Sudan Tribune

October 9, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's former First Vice President, Riek Machar, who leads the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), has called on the UN Secretary-General-designate, Antonio Guterres, to follow the footsteps of his predecessor, Ban Ki Moon, in helping to resolve the ongoing civil war in the country.

Portugal's former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is poised to become the next UN secretary general, after a formal vote by the UN Security Council approving his nomination for the post last Thursday 6 october.

In a meeting to be held next week, the UN General Assembly will appoint Guterras upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

Guterres, 67, who served during ten years (2005-2015) as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is fully aware of the South Sudanese conflict and its impact on the regional stability.

In a congratulatory letter he wrote to the new Secretary General at the UN in New York upon taking up the position, Machar briefly explained the current situation in his country.

“I am writing to congratulate you for winning the confidence of the UN fraternity resulting to your ascension to the positon of the UN Secretary General. I believe you are up to the task,” partly reads the letter, dated 7 October, seen by Sudan Tribune.

“As you know South Sudan is embroiled in a new civil war that broke out again on July 8, 2016, that evening I was nearly assassinated in the Republican Palace (J1). As from July 8, 2016, the civil war has escalated in the country due to the collapse of the August 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and as well as the collapse of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGONU),” further reads the letter.

Machar who signed the letter as the “Legitimate First Vice President” as well as the Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO), called on the new UN executive chief to prioritize South Sudan in resolving its ongoing conflict.

The former first deputy was ousted in July in a controversial process, which he said violated the peace agreement, after he and his small number of troops were forced out of the national capital, Juba, by forces loyal to President Salva Kiir during four days of fighting.

Machar said he was lured to the palace by President Kiir to assassinate him on 8 July, but the latter said the former attempted a coup. The opposition leader fled the capital and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a journey that took him 40 days while facing government's continuous daily ground and air attacks on the way.

The clashes have resulted to the renewed civil war in the country as fighting has resumed in Equatoria and Upper Nile regions between the rival forces.

The opposition leader is currently in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where he received treatment from extreme exhaustion and swollen legs. He is preparing to tour the region to tell his side of the story, Sudan Tribune recently learnt.

His faction has also declared an "armed resistance" against President Kiir's government and has been organizing forces for coordinated assaults with other rebel groups on main government's controlled towns

This week, he has dispatched a team of his senior officials to Washington to engage the U.S. Administration, UN officials as well as brief the South Sudanese communities residing in various states in the U.S.

(ST)

October 8, 2016 (JUBA) -Japan's Defence Minister, Tomomi Inada has visited South Sudan as the war-hit nation prepares to receive up to 4,000 United Nation-mandated regional protection forces.

The forces, to be stationed in the capital, Juba and it's outskirts, were approved by the African Union members states at a summit held in Rwanda in July.

About 350 peacekeepers from the Asian country reportedly form part in the U.N. mission in the world's youngest nation.

The Japanese defence ministry, media report say, is considering sending peacekeepers expected to engage in risky rescue missions in war-torn South Sudan.

The UN mission in South Sudan, which comprises of a 12,000-strong force, has repeatedly accused South Sudanese authorities of obstructing its movement in contravention of the status of forces agreement it signed with the young nation.

Some UN peacekeepers were also killed when fighting erupted in the capital in July between South Sudan's two rival factions.

Tens of thousands have died and hundreds displaced since civil war began in December 2013, and has continued despite a peace deal reached last year.

(ST)

October 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - United States has called on Sudanese government to consider the next-week national dialogue meeting as a first step for a broader process for peace and democratic reforms that will encompasses all the political and armed groups in the country.

3rd meeting of the national dialogue national assembly in Khartoum on Thursday 20 August 2015 (Photo - SUNA)

Next Monday, President Omer al-Bashir will attend the final session of the National Dialogue Conference which is expected to endorse the recommendations of the internal process, paving the way for the inauguration of a transitional period to implement political and constitution reforms in Sudan without the holdout opposition groups.

Rebel groups and opposition parties refuse to join Khartoum process as they demand the government to end war and ensure freedoms in the country before. However, the U.S. backed talks brokered by the African Union are deadlocked, over the confidence building measures.

In a press statement issued on Saturday, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson John Kirby advised Khartoum's government to wait before to conclude the process and to seek a wide-ranging dialogue that includes all the political and armed opposition groups for a viable settlement of Sudan's internal crises.

“While we acknowledge that the conference will recognize the contributions of the different stakeholders to the National Dialogue, we believe it is equally important to strive for a representative and comprehensive national dialogue with participation from political and armed opposition, for a sustainable end to Sudan's internal crises,” the statement read

"We urge the Government of Sudan to consider the current National Dialogue a first phase, and to engage with the opposition for its participation in an inclusive dialogue process, as prescribed in the Roadmap agreement negotiated by the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP)," Kibry further said.

He warned that ending the dialogue at this stage could seriously impede the AUHIP-brokered negotiations for cessations of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements.

Recently, the alliance of armed and political groups, Sudan Call, blamed Khartoum for the failure to reach a humanitarian truce agreement. Also, they warned that they would hold their own dialogue process without the ruling party if the ongoing process wraps up its works without them.

Earlier, Sudanese President al-Bashir stressed that the end of the national dialogue on October 10, will close the door in front of any negotiations with the opposition. For his part, Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid also accused the military and political opposition of lacking seriousness and stressed that the negotiations will end with the national dialogue conference in October.

