Sudan Tribune

September 20, 2016 (NAIROBI) – The commander of the armed forces of South Sudan United Movement has dismissed as “untrue” reports that he reached an agreement with President Salva Kiir's government.

Rebel General Peter Gatdet Yaka gestures as he speaks to South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar (not seen) in a rebel controlled territory in Jonglei February 1, 2014. (Photo Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Gen. Peter Gatdet told Sudan Tribune from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi that had never made any contact with the Juba establishment as claimed.

“The claim by President Salva Kiir's security advisor was not true. I Gen. Gatdet have never held talks with any officials and I have to dismiss it as misinformation and misinterpretation from Tut Kew Gatluak,” he said.

The general, formerly with ex-vice president Riek Machar-led rebels, said he cannot betray his people without identifying the root causes of 2013 massacre of Nuers and other South Sudanese civilians.

“I fought Salva Kiir and the groups with purpose and I decided to reject the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development]-Plus peace agreement about re-unification of the SPLM [Sudan People's Liberation Movement] because of premeditated bloody confrontation between our communities that reflected the tribal divisions in South Sudan under the poor leadership,” he stressed.

The official, however said, he was willing to be part of a comprehensive agreement designed to unite all South Sudanese.

“If there would be peace for all opposition members, I must be convinced with the durable peace that will address the root cause of the fighting and the reason why 30,000 civilians were killed in Juba. We fought with the Juba government and three armed groups, likewise all the opposition groups,” he said.

For lasting peace to be achieved in South Sudan, he added, there was need for inclusiveness in representation within government, which would pave way for realization of a final peace agreement.

Since the beginning of the South Sudan conflict in 2013, Gatdet has been operating in Bor, Jonglei State from where he crossed to Malakal in Upper Nile state. In 2014, United States, through its State Department, imposed sanctions on the commander of President Kiir's guards, Major General Marial Chanuong Yol together with Gatdet.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour on Tuesday has arrived in New York to participate in the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on behalf of the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir.

Ibrahim Ghandour attends African Union ministers meeting in Addis Ababa on 11 April 2016 (ST Photo)

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir said Ghandour will address the UNGA on Saturday, pointing the 71st session is held under the theme “UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants.

He added the Foreign Minister will meet with the UN Secretary General, President of the UNGA, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation besides the heads of delegations and foreign ministers from more than twenty nations.

Khidir pointed that Ghandour will also participate in high level meetings to discuss issues of international cooperation, sustainable development, least developed nations and terrorism.

He also said Ghandour will participate in a number of meetings including the meeting of the Committee of African Ministers on the ICC with the UN Security Council, the high-level meeting on South Sudan, the ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the ministerial meeting of the Arab League and the ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Last May, the Sudanese presidency said that President Omer al-Bashir who faces an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had applied for U.S. visa in order to attend the annual gathering in New York.

Since, neither the U.S. State department nor the Sudanese foreign ministry commented on Bashir's planned appearance.

Bashir made a similar attempt to fly to New York in September 2013 but Washington dragged its feet on granting him visa without rejecting it outright.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (JUBA) - A former South Sudan newspaper editor who quit journalism for politics, has tendered in his resignation and terminated his membership from the armed opposition movement he joined after a peace deal was signed in 2015.

South Sudanese journalist and editor, Nhial Bol , reads a copy of the Juba Monitor, with a heading referring to the killing of journalist Peter Moi of The New Nation newspaper, on August 21, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

Nhial Bol Akeen, former chief editor of the now defunct The Citizen newspaper told Sudan Tribune Tuesday that he wrote to the SPLM-IO leadership under First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, informing him he wanted to go into private life.

“I just want to inform you that I have decided to leave politics. I have resigned from SPLM-IO. I have written to the First Vice President, General Taban Deng Gai of my decision”, Akeen said Tuesday.

The veteran journalist said he joined the movement hoping to see reforms in the party.

"When I decided to join the SPLM-IO, I was hoping there would be reforms. But the way I am looking at the things, nothing is going to change. So I decide to leave and retire to my private life because the kind of politics I am seeing is like a detention cell. There are not going to be reforms. You know that the country is now being run without the constitution. So how will work on reform if there is no constitution? Until the constitutional review committee has not completed its work. It is a difficult situation. South Sudan now is a country without constitution”, he explained.

Akeen's abrupt resignation, analysts say, affects hope for reforms in South Sudan.

According to the outspoken scribe, influential politicians are "trying to establish control over financial resources - first and foremost and the defense industry instead of using the agreement to address the root cause of the conflict by embarking on reforms.

