These has therefore brought the number of counties to eight from the former Bor county.

Aguer told Sudan Tribune that this was an error from the office of the president.

“We have 11 new counties in Jonglei state. And there has been a lot of mess up in the names and in the number of the counties. This did not happen only in Jonglei state, but in other states, even in Boma and in other states of Bahre Al Gazal, other states of Equartoria. And the document was presented to the councils of states. And the councils of states presented [it ]to the presidency”, Aguer said Wednesday.

“And recently, we have received a final document, and this final document has indicated the counties that we want”, he added.

He said his office would consider only 11 counties and left out the three "error" counties.

“I think part of it is confusion in the typing in the office of the president. But we will not go by the confusion; we will take the real counties. The number here is even 14 [counties], but we don't have 14. So that is a printing error," stressed Aguer.

He also went as far as naming the counties believed to have resulted from the typing error.

“There is Athooc, which is an error, there is Anyidi-Makuach, which is an error, there is Kolnyang which again is an error. So we will have 11 counties out of this document, which is signed by the president of Republic of South Sudan, and that will go into the budgeting planning”, explained the governor.

“By the end of this month, we will embark on the appointment of new commissioners. So we will have new commissioners by the end of August”, he added.

On Saturday, elders, elites and intellectuals of former Bor county, living in Bor town, met in Bor, to find a common ground on the nnumber counties. The people, who got divided into payams, presented their views to the acting chairperson of Bor community and the present Bor county commissioner and the members of parliament.

Their resolution further indicated that former Bor county had accepted the eight new counties instead. Majority of people described it as a genuine number of counties that people of Bor deserved based on the their populations results of 2008 census.

(ST).

By Jim Yong Kim

Africa needs much more investment from the private sector to build its roads, energy and communications infrastructure. But for countries to make the most use of that infrastructure, they also need to invest more in people — - in brain power and “gray matter” infrastructure, to realize their demographic dividend that fuels inclusive economic growth.

This week in Nairobi, Kenya, at the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, African countries and their partners must grasp this unprecedented opportunity to chart a course toward universal health coverage, or UHC. This initiative, which is being led by the government of Japan, a global champion of UHC, is critical to Africa's future growth and prosperity. The World Bank Group will announce today a $15 billion commitment over the next five years to accelerate universal health coverage in Africa.

Better health and survival rates — particularly for mothers and children — are linked to economic growth. The evidence is overwhelming: The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health found that survival gains contribute disproportionately to economic growth in Africa. Improved early childhood nutrition, early stimulation and early learning programs extend school completion and improve learning outcomes, and in turn, increase adult wages. The commission also found that investments in universal health coverage pay off at a rate of as high as 10 to 1.

Our alignment around UHC needs to, first and foremost, assess the current state of health in Africa. Continued high levels of mortality for mothers and children, along with high rates of undernutrition, are top priorities where accelerated progress is possible and necessary. These must be balanced with the growing demands for chronic care associated with non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Africa's brave and successful struggles with neglected tropical diseases such as guinea worm and river blindness, along with its meteoric progress in the fights against malaria and HIV, are evidence of what is possible.

Yet the recent outbreaks of Ebola, yellow fever, and new cases of polio in Nigeria are sobering reminders of the shared responsibility that all countries have in making sure that their health services are not only universal in name —but in practice. Against this challenging landscape of health needs, African leaders need to embrace ambitious reforms in services and financing.

Frontline primary health care services led by community health workers, with appropriate referral for essential hospital care and emergency outbreak response capacity, are the defining service pillars of universal health coverage. Breakthroughs in these models of care are in evidence across the continent.

But universal coverage of essential services requires a fundamental shift in the way health care is financed. UHC means changing from a pay-as-you-go system — which punishes the poor for being sick and led to the impoverishment of more than 11 million people in Africa in 2014 alone — to pre-paying for health, which promotes prompt access when people are ill, and protects the poor. We need to put money directly in the hands of poor women, through cash transfer programs that offer universal health, education and nutrition entitlements to these women and their children, and are strongly associated with inclusive growth.

Donor assistance needs to more effectively support UHC expansion in countries. Through the Global Financing Facility, we are working with countries to achieve smarter, scaled and sustainable financing for their health sectors. We know, however, that even the best-prepared and financed health systems can be overwhelmed in the context of an epidemic. This is why at the G7 meeting in May, we launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, an innovative, fast-disbursing global financing mechanism designed to help stop the next outbreak before it becomes an epidemic.

We must continue to invest in what works – such as the scale-up of bed nets to protect people from malaria, the use of drones to deliver life-saving medical supplies to remote villages, and the deployment of thousands of new community health workers across Africa. We can harness this potential more systematically and ultimately create more jobs while delivering better health outcomes.

With the right investments, we can save the lives of millions of people, help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty, and ensure that all people are healthier and live longer and more productive lives. This is within Africa's reach, and one foundation for the prosperity of the continent will be commitments to universal health coverage.

The author is President of the World Bank Group.

August 27, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People's Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) Saturday has called on the United States Special Envoy Donald Booth to help to secure the release of detained pastors and activists in Sudan.

Sudanese Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud, (L) shakes hands with U.S. Special Envoy Donald Booth at his office in Khartoum on July 29, 2016 (ST Photo)

Last week a Sudanese court began the trial of two Sudanese Christian pastors, a Czech missionary filmmaker and a human rights activist. The four are accused of conducting intelligence activities and providing material support for the rebels in South Kordofan.

Ahead of Booth's visit to Khartoum, SPLM-N Secretary General Yasir Arman disclosed in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune that he requested the U.S. special envoy to advocate for their release.

