Sudan Tribune

February 4, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's President Omer Hassan al-Bashir Thursday announced the resumption of river transport with the landlocked South Sudan ending a four-year halt decided by Khartoum over security concerns and accusations of support to rebel groups .

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir listen to the National anthem during opening session of Sudan National Dialogue conference October 10, 2015 (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

In a speech delivered in the capital of White Nile state, Rabak, al-Bashir announced the resumption of transport by river between Kosti and Juba.

The river transport was very active between North Sudan and South Sudan before and after the secession. Goods were transported by river barges to Juba or shipped by barge from Juba to Mongalla, Bor, Adok, Shambe, Malakal and Renk.

The decision of President al-Bashir follows his decisions to open border and review oil transportation fees. It also come after statements by President Salva Kiir vowing to improve ties with Khartoum and increasing bilateral cooperation.

The Sudanese president further said that his country will remain open for the South Sudanese citizens who flee the armed conflict in their country and seek refuge in Sudan.

He added that they should be mistreated or held accountable for the actions of their leaders.

The White Nile state and Khartoum state are the two regions where reside the majority of the South Sudanese refugees in Sudan.

Nearly 200.000 South Sudanese moved to Sudan since the eruption of the armed conflict between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar in December 2013.

Bashir also inaugurated a power plant in Um Dabakir area at a capacity of 500 megawatts. He disclosed that they agreed with the Indian government which constructed the new electricity station to increase its capacity to 750 megawatts in the near future.

He further vowed to transform the White Nile state to an oil producing region and to build a new airport in the White Nile state adding it would be achieved before the new Khartoum international airport.

(ST)

By Marco Cavalcante

Abdalla lives in the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan and does not really know what happens in the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, thousands of kilometers away. He is not only geographically distant; his very reality is of another world. How could anything debated and decided over there – no matter how good- can be relevant to him and his family? His main worry is to make sure his family, especially the youngest two of his five children, have enough to eat. He is concerned about them having a chance to go to school, having enough money to pay for their medicine when they are sick, to eventually find a job when – and even if - they become adults… in a few words: to have a life and a range of opportunities that he never had.

But what happened in that far away room in New York last September is actually very much about Abdalla and his family. The countries of the World, encouraged by satisfying the performance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), have decided to be even more ambitious. For the first time, the world has set as its collective objective to totally eliminate poverty and hunger. Not to reduce them, but to zero them. That is why this is relevant to everyone, especially to Abdalla.

But were the MDG results so encouraging to make it realistic to set these new lofty targets? The fact is that, worldwide, we have indeed obtained some important results. The percentage of people living under the poverty threshold in developing countries decreased from 47% in 1990 to 14% in 2015. And, the percentage of people suffering hunger decreased from 23% in 1990 to around 13% in 2015. Unfortunately these successes have not been equally achieved worldwide: Asia, the protagonist of unprecedented economic growth, performed better than other continents. In addition, even within successful countries, important segments of the population remain excluded from the economic development dividend. These communities continue to suffer increasing hunger and poverty furthering the economic and social divide between the rich and the poor.

Now is the time to look at people and communities that have been excluded from this growth. That is why 193 nations decided to set the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, to be reached by 2030. People will say: “are they realistic?” or “why do we set ourselves up for failure?”. Let's not forget that there was a similar reaction when the MDGs were set. It is a fact that globally we do have sufficient resources and knowledge to achieve these goals, guaranteeing the world and its people a future free from both poverty and hunger. A combination of investments in social protection and in the agricultural sector has proven to be a successful receipt in the countries that were able to achieve the poverty and hunger goals of the MDGs.

We shouldn't be concerned about being too optimistic or even realistic, our only commitment should be to try. Because certainly, if we don't, we will not achieve them. And if in January 2031, the nations of the world meet again and see that there are still poor or hungry people, it will not mean that we failed, but only that there will still be better work to do.

In Sudan the scope of work is enormous: 46.5% of people live under the poverty line, while 38% of the children are suffering from stunting (too short for their age, a form of chronic malnutrition) and 16% from wasting (too thin for their age, a form of acute malnutrition). These percentage means millions of people have to be reached with assistance in the next fifteen years.