Akeen said he was afraid whether South Sudan's new first vice president would champion reforms in accordance with the stipulations of the peace agreement signed in August last year.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) led by Minni Minnawi has called on the U.S. administration not to lift economic sanctions imposed on Sudan.

Media reports in Khartoum on Monday said that senior Sudanese and U.S. officials will meet in New York on Thursday to discuss ways to normalize ties between the two countries and possibilities for implementing partial lifting of sanctions especially with regard to banking wire transfers.

Also, the U.S. Department of State on Monday hosted a conference in New York to discuss the U.S. sanctions on Sudan.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, SLM-MM leader Minni Minnawi said the crisis in Sudan and particularly in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile can't be resolved by lifting the sanctions, pointing the conditions in the war-affected areas have worsened.

“The Sudan Liberation Movement strongly urges the US State Department not to lift the sanctions. Its SLM considered view that the US State Department planned conference (hold it on 19th September in New York) over the US Sanctions on Sudan should rather focus on examining the unprecedented violations committed against the innocent civilians rather than moving to reward the regime to perpetrate genocide” he said.

The rebel leader added the government militias known as Janjaweed continue to commit more atrocities in Darfur, “including their routine violations of attacking IDPs, raping women and looting civilian properties to exacerbate the on-going genocide in Darfur”.

“Under these circumstances any cooperation with this dictatorial Regime on whatever security justification will definitely be on the account of the miserable humanitarian situation and violation of moral obligation and at expense of democracy and the values of good governance which are championed and guarded by no other government in the world than the United State of America itself,” he said.

Minnawi further expressed readiness to cooperate with the international community in order to resolve the crisis in Sudan through a genuine national dialogue, reiterating that they are “most in need of peace for our people in displaced and refugee camps”.

Sudan has been under US economic sanctions since 1997 and remains on the US list of state sponsors of terror.

Washington eased the sanctions imposed on agriculture equipment and services, and allowed exports of personal communications hardware and software. Also, the US Treasury Department removed the private Bank of Khartoum from a blacklist of Sudanese entities.

(ST)

September 20n 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The African Union United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Tuesday has acknowledged that one of their vehicles in North Darfur State ran over a child girl and killed her on the spot.

A UNAMID peacekeeper during a routine patrol in Tawila, North Darfur.(Photo UNAMID/Hamid Abdelsalam)

“On 16 September 2016, a road accident involving a UNAMID vehicle resulted in the death of a young girl in Al-Abbasi village, North Darfur,". said the hybrid mission in a state extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

UNAMID spokesperson Ashraf Eissa, further said that UNAMID Joint Special Representative Martin Uhomoibhi has expressed his sincere condolences.

“This is a great tragedy. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the child,” said the head of the joint mission

Eissa said that the mission is investigating the circumstances of the accident.

He emphasized that the hybrid mission "takes road safety very seriously and has in its structure a dedicated section to ensure the promotion and enforcement of safe driving practices".

Ahmed al-Tijani Adam, the victim's uncle told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that UNAMID's patrol vehicle didn't stop after the accident

"They fled the scene without helping her. The members of the patrol didn't stop to relief her which led to her immediate death” he said.

“We informed the police and we went to the UNAMID's headquarters and they said the [vehicle] didn't stop because there was no interpreter among the patrol members,” he added.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (JUBA) - A senior official in the office of the South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, has downplayed threats by the Sudanese government to close the border between the two countries.

Sudanese military personnel inspect the belongings of South Sudanese on the Sudanese border on 18 April 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Sudanese government called on South Sudan to expel its rebel fighters being hosted by the South Sudanese government. They warned to close the common border of the two neighbouring nations should Juba fail to expel their rebels.

An agreement, duped as Cooperation Agreement signed in September 2012 by the two countries, called on South Sudan to stop its support to the rebels opposed to the leadership in Khartoum.

Also, another agreement signed in August last year between President Kiir and his rival, former First Vice President, Riek Machar, also provided for disarmament and expulsion of Khartoum's rebels from the territory of South Sudan.

The newly appointed South Sudan's First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, also visited Khartoum four weeks ago and pledged that the rebels will be expelled from South Sudan.

However, a senior presidential advisor in South Sudan said they only agreed in principle during the Khartoum's visit and that a technical committee would have to work out the matter.

“That is not what we have agreed in our meeting in Khartoum. So I don't expect the Sudanese government will take a unilateral decision to close down the border. We have agreed in principle to open the border after the technical committees have finished their work”, Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs,” Tut Kew Gatluak told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

The top presidential aide revealed that he was in the meeting on Monday with the Sudanese ambassador to prepare the ground for the upcoming ministerial meeting on the matters.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (JUBA) - Over 23,000 people were vaccinated against cholera in the South Sudan capital, Juba, between 17–20 September, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

A child receives an oral cholera vaccine dose in the South Sudan capital, Juba (Medair Photo)

The vaccination campaign, the agency said in a statement, aims to mitigate the spread of cholera in South Sudan's capital, where the UN and the Ministry of Health have reported nearly 1,800 cholera cases and 12 related deaths since July.