Since last year, the American administration worked hard to bring the Sudanese parties to a comprehensive peace agreement ending war in the Two Areas and Darfur. Multiple sources said President Barak Obama initially wanted before to leave the White House next January to support regional efforts for peace and eventually lift sanctions on Sudan.

In January 2014, al-Bashir called on political parties and armed groups to engage in a national dialogue to discuss four issues, including ending the civil war, allowing political freedoms, fighting against poverty and revitalizing national identity.

Launched on 10 October 2015 for three months, the dialogue process was initially expected to wind up in January 2016 but it was delayed until October 10th.

(ST)

James Ruea Kok (ST)

October 8, 2016 (FANGAK) - Speaker of Fangak state legislative assembly, one of the controversial 28 states created by President Salva Kiir on 2 October, 2015, has accused the appointed Governor, James Kok Ruea, of using authoritarian approach and intimidation against state officials.

Nelson Kuony Thoat, the speaker, said Governor Ruea has violated the supplementary budget for assembly, according to the article (66) (1) in the transitional constitution of the state that allowed Assembly Conduct of Business Regulation, 148 (a,b) which gives post holders a right to pass the budget seating.

“As the members of Fangak State Legislative Assembly, we decided to approach H.E the president because our Governor James Kok Ruea used intimidating words against whoever approached him to discuss any matter whether political, administrative and finance issues,” the statement extended to Sudan Tribune reads in part.

The speaker explained that on 19 August, the governor forced out deputy speaker during the meeting through the use of violence and on the 2 September, governor Ruea banged on the table and said: “I have the powers to remove whoever threatens my government, and appointed whoever I see does not impose threat to my leadership.”

In the letter, which Sudan Tribune obtained, the group has warned of the major political crisis within Fangak state after Governor Ruea failed to lend ears to the state officials and acted on his own behalf without consultation with the members of parliament and council of ministers.

Thoat also said there is more confusion over repeated statement by governor Ruea on the fate of the newly appointed members of parliament by president Salva Kiir.

“The governor in many occasions said that he is only considering six members who came from the former Jonglei State Assembly and that the other fifteen (15) members who were appointed by H.E the president of the republic of South Sudan have no budget,” he added.

He criticized the action by the governor, which he claimed, is without collaboration with the members of the state government, saying this indicated abuse of the executive power by the appointed governor.

“The governor in any meeting used an intimidating language repeatedly by boasting that he as the governor and the chairperson of the SPLM, he can remove and can appoint members as he wishes according to the powers bestowed upon him by the president,” the speaker lamented.

The state legislators have urged president Kiir for a quick intervention before things could get out of control in the new state.

(ST)

October 8, 2016 (BOR) - Primary and secondary school teachers have declared strike in Jonglei state, demanding that they receive their salaries increment. A representative of the teachers, Matiop Ruben, who spoke to the media blamed the government for ignoring teachers' pay rise following the current economic inflation.

Some of the angry youth protesting in the Jonglei capital, Bor on July 19, 2016 (ST)

Reuben said all the teachers in Jonglei state from Primary to secondary schools have agreed to strike. According to the teachers, the national government failed to fulfill the promise it announced earlier that there would soon be increment of salaries from grade seven to grade one in two circulars.

Currently, teachers are paid between 600 and 1,018 South Sudanese pounds (SSP), depending on the class of teaching.

“The government of the Republic of South Sudan came up with the resolution that salaries from grade 17 to grade 10 should be increased. That document had come into effect in the army, organized forces, in the national government and in even in some other states. In Jonglei state here, we waited for that document to be effected, but it was not effected till today,” explained Reuben.

He further explained that a second circular, which had been received by the teachers and signed by the public service department on 25 July, showed phase two salaries increment which is from grade nine to grade five, and also from grade one to grade four.

“That was supposed to [be] effective from July or August, but was not implemented,” he said.

The teachers, he added, have decided not to go back to their classes for teaching till concrete explanation about why the state government had refused to implement the circulars is made clear to them. The schools had just opened for third term and the strike, if it is not resolved in time, would disrupt the learning process.

“It is now two days for teachers not coming to schools. We want our teachers to be back. If they delay for even one day, [it] means we shall not study again,” said a primary school girl in Bor.

The state government is yet to react to the announcement made by the teachers.

Students from Jonglei state were among the top ten best performing students in the country in the national exams for secondary education. The best student who took lead nationally was from Jonglei state.

Some schools in the state were also listed among the top ten best performing schools in the country in the same exams.

(ST)

October 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The commander Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has said that his forces will put an end to the anti-human trafficking operations and fight against extremists, if the international community lifts economic sanctions on the east African country.

SRF field commander Mohamed Hamdan (Hametti) speaks in a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday May 14, 2014 (ST)

Washington admitted recently Sudan's cooperation in the anti-terrorism war but underlined that it wouldn't remove Sudan from the list of states sponsor of terrorism or left economic sanctions, before the end of armed conflicts in Darfur region and Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, commonly known as “Hametti”, said that his forces struggle to thwart human trafficking, pointing that these efforts serve the interest of international community.

In statement to Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) on Saturday, Hemeti called for the lifting of "unjust" economic embargo on Sudan, pointing that "if the international community responded to the demands of the Sudanese people, the RSF are ready to thwart the human trafficking operations and eradicate extremists.

He added that the RSF fighters work to clear Sudan's border with Egypt, Libya and Chad from the remnants of rebel groups which are now involved in people and gold smuggling.