In the meantime, Abdalla is talking about the drought, what the “experts” call El Nino. His harvest is not nearly as good as last year's. He is seriously thinking of selling his livestock in order to cope with the difficulties that he will face. This is where we will start 2016 and this journey towards reaching the SDGs, with Abdalla's family and all the other families that commenced this New Year with little to celebrate and much to worry. It is going to be a long and hard walk but we will get there. If by 2030 or later, it really does not matter too much. But together, we will get there.

Marco Cavalcante works as Head of Programme for the United Nations World Food Programme. This article was written in his personal capacity and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the United Nations World Food Programme.

February 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - In line with a second agreement signed by the oil ministers of the two countries Wednesday, South Sudan will provide Sudan with 28,000 barrel of crude oil per day to be used in power production and cover its local needs.

The Khartoum Refinery installation (Xinhua)

South Sudanese oil minister Stephen Dhieu Dau and his Sudanese counterpart Mohamed Zayed Awad who is visiting Juba agreed to review the fees paid by South Sudan for exporting its oil using Sudan's pipeline and oil infrastructure.

The Sudanese oil ministry said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Wednesday that Juba agreed to provide 18.000 barrel oil crude per day to a power plant in the White Nile state.

The statement further said that additional 10.000 barrel of oil crude will be supplied to Khartoum refinery in order to meet a growing demand for petroleum products.

The oil deal is signed 24 hours before the inauguration by President Omer al-Bashir of a power plant in Um Dabakir area in the While Nile state at a capacity of 500 megawatts.

Also, the agreement comes in phase with Sudanese government plans to increase the capacity of Khartoum refinery to 200.000 barrel per day.

The statement didn't elaborate on the financial cost of the deal, but analysts say it will be according to the international market.

The signed agreements will consolidate the joint interests and cooperation between the two countries and help to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries.

The Sudanese minister stressed his ministry's keenness to provide technical assistance to South Sudan, in the framework of bilateral cooperation adding that the agreement is in the interest of both peoples.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government led by President Salva Kiir said on Wednesday that opposition forces have besieged the strategic town of Bentiu in the oil producing Unity state.

South Sudanese soldiers patrol the streets of Unity state capital Bentiu on 12 January 2014 (Photo: Simon Maina/AFP)

Speaking to reporters after an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting in Juba, government spokesman and minister of information and broadcasting, Michael Makuei Lueth, said all routes leading to the oil producing town are cut off by the opposition forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-IO) led by former Vice-president, Riek Machar.

"We don't know their intention but they have closed all the roads; around Bentiu are closed and there is no movement into or out of the town," said Makuei, referring to a security report presented by ministers of defense and national security in a meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir on Wednesday.

"We don't think it is cantonment or assembling of SPLM-IO forces because you don't decide cantonment areas on your own. It is something that all parties do jointly," he said in reference to assembly areas contained in the peace agreement signed five months ago to end the 21 months old war.

Makuei said the government was monitoring the movement of the opposition troops closely.

SPLA-IO REFUTES ACCUSATION

Meanwhile, officials of the SPLM-IO have denied the accusations, saying this could be a pretext by the government if it planned to attack their forces in Unity state.

“Our forces have not moved out. They are in their bases,” said James Gatdet Dak, official spokesman of the SPLM-IO leadership.

“We hope this is not a pretext by the government to attack our forces in the area,” he said.

He also said the government could be trying to divert the public attention from the ceasefire violations and atrocities it has been committing in Western Equatoria state.

Clashes this week occurred in Mundri county of Western Equatoria state between government troops and opposition forces, with the chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), Festus Mogae, confirming the dire situation in the area.

The opposition faction accused the South Sudanese army (SPLA) of attacking their positions and civilian settlements in Western Equatoria. While the government's newly appointed governor in the area confirmed the clashes, senior military leaders in Juba denied having received reports about the fighting.

(ST)

January 3, 2016 (YAMBIO) – 30 youth drawn from the five payams of Yambio in South Sudan's Gbudue state have been trained on good governance and conflict resolution.

