Africa

November 9, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Three armed groups in Darfur region extended the unilateral cessation of hostilities for three months, and called for the resumption of talks to reach a political solution to the conflict based on the African Union-brokered roadmap agreement.

Undated picture extended to Sudan Tribune on 28 April 2015 by the Justice and Equality Movement showing their fighters during a training exercise

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnwi (SLM-MM) and Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council (SLM-TC) Friday declared "an immediate extension of their unilateral Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes".

"The Cessation of Hostilities shall enter into force at 11:59 pm (SLT) on the 9th of November 2018 and will extend for 3 months to 11:59 pm (SLT) on 8th of February 2019. The Cessation of Hostilities shall apply throughout the conflict areas of Darfur," said a joint statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

The JEM and the SLM-MM have been committed to the unilateral cessation of hostilities for three years.

The first declaration of unilateral cessation of hostilities was on 17 October 2015. It was issued by the unified Sudanese Revolutionary Front including Darfur and the Two Areas of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

The SLM-TC led by Hadi Idriss joined the humanitarian truce for the first time last year.

On Sunday, a joint delegation from JEM and SLM-MM will travel to Doha for a meeting with the Qatari officials to discuss the modalities of the negotiations which would take place in Qatar once a humanitarian cessation of hostilities is reached in Addis Ababa.

The statement recalled the need for a "durable peace" in Sudan and reiterated their adherence to the "AUHIP Roadmap Agreement of 2016 as the means of achieving peace for all Sudan through a truly inclusive political process".

Further, they called for the immediate resumption of negotiations for a peaceful settlement.

Two groups now accept to negotiate on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur after calling for a new process, also Khartoum recently made a concession as it agreed to form a new independent implementation mechanism for the deal that the parties would reach.

(ST)

November 9, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Minister of Defence Awad Ibn Ouf said arrangements are underway to establish joint border protection forces with Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia.

Speaking to the parliament on Wednesday, Ibn Ouf said consultations have gone a long way between the Sudan, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia to form these joint forces in order to achieve a secure neighbourhood, pointing to the successful experience of the joint Sudanese-Chadian border protection force.

According to the defence minister, the Sudanese army would establish a joint force with each of the abovementioned countries separately.

Ibn Ouf further pointed to the evolving Sudanese-Egyptian relations and cooperation on the various fields, saying Sudan's openness to its neighbours has enhanced its regional role.

In January 2010, Sudan and Chad signed a normalization agreement ending a long history of mutual hostility in which both sides provided support to each other's insurgents.

The joint border force has been deployed along the joint border in 2010 in line with a deal to stop support to rebel groups and cross-border attacks.

Last year, the two countries announced their intention to expand the deployment of the joint force to include counter-terrorism and disarmament.

Also, the Sudanese and Ethiopian armies last August signed an agreement to withdraw troops from both sides of the border and to deploy joint forces to combat "terrorism", human trafficking and to eliminate any potential security tensions.

In a meeting held last April in Niamey, Sudan, Chad, Libya and Niger agreed to “coordinate the actions” of their armed forces to fight against the “transnational crime” in the region.

The four countries agreed “on the establishment of a cooperation mechanism for border security and the fight against transnational organized crime”.

Last June, they signed an agreement in Ndjamena to control and monitor the joint borders.

The political instability in Libya after the collapse of Muammar Kadaffi's regime impacted negatively the whole region and particularly, Niger, Chad and Sudan.

Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Boko Haram pose a serious threat to Niger and Chad while Sudan seeks to prevent trafficking of arms to Darfur and migration of mercenaries to Libya.

(ST)

November 9, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudan peace monitoring body (JMEC) facilitated a meeting for the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) of Gabriel Changson to discuss the membership and composition of the Joint Defence Board (JDB).

In a statement released on Friday, JMEC said it convened on Thursday a meeting for the SSOA leadership members attended by officials from the Office of the IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan after a disagreement within the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC) on the correct interpretation of Article 2.4.2 of the R-ACRSS 2018 on nominations to the JDB.

The article 2.4.2 provides that the JDB is formed at the level of Chiefs of Staff (or the leaders of the armed groups) and Directors General of National Security Service, Police, and all other organized forces to exercise command and control over all forces during the Pre-Transitional Period.

At the end of the meeting which was chaired by the JMEC Acting Chairperson Augostino S.K. Njoroge, the SSOA Chair "Gabriel Changson Chang and his fellow members of the Alliance reached a common understanding," said the statement without elaborating.

The statement added that as result of the reached understanding, the SSOA's membership nominees to the JDB will be submitted to JMEC, stressing that "all outstanding issues surrounding the matter have been cleared up".

Commenting on the compromise reached by the SSOA factions, Njoroge hailed the deal saying “SSOA showed their unwavering support for the agreement, and were prepared to be flexible to abide by our impartial interpretation of provisions of the revitalized agreement".

He stressed the JMEC readiness to fulfil their role of facilitating wherever they can, to ensure that the peace implementation continues without delay.

(ST)

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