Sudan is considered as a country of origin and transit for the illegal migration and human trafficking. Thousands of people from Eritrea and Ethiopia are monthly crossing the border into the Sudanese territories on their way to Europe through Libya or Egypt.

The commander stressed that RSF has managed to haunt the armed groups and forced them to cross into the Libyan territory, pointing out that his forces made great efforts to combat these movements and fight human trafficking in spite of the long border between Sudan, Egypt and Libyan.

Earlier this year, the European Union granted a €100m development package to address the root causes of irregular migration in Sudan. The financial support came after pledge by the Sudanese government to cooperate with Brussels to stop human trafficking to Europe.

In January 2014, the Sudanese parliament approved an anti-human trafficking law which punishes those involved with human trafficking with up to 20 years imprisonment.

The European Parliament demanded on Thursday European External Action Service to monitor closely the EU's development aid to Sudan to prevent any direct or indirect support to the local militias

Hemeti asserted the excellence of relations between Sudan and Chad describing it as "strong historical eternal". He further praised the efforts of the joint force to secure the common border.

(ST)

October 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government has embarked on actual moves to hand over 21 child soldiers to their families after completing the legal procedures, said children official.

A member of Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) walks with his rifle at Ashma village 30 km (19 miles) from Nyala, south Darfur, October 6, 2004. (Reuters photo)

Last month, President Omer al-Bashir announced the release of twenty one children allegedly detained during the Gouz Dango battle with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in April 2014.

However the rebel group denied that these children were part of its fighters reiterating its commitment to international conventions banning the use of child soldiers.

In a press conference in Khartoum on Saturday, the chairperson of Sudan's National Council on Child Welfare (NCCW) Suad Abdel-Aal, said they are working with the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (DDR) to integrate the child soldiers into the society.

She pointed that one of the child soldiers is from South Sudan, adding they would coordinate with Sudan's Foreign Ministry and the concerned organizations to send him back to his family.

The Sudanese official added that 7 of the child soldiers suffered from tuberculosis, saying one of them had died while the remaining 6 were rescued after the government authorities provided them with medical treatment.

She declined to provide the names of the child soldiers under the pretext that they seek “to maintain their safety and privacy”, saying the process of integrating them into the society would be conducted confidentially.

Abdel-Aal pointed the child soldiers are being hosted in a special house in Khartoum's neighborhood East Nile, saying the house was rented by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

She said the concerned bodies would develop a plan to ensure the safety of these children until they were handed over to their families, saying the DDR would complete the procedures to integrate them into their societies.

The Sudanese official pointed the children have been subjected to the worst kinds of exploitation, saying they were used as human shields in the military operations.

For his part, the Special Prosecutor of Darfur Crimes Al-Fatih Mohamed Tayfor said the name of the child soldiers who died Mustafa Ahmed, pointing he passed away on June 17th.

He stressed the need to impose the rule of law and fight against impunity, saying he received information that many soldiers who were captured by the Sudanese army during the Gouz Dango battle were underage boys.

Tayfor pointed that most of the child soldiers have fallen victims to kidnappings and forced recruitment, saying some of them were seduced to take up arms against the state.

The Sudanese army and its allied militias have has been fighting a number of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million were displaced.

(ST)

October 8, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan government has welcomed the United State's decision to extend its military aids, saying it would help in consolidating “stability" in the country and strengthening relations.

On Friday, President Barack Obama issued a decision to continue U.S. military assistance to the troubled South Sudan despite the use of child soldiers in the troubled country.

The waiver circumvents the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which is meant to block some military assistance to countries recruiting Childs in their armies.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro described the policy shift as "the right thing to do", adding that imposing arms embargo would have increased hostilities and limiting military capabilities to strengthening combat operations.

Minister Lomuro, an ally of President Salva Kiir, said the move showed the "renewal of the partnership" between the two countries, and vowed to step up efforts to implement the peace agreement to restore stability.

Obama also granted waivers to six other countries : Somalia, Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Iraq and Myanmar.

Gordon Buay, a senior diplomat at South Sudan embassy in the United States, also commended inclusion of South Sudan in the list of countries which would benefit from military assistances from United States.

The diplomat added that his government under President Salva Kiir remains committed to full implementation of the peace agreement reached with armed and political opposition to end the nearly three-year conflict in the country.

The inclusion of South Sudan in the renewal sparked mixed reactions from among South Sudanese, with some questioning the basis for inclusion of the country after the government has been accused of buying weapons to use against dissent groups without distinguishing civilian areas.

The move also is seen as a sudden major shift from earlier plans advocated and supported by senior officials in the United States administration to impose arms embargoes and individual sanctions.

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - In their second day of strike, Sudanese doctors in Khartoum say more practitioners across the country are joining their protest over lack of security and poor work conditions.

On Thursday, an independent doctors union, Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) announced that doctors will refuse non-emergency treatments to patients to protest the poor working conditions, lack of medicines medical material. They also demand protection after the increase of attacks by frustrated patients and their families.

CCSD Spokesperson Dr. Hossam al-Amin al-Badawi Friday told Sudan Tribune that "ten hospitals have joint the strike and five others are preparing to rally the protest on Saturday".

56 hospitals have participated in the strike since Thursday.

Al-Badawi pointed to the national character of the movement, saying that hospitals in Port Sudan, the capital of Red Sea and in Al-Nuhud of West Kordofan have joint the strike.

“The strike will be open-ended until our demands are met,” he stressed.