"The campaign, funded by the Government of Japan, targeted populations in the Gumbo and Mangaten neighbourhoods, where cholera caseloads have been high, and reached 112 percent of the initial target," it said.

The vaccinations were conducted by the Health Ministry, in collaboration with IOM, the UN World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund, Health Link and Live Well. In advance of the campaign, volunteers were trained on administration of the vaccine and community messaging.

“The partnership seen in this campaign is outstanding and it is important that we continue to work together to help improve the health of families affected by the conflict in South Sudan,” said IOM South Sudan Chief of Mission William Barriga.

“In Juba, like many places across the country, access to safe water can be challenging, meaning that prevention through vaccination is central to keeping families safe,” he added.

Violence in the capital in July displaced over 15,000 people, disrupting livelihoods and affecting access to public services. In crowded areas and among families with limited access to medical care, early prevention of cholera is crucial to reducing community transmission of the disease, which can spread rapidly.

With support from the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance Rapid Response Fund, IOM partners Impact Health Organization, Nile Hope and Mentor Initiative are reportedly conducting hygiene promotion in Juba neighbourhoods and at the UN Mission in South Sudan Tongping base to stem the spread of cholera and water-borne diseases.

"Messages focus on the importance of personal hygiene and proper handling of water and food", IOM stressed in it's statement.

Of the more than 1.61 million internally displaced persons and 6.1 million people in need of humanitarian aid in South Sudan, the UN estimates that 4.7 million people require lifesaving health care assistance this year, as conflict and displacement increase the risk for epidemics and the spread of preventable diseases.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government renewed its rejection for the delivery of humanitarian assistance from Ethiopia as the African Union chief mediator Thabo Mbeki is expected to visit Khartoum in the upcoming days.

Presidential Assistant, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid (SUNA Photo)

"The demand of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N) for the humanitarian access across the border is a call for the continuation of war and the dismantlement of Sudan. Also, it is an attempt to force the government to concede the sovereignty of the Two Areas in favour of the SPLM-N," said the head of the government negotiating team and member of the national dialogue mechanism (7 +7) Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid on Monday.

Speaking after a meeting of the 7+7 committee at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, Hamid reiterated the government categorical rejection to any preconditions on the cessation of hostilities, adding that the meeting discussed the position of SPLM-N and Darfur movements following the signing of the roadmap.

Last Saturday, the presidential assistant accused political and armed opposition of lack of seriousness and stressed that peace and political talks would stop by the end of the national dialogue conference which will start on October 10th.

In a response to Hamid remarks, the spokesperson of the SPLM-N negotiating team Mubarak Ardol said the government has no desire to achieve peace but negotiates under international pressure.

"We are with equal dialogue to stop the war, provides freedoms and paves the way for (democratic) change, and the (government led-)dialogue is dead. Ibrahim Mahmoud has to stick to his remarks and concludes his unregrettable dialogue on October 10. It is a waste of money and time, and rejected by all national forces and even for those who had bet on this process on good faith It became clear to them the lack of seriousness of Ibrahim Mahmoud, his party and his government."

MBEKI'S VISIT TO KHARTOUM

A member of the government negotiating delegation Hussein Karshoum announced that the head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki would visit the Sudanese capital in the coming days to present new proposals to the government before the resumption of negotiations.

Karshoum expected the resumption of peace talks on Darfur and the Two Areas in Addis Ababa soon. He further stressed the government's keenness to achieve peace.

The peace talks were supposed to resume this month but, JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim said the mediation didn't yet determine a date for the next round of talks over the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access.

Ibrahim further said the mediation should not call for a new round of talks before good preparations.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Technical teams of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on Monday have Initialed the additional studies agreement of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The final signing ceremony will take place in Khartoum on Tuesday.

A man walks over a bridge by the construction of Ethiopia's Great Renaissance Dam in Guba Woreda, some 40 km (25 miles) from Ethiopia's border with Sudan, June 28, 2013 (REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri)

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

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

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

In a press statement after the initial signing, the head of the Sudanese technical team, Saif al-Din Hamad said there are no differences between Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt on the additional studies items.

“There are no differences between the consultancy and the legal offices on the final contract of the technical studies and the signing was delayed to enable the ministers of water resources in the three countries to attend the ceremony,” he pointed.