“SPLM-N Secretary General on Friday phoned the US special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan who is on his way to Khartoum about the attacks on Sudanese Christians especially the trial of Christian pastors from the Nuba Mountains and civil society activists including, Rev. Kuwa Shamal, Rev. Hassan Abdel Rahim, activist Abdel-Moneim and Czech journalist Petr Jasek,” said the statement .

According to the statement, the US diplomat stressed that the American embassy in Khartoum is following this “important issue”.

"The Secretary-General sent the same message to the other international envoys to Sudan" added the statement, underlining that the issue is related to the "right of citizenship without discrimination and to ensure basic human rights".

The SPLM-N and two armed groups in Darfur signed earlier this month a Roadmap Agreement providing to negotiate cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements with the government.

The rebel groups and the government are expected to resume talks within two week to finalize the humanitarian truce before to hold a meeting to discuss other confidence building measures including basic freedoms. These steps are supposed to pave the way for their return to Khartoum to take part in a constitutional conference.

In a related development the SPLM-N formed a 23-member committee to reach the international community and to campaign for the rights of Sudanese Christians .

(ST)

August 27, 2016 (JUBA)- The head of the Jieng Council of Elders (JCE), has commended the decision by President Salva Kiir to disown hostile statements from members of his administration towards the United Nations, saying it demonstrated wisdom and responsibility.

President adresses a joint press conference on 9 July 2016 (Reuters Photo)

“The country is in crisis and for this reason there is a need to exercise strong leadership and take decisions and actions which may be protested by others but which are necessary and good for the interest of the country. The world was waiting to hear what he would say in the parliament. So he acted wisely," said Ambrose Riiny Thiik.

"He [Kiir] demonstrated strong leadership and should people appreciate the address and support the speech", he added.

A former chief of justice in the regional administration before South Sudan seceded from Sudan, Thiik said Africa's newest nation was not an island to be isolated from the region.

The JCE is a tribal group largely comprising of relatives to the president and Dinka politicians loyal to him who mainly act as informal advisors to the South Sudanese leader.

“Yes, we are a sovereign state. We are independent country. There is no argument about. But the truth of the matter is that we support from other countries because we are part of a family of the world. Because of this the government decided to accept in principle the deployment of the protection force but this what does this mean? It means that they will not automatically be deployed without the approval of the government," stressed Thiik.

He added, "They government will have to get into discussions with IGAD, with the African Union and the United Nations to discuss the specific details of what they would do. There are things government can do, then that will be agreed and left to the government”.

President Kiir recently said those speaking against the deployment of regional protection forces in the South Sudan capital, Juba do not necessarily reflect his government's position.

(ST)

August 27, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ghandour has said differences that existed among Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have completely been settled.

The Grand Renaissance Dam is under construction on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. (Photo AFP/William Lloyd-George)

The Dubai-based Al Bayan newspaper reported on Saturday that Ghandour said relations among the three nations have moved into a new phase, saying they are now considering proposals developed by Egypt in this regard.

Ghandour underscored the three countries have overcome the differences on the GERD, saying the international consultants would achieve solutions pertaining to the technical aspects of the project.

He pointed the three countries are currently developing a strategic cooperation agreement covering political, security and economic issues that serve the interests of their peoples and the region.

The Sudanese top diplomat pointed that leaders of three nations would meet soon to discuss the latest developments pertaining to the GERD, saying they would also discuss ways to enhance tripartite cooperation and to establish a comprehensive development fund.

Last year, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia signed a declaration of principles on the dam project that tacitly approves the dam construction but calls for technical studies aimed at safeguarding the water quotas of the three riparian states.

On September 22, 2014, a tripartite committee from the three countries proposed the conduction of two additional studies on the dam project, the first one on the effect of the dam on the water quota of Sudan and Egypt and the second one to examine the dam's ecological, economic and social impacts of the dam on Sudan and Egypt.

The French Artelia and BRL groups have been selected to undertake the dam impact studies. The U.K.-based law firm Corbett & Co was selected to manage the legal affairs of the tripartite committee.

Last month, Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Ati said the final contracts on the impact studies of the GERD would be signed within a few days. However, the three nations are yet to sign the contracts.

The multi-billion dollar dam is being constructed on the Blue Nile, about 20 kilometres from the Sudanese border, and has a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate electrical power of up to 6,000 megawatts.

Egypt is concerned that the dam could reduce its quota of 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile water, while the Ethiopian side maintains that the dam is primarily built to produce electricity and will not harm Sudan and Egypt.

Last May, Ethiopia's Minister of Information and Communication Getachew Reda said the GERD is almost 70% complete.

(ST)

August 27, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih on Saturday has discussed with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bilateral ties between Kampala and Khartoum and the regional developments.

Sudan's President Omer Hassan al-Bashir waits to welcome Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni at Khartoum Airport September 15, 2015 (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi, Kampala.

Sudan's official news agency (SUNA) quoted the Sudanese Foreign Minister as saying that the meeting also discussed the ongoing arrangements for the upcoming visit of the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir to Kampala besides the meeting of the joint security and political committees between the two countries.

Following ten years of strained relations, Museveni visited Khartoum last September where he and al-Bashir agreed to work together to bring stability in South Sudan and the region, and to end tensions between the two countries over the issue of rebel groups.

Last May, al-Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, was one of the dignitaries at President's Yoweri Museveni's inauguration in Kampala.

The two presidents held a short meeting on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony where Museveni invited Bashir to visit Kampala again within the framework of bilateral relations.

Uganda is a state party to the Rome Statute and has an obligation to arrest the Sudanese president.

However, during his inauguration, Museveni described the ICC as a “bunch court” to be ignored by African leaders, downplaying the its case against the Sudanese president.

(ST)