He said that 99.7% of the hospitals in Sudan are participating in the strike and stopped treating non-emergency cases, except Omdurman, Khartoum North and Haj-al-Safi hospitals, due to their specific conditions.

Al-Badawi further said that senior doctors have supported the strike by closing their private clinics.

“CCSD general assembly will meet on Friday evening in Khartoum North hospital for more coordination and consultation,” he added.

The strike was condemned by the government and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), as they minimized the impact of attacks on doctors. Also, Khartoum State Minister of Health Mamoun Humaida said the opposition-backed strike is highly "politicized"

Commenting on these accusations, al-Badawi pointed that such claims should not be said by a health official, adding it was an attempt to deny established facts.

“We have nothing to do with the Sudanese Communist Party or the ruling National Congress Party. We only know the federal and state ministries of health,” stressed al-Badawi.

He said that CCSD is for doctors' social and professional demands and has nothing to do with politics.

On his part, the Chairman of General Union of Health and Medical Professions (GUHMP), Yasir Ahmed pointed that he did not accuse the Sudanese Communist Party of masterminding the strike, but he said the opposition party has misused the just demands of doctors.

Ibrahim further told Sudan Tribune that the GUHMP is negotiating with the striking doctors ways to end the strike, as "the government has started providing medical equipments and devices that worth millions of Sudanese pounds to hospitals in Khartoum and other states”.

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (JUBA) - Armed opposition forces allied to the former First Vice President, Riek Machar, have blocked major and key strategic roads to and from Yei town, the administrative headquarters of the newly created Yei River state, according to local and religious leaders in the area.

A batch of the SPLA-IO forces after arrival in Juba, 1 April, 2016 (ST Photo)

The move carried out by dissidents armed youth involved in a hit and run military activities has cut off the area from Kaya, one of the border towns linking South Sudan with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The blocked main road serves as one of the vital trading routes for South Sudan. It is significantly important for the armed opposition forces to sustain the pressure on government forces if they can maintain and avoid being recaptured by the government forces.

This new revelation comes after David Lokonga Moses, governor of the state, had asked religious leaders in the area to organise themselves and see how they could hold talks with armed dissidents to end hostilities.

“Life in Yei is not easy. There is no movement into and out of Yei for the last few days. Life has been complicated by the crisis. You cannot go beyond the parameters of the town. The Juba-Yei road is off, the same thing for Yei-Morobo road and Kaya –Yei road as well as Yei- Maridi road. These are the major supplying roads in the state. If they are affected by the insecurity like this, then life of the people is in danger,” Moses Duku, a local administrative officer in Yei town, told Sudan Tribune when asked about the situation in the area.

Episcopal church Bishop of Yei, Hilary Luate Adeba, also said in a separate interview with Sudan Tribune that the life in town was not normal, saying religious leaders are exerting efforts to build trust and promote an atmosphere of love.

Yei, according to Bishop Adeba, has been experiencing unusual insecurity situation. He acknowledged that governor Lokonga had asked religious leaders to reach out to the dissidents armed youth in the area for talks so that hostilities stop.

“As the church, we are talking to everybody to listen to the cry of the people and stop fighting. The people are suffering. The schools have been closed down, markets are not functioning normally, health centres in the villages and counties have ceased to operate, there are no people in the villages attending to crops which were planted. It is really a difficult situation and we appeal for a stop to hostilities. We appeal to all those involved in these hostilities to stop and listen to the people,” he pleaded.

Kaya, which is cut off from Yei, is located approximately 78 kilometers (48 miles) southeast of Yei and lies approximately 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Juba, capital of South Sudan and largest town in the country.

Kaya sits directly across the border from Oroba in Uganda and situated close to Mbazi in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is believed that opposition forces are preparing for major assaults on government-controlled towns including Yei and Juba, the national capital, follow the collapse of the August 2015 peace agreement.

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (JUBA) – The armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) has admitted to have lost one of their chapters' heads in the United States to the government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir.

In a joint statement signed by 14 heads of the SPLM-IO chapters in their 15 offices established in the states across the U.S. which have huge populations of South Sudanese, the states' representatives have however downplayed the significance of losing their colleague, Ahchor Dhel, who was the SPLM-IO's head of the chapter for South Dakota state.

The statement said Dhel is the only head of a state chapter who has switched side to President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Taban Deng, adding that the rest of the leadership and membership of the SPLM-IO chapter in South Dakota remains in full support of the former First Vice President, Riek Machar, and that an acting head has taken control of the situation in that particular state office.

“We the SPLM-IO chapters in the United States of America unanimously continue our support to SPLM/A IO under the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the Chairman and C-in-C. We the fifteen Chapters also regret losing an individual from the Chapter of South Dakota. Ahchor Dhel ran the Chapter in South Dakota and has officially deserted his position. His official release is yet to be approved by the Mission Office of the office of Representative of the SPLM/A IO in USA, and he will be notified of his official release through a letter accordingly,” partly reads the statement.

“The Chapter Office of South Dakota is yet to identify a chapter leader. The Coordination Office shall monitor the process,” further reads the joint statement extended to Sudan Tribune and signed by 14 out of the 15 SPLM-IO heads of chapters in the United States.

They said all the SPLM-IO chapters in the U.S. continue to support Machar and condemned the new First Vice President, Deng, for allegedly having struck a secret deal with President Kiir to destroy the peace agreement and ensure that no various sectors reforms will be implemented so that they allegedly continue to loot the country's resources and intimidate, torture and kill daring citizens using their security organs.