Youth attending the training in Yambio February 3, 2016 (ST)

A local based entity known as Community Empowerment for Rehabilitation and Development Organisation, (CEFORD) has organised the three-day workshop, which reportedly intends to equip youth with skills on conflict management.

CEFORD's project manager, Valentino Asienzo, said Yambio was chosen as the venue for the workshop owing to recent experiences of conflict and between local youth and the army, which saw nearly a dozen people killed.

“Youth have been involved in some conflict and organise themselves into groups and enter the bush in parts of former Western Equatoria state saying they are demanding their rights or to find solutions to their problems, but through dialogue a peaceful resolution can reached not fighting,” said Asienzo.

CEFORD has, in the past, organised such trainings in Ibba county to 30 youth on conflict management and has been operating in some counties in greater Western Equatoria to bring the youth and civil society groups together, training them on how to manage and find solutions to conflicts.

Some of the youth said the absence of schools in their areas makes them very idle.

James Kubako, a participant, vowed to convince county authorities to establish schools that would help absorb majority of the youth and keep them busy.

The youth and the country's armed forces were often involved in fierce battles in various parts of Western Equatoria state, a situation worsened by the 21-months long conflict.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated $7 million to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help address some of the most pressing needs of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan.

South Sudanese children play in Al-Alagaya camp in White Nile State, Sudan (Photo UNHCR)

An estimated 198,600 South Sudanese have sought refuge in Sudan following the eruption of conflict in South Sudan in December 2013. The majority reside in White Nile and Khartoum States.

In statement extended to Sudan Tribune Wednesday, UNHCR representative in Sudan Mohammed Adar said the timing of the CERF funds is critical, describing it as the first significant contribution received this year.

“It will help address the increasing humanitarian needs of South Sudanese refugees fleeing conflict and violence at home, and finding safety in Sudan,” he said.

According to the statement, “the funds will be used to ease overcrowding in existing refugee sites and support protection, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, as well as emergency education”.

The statement pointed that the overcrowding has been a challenge in the seven sites where refugees have been living in White Nile State, increasing the risks to their health and well-being, saying the CERF's funds will support the opening of two additional sites and help address overcrowding.

“The CERF funding being made available will support programmes that are implemented in White Nile State by UNHCR and other UN agencies, including the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations World Food Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organization”, added the statement
The conflict in South Sudan erupted in mid-December 2013 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir Mayardit and those backing former Vice President Riek Machar.

The violence which quickly spread across the country killed tens of thousands of people and forced an estimated two million flee their homes.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese government has denied having told by East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), to revoke the unilaterally created 28 states in violation of the peace agreement it signed with opposition factions in August 2015 on the basis of the existing 10 states, saying it was a misinterpretation.

South Sudanese information minister Michael Makuei Lueth attends a press conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 5 January 2014 (Photo: AP/Elias Asmara)

In a statement issued shortly after an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting in Juba on Wednesday, chaired by President Salva Kiir, Juba accused journalists of “misinterpreting” the IGAD communiqué.

“IGAD communiqué did not ask to revoke the 28 states,” Michael Makuei Lueth, minister of information, spokesman of the government and deputy chief negotiator for the government told reporters on Wednesday in broadcasted statement on the state-run South Sudan Television (SSTV).

He said the communiqué instead asked the parties to continue to dialogue on the matter of the 28 states, after formation of transitional government. Lueth went ahead to read to reporters point 6 of the IGAD communiqué, which reads:

“Concerned by the recent decision of the Government of South Sudan to implement the October 2, 2015 Presidential Decree on the creation of 28 new states, given that such action is insistent with the terms of ARCSS [Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan]. However, Council underlined that this should not delay the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) and urges the rapid formation of the TGoNU to enable dialogue on this matter.”

The communique called on the parties, the government, the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by former Vice President, Riek Machar, and other partners in peace, to instead form a boundary commission with membership of all the parties to the peace agreement and review the process for creation of new states.