On his part, the head of the Egyptian Technical part, Ahmed Baha, said that all the contracting documents will be signed by the heads of the technical committees of the three countries stressing that the observations of all the counties have been taken into account.

“The final contract with the consultancy offices will take place on Tuesday in the presences of ministers of water resources in the three countries and the representatives of the consultancy offices,” said Baha pointing that the representatives of the French Artelia and BRL groups and U.K.-based law firm Corbett & Co are on their way to Khartoum to attend the final contracts signing ceremony.

Earlier in September, the meeting of the tripartite technical committee was delayed due to differences between Artelia and BRL and the legal consultant Corbett & Co.

The consultancy office will study the environmental and ecological, social and economical effects of the dam.

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

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

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

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (JUBA) - Governor of the newly created Wau state in South Sudan said his administration has assembled a committee to hold direct negotiation with armed opposition groups in the area.

Andrea Mayar Acho (ST Photo)

Governor Andrea Mayar Achor has revealed that the initiative has the approval of President Salva Kiir and prominent community leaders in the state, adding his mission is to ensure peace returns to the state.

“There is no reason to fight this unnecessary war when we can sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our issues peacefully. The president has approved dialogue with brothers and sisters who have taken up arms. We want to hear from them what they want. These talks are progressing well,” Achor told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

Religious leaders and community leaders are playing a very important role, he said, adding “They are leading in these talks. We really want this unnecessary fighting to stop.”.

The agreement, if reached, will allow armed groups, some allied to former First Vice President, Riek Machar, to begin mobilizing themselves to designated assembling points scattered across the state and be given up to 90 days during which they are expected to begin handing their weapons over to United Nations-sponsored monitors.

But the still-unknown final accord may contain surprises and the opposition is likely to try to convert the deal into a referendum on Achor, whose popularity rating in the area continues to be a dividing subject.

His supporters, majority of whom comes from his ethnic Luo particularly in his home area in Udici region, located northwest of Wau town, the administrative headquarters of the new state, however sees him as a peace loving person.

A significant portion of politicians from ethnic Dinka in the state also stands with him. But his critics from the east of the state, home to his predecessor, see him as a remote controlled governor by members of the ethnic Dinka holding powerful positions in government.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (YAMBIO) – Authorities of the newly created Gbudue state in Western Equatoria region have allowed patrol teams of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to operate freely in the state following earlier restrictions.

UN peacekeepers in South Sudan with one of their helicopters (UNMISS)

Council of Ministers regular meeting which was held on Friday last week in the state said it had declared free movement for UNMISS to resume their normal patrols as usual.

In a press statement issued by the minister of Information, Culture and youth in the capital, Yambio, Joseph Natale Sabun, he said Gbudue state government unanimously permitted UNMISS to conduct patrols in the region without fear and no one should stop them.

“To cooperate fully with UNMISS, Gbudue State Government has authorized UNMISS to freely organize their programs to visit any area to monitor security situation in the State without any problem.” Joseph Sabuni stated.

Sabuni urged citizens in the State not to panic if UNMISS is visiting counties and all villages in the state, saying that they are not enemy but friend.

He continued to emphasize and welcome government officials and citizens in Yambio town to come in big numbers to attend the International Day for Peace which is being organized by UNMISS of which speeches; sports activities and live band will be performed in Yambio Freedom Square.

The statement to permit UNMISS comes after the mission had been denied access to most areas in Gbudue state on several occasions for the past three months during which the state government accused the peace keepers of allegedly failing to protect citizens during the recent conflict in Yambio and in other areas in Western Equatoria.

The state minister of information also revealed that the decision came following an appeal to the government of South Sudan by the high level delegation of the United Nation Security Council which visited South Sudan recently, and after several meeting with the authority of UNMISS in Yambio.

He said the security situation has normalized in most of the areas in the state, giving chance to partners to go to those areas to deliver services to the citizens who were displaced by the conflict and are in dire humanitarian situation.

Road from Yambio to Ezo and Tombura which was blocked by the armed youth who entered the bush has been opened by the government and it is safe now for any to go to those counties, according to the authorities.

The government has owed the relative peace in the area to its efforts to offer amnesty to the armed youth to come home peacefully, adding that over 300 former youth fighters have surrendered to the government both in Yambio and in Ezo counties.

(ST)

September 20, 2016 (NAIROBI) – John Lat Zachariah, a former governor of South Sudan's Lakes state, has died.

The deceased, a relative said, died from Juba hospital on Saturday after a short illness.

Lat was appointed in 2005 after the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). He held several positions in the military, serving in the directorates for intelligence as well as logistics.

The ex-governor, who hailed from Cubeit county, will be buried on Wednesday.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur on Monday said it repulsed two government offensives against its positions in Jebel Marra.