The statement, which was officially released to the public by the SPLM-IO's national coordinator in the U.S., Sabata Ramba, called on all South Sudanese in the country and in the diaspora to mobilize their support behind Machar for better change in the country.

The statement bears the names of the opposition's heads of chapters for the states of Texas, Washington, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas Missouri, Tennessee, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, California, Colorado and acting head of South Dakota.

This comes following the visit to the U.S. of government's delegation led by the First Vice President, Taban Deng, who is reportedly returning to South Sudan over the weekend.

Officials of the SPLM-IO said they boycotted Deng and his delegation from visiting the chapters in the states and have instead invited a team sent by Machar to visit all the 15 highly populated states and brief the South Sudanese communities about the situation in South Sudan.

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The internal groups of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call and the Future Forces of Change (FFC) alliance on Thursday have agreed to join efforts in order to build a national political project that could bring all Sudanese together.

Leaders of the opposition "Sudan Call" sign an agreement on the alliance's structures in Paris on 22 April 2016 (ST Photo)

In a joint press statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday, the two sides said they discussed the ongoing developments of the national dialogue, stressing the need for joint work to unify political efforts to build a national project.

The statement added “to achieve that end, the two sides called on the government to adhere to the basic dialogue agreements and to create conducive climate”, saying the two sides are keen to engage in joint work and coordinate with all political forces.

According to the statement, the two sides agreed to continue to meet, consult and coordinate in order to fulfill that objective.

The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the National Umma Party (NUP) and rebel umbrella of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).

Sudan Call internal groups include the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA).

FFC, which was launched last February, is actually formed of three existing coalitions that for different reasons failed to join the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF), or the Sudan Call.

The FFC groups are National Forces Alliance (NFA), National Forces of Change (NFC) and National Unity Parties (NUPs). Some members of these groups, like RNM and Just Peace Forum (JPF), were part of the national dialogue process.

Both Sudan Call and FFC are not part of the government-led national dialogue conference which will begin its meeting on Monday.

Monday's conference which will take place with the participation of regional leaders will not include the opposition armed and political groups.

The government slammed the holdout opposition groups saying they are not serious about peace and dialogue and stressed they would go ahead with the outcome of the conference without waiting the opposition Sudan Call forces.

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Khartoum and Juba on Thursday have agreed to extend the deadline of the “zero option” agreement on the apportionment of debt between the two countries for the second time.

South Sudanese refugees wait at a border gate in Joda, in the Jableen locality in Sudan's White Nile State, after arriving from the South Sudanese war zones of Malakal and al-Rank, January 16, 2014. (Photo Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Sudan inherited the entire external debt that existed prior to the secession of South Sudan in 2011. Both sides decided to reach out to creditors to obtain debt relief and if that fails will sit down to see how it can be divided using the "zero option".

In September 2012, Sudan and South Sudan signed the “zero option” agreement under which Sudan would retain all the external liabilities after the secession of South Sudan, provided that the international community gave firm commitments to the delivery of debt relief to Sudan within two years. Absent such a commitment, Sudan's external debt would be apportioned based on a formula to be determined.

In 2014, Juba and Khartoum agreed to extend the “zero option” deadline for another 2 years till October 2016 in order to avoid immediate apportionment of debt between the two countries.

Sudan's Finance Minister Badr al-Dain Mahmoud met with his South Sudanese counterpart Stephen Dhieu Dau on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington on Thursday.

According to the official news agency (SUNA), the two ministers agreed to extend the “zero option” agreement and the work of the joint committees besides the banking correspondence to facilitate the flow of business operations between the two countries.

Sudan's external debt is estimated to have grown by 27% since 2008 from $32.6 billion to $41.4 billion in 2011. The IMF said the debt amounted to about US$45 billion in 2014 (79 percent of GDP), of which about 85 percent was in arrears.

JOINT COMMITTEES MEETING

Meanwhile, Sudan's Foreign Ministry said the joint committees between Juba and Khartoum would resume its meetings in December.

Sudan's State Foreign Minister Kamal Ismail said the meetings would discuss the implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries, pointing the meeting would also determine a timetable for the meetings of the various committees according to the concerned technical bodies.

He told SUNA that the meetings of the joint committees shall not be affected by the ongoing war in South Sudan.

In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

In March 2013, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements. However, the execution of the agreements didn't go according to the plan.

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Finance Minister Badr el-Din Mahmoud has discussed with the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Africa and the Middle East, Eric Meyer, efforts to combat illegal migration and terrorism besides the impact of sanctions on the Sudanese economy.

Sudanese finance minister Badr al-Din Mahmoud

The official news agency (SUNA) said the two officials met on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington.

According to SUNA, the Sudanese minister briefed the U.S. official on the challenges facing Sudan including the large flow of refugees from neighboring countries besides combating illegal migration and terrorism, saying the international community didn't provide any financial support for his country in this regard.

Mahmoud added that Sudan achieved positive economic growth rates despite the challenges it faces.

The official news agency pointed the meeting also discussed the recent political developments in Sudan including the national dialogue besides relations between Washington and Khartoum.

It added that Meyer mentioned the Sudan's unwavering efforts to combat illegal migration and terrorism, acknowledging the negative impact of the U.S. sanctions on the Sudanese economy.

He called on the Sudanese government engage in contacts with the U.S. States Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to reach understandings on the financial transfers particularly the lists of exemptions.