“Urges the Parties, subsequent to the formation of TGoNU at national level, in the absence of agreement on the creation of new states, to suspend further action implementing the operationalization of new states until an inclusive, participatory National Boundary Commission comprising all parties to ARCSS reviews proposed states and their boundaries, and that this review process occur, for a period of up to one month,” reads point 12 in the communique.

The statement further said in case the parties to the agreement will not agree on proposed states, they will “revert” to the provisions of the agreement which is based on 10 states.

“Indicates to the Parties that in the event there are outstanding disputes at the end of the boundary review process, the Parties should revert to the provisions of the Agreement,” reads point 13.

Lueth could not however explain to the reporters what the communiqué meant to “suspend” the operationalization of 28 states, which is described as “inconsistent” with the provisions of the peace agreement.

Observers say the suspension does clearly mean the 28 states have become defunct, their operationalization to establish their governments is therefore frozen and the newly appointed governors are as well suspended until all the parties reach a consensus on a number of new states to create.

Also the decision that in case the parties will not agree on the number of states to be created during the upcoming dialogue within membership of the boundary commission, the parties shall revert to the existing 10 states.

The decision, they say, has undoubtedly brought to an end the 28 states, arguing that it is obvious the parties will not agree on the 28 states and may reduce or increase the number, redraw their boundaries, or simply revert to 10 states.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Italy's embassy in Khartoum Wednesday announced that an Italian commercial delegation would arrive in the Sudanese capital next week to discuss ways for expanding the trade exchange between the two countries.

Italy's ambassador to Khartoum Fabrizio Lobasso

In a short statement extended to Sudan Tribune Wednesday, the embassy said the commercial delegation would include 14 companies, pointing it will visit Sudan between 8 to 12 February.

It added the delegations aims to explore the Sudanese market in order to develop more sustainable industrial partnerships that would promote trade exchange between Sudan and Italy.

According to the statement, the talks would focus on developing partnerships in areas of energy and renewable energy, agriculture and food, hydropower and infrastructure.

Besides the bilateral meetings the Italian delegation will hold several meetings including with the Sudan Chamber of Commerce, Sudan Businessmen Union, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Investment.

Last October, Italy's ambassador to Khartoum Fabrizio Lobasso told Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese-Italian political consultations committee held discussions to resume bilateral talks between the two countries following a hiatus of more than ten years.

According to Lobasso, the meeting of the committee, which was held at Sudan's foreign ministry premises, saw “good discussions” on bilateral relations as well as domestic and regional issues.

February 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir said his government is determined to continue the disarmament process across Darfur in order to enhance security and stability in the region.

Former janjaweed leader and tribal chief, Musa Hilal welcomed by his supporters at Khartoum Airport on Saturday 30 May 2015 (Photo by Saleh Ajab Aldor)

Last December, the government said it has completed the first stage of a plan aimed at collecting heavy weapons from the troubled region.

The then minister of interior Ismat Abdel Rahman, told the Sudanese parliament that the proliferation of armaments in Darfur remains "a security worry". He further pointed that millions of small arms are in the hands of Darfur citizens.

He pointed that the first stage aimed at collecting heavy weapons (four- drive vehicles and heavy guns) and the listing and registering of light weapons in the region, saying the collection of light weapons will be implemented at a later stage in exchange for financial or other compensations to be determined in the future.

The head of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) Tijani al-Sissi said in press statements following his meeting with President Bashir Wednesday he briefed the latter on the security situation in the region particularly in West Darfur state, pointing the DRA stressed the need to impose state authority especially with regard to disarmament.

It is worth mentioning that the disarmament process includes former rebel groups signatory of a peace agreement and tribal militias which now constitute the main source of insecurity in the region.

Al-Sissi pointed the meeting also discussed the challenges facing the DRA and in particular the funding of the development projects besides the financial needs to complete the rest of the DRA programmes.

He added that he conveyed to President Bashir the DRA consistent position to hold the Darfur administrative referendum on time, saying it is part of the requirements of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

The DDPD provides that the permanent administrative status of Darfur be determined through a referendum. The voters have to vote for the creation of a Darfur Region composed of the States of Darfur; or the retention of the status quo of States system.