SLM-AW fighters on guard during a visit by UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gambari to Fanga Suk village, in East Jebel Marra, West Darfur, on 18 March 2011 (Photo: Reuters)

On 12 April, the Sudanese army declared Darfur a region free of rebellion following the capture of Srounq area, the last SLM-AW stronghold in Jebel Marra.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday, SLM-AW spokesperson Shihab al-Din Hagar said they inflicted heavy losses on the government troops that attacked Barbra, Sawa and Baga areas west of Jebel Marra.

He said 47 government soldiers were killed in the clashes, pointing they destroyed two vehicles and seized large amounts of weapons and ammunition.

Hagar also said their fighters repulsed another government attack on Boro, Keti and Gertiga areas northwest of Jebel Marra, saying “the SLM-AW forces managed to disperse enemy troops in a battle that lasted until Sunday evening”.

He added that one of their fighters was killed in the clashes and two others injured, pointing the government troops committed crimes against the unarmed civilians.
The Sudanese army spokesperson was not reachable for comment.

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

Jebel Marra, which spans over three states including North, Central and South Darfur, is located at a water-rich area that is characterized by mild climate.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (JUBA) – A spokesperson for the South Sudanese army (SPLA) has openly accused the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) of “making South Sudan very conducive for rebellion”, an allegation the world body rejects.

UN peacekeepers in South Sudan with one of their helicopters (UNMISS)

Lul Ruai Koang claimed armed men emerging from UN-manned Protection of Civilians Sites (POCs) attacked the police and army in Juba last week.

The attack, he added, comes at a time when the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was airlifting rebel fighters fleeing South Sudan.

“They [UN] put the guns in boxes, they have been loading them on a plane and the SPLA-IO fighters are boarding the plane and this is very serious,” Lul told reporters.

“So UNMISS and the UN are making the environment very conducive for a rebellion to flourish, and they have become a party to it,” he added.

But UNMISS dismissed the accusation and “notes with concern recent accusations made by the SPLA of UNMISS of supposedly fostering criminal activity and harbouring armed elements in the UN protection of civilians (PoC) site in Juba.”

“UNMISS rejects the allegations of impropriety in our operations, and in keeping with the UN mandate on protection of civilians, and the impartial nature of our actions; we would like to report that Thursday afternoon two SPLA soldiers in plain clothes entered POC3, where they were assaulted and held captive overnight,” said the UN.

There are more than 12,000 UNMISS forces in South Sudan operating under chapter seven of the UN to protect civilians. Since conflict out in December 2013, nearly 200,000 people took refuge at the UNMISS bases in Juba, Bor, Malakal, Bentiu, Wau and Renk for fear of being targeted by government forces.

The peace agreement signed in August 2015 has not helped to convince the mainly Nuer ethnic civilians, the tribe of SPLM IO leader Riek Machar, that peace has returned to the country. Renewed clashes in July have threatened the agreement.

UNMISS said clashes first occurred at the vicinity of a checkpoint, a posted manned by the police, located north-west of the protection site on Friday, September 9.

“On being informed by the SSNPS that the checkpoint was under attack, UNMISS deployed a Quick Reaction Force to prevent the perpetrators from entering the POC site. The attackers withdrew from the checkpoint and, later in the morning, SPLA forces deployed to secure the area,” the world body further stated.

UNMISS said in both attacks at the government post, there was high cooperation and called on the South Sudanese rival parties to cease further hostilities.

“UNMISS condemns the continuing violence, and calls on all parties to respect the ceasefire agreement, to allow the country to move forward and put personal and political differences aside,” it said.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (JUBA) – The armed opposition faction of SPLM-IO led by former First Vice President, Riek Machar, said allegations that their leader would be sent to South Africa as a refugee is not true.

South African President Jacob Zuma meets South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar in Pretoria on 18 February 2016 (ST Photo)

On Sunday, the Daily Nation newspaper in Nairobi, Kenya, quoted spokesperson for President Uhuru Kenyatta as claiming that South Africa has “agreed” to host the former South Sudanese first vice president and leader of the armed opposition faction.

Kenya's State House communications chief, Manoah Esipisu, told a local newspaper that President Uhuru Kenyatta had to cancel a pre-arranged trip to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York in order to “attend to the fast-moving situation in Somalia and South Sudan.”

Esipisu told Daily Nation, a Kenya independent newspaper, that South Africa has expressed readiness to host Machar as a refugee in the country.

“Following the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] meeting in Mogadishu, Somalia, last week, there are a series of follow-up sessions that His Excellency [President Kenyatta] needs to personally attend to, given that Kenya is a senior player in the region alongside Ethiopia,” said Esipisu on Monday.