Sudan has been under U.S. trade and economic sanction since 1997, so financial institutions and banks are very careful when it comes to transaction and business in connection with this country.

After a severe punishment of $9 billion on the BNP Paribas in May 2015, many institutions stopped banking transfers and transactions fearing sanctions.

Late last month, U.S. officials said that U.S. sanctions on Sudan do not include private and remittance humanitarian aid to the eastern African country and encouraged transactions with Khartoum within the framework of many authorizations and licenses.

October 7, 2016 (JUBA) - Four homes for South Sudanese former ministers and senior ex-intelligence officials who turned critics of President Salva Kiir have been raided and locked in the national capital, Juba, sources have said.

Targeted are homes to Mac Paul Kuol, former SPLA Military Intelligence (MI) director, Majak Agoot, former deputy minister of Defense and head of National Security Services (NSS) before South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, widow to late John Garang, founder of the ruling party, SPLM, and Oyay Deng Ajak, former minister for National Security, who was also chief of general staff for the South Sudanese army (SPLA).

The raid which occurred on Thursday was allegedly carried out by the National Security Services (NSS), a government unit that searches, confiscates or detains people without court warrants.

Majak, who has been criticising rival leaders in South Sudan and advocates for temporary administration without President Salva Kiir and opposition leader, Riek Machar, confirmed the raid on his Juba house in a social media post on Thursday.

He accused President Kiir's government of allegedly copying from the neighbouring Sudanese government such actions which terrorize people.

“Copycatting Khartoum - the NSS has broken into my Juba family home; terrorizing the occupants; confiscating documents, and locking it up," he wrote on Twitter, attracting critical comments from his followers.

By "copycatting Khartoum" the former spy chief, who was deputy to security chief in Khartoum, was referring to notorious Sudanese NSS that targeted assets and families of dissident politicians.

Sources told Sudan Tribune that some family members have been arrested, others beaten up and ordered to leave the compounds of the former SPLM senior officials.

Majak and Oyai were arrested at the onset of the conflict in December 2013 but Nyandeng, who is also critical of President Kiir's administration, joined the former detainees as nonviolent group during the two years of war between president Kiir's soldiers and those loyal to his former deputy, Machar.

Ex-military intelligence chief, Mac Paul, was dismissed in May 2014, a month after dismissing as false, government's account of an alleged coup plot by Machar and others which was made the cause that triggered the violence on 15 December 2013.

Majak said in his Twitter message that Mac's home, who like Majak, is from Dinka Bor or Twic county, home county of the former leader, John Garang, was also raided.

“Gen. Mac Paul's home has also been vandalized - a rogue measure of bad taste which is beneath the esteem & standards of the rule of law," former deputy minister of defense wrote.

Government officials contacted by Sudan Tribune for comment declined, treating the issue as "sensitive."

But critics of the government described the move as "deposition" and desperate attempt to intimidate opponents of the government. Government supporters, however, praised the move as necessary to punish "traitors."

(ST)

October 7, 2016 (RUMBEK) - Authorities in South Sudan's Lakes state have instructed ministers operating government bank account with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to immediately close them down.

The state minister of finance, trade and industry, Daniel Gumwel Nhomabur, has confirmed receiving the new abrupt instruction from the national government in Juba.

No explanation was given to the state government about the decision by the national minister of finance and economic planning to close down the governments accounts with the KCB.

Minister Nhomabur further explained that the directive further said all government accounts are to be opened in the Ivory Bank with effect from October.

“We are told by national ministry of finance in Juba to close down all our government accounts [in] KCB [Kenya Commercial Bank]. These instructions are from top authorities in Juba and we have to respect them. All government institutions must open new bank accounts with Ivory Bank with effect [from] this month,” said the state finance minister, Nhomabur

However, KCB Rumbek's branch manager, John Makoi Marial, said although the bank has received the notification to close down the government accounts, there was still a discussion going on to resolve the matter.

He also revealed that the government has taken huge loans of money from the KCB and also some individual senior government officials took loans from the bank which they have not yet repaid.

The bank official further pointed out that the KCB management and the government will sort out the issues and instruction will be sent to entire KCB branches in South Sudan on how to operate if the government decided to close down their accounts in the bank.

KCB is one of the first foreign banks to establish their branches in South Sudan even before the country became independent in July 2011. It has opened many branches in different states in the young country.

It was unclear what prompted the government to decide to close down its accounts with the Kenya bank.

(ST)

October 5, 2016 (CAIRO) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and Egypt's President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi on Wednesday have signed a number of agreements besides a document for a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir (L) shakes hands with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during a news conference after their meeting in Cairo on 19 October 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

A two-day Presidential Summit of the Egyptian-Sudanese Higher Committee (ESHC) has begun on Wednesday in Cairo.

In his address before the summit meeting, al-Bashir called for activating and strengthening the joint mechanisms for cooperation between Sudan and Egypt, vowing to promote the distinctive and unique ties between the two countries.

He called for transforming cooperation agreements and protocols into a tangible reality, stressing his determination to confront the political and economic challenges facing the two nations through joint cooperation.

The Sudanese president further congratulated Egyptian leadership and people on the 43rd anniversary of the 6th of October war victory against Israel, describing it as a victory for the Sudanese people and the whole Arab nation.

For his part, al-Sisi said the two countries have taken practical moves to promote bilateral ties, pointing to the opening of Qastal and Arqin border crossings.

He stressed that efforts would be continued to build a brighter future for the two peoples and overcome any obstacles in order to maintain the historic relationship between the two countries.

Al-Sisi called for the need to achieve full liberalization of trade and allow free movement of goods and products between the two countries, saying fulfillment of development objectives must become the top priority of the joint cooperation.

He urged al-Bashir to launch a comprehensive strategic partnership to reflect the historic and strong ties between the two nations and draw the necessary framework to achieve progress and prosperity in the various fields of bilateral relations.

The Egyptian president further pointed to the regional and international challenges facing the two nations, calling for sincere cooperation to combat extremism, promote peace efforts and resolve conflicts to achieve regional and international stability.

He added that Egypt supports all efforts exerted by the Sudanese government to achieve stability, saying his country denounces any foreign intervention in Sudan's domestic affairs.

Relations between Sudan and Egypt have been frosty over the past few years, but they've recently begun to thaw thanks to a series of conciliatory diplomatic gestures.

In October 2014, presidents of the two countries upgraded representation in a joint committee aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.

SECURITY OF SAUDI ARABIA “REDLINE”

Meanwhile, al-Bashir said the security of Saudi Arabia is a redline stressing they wouldn't allow anybody to harm the Kingdom.

In his address before the ESHC summit meeting, al-Bashir said nobody could downplay the significant role played by Saudi Arabia, underscoring that “stability and security of the Kingdom is our collective responsibility”.

He added that his country underlines importance of cooperation among the neighboring countries to resolve the crises in Libya, Syria and Yemen, expressing support to the legitimate government in the latter.

Al-Bashir also called for the need to combat terrorism through addressing the root causes of the phenomenon, saying his country seeks to promote peace and stability in the African continent.

(ST)

October 5, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A delegation led by the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Ervin Massinga and Sudan Mission Director for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Jeffrey Ashley, completed a visit to Darfur from 3 to 4 October, said the U.S. embassy in Khartoum on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief of Mission Ervin Massinga (U.S. Embassy Sudan Photo)

In a press note extended to Sudan Tribune, the U.S. embassy pointed the delegation met with a wide range of individuals and organizations in North Darfur capital, El-Fasher including government officials, representatives from the United Nations, international humanitarian organizations and civil society, members from hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID), community leaders and IDPs.

According to the press note “the delegation had open discussions on a number of topics including regional security, humanitarian access, food security, health, education, and development programmes”.

“The delegation also visited an IDP camp to observe and better understand how humanitarian assistance and food aid from the American people, provided through USAID, is benefiting displaced people in Darfur” said the embassy.

The United States of America remains the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance in Darfur, providing over $230 million in humanitarian assistance in 2016, targeting over 2.5 million people.

The press note stressed that the U.S.'s commitment to the Sudanese people and people of Darfur “remains steadfast and strong”, saying the US will continue to work toward lasting peace in Sudan.

It further thanked efforts of many international partners “such as the UN World Food Program, for the humanitarian and development assistance delivered to people in need”.

UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million were displaced.

(ST)

October 5, 2016 (JUBA) - Top United States officials gave South Sudan's first vice president, Taban Deng Gai a warn reception, in what is largely seen as a significant shift in seemingly strained bilateral ties between the two nations since conflict erupted in South Sudan in December 2013.

Taban Deng Gai addresses delegates after he was sworn-in as South Sudan FVP inside the Presidential Palace in the capital of Juba, July 26, 2016 (Photo Reuters/ Jok Solomun)

Gai led a high powered government delegation to the United Nations in September, but used the visit as an opportunity to meet and hold sideline meetings with different world leaders, particularly officials in the U.S administration who showed their support for implementation of the reforms and governance championed by former first vice president, Riek Machar.

Gai was accompanied by high profile government officials, whose views are widely seen and assessed in the context of "anti-peace elements” and “war traders” at the expense of reforms and democracy. They included, defence minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk, former foreign affairs minister, Deng Alor Kuol, the minister in the president's office, Mayiik Deng and several other low and high level diplomatic and civil servants.

The team also included the petroleum and mining minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, a former envoy to the U.S who played key roles in the armed opposition movement.

South Sudan's presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny said all programs and itineraries were arranged by officials at South Sudanese embassy in Washington.

Gai, according to Gordon Buay, one of the senior diplomats in the U.S, said the former had successfully concluded meetings according to the prearranged plan and was now travelling in the train returning to the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, where he and his accompanying delegation will return to South Sudan.

The visit of the first vice president Gen. Taban Deng Gai has been successful. He met and held successfully meetings with different South Sudanese communities.

"He met Luka Biong on Wednesday, Pagan Amum on Thursday. And on Tuesday he was scheduled to meet Susan Rice who extended him invitation. She is one of the top US officials in the white house. Her acceptance to meet with the vice president represents a significant step towards strengthening our relations with the US and our friends and allies in the west, in the region and in the world", Buay said Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear whether Gai had eventually succeeded to hold meetings with officials at the white house and whether or not the delegation representing Machar succeeded to meet top US officials in different capacities to explain their side of the story, about the conflict and the way forward.

Meanwhile the U.S security advisor, ambassador, Susan Rice expressed grave concern over the prevailing humanitarian conditions and continued fighting in South Sudan.

Rice, who met the South Sudanese first vice president, affirmed the U.S government's strong commitment to the people of the world's youngest nation.

The U.S. official, however, deplored South Sudan government's role in obstructing the United Nations Mission in South Sudan's operations and stressed the need for a rapid deployment of the regional protection force.

(ST)

By Abdul Wahid Mohammed Ahmed Al- Nur

To make war on its own citizens, to burn the villages and people of Darfur, the Sudanese Air Force has a marked preference for attacking at dawn. The Antonov transport planes converted into makeshift but nonetheless lethal bombers, now become the ubiquitous symbol of the Khartoum regime's brutality; often arrive with the first light of day, drowning out birdsong with the roar of their engines soon followed by the shriek of the barrel bombs they disgorge to rain down death from high explosive and shrapnel. But since January when the Islamist dictatorship in Khartoum launched its largest military offensive in years in the mountains and plains of the Jebel Mara Mountain, there is a new dimension to the horror endured by the people of Darfur, in an ongoing genocide the world has all but forgotten, the spectre of chemical warfare.

Thus Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, the only sitting head of state on earth indicted by the International Criminal Court for War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide, now joins an exclusive murderous fraternity alongside Iraq's late Saddam Hussein and contemporary Syria's Bashar al Assad as the third national leader in modern history to use chemical weapons bombardments against his own civilian population.

The hard evidence of the Sudanese dictatorship's use of chemical warfare gathered through eight months of painstaking investigation by Amnesty International in its groundbreaking report on the subject is incontrovertible. The burden of proof is a sickening catalog of humanity's inhumanity to itself, revealed in the extensive eyewitness testimony of survivors, together with the graphic visual confirmation of the disfiguring wounds sustained by the victims who died in agonizing pain, the majority of them children. It cannot be readily dismissed by the usual denials issued by Khartoum. What has emerged in the light of day for all to see may not be buried in obfuscation. Nothing leaves the signature of chemical warfare except chemical warfare in the hideous manner that gas and chemical agents intended for offensive use ravage flesh and internal organs, burning, choking, blistering and smothering until death is a deliverance from unspeakable suffering. This is the truth of the latest war crime in a litany of war crimes inflicted on the people of Darfur, surely among the most forlorn anywhere on earth in the collective consciousness of the community of nations. Will this new threshold of horror at last bring resolute action by the outside world to end the misery of Darfur and hold the Sudanese regime accountable or will the international community simply avert its eyes again as it has done for far too many years?

If chemical warfare implemented against unarmed civilians fails to provoke an unequivocal response by the world's leading democracies, what hope is there for the people of Darfur to obtain justice, secure their freedom and see an end to a policy of deliberate extermination, where they may once more live without fear in peace, dignity and security? More than Five hundred thousand dead since the nightmare began in 2003, twenty thousand villages wiped off the map in an unceasing scorched earth campaign and four million refugees and internally displaced people, living in the most abject conditions on the edge of survival, tens of thousands women and minors gang-raped have all thus far been insufficient to bring forth a greater outcry and meaningful change.

So where is the voice of the West? The United States which correctly first decried events in Darfur as genocide, is conspicuously silent now, a position defined by the State Department as the de-coupling of Sudan's egregious human rights record and long patronage of Salafist terror groups in exchange for cooperation in intelligence gathering on the same extremist Islamist groups operating in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Omar al Bashkir's hope is that crippling sanctions will ultimately be lifted and Washington in time will be persuaded to remove Khartoum from its blacklist of terrorist sponsoring nations, restoring its international reputation. The ironic, counter-intuitive reality of this rapprochement is that Khartoum has not ceased its patronage and alliance with extremist Islam in any respect true to the duplicitous and opportunistic nature of Omar al Bashir's regime. It is the worst possible form of Real politic, not merely cynical but equally ineffective. Washington's aims in its legitimate efforts to contain and defeat Islamist terror will not be advanced by sacrificing the people of Darfur.

This understated process of rehabilitating the Sudanese dictatorship is concurrently also underway in the European Union. Most glaringly as the latest Sudanese offensive began in January, the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin fully aware of events on the ground in Darfur, hosted a delegation from Khartoum. Meanwhile the British government has been quietly training members of the Sudanese security services, in particular officers in military intelligence who figure prominently as henchmen in Darfur. But nothing is more staggering than the funding which may surpass 145 million Euros openly awarded by the European Union to Khartoum to stem the flow of refugees from the African continent to European shores, where the same soldiers, policemen, border guards and partner militias who regularly perpetrate massacres, extra-judicial executions torture and rape en masse in Darfur serve as gatekeepers for the EU.

US Ambassador to the UN Samatha Powers recently eloquently condemned the Russian aerial bombing campaign over Aleppo as barbarism, the same Samantha powers who was once so vocal over the plight of Darfur, just as now outgoing President Barak Obama, whom as a candidate had once pledged to end the stain on our conscience of Darfur, is today himself just as reticent on the subject.

The Sudan Liberation Movement in its struggle to uplift its people from oppression and build a secular, non-sectarian, non-tribal, pluralistic democratic Sudan, free from authoritarianism, extremism and terror, where human rights and a free society may one day flourish, implores the United States to restore its moral leadership in Darfur and abide by the humanistic and democratic values it upholds. The SLM therefore calls on President Barak Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Ambassador Samantha Power to demand that the international community forthwith establish a no fly zone over Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile State, a commission be established to oversee the dismantling of Sudanese chemical weapons stocks, the embargo imposed by Khartoum on humanitarian supplies be lifted , Khartoum's Janjaweed and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias be disarmed and that Sudanese government troops and their partner militias cease attacking civilian population centers.

The author is the Chairman of Sudan Liberation Movement. he can be reached at
tibotoum@gmail.com