The Darfur Referendum Commission (DRC) announced that the referendum will be held between 11 to 13 April. However, the national dialogue conference said it has recommended the delay of the referendum.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese army soldiers who defected to join the Sudan People's Liberation-North (SPLM-N) rebels last week in protest over the alleged failure to resolve the status of the disputed region of Abyei have returned to their places after the community intervened, authorities and military officers in the disputed area confirmed.

Soldiers on patrol in the contested area of Abyei, which is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan (Photo: Reuters)

The army's deputy chief of general staff for operations, Lt. Gen. James Ajonga Mawut said he had verbally been informed that the group returned.

“I have no official information about the decision regarding what you are talking about [military defection in Abyei area]. I just heard they have changed their minds, which is good for them and the people of Abyei”, he told Sudan Tribune Wednesday.

The chief administrator of the disputed area, Chol Deng Alaak, said he was not aware of any rebellion in the area, declining to discuss military matters.

It emerged last week that a group of over 1,500 soldiers and officers announced had switched allegiance from the South Sudanese military in protest of the way the leadership of South Sudan, under President Salva Kiir was handling the matter of the area, which remains a contested area between Sudan and South Sudan following the latter's secession in 2011.

The region of Abyei was supposed to hold a referendum at the same time when South Sudan held its self-determination referendum, but differences over who was eligible to vote at the referendum contributed to the postponement of the vote, prompting members of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms to unilaterally conduct in October 2013, a community referendum whose result was not accepted by Sudan and South Sudan.

Major Ayuel Kiir, one of the officers who defected, confirmed in a separate interview on Wednesday that he and his group were persuaded by community members to abandon rebellion and rejoin the army in the area.

“I am now speaking to you in Agok. We are all fine. No problem. That issue which you heard has been taken over by the community leadership and decided that the issue of Abyei will be pursued through peaceful means,” said Kiir.

He added, “They said the issue of Abyei is no longer an issue between the two countries. It is now an international matter. So we accepted and returned home”.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government on Wednesday announced that it has reached an understanding with the government of neighbouring Sudan from which it seceded in 2011 to reduce charges for transporting crude oil to the international markets through Sudanese territory.

South Sudan's Petroleum and Mining Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau (3rd R) applauds as he restarts oil production in the main oil field in Palouge, on May 5, 2013. (Reuters)

South Sudanese minister of petroleum and mining, Stephen Dhieu Dau, told reporters after concluding a closed door meeting with his Sudanese counterpart had reached an agreement to review the charges considering the sharp fall in oil prices.

“Our meeting has finished. We have discussed and agreed in principle to review the agreement, especially the section related to the oil and now we have resolved to negotiate. And when we negotiate on the transitional financial arrangement in particular, it will not be a fixed $15 per barrel as it was agreed in 2012. It will be fluctuating up and down depending on the prices of the crude globally,” minister Dau told reporters on Wednesday.

He said the two parties through their technical teams would work out how much the new charges would be.

The young nation is obliged under the terms of the 2012 deal to pay Sudan $9.10 per barrel for oil flowing using Petrodar facilities in Upper Nile in addition to a fee of $15 per barrel in fulfillment of a $3.028 billion package which the two sides agreed as transitional financial arrangement (TFA). The TFA is meant to help Sudan cover the gap resulting from the loss of revenues due to secession of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011.

But now the two oil ministers representing South Sudan and Sudan hinted a fixed $15 per barrel rate would be renegotiated and the amount of $3 billion will not be affected by the new arrangement.

It will continue to be paid over a longer period of time. The transitional financial arrangement (TFA) payment, according to South Sudanese oil minister, “will be extended to more years.”

Dau's remarks were quickly confirmed by the Sudanese minister of petroleum, Mohamed Zayed Awad, saying they “have agreed in principle” to reduce the monthly payments for transitional financial arrangement and extend period for payment.

He declined to reveal the rate at which his country would be paid as part of the new understanding between the two countries, saying it will be determined by team which the two sides would form to come up with reasonable rate based on market reactions.

“For this issue to be scientific, we gave it to the technