Africa

May 28, 2015 (JUBA) - A leading South Sudanese armed opposition commander allied to the former vice president, Riek Machar, has confirmed receiving messages and contacts from people in president Salva Kiir's government proposing to him and his group to accept going into a parallel dialogue with the government.

SPLA in Opposition generals Gatwech Dual (R), Dau Aturjong (C) and Gabriel Tanginye pictured in Pagak on 8 December 2014 (ST)

Major General Dau Aturjong who commands rebel forces in Northern Bahr el Ghazla said he had been approached many times by government officials and agents to initiate a separate negotiation with him away from the Addis Ababa peace process.

“They have been trying to talk to us with the view that we get into separate negotiation from Addis [Ababa] with them. They want to localize our grievances but we have told them clearly that we are part of the national matters, which are being discussed in Addis by our team,”, General Aturjong told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

The government, according to him, had been contacting him and his group through different categories of people and organizations to persuade them to make a separate arrangement with Juba.

“They have never stopped contacting us through different category of people. They are using relatives, religious leaders, my comrades in the army, police and security as well as business people,” he explained.

He also said his troops, which size is not known, have taken complete control of areas near the Sudanese border, but denied that he and his forces were getting support from the government of neighbouring Sudan.

His own headquarters, he said, has been 250 kilometers away from the common border with neighbouring Sudan in an area deeply inside South Sudanese territory since he moved to the region in 2014.

He dismissed allegations that his forces were stationed at disputed territories with Sudan and not inside South Sudan.

“Our forces are outside the disputed areas. We are not in Mile 14 area. We are inside South Sudan, far away from the disputed areas. If there is anybody who is looking for us, he will get us here,” he said.

General Aturjong was reacting to a question asking him to comment on reports that his forces had only taken advantage of the withdrawal of the government forces from the disputed territories and that he had been receiving military supplies, weapons and training from the Sudanese army in Abu Matareq in East Darfur state.

He appealed to the humanitarian organisations to go to the area, saying a lot of people had moved to areas under his control and were helping them to settle so that they could cultivate during this planting season.

People, he said, were running away from the government controlled areas to the opposition held territories, adding this was where they could find a way to cope with the situation.

“They say life in Aweil town and other areas is not easy. They are finding it extremely difficult. They cannot cultivate. But here, they can find a place to cultivate. There is a vast area for cultivation,” he claimed.

He further explained that the opposition appointed governor, Akol Madhan Akol, and his officials were working with the opposition leadership in Pagak to find ways in which humanitarian organisations could extend relief assistance to Northern Bahr el Ghazal state.

He said many vulnerable people were coming to the rebel controlled areas in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, adding they needed shelters, food and items like blankets, saucepans, mosquito net, hoes, axes and farming implements.

The rebel commander also commended Sudanese authorities for opening their gate to South Sudanese fleeing the conflict and other associated difficulties to states in Sudan in search of safety and security.

(ST)

This is 35-year-old Oscar Ouedraogo’s first deployment with a United Nations peacekeeping mission. The native of Burkina Faso has been working as a corrections officer for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) since 20 September 2014, in the capital, Bangui.

By Sudan Democracy First Group

Before Al Gareeda newspaper was indefinitely suspended by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), as part of a mass censorship of Khartoum newspapers, the newspaper had been the first to break the news about the torching of villages and forcible relocation of thousands of villagers in Blue Nile state. Al Gareeda reported on fires that consumed the villages of Maganza, Midyam and Bagis in the Bau locality. The newspaper's local correspondent estimated the number of those left homeless by the fires at 6,872 and quoted a survivor as saying “we have suffered greatly from the effects of the war that has reignited in the region in 2011, but these village fires are the worst we have ever experienced.” Residents appealed to state authorities to investigate the incident, and to humanitarian agencies, both national and international, to come to their assistance. According to Al Gareeda, when asked to comment, the Commissioner of Bau locality declined to comment on the cause of the fires.

While news of these events has been slow to trickle down to national and international audiences, local community activists and human rights monitors, Funj Youth Development Association (FYDA), have been reporting that the village burnings began in April, signaling a new wave of scorched earth tactics in the government's counterinsurgency campaign against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement / Army-North (SPLM/A-N) in Blue Nile. The Blue Nile Human Rights and Peace Center documented these developments in a statement issued on 27 May (Arabic), which prompted the UN Resident Coordinator to issue a strong expression of concern for the populations affected by these forcible evictions and relocations.

According to reports, the first incident occurred on 10 April, when government soldiers stormed the village of Midyam Eljabal, evicted villagers from their huts, looted their possessions, and burned the entire village to the ground. Another wave of attacks occurred on the villages of Maganza and Bagis on 11 and 12 May. These two attacks appeared to be in retaliation for the losses government soldiers sustained in an encounter with the SPLA-N fighters on 10 May. The clash occurred not far from the two villages, near Kilgu, south west of Damazin. Local activists reported that the soldiers surrounded Maganza, ordered the locals to gather at a specific point outside the village, and then set fire to homes, shops, mills, water points and the market. The village was left in ashes. The locals were not allowed to take with them any of their belongings. The same scenario was repeated the next day in Bagis. Local activists estimate the number of houses burnt to be close to 6000.

The displaced, forced to stay in the open for three days, were later trucked to Azaza, Algari, Wadafodi, Shanisha Baidha, Hamda and Umbarid in Roseires locality on the east bank of Blue Nile River by security officials operating trucks brought in from Ed Damazin. The number of people affected is unknown. Figures vary from the 6,872 reported by Al Gareeda for the three villages, to approximately 30,000 according to local community activists who cite other villages that have experienced the same scenario: Gambarda, Galfouk, Abugarin, Midyam Masalit, Salbel and Fadamiya. The displaced from these villages were similarly relocated in Rosairis locality.

Decisive Summer Continues

The Government of Sudan (GoS) has a long record of unleashing such campaigns against entire communities of populations it suspects of being supportive of rebels on account of their ethnicity. This type of campaign has become a fixed feature of the GoS's current Decisive Summer Campaigns against the rebel Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), and populations designated as “rebel supporters.” Thus, during the 2013-14 fighting season, the GoS's Rapid Support Force's (RSF) in late February 2014 burned 35 villages south of Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, forcibly displacing thousands.

These latest attacks on civilians appear to be prompted by the unraveling of the government's Decisive Summer Campaign in Blue Nile. The Minister of Defense Abdel-Rahim Ahmed Hussein launched the campaign in person in a fiery speech in Ed Damazin on 3 October 2014, declaring as its objective the clearing of SPLA-N forces from the southwestern part of the state, along the border with Maban county in South Sudan's Upper Nile state, itself a stronghold for South Sudanese rebels. To preempt the move, the SPLM-N sent mobile units in the heartlands of government-controlled areas in the Ingessana Hills, putting government forces on the defensive. The SPLA-N has since managed to control the town of Jam, and conducted hit and run operations close to Ed Damazin, the state capital.

Full control of the Ingessana Hills, 40 km southwest of Ed Damazin, has become an important military target for government forces. As the home area of Malik Agar, Chairman of the SPLM/A-N and of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, the Hills hold symbolic value. As such the government considers the population in the Hills—named after the majority ethnic group in the area, the Ingessana people—the natural constituency and civilian base of SPLA-N. The area has thus been the target of deliberate and indiscriminate aerial bombings and the site of burned villages and farms since the outbreak of the war, as SDFG reported as early as 2012 (Arabic).

Humanitarian Urgency

The newly displaced people, who lost all of their belongings, are now facing severe humanitarian conditions in their areas of relocation in El Roseires locality. They suffer from a lack of adequate shelter, remaining exposed to the elements, and increasing the risks of catching preventable diseases, including malaria and diarrhea, particularly for children and the elderly.

Attempts by humanitarian agencies present in the area, including those of the United Nations, to reach the displaced in order to assess and provide for their needs, have been frustrated by government blockages. The humanitarian blockade also extends to the public who expressed solidarity with victims. Resident of El Roseires locality, who collected food items from the local market, reported that they were harassed by security agents and not allowed to access the displaced. Local humanitarian organizations seen as largely controlled by the government are reported to be the only ones allowed to provide assistance to the displaced, namely Pan-Care and Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS). Since the beginning of the war, the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) has informed international humanitarian organizations that assistance for civilians in Blue Nile State will be provided by national NGOs, and that any support from international organizations should be channeled through a committee that has been established in the state for this purpose

The incoming the rainy season will only exacerbate the displaced community's plight. The remote areas to which they were relocated are usually inaccessible during the rainy season. Obtaining food, medicine and life saving medicines will be quite challenging when the roads become impassable.

Food insecurity is inevitable for the short and medium run. The poor capacity to plant for the displaced that left behind their land in former villages will make it impossible for them to take advantage of the agricultural season that usually starts in June. As they have already missed planting their home farms (known locally as the Jubraka) and anticipating tensions that could arise due to competition over cultivable land with the local populations, these communities will likely be unable to feed their families.

In this grave context, it is imperative for regional and international actors invested in a future peaceful and democratic Sudan to use their influence and leverage on the GoS to remind it to abide by internationally-recognized laws prohibiting wartime attacks on civilians. The international community should publicly denounce the denial of humanitarian access to relief workers and the blockage of relief supplies to populations that need them.

The GoS itself, recently revived by elections resulting in a renewed five-year mandate, should take seriously its own overtures about a national dialogue process by taking the steps to create an environment conducive to a genuine process. That begins with ceasing deliberate attacks against civilians, as well as the destruction of their homes and the looting of their belongings. It further includes lifting any blockades, and allowing unrestricted humanitarian access to populations in need.

May 27, 2015 (KAMPALA) – Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday called on the government of president Yoweri Museveni to withdraw the country's troops from the neighbouring South Sudan, saying the cost for their operations was very high and a burden to taxpayers.

Thousands of troops of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) backed with helicopter gunships, tanks and other armoured vehicles, have been deployed in South Sudan since December 2013 to rescue president Salva Kiir from rebel fighters led by former vice president, Riek Machar.

President Museveni on many occasions said the intervention was necessary to maintain the government of president Salva Kiir and stability in the new nation. He also said the forces will not withdraw until he was rest assured that Juba was “secure.”

But Uganda parliament on Tuesday said the cost for keeping UPDF in South Sudan had been a huge burden shouldered by the taxpayers in the country.

In a report presented to the parliament by its specialized committee on defence and internal affairs, the document called on the government to pull out the forces and instead to ask the East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), to provide alternative forces to protect Juba and other vital areas.

“The committee urges government to continue engaging IGAD to ensure a neutral force is deployed,” the report said as reported by Ugandan Daily Monitor.

“This is because the continued presence of the UPDF in South Sudan is proving to be a very high cost to the Ugandan taxpayer,” the lawmakers further said.

Uganda defence ministry also revealed that the country has so far spent over 119 billion Shillings to finance its intervention in South Sudan, saying this was costlier than the country army's operations in Somalia.

UPDF WILL NOT WITHDRAW

However, defence minister, Crispus Kiyonga, told the parliament, Tuesday, that Ugandan troops will not withdraw from South Sudan despite the cost, adding that Juba government continues to pay UPDF for its other expenses including fuel for the operations against the rebels.

He said the previously talked about alternative force from IGAD had not materialized and therefore UPDF will continue to help defend president Kiir's government.

“The IGAD force that was supposed to take the place of the UPDF has not yet become a reality. To that extent, therefore, we will remain put in South Sudan,” he declared.

However observers doubt that the parliament, which is controlled by the ruling party, will come out with a resolution directing the government to effect withdrawal of the forces.

A cessation of hostilities agreement (CoHA) signed by the two warring parties on 23 January, 2014, under the mediation of IGAD, and which called for withdrawal of all foreign forces from South Sudan, has not been implemented.

IGAD is yet to announce a date on which the peace negotiations will resume in Addis Ababa under a new expanded mechanism that will include countries and international bodies outside the African continent.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 27, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) party is sweeping vote count from Sunday's parliamentary election.

National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) Chairman Merga Bekana announces preliminary results to the media in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Wednesday, May 27, 2015. (Photo AP/Mulugeta Ayene)

Partial results announced on Wednesday by the country's National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) showed that prime minister Hailemariam Desalegen led EPRDF party has so far won 442 seats out of the 547-seat parliament.

According Preliminary results, the ruling party and its allied regional political organizations are sweeping votes in all regions across the nation.

At a news conference held Wednesday, NEBE chairperson Merga Bekana confirmed EPRDF has won 80.8% of the total parliamentary seats including 23 parliamentary seats from the capital, Addis Ababa.

Bekana said that the EPRDF, which is ruling the country since 1991, has also won 79.4% (1,508) seats for the regional councils.

Over 90 % of the total registered 36.8 million people have cast their votes on Sunday's national elections; the country's first since Ethiopia's long-time ruler Meles Zenawi, died in office in 2012.

Bekana has commended the people's active participation during the election which he said had witnessed huge turnout compared to previous elections.

He said Ethiopians had “really committed themselves to the development of democracy”

In the last vote in 2010, opposition parties won only a single seat in the 547 seat parliament.

Supporters of the country's two largest opposition parties (Blue Party and Medrek) hope that the parties would secure seats this time however officials of the electoral board haven't yet announce if any.

“Regarding the remaining results, we have to wait. According to our timetable we have time to gather, to collect and then publish it according to our schedule,” Bekana said adding “but I cannot actually tell you actually how many remaining seats will be occupied by opposition or ruling party”.

Final election results will be announced on June 22.

The African Union (AU) observers' mission said Ethiopia's Sunday general elections were “credible” and in line with African Union standards.

“The Ethiopian Parliamentary elections were generally consistent with the AU guidelines on the conduct of elections in Africa” former Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba, in an initial report he issued on Tuesday.

Approached by Sudan Tribune, some opposition members however said there were some irregularities.

Opposition members claimed that there were some ballot boxes that went missing.

They also said ballot boxes were not openly shown to be empty before voting begins.

(ST)

By Abdirahman Mohamed Dirye

Multiparty politics were introduced in Somaliland a decade and half ago following collective effort to ease power conflict and enhance accountability. Somaliland earned as a result titles like “Beacon of Hope” or Africa's Pearl of Democracy” “Exemplary to the Failed Somalia” among others. But all of a sudden, the democratization process halted when the National Election Commission's( NEC), the only legal body for election affairs from setting time to announcing results, decision of the presidential and lawmaking elections dated 2016 was illegally vetoed by the so called outgoing Council Guurti for financial gains! Their recklessness and gamble triggered massive crisis of each other's throats drawing global threats of cutting aid from Somaliland. The wrong decision sounds a death knell to the democracy.

Nation-wide protests continues despite crackdowns by the so called Police locally known as Residential (houses) Raiders Uninformed or RRU, controversial institution which still funds by the UK government. The abbreviation born out of raiding several houses terrorized sleeping children and abducted their fathers.

Political battles rage between those parroting the government line on insisting on that extension is legal because the First Family's grandson got sick and the Wadanni party and those champions of democracy who say how earth grandson's illness can make elections delay indefinitely! The world should intervene to prevent major wars that will extend from Yemen to Djibouti to seashores of Kenya. In fact, nobody knows for sure what Guurti based their insane decision other whispering, “our hands were lubricated” thanks in part to Hirsi's generosity, and Salaben's bravery combined! “Fools rush where angels fear to tread”. Relapsed Prone-conflict Somaliland into political turmoil dashing any hope for any international recognition—President deprioritized recognition

International Crisis Group published critical report yesterday revealing the trends Somaliland institution and the twists and turns the self-rectifying mechanisms took and the consequences ahead. UN threatened Special Fund Arrangement if no compromise is reached.

“Somaliland entered new era of losing friends not gaining,” he added. “Acceding to the illegal extension of the president's expiring term next July will be disservice to the nation, a perjury to constitutional oath I took when assumed the parliament as speaker, and deception to the democratic values” he also eulogized for the victims of the demonstration in solidarity with democracy and the rule of law. He concluded in his speech “I'll never relent to restore our democracy to its previous track whatever it takes and the confidence of the world in Somaliland's struggling institutions after the ugly decision undermined; discredited NEC's in the eyes of the world”.

Obama's speech to the Muslim World “there're people that advocate democracy when they're out of power, and oppress people when they're in...” president Silanyo, in retrospective, was a “champion” of democracy but he shown that he's pushover to brutes who realized democracy is detrimental to their regime. Nothing far from the truth about Silanyo's crocodile tears on democracy other than the above quote, it fits him so well. He's man with honeyed words but evil man.

Somaliland democracy faces multiple dangers and may die soon! Firstly, Islamists masquerading as innocent lark, secondly, recklessness from the part of the government.

Mr. Irro the presidential candidate, based on surveys, the most likely winner of 2016 elections, showed a great leadership and trustworthiness in his simultaneous micromanagement of the parliament and his party Wadanni. He's a champion of the return of Somaliland ruling party to democracy; uphold the rule of law and annulment of any extension from the Guurti to exit the stalemate and moving forward.

On this issue, the international community clarified their stance on it: stick to NEC's timeframe of the elections or hell with you. The foreign delegates frequent to Wadanni Headquarters in Hargeisa are moral support to the democracy and solidarity with demonstrators, said Mr. irro.

Surely, without contributions from the West, surely without the support from International Republic Institute's technical-know, Somaliland's democracy had utterly failed.

Therefore, The UN should take tougher line to stop recidivism to illegal extensions and vetoing verdicts from NEC or courts. Institutions are in parallel neutralizing each other's verdict had confused voters and people should remember one wrong can't make another wrong right as pro-extension defenders claim. That's a lame excuse was untenable and utterly rejected by UN and other world bodies. Will our Zine Al Abdine having seen the tides against him reverse illegal extension or buries his head in the sand and eventually wakes up Somaliland in “bloodbath” and regrettably say “oh! In retrospective, have I solved it, we might be safe?” The illegitimate extension is a ticking bomb unless the world addresses immediately.

Dirye is Somaliland Activist, political Commentator, and Senior Editor at Democracy Chronicles, mrdirye@gmail.com

By Trayo A. Ali

As I am diving into and trying to fish out the hidden agenda the Sudan government that it wishes to pass them through the armpits of newly speculated Arab military grouping that emerging from the ashes of the Yemen war, I thought it helpful to start with this piece of political folklore that enables us to reveal the inner thinking of Machiavellian nature of the government and preempt the tricks it employs and reveal the motives it harbor when it comes to this kind of “political games”.

(1) Tradition goes, once teacher always teacher

A classical folk story of Sudanese politics has it that, a veteran member of the “oldest profession” went to pilgrimage in “Mecca” and successfully performed her religion duties. When an old client of her came to congratulate for the successful godly journey to the Holy Land, to his utter disbelieve, he found her comfortably engaged in the same usual activities. He then shockingly kept his head down and asked her, whether she had not repented as she is now “Haja”. She replied: how can a carpenter abandon his lifelong profession for the simple reason of visiting “Mecca”? The client replied and said to her: yah, you may be damn right, tradition always goes and “once teacher, always teacher”. She then held her head high and gave a yellow smile and said: “That is also done in politics, ask those in power corridors”.

(1) Machiavellian ways of evading deadly blows
Sudan, although tops the list, when it comes to the issue of international terrorism and states sponsoring, yet surprisingly and under “circumstances need to be further explained”, has miraculously avoided much expected hard punches and deadly blows. But most importantly, those costly “narrow escapes” were made possible on the expenses of many invaluable values including country's “self-reputation”, “citizen welfare”, “unity of the country” among other rationalities.
Sudan's records tell that, when, after the terrorist attacks on America in 2001, and as the issue of international terrorism topped Global security agenda, the regime managed to survive by, among other means, sacrificing with the better half of it (regime's ideological clergy man, Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi).
In 2005, when the so-termed Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed and the process of openness was due to be effected in the country (to the disadvantage of terrorist policies), the Islamist totalitarian authorities (for reasons better known to them) preferred to keep it “terrorist”. They did it successfully by offering one third of the country to go separate way. That sound like, for Islamic Fundamentalist, “terrorism” pays and is a lucrative business. No wonder they are today partly surviving on South Sudan's problems. All that tricks constitutes part of terrorist survival tactics (TST).
Even on issues related to international crimes and justice whether involves genocide, rape and or crimes against humanity, they are telling that they are “holding-it-off” by mere way of refusal to cooperate! Their line of thinking always remains “no matter how we sound or smell devil we still can evade and yet shake hands with Angels”.
And now when the so-called “Arab Spring” had sprang with all the associated mushrooming of Islamist radicalism (with the noticeable punctuation and hiccups such as the “evaporation” of the Egyptian Brotherhood experience, the government is desperately attempting to turn the war in Yemen to an ideal opportunity to survive on it. Ge. Al-Basheer described it as “unexpected God given golden chance”.
This now is the regime's dream for the would-be “gate way” to the would-be “Eldorado”, of the would-be “Arab Military Alliance”. We can only wait and see, how imaginable, can Al-Basher's blood-sucking and genocider “military cum militia” be in one camp with Americans to brutalize the Sudanese citizen even if under Arab military body.

(2) “Domesticated Kings” now turned heroes!
What Gen-Albasheer has forgotten or tries to (as his habit) forget are those hard and unforgotten facts.
It were those insurmountable amount of verbal abuse and insult poured at by his Islamist regime against the Saudi kings, the Gulf Sheikhs and the Egyptians in those few past years. Till mid ninetieth Sudan government official media was dedicated to insult, humiliate and offend officials of these countries for no reason or occasion.
Everybody at least vividly recall how in those days a demagogic middle level military officer (of morale guide), nicknamed “Younis the Morning Cockerel” use to vomit all kind of intolerable and unforgettable filth against Saudi, Gulf and Egyptian authorities through his daily “one hour” program in national radio, Radio Omdurman.
The “Morning Cockerel” use to remind his listeners to repeatedly describe the late King Fahad of Saudi Arabia as a domesticated one, the Gulf Sheikhs as of having “debauched life style”, slaves, puppets and tutelages of the West and the former Egyptian president Husni Munark as a “tyrant and Despot Pharaoh”. The word “Pharaoh” in Islamic sense is considered a terrible derogative and intolerably offense.
Interestingly the regime today is literally running after the same people who they once described the “cannibals and monsters” and begging to salvage them. They all of a sudden turned their “saviors” and friends and the kings became the “true servants of the two Holly Mosques”, as they were “desecrators”. How contradictive to turn your enemy into a hero overnight. Surely that is their way to the fold.

(3) The real ulterior motives
The regime is devising many tactics to employ to make maximum political profit out of that. The grand strategy is to position itself within the fold of the embroiling Arab politico-military group (fighting terrorism), trap Americans, take them by surprise and force them to conveniently “shake hand with the devil” himself.
In reference to this Yemen war experience, where the US backing up “Operation Decisive Storm”, Sudan, being nominal partner, insisting that, by definition, it is in “military coalition” of a level with the USA. Sudan is now vehemently arguing and interpreting that the fight against at military operation level which puts her together with the US into one boat should soon be upgraded and brought to a degree of “military alliance”.
Further motives are to use “Arab's abundance resources”, including their money, political leverage and military logistic to combat the marginalized African armed movements fighting the regime's imposed racial based wars in the country.
For Sudan this schematic strategy, requires some necessary tactical adjustments including a kind of photoshop facelift political arrangements. This may warrants temporarily sacrifice with the old “bed fellows”: the Iranians, Syrians, Hamas, Egyptian Brotherhoods, Hezbollahs, Somali Al-Shabab, Nigerian Boko-Haram, Libyan Ansar-Al-sharia, and the Huteeth.
They should pay some price that preserves the ability of the “Centre” to stand, that would also prevents the falling apart of “things”.
Like Sheikh Hassan Al-Turabi was sacrificed temporarily before his coming back to the fold, they too will always remain strategic allies.

(4) Yet Sudan likes an “Open-marriage” of witches and wizards?
To prove his regime's “credibility” and upgrade its “eligibility” credentials for the membership of his perceived upcoming “Arab military alliance” Gen. Albasheer, after obediently servicing for a good twenty five years in and for, he, in an abrupt manner, categorically denied his belongingness and membership to his political biological mother, “International Islamist Brotherhood”. He painted the “Movement” black, accused it as a threat to international peace and security and implicitly promised to join the “Crusade” against it.
Yet, while claiming to make a U-turn in its political allegiance, Sudan prefers the grouping as a club of “witches and wizards” where the contract is based on the rules of an “open marriage”. One way Sudan likes to understand and interpret rules of the contract is that “I can breed, groom, nurse, train and arm the Islamists” and “sell them out on demand but on retail bases whenever the need be or dispose them when they are expired and you can bomb them as much as that would not harm my position in power”.

(5) So far No dollars and no Yemen
Even before it's formally baptized into the membership of the much heralded Arab Military Alliance (which yet to be born and fully identified whether will be “bird or bat”, Sudan already failed the test on major “examination subjects”. It failed to send any “ground troops” that singularly committed to. The word in town is that Gen. Al-Basheer himself summoned his militia leader “Himity” and passionately appealed to him that “since the government has no troops with any moral fighting spirit willing to go to Yemen, he decided to send some of the Rapid Support Militia (commanded by Himity) to Yemen. The president also promised a monthly salary of ten thousand US Dollars per each militia man”. The report was that the militia General Himity happily agreed and circulated the “words” among the “money-driven militia”. General Himity went and mobilized two thousand of his militia, and when the time came, they were lifted by military planes, but ended up in Al-Fashir (Darfur) and in Kadogoli (Nuba Mountauns). They all drained up there fighting Sudan's rebels and not Yemeni Houthis. That part of the episode ended up with no Dollar and no Yemen. The militia are so upset and no trust anymore.

(6) Pro-President Mursi solidarity demonstrations
Another development that pissed off Egyptians is the last week government sponsored demonstrations organized in Khartoum. It was led by some proxy government officials like Mr. Zaubair Ahmed Al-Hassan, the NCP former finance minister and now chairman of the government ideological mother organization “Islamic Movement”. The demonstrations condemned in no uncertain the “death sentence” passed against Mr. Mursi, former Islamist Egypt's president. Placards featured holding signs such as “death to Sisi and not to Mursi.
Yet after all, president-elect Gen. Al-Basheer is waiting kings, Sheikhs and Pharaohs (who mow turned his saviors and heroes) to grace his inaugural ceremony, Americans to remove him from “terror support list” and to become member of would be Arab Military Alliance (or pact) that be backed by the US and the entire international democratic system.
It is so superb kind of thinking but can also be wishful one.

(7) Food for thought
Since the advent of the National Islamic Front (NIF), now turned National Congress Party (NCP) to power in 1989, the Sudanese never stopped asking this question:
“Why on earth, only we, the Sudanese, are the targets of this Islamist “cloak and dagger” oppression?
A satirist Arab writer, who paid attention to this repeated complain of Sudanese, which he considered it a kind of “naiveté”, sarcastically wrote in response:
“As you need to keep it clean a house of yours, as big as Islamic World, there is a need to have a back-yard to dump your refuse, rubbish and trash. In politics it's called a political toxic waste. No doubt, that kind of environment automatically affects the way people think in negative way, especially of the leaders. In that case political ideas can terribly be intoxicated and contagious. A pretty good caricature is the one prevailing in the Sudan, where a sensible thinking may not necessary be the order of political behavior and people kept wondering without them putting the reality in right historical context. Sudan's membership in either the Arab League or the Organization of Islamic Conference is more of nominal than substantial issue, and a quantitative than that of qualitative presence. In either way it meant to serve the government of the day and not the people of Sudan like in most other cases.
It Until an advanced technological device for political recycling is designed (which might take a little while), there is very little can be done to sanitize such situations. That may sound a bit discourteous, but it also looks like a God inflicted curse.”
The underlining point related to the issue under discussion in this journalist revelation is the fact that “the membership serves the government of the day and not the people of Sudan”. This is where our cautious comes

Trayo A. Ali is Secretary for foreign relations of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Mini Minawi and Secretary for Humanitarian affairs of SRF. He is reachable at Email: tmotoy60@gmail.com

May 27, 2015 (RUMBEK) - Warrap state authorities said calm has returned to greater Gogrial counties following two weeks of inter-clan fighting between two Dinka rival groups which left 18 people dead.

Deputy Governor of Warrap state Akec Tong Aleu (ST photo)

The clashes began on 14 May between clans of Gogrial East county and Gogrial West county, home to president Salva Kiir, allegedly over ownership of grazing rights along River Nyinagoth.

However, Warrap state's deputy governor, Akec Tong Aleu, said people were now going about their normal business after organized forces had deployed to quell the tension. He assured the opposing communities of Apuk and Aguok sections that those responsible for the clashes will face justice.

The state official said the fighting had been successfully halted and that the case had been referred to court to try the perpetrators.

“I want to assure people of Warrap state that these people have calmed and they accepted what we told them. They accepted the peace and they are waiting now for the trial,” Aleu assured.

He said both sides of the conflict wanted justice to be served by sentencing those who instigated the violence in the once stable state.

Agany Agany, an eyewitness, however described the conflict between Apuk and Aguok clans as a setback for stability of the two communities, adding that for the conflict to stop there was urgent need to impose justice in a fair manner without favouritism.

“Justice is most [likely] solution to this conflict of Apuk and Aguok communities. We need correct justice and justice should be done in a transparent manner,” he said.

He also blamed the situation on proliferation of weapons in Warrap state, noting that clashes were always encouraged by prevalence of weapons in the hands of civil populations. He called on the government to disarm the civil population in the area.

Residents of the two counties, Gogrial West and Gogrial East are also complaining of lack of food in the area with officials calling for relief assistance.

The deputy governor said severe hunger had hit greater Gogrial counties and called on humanitarian organizations and people of good will to offer food assistance to the two counties, saying the hunger situation was “serious.”

“You know that there is this coconut. Now they are eating coconut all over. There is no food,” he said.

He further added that the population was mainly depending on wild fruits for food, also blaming the rival communities for looting their items.

(ST)

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The next president of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) – world football’s governing body – should ensure that future host countries of the World Cup are required to comply with fundamental human rights norms, Human Rights Watch said today. The FIFA presidential election will be held in Zurich on May 29, 2015.

(New York) – The next president of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) – world football’s governing body – should ensure that future host countries of the World Cup are required to comply with fundamental human rights norms. The FIFA presidential election will be held in Zurich on May 29, 2015.

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May 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government, office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed on a joint strategy paper in Khartoum today to combat the growing wave of human trafficking.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also signed on to this strategy paper.

The state minister at the Ministry of the Interior Babiker Ahmed Digna said following the signing ceremony that Sudan is only hub for human smugglers and therefore suffers minimally unlike receiving countries which end up becoming the most affected.

He stressed that those considered victims of trafficking should now be viewed as partners in this crime because they are voluntarily working with smugglers.

The Sudanese commissioner for refugees Hamad al-Juzooli said that the new strategy developed is an extension of previous ones signed in 2013-2014 adding that donors made pledges to boost support after its proven success.

The UNHCR representative Mohammed Adar said that the joint cooperation with Khartoum succeeded in stopping the phenomenon of kidnapping in eastern Sudan and also led to a significant reduction in cases of human trafficking reported from 338 cases in 2012 to 113 in 2014 .

“There is still a long way to go to address this regional phenomenon effectively," Adar cautioned.

"The number of refugees who have arrived in Sudan doubled in the past year, and the tragic deaths of more than 1,800 people this year in the waters of the Mediterranean, highlight the need for cross-border cooperation and searching for a solution in the long term," he added.

(ST)

May 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The head of the visiting US Coast Guard delegation said that his country is prepared to help Sudan strengthen security measures in Port Sudan.

Head of US Coast Guard delegation Steven Paul (Ashorooq)

Sudanese officials said that the delegation which arrived two days was to hold discussions on several common issues pertaining to the implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.

The head of the US delegation Steven Paul said in remarks following the conclusion of the meetings said that the port satisfies the security and safety ISPS requirements .

Paul was quoted by pro-government Ashorooq TV as saying that they reviewed the workload in Sudanese ports and security standards stressing that the two sides will work together for greater coordination.

"Sudanese ports are working well and we have the opportunity to enhance the security measures in Port Sudan and we are looking forward for future cooperation with Sudan in light of the good relationship that exists now," he said.

The director general of Sudan's Sea Ports Corporation (SPC) Jalal al-Din Mohamed Shulia for his part said that US delegation will provide them with a detailed report on the results of their visit after they return home.

He predicted that the report will praise the performance of Sudanese ports and noted that Mr. Paul mentioned that the security measures are applied properly and reliably.

(ST)

More open and constructive dialogues should be held among Sudanese stakeholders as a top priority to address ‘the silence and the denials’ of crimes against women, a United Nations human rights expert concluded after her recent mission to the country.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict has condemned Boko Haram militias in Nigeria for “waging war on women’s physical, sexual and reproductive autonomy and rights” by repeatedly raping their female captors and treating them as vessels for producing children for fighters.

May 27, 2015 (JUBA) - The government of South Sudan's Western Equatoria state has warned of a likely outbreak of a new rebellion in the area should authorities fail to address insecurity concerns in the region.

Western Equatoria's information minister Charles Kisanga (ST/File photo)

“The situation can be become rebellion only if authorities fail to answer the cry of the people for security and not rough SPLA soldiers and we are asking Army headquarters to change these units for better understanding and cooperative units who can live in harmony with the citizens of the area.”, Western Equatoria state information minister Charles Barnaba Kisanga said in a statement.

Minister Kisanga, in a statement Sudan Tribune obtained, denied that there was a rebellion in the area despite announcement by army spokesman that a new 'rebel' group was formed.

Colonel Philip Aguer, spokesman of the government forces announced on Monday that a new rebellion has formed in the state, “There is a new rebel movement in Western Equatoria state. Security reported that somebody called Charles Balogore under Wesley Waluba” leads the rebellion”, said Aguer.

But state government spokesperson dismissed the reports of rebellion as “not true” and these reports were “one sided” and not taking into account of things into consideration” from state administration.”

“I stand by our earlier story that it was local youth who reacted to the looting and destruction by SPLA unit in Mundri on Friday 22nd May 2015 and took control. The Youth were angry at the assassination of their Executive Director plus random gunfire perpetuated by the army then,” Kisanga explained.

The minister however admitted that there was attack on the government troops by unknown, citing the presence of some cattle keepers who had reportedly carried attacks before the incident in the area.

“Yes there was unknown gunmen who attacked some group of SPLA soldiers at night on Rumbek/Maridi roads junction but also some remnants of cattle raiders/rustlers had been attacking cars and civilians along the road in the area for sometimes and just a few days before the junction incident, two civilians were killed in circumstances related to the tension between cattle raiders/pastoralists, local civilians and the army and so the whole episode then was related to the previous tension with cattle raiders in the area”, he explained.

Minister Kisanga further out that the death of the county executive director John Cleopa cannot be blamed on rebels because he was surrounded by security forces “all around” while he was inspecting the scene of the shooting where SPLA soldiers had been killed when he was killed.

“It seemed one member from the security forces moved a bit aside and opened fire killing the Executive Director and fire was also directed at the commissioner Hon Hassan Bhakeit who had to duck to escape the bullets and even his car was later hit.” he said.

(ST).

Mai 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - UN's resident coordinator in Sudan, Geert Cappelaere, said "very concerned" by reports about significant displacement of civilians in Blue Nile state where the government forces carry out a military campaign on the positions of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N).

Refugees from Blue Nile state arrive at the Yusuf Batil refugee camp in South Sudan's Upper Nile state on 22 June 2012. The site is currently home to almost 40,000 refugees (Photo: Giulio Petrocco/AFP/Getty Images)

In a statement issued on Wednesday Cappelaere said the large-scale displacement, including forced relocations, is taking place in Bau locality in the western part of Blue Nile state and possibly other areas.

“As conflict has increased in Blue Nile, it continues to be civilians who bear the brunt of this fighting. Humanitarian needs are rapidly rising in Blue Nile, but aid agencies are often not permitted to independently assess humanitarian needs and respond accordingly in the state,” he further said.

SPLM-N rebels said they repulsed a government attack on Thursday 19 May in Kalgo area in Bau town, 45 km west of the Blue Nile state capital, Ed Damazin.

Earlier this month, the rebel group repelled an attack carried out by the Sudanese army against Kalgo. Also, they claimed to have repulsed a third attack against the same area on 23 April.

In a separate statement extended to Sudan Tribune; the Blue Nile Center for Human Rights and Peace (BNCHRP) said that six thousands families, 30.000 civilians, fled their villages as the result of the attacks by the government forces in Bau.

Civilians interviewed by the rights group said the army resorted to scorched earth tactics and destroyed water pumps, sanitation, schools, markets, elimination of livestock and burnt crops.

Cappelaere called to stop violence and to allow humanitarian access to the needy.

“I call on all parties to stop fighting immediately and allow aid agencies to get assistance to people in need, wherever they may be located. These people should not have to suffer,” he said.

The SPLM-N has been fighting the Sudanese army and their aligned militias in South Kordofan since June 2011and Blue Nile states since September of the same year.

(ST)

May 27, 2015 (JUBA) – The opposition forces led by former vice president, Riek Machar, have occupied a number of strategic areas in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, government officials have confirmed.

South Sudanese rebel fighters hold up their rifles as they walk in front of a bushfire in rebel-controlled territory in Upper Nile state on 13 February 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

State officials and local residents told Sudan Tribune that the opposition fighters occupied areas previously held by government troops in Nyinbuoli and many other key locations in Aweil West and Aweil North counties.

The move by the opposition forces under the overall command of General Dau Aturjong has sparked fears that fighting may spread to the once relatively peaceful Bahr el Ghazal region.

Aweil North county commissioner, Kon Angok Kon, acknowledged in an exclusive interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that the opposition forces had moved into the areas and were occupying strategic locations in northern part of the county near the border with eastern Darfur region in neighbouring Sudan.

Kon is one of the first state officials to admit the presence of the rebels in the area but did not say whether the government troops had attempted to engage them in an active combat operation.

It was not clear how and why the government abandoned such locations only to be occupied by the rebels without a fight, but some cited mass redeployment of troops from Bahr el Ghazal region to the active frontlines in Upper Nile region as the main reason.

A high ranking military source also told Sudan Tribune in a separate interview that the general command at the military headquarters in Juba was aware of the presence and activities of the opposition fighters in the area but had not yet decided how to react to their activities.

“Discussions are underway at the high level of command but as far as I know, there is no decision taken yet on how to handle the activities of the forces of Dau Aturjong. There are discussions at the level of political leadership about it. Some have proposed reaching out to them in form of dialogue,” he said.

The officer, who comes from Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, said his people suffered enough and it would be unwise to continue to fight to perpetuate the suffering and displacement of innocent people.

Another politician said politicians and military officers with the legislators from the area were trying their best to avoid hostilities between the two forces, pointing out innocent civilians would be the victims of armed confrontation in the end.

“You have seen the damage and the level of destruction this war has caused in other states. The people who have paid the price of this war are not the politicians but the ordinary people who have nothing to do with the cause of the war but they have been made to suffer for nothing”, another state official currently visiting Juba from Aweil town, capital of the state, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

He confirmed that political leadership had been trying to persuade the religious leaders to initiate dialogue on behalf of the government with General Dau Aturjong and his group, adding that it however appeared the latter had refused.

“We do not want our people to die. The loss of lives we have had, the sacrifices our people have made in this war alone is immeasurable,” he said.

He further lamented that the worst part in the war was that it will continue to be fought at home.

“It will be a war within the people, inside the communities, between family members, so it will be a war between brothers fighting another brother,” he said.

General Aturjong was appointed by the rebel leader as deputy chief general staff and commander of the opposition forces in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state.

He has not however been actively fighting against president Salva Kiir's government in his home state, owing to alleged advice to him by his home intellectuals not to wage war in the area.

(ST)

May 26, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudan Council of Church (SSCC) leaders have asked government to urgently tackle the deteriorating economy and end killings in the country.

A group of bishops in Rumbek East call for peace in Lakes state on 13 January 2014 (ST)

The clerics, in a statement, said they would not sit idle as civilians suffer in a country “without effective governance”.

“If our statements are not headed, we will take more proactive steps to achieve and reconciliation for the people of South Sudan,” partly reads SSCC's 26 May statement.