Describing persuasion for Machar to be given to the care of South Africa as a “delicate issue,” Esipisu said President Kenyatta's involvement is essential to realize peace in South Sudan.

“Currently he [Machar] is holed up in Khartoum but there are ongoing deliberations, and very delicate ones for that matter, on where he should be eventually resettled,” said the spokesperson of the Kenyan president.

"South Africa has agreed to take him in but there is a feeling that other options be looked into. That is why it was felt that His Excellency's [Kenyatta's] involvement in these matters is very essential,” he said without elaborating.

He said President Kenyatta had to delegate his deputy, William Ruto, to represent him in the UN General Assembly meeting in New York so that he had time to focus on the matter at home.

"That is why it was decided that the Deputy President [William Ruto] represents him [President Kenyatta] in New York,” he said, when asked why the Kenyan leader skipped the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

However, Machar's spokesperson dismissed the allegation as untrue.

“No, we are not aware of this suggestion. Our leader, Dr. Riek Machar, is not aware of such suggestion to make him a refugee. And why would he be made a refugee when he is the Chairman of the SPLM (IO) party and the Commander-in-Chief of the SPLA (IO) army in South Sudan? He has an active role to play in the country in order to restore peace and stability as well as take the country to prosperity,” said James Gatdet Dak, spokesman for the opposition leader.

Machar fled Juba for his life in July when fighting erupted between his bodyguards and thousands of soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir.

He crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 17 August and was airlifted by UN Mission in that country before continuing his journey to Khartoum, Sudan “on humanitarian ground” where he got medication assistance. His spokesman said he has been discharged from hospital weeks ago but has not made a public statement.

The SPLM-IO group that appointed Taban Deng Gai as Machar's replacement wanted the former vice president to stay away from Juba till elections in 2018 but Machar's supporters dismissed Gai's rise to power as illegal.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Senior Sudanese and U.S. officials on Thursday will meet in New York to continue discussions on bilateral relations.

John Kerry (R) shakes hands with the Sudan's FM Ibrahim Ghandour as they pose for photos at the Palace Hotel in New York, October 2, 2015. (Photo Reuters/Stephanie Keith)

According to Al-Sudani newspaper on Monday, a ministerial team formed by President Omer al-Bashir to follow up on relations with Washington, would discuss with U.S. officials ways to normalize ties between the two countries and possibilities for implementing partial lifting of sanctions especially with regard to banking wire transfers.

The Sudanese team is headed by foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour and it includes representatives from the Defence Ministry, Finance Ministry, Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS), Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).

Also, the governor of the CBoS, Under-Secretary of the Finance Ministry, Under-Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, and the head of the economic sector at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) besides several economists have arrived in New York to participate in a joint business symposium with the U.S. officials.

According to Al-Sudani, the Sudanese side will seek during the symposium to inform the U.S. media on the adverse impact of the economic sanctions imposed on the country.

It is noteworthy that the U.S. authorities have exempted Sudan's permanent mission to the United Nations and the Sudanese embassy in Washington from the financial sanctions and allowed them to receive money transfers from the CBoS through a third party.

In May 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointed Idriss Jazairy as UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights in Sudan.

Sudan's foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour disclosed that he has discussed with his American counterpart John Kerry ways to elaborate a road map to normalize ties between Khartoum and Washington during the coming period.

Following a meeting in New York in October 2015, Ghandour said that he discussed with his American counterpart John Kerry ways to elaborate a road map to normalize ties between Khartoum and Washington during the coming period.

Since, the two sides held several meetings to that effect but no tangible move has so far been taken.

Sudan says Washington didn't honour its pledges to lift Sudan from the United States list of state sponsors of terrorism after the independence of South Sudan and kept sanctions for political reasons.

But Washington says Khartoum has to end the armed conflict in South Darfur and Blue Nile states and to settle Darfur crisis.

CONFERENCE ON U.S. SANCTIONS ON SUDAN IN NEW YORK

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State said it would host a conference on Monday in New York to discuss the U.S. sanctions on Sudan.

In a media note extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday, the U.S. Department of State said it would be represented in the conference by the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Andrew Keller.

“Representatives from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security will provide technical guidance on complying with U.S. sanctions and export controls relating to Sudan” read the media note.

“This conference is consistent with U.S. government efforts to conduct compliance outreach to inform the public about U.S. sanctions and export controls. Attendees will include domestic and foreign financial institutions. A Sudanese delegation led by the Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan will also attend,” it added.

Sudan has been under US economic sanctions since 1997 and remains on the US list of state sponsors of terror.

Washington eased the sanctions imposed on agriculture equipment and services, and allowed exports of personal communications hardware and software. Also, the US Treasury Department removed the private Bank of Khartoum from a blacklist of Sudanese entities.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - Tribes residing in the locality of Kabkabiya in North Darfur state have signed a document to enhance peaceful co-existence, fight against crime and promote security.

Leaders of the Abbala and Beni Hussein tribes from North Darfur's El Sereif area celebrate after signing a reconciliation agreement in El Fasher on 27 July 2013. (Photo: Albert Gonzalez Farran/UNAMID/AP)

According to the document seen by Sudan Tribune on Monday, the Kabkabiya tribes renewed commitment to unify efforts to combat various types of crime and vowed to waste blood of the outlaws who attack and loot individuals and groups.

The document also pointed to the commitment of the tribe to carry out joint work to capture criminals and to achieve peace in the locality, holding the Sudanese army responsible to protect the residents and enforce the security decrees.

The peaceful coexistence document, which is titled “Covenant and Charter”, was signed by traditional administrations leaders Al-Tayeb Abakora Ahmadai and Abdel-bagi Abdel-Rahman on behalf of the tribes in the locality of Kabkabiya.

Kabkabiya, which is located in west North Darfur state, has witnessed repeated killing and robbery incidents besides tribal clashes. Armed militias particularly those affiliated with the government and known as Janjaweed have large presence in the locality.

Last June, North Darfur governor Abdel-Wahid Youssef accused unnamed parties of seeking to keep the “insecurity and instability” situation in Darfur, pointing to “hidden hands that prompt the security chaos in all Darfur's five states not only North Darfur”.

He declared a state of maximum readiness among regular forces to control the lawlessness situation in the state and prevented riding of motorcycles, wearing of Kadamool (a turban which covers the face) and holding arms inside the capital, El-Fasher.

(ST)

September 19, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir on Monday revealed that it was in talks with General Peter Gatdet Yak, former Deputy Chief of General Staff in the opposition group led by Riek Machar. He defected from Machar in 2015.

General Peter Gatdet Yak addressing a conference in Pagak, South Sudan, April 20, 2015 (ST photo)

The government said approaching the defected army General through dialogue was important for consolidating peace and stability in the country.

“This country called South Sudan needs all of us to cooperate. This is our country. There is no need to destroy it. The solution can't be achieved through holding weapons. It can be found around the table of dialogue. There is nothing which cannot be solved. The president of the republic is ready to bring peace through peaceful dialogue,” Tut Kew Gatluak, Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs, said on Monday.

The presidential aide was reacting to reports that the president has approved behind the scene talks with the hold out armed and non-opposition leaders as a political strategy and tactics to weaken the support base of his main political rival and armed opposition leader, Machar.

Several government officials have repeatedly claimed in a series of interviews with Sudan Tribune on Sunday that General Peter Gatdet Yak has indicated readiness to abandon the armed struggle and return to Juba.

Yak, according to presidential sources, had allegedly spoken numerous times to the president through his security advisor during which he demanded a position of deputy commander in chief, a post which does not exist in the constitution but previously created to accommodate late Paulino Matip Nhial.

It remains unclear whether the president will accept or which position he will have to create for him.

Observers say President Kiir and his new First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai are jointly working on a strategy to influence Yak and several other opposition leaders to abandon armed struggle and return.

“We are all South Sudanese and it is therefore our duty to collectively reject any political decision by some politicians that starts with the shedding of blood,” Gatluak told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

General Yak is currently living in Nairobi, Kenya, after he left Khartoum, Sudan, two weeks ago.

(ST)

September 18, 2016 (JUBA) – Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has been linked to the ongoing money laundering by corrupt government officials in South Sudan, including senior military leaders sanctioned by the United Nations in the wake of the civil war which erupted in December 2013.

The US-based The Sentry organization in its report released in Washington after a two-year investigation into the corruption in South Sudan, money movement and assets locations, it found that the Kenya Commercial Bank has taken part in transferring the stolen money outside of South Sudan by government's corrupt officials.

Among the senior army generals in South Sudan which the report named as conducted illegal money transfers to his personal bank account in the Kenyan bank is General Gabriel Jok Riak, who had been transferring hundreds of thousands of US dollars yet is monthly salary is less than $3,000 dollars, or only about $35,000 a year.

General Riak, commander of Sector One, which include Divisions 3, 4, and 5, of the South Sudan's army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), has been under the United Nations sanctions for his brutal role in the civil war in which all his assets have been frozen and he is banned from travelling to another country.

“Specifically, Gen. Jok Riak had command authority over a full-scale 2015 offensive across three states in violation of multiple ceasefires, and resulting in the displacement of over 100,000 people and the commission of grave war crimes,” said The Sentry report, titled ‘War Crimes Shouldn't Pay.'

Eyewitness accounts, it said, collected by Human Rights Watch have detailed the conduct of soldiers deployed with Sector One, describing elderly women beaten to death, sexual violence, looting, and destruction committed under his command.

However, the General had been transferring huge sums of money through the KCB in the money laundering business.

“Bank records reviewed by The Sentry indicate that Gen. Jok Riak received large financial transfers totaling at least $367,000 to his personal bank account at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) from February to December 2014 alone—sums that dwarf his official annual salary of about $35,000,” The Sentry report revealed.

According to The Sentry report, records of payments totaling $49,000 came from an individual who shares a name with an individual who then served as advisor in the Office of the President, while an additional $308,524.10 came from Dalbit International, a Kenyan multinational corporation operating in South Sudan that is one of the country's largest petroleum and fuel companies.

It is not clear whether or not the army commander under the UN sanctions has had the money frozen per the UN sanctions, or still keeps his bank account active in the Kenya bank in noncompliance.

Another top army official in South Sudan who conducted illegal money transfers through the Kenya Commercial Bank is General Reuben Riak Rengu, who the report investigation revealed that he was directly involved in procuring weapons and planning military offensives but also is involved in a wide range of commercial ventures and has received substantial payments from multinational firms from at least three countries that operate in South Sudan.

In January 2013, President Salva Kiir promoted Reuben Riak to Lieutenant General in the army, and nominated him as SPLA deputy chief of staff for logistics, effectively making him the army's primary interlocutor with foreign weapons vendors.

“Although Gen. Reuben Riak's official annual salary is about $32,000, information obtained by The Sentry suggests that he is living well beyond what such a salary would support and appears to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from numerous multinational companies active in South Sudan,” the report revealed.

General Reuben has illegally transferred to his personal bank account at the Kenya Commercial Bank millions of US dollars, despite having a salary of less than $3,000 dollars a month.

“Documents reviewed by The Sentry show $3.03 million moving through Gen. Reuben Riak's personal bank account—a U.S.-dollar denominated account at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB)—between January 2012 and early 2016,” the report further revealed.

The transactions recorded, it said, include more than $700,000 in cash deposits and large payments from several international construction companies operating in South Sudan.

Additionally, the report showed that over this four-year period, $1.16 million US dollars in cash was withdrawn from his KCB account.

The report further revealed documented proofs that General Reuben and many of his children have shares in companies operating in South Sudan.

(ST)

September 18, 2016 (JUBA) – Officials of the armed opposition faction led by former First Vice President, Riek Machar, have dismissed as “not true” claims by President Salva Kiir's government that the opposition leader returned to Juba in April to renew violence in a regime change strategy.

President Kiir last week accused the United Nations of allegedly working for a regime change and supporting Machar to carry it out. He also became bitter because the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) extracted Machar at the border and saved his life.

He said when Machar could not succeed in the two years of war which started on 15 December 2013, he signed the peace agreement in August last year in order to continue with the regime change agenda, including violence from within.

But Machar's officials said this was not true, arguing that the small number of forces they took to Juba clearly indicated that there was no plan to fight in Juba.

“It is not true. We did not return to Juba in order to fight. How could we plan to start another war inside Juba when he had only 1,300 troops brought to the capital with light weapons while Salva Kiir and his group had tens of thousands of troops in and around Juba with heavy weapons, tanks and helicopter gunships. The claim does not make any sense at all,” said James Gatdet Dak, Machar's spokesman.

Dak said their opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-IO) would have insisted on bringing to Juba at least all their 2,910 troops allowed by the agreement, or would have even ensured that they had not less than 10,000 troops, also with their heavy weapons transported to Juba before Machar returned, if they had planned for a fight in Juba.

He said it was instead President Kiir and his group who had the plan to lure Machar to Juba in order to kill him and scrap the peace deal.

“The United Nations report is very clear, it is Salva Kiir and Malong Awan who ordered the recent violence in July in Juba. The UN panel investigated it and clearly held Kiir and his group responsible,” he said.

The opposition leader's spokesman further added that “President Kiir and his group were responsible for all the messes in the country, “whether it is assassination attempts against Dr. Riek Machar on 15 December, 2013, or on 8 July, 2016 violence in Juba as confirmed by the UN, or corruption as also confirmed in the recent report by The Sentry organization based in the United States.”

Machar and his faction, he added, accepted to return to Juba in April despite the improper security arrangements because he thought that Kiir had changed from his violent behavior after the two years of war.

He however said the opposition group will not give President Kiir another third chance to attempt to lure in and murder Machar in Juba.

“The violent situation in Juba has to change first,” he said.

(ST)