“Any long term solution to the conflict must take account of the needs of the ordinary people, not the agenda of the political and military elite,” it stressed.

South Sudan recently witnessed renewed clashes between its military and the armed opposition in Unity and Upper Nile states, displacing tens of thousands of civilians.

Addressing the Security Council last week, the head of United Nations mission in South Sudan, Ellen Margrethe Loj described as “extremely worrying”, the humanitarian situation in the country, appealing to the warring parties to immediately cease hostilities.

The clerics appealed to the country's political and military leaders to listen to voices of church leaders, who speak on behalf of the citizens.

“We seriously doubt whether this new statement will be headed by our leaders, but nevertheless we want them, along with the citizens of South Sudan, our friends in the region and the international community to know that we are watching and we are aware of what is happening,” stressed the statement signed by eight church leaders.

“It is important for us to speak truth to power, even if those in power ignore truth,” it adds.

The religious leaders also warned of new armed rebellions emerging in the country and the increase in hostilities among its communities, a day after the spokesperson for the South Sudanese army admitted that a new rebel group exists in Western Equatoria
state.

Also of concern, they said, were the killings, torture, destruction of properties in the country, further cautioning security operative against taking the law into their hands.

(ST)

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The number of hungry people in the world has dropped to 795 million, 216 million fewer than in 1990-92, or around one person out of every nine, according to the latest edition of the annual UN hunger report (The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 - SOFI). Agriculture

HelpAge International

For immediate Release

Nairobi/Juba, Tuesday May 26, 2015: HelpAge International and its partner, the Islamic Relief will on Wednesday, May 27th, 2015launch a three year programme in Juba, South Sudan to support badly malnourished older persons in Warrap State.
Funded by the German Government, the project will target to provide food vouchers and/or food baskets to older persons in one of the most affected States by the ongoing internal conflict that has left more than 1.4 million people displaced.

According to Tendai Gunda, HelpAge International Nutritional Coordinator in South Sudan, the project will reach 210 households. “Those able to walk to points where food centers will be stationed will get food vouchers while those found not able will get food basket delivered to them through”, she said.

Tendai said 600 households will further receive training on nutrition. They will learn how to establish food gardens to improve their nutritional needs.

On the other hand, Islamic Relief will support the affected people with provision of water and sanitation services as well as food security and livelihood activities.
Selection criteria for the target group are their limited income opportunities and critical nutritional status. Due to ongoing conflicts and several other multiple stress factors, local support mechanisms stopped functioning hence need for this timely intervention.
Expected at the event include top Government officials as well as officials from the German Embassy in South Sudan.

Background
The conflict in South Sudan has internally displaced over 1.4 million South Sudanese. People from the Greater Upper Nile (GUN) region (Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile States) have been most severely affected. This has negatively impacted livestock and crop production, and markets, especially in the conflict-affected states. These disruptions have in turn increased cereal prices by up to 300 per cent and reduced cereal stocks. In the worst affected counties in the GUN, as much as 80 per cent of the population was unable to cultivate staple crops in the last agricultural season and staple foods remain limited in many local markets. Overall, staple food stocks were depleted within the first quarter (January to March) of 2015. Approximately 112000 older persons were affected by the conflict.

The conflict in Unity has led to an influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) into Warrap, where the IDPs and the local population compete for the already scarce resources. According to OCHA-classification, Warrap is a “stressed state”. Further, the region has experienced heavy flooding in two consecutive years which caused widespread destruction of livelihood sources as well as communal support structures. Warrap state is built of six counties; the project will be implemented in Tonj North County.

About HelpAge International
The HelpAge network is a unique worldwide alliance of over 100 organisations in 65 countries. HelpAge International helps older people claim their rights, challenge discrimination and overcome poverty, so that they can lead dignified, secure, active and healthy lives.
For more information please visit www.helpage.org
Media Contacts:
Henry Neondo, Regional Communications Coordinator, EWCA+254703618872 henry.neondo@helpage.org Skype: henry.neondo15
Jamillah Mwanjisi: Head of Policy, Advocacy and Communication, EWCA +254720043823 jamillah.mwanjisi@helpage.org Skype: jamillah.mwanjisi
Tendai Gunda, Nutritional Coordinator for South Sudan, tendai.gunda@helpage.org Skype: tendai.gunda +263773362352

Henry Neondo
Regional Communications Coordintor
HelpAge International
Eastern, Western, and Central Africa Regional Office, Nairobi
Tel: +254 703618872/ +254-(20)-2637853/4
Skype: henry.neondo15
Website: www.helpage.org

May 26, 2015 (BOR) - The state governor of Jonglei state, John Kong Nyuon has sacked his finance minister for his alleged involvement in corruption-related matters.

Jonglei state governor John Kong addresses residents of Panwel village on 12 October 2014 (ST)

The decree in which Dhano Obongo was removed came on Tuesday evening, although no reason was given for the governor's surprise decision.

A source at the finance ministry claimed Obongo allegedly diverted 300,000 South Sudanese pounds, which had been allocated for repairing state government vehicles.

“We got clear information from someone who had witnessed the minister misusing state government funds. The minister wrote on an invoice indicating that the money would be used for repairing government vehicles, but after withdrew it. Indeed no vehicle was repaired and the money was no longer there in cash”, the finance ministry official, who preferred anonymity, told Sudan Tribune.

The former finance minister had earlier been accused of allegedly utilising development funds initially allocated for the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).

A committee headed by the minister of livestock and fisheries, Nyang Lul was formed and tasked to investigate Obongo's alleged involvement in corruption-related practices.

The committee presented its report to the governor, which eventually resulted into the termination of the former finance minister, the source said.

Both Lul and Obongo hail from Akobo county in Jonglei state.

However, the state information minister claimed the committee's findings did not in any way influence the former minister's sacking.

Meanwhile, Sudan Tribune was unable to reach Obongo, who was appointed by the state governor to oversee the finance ministry in May last year.

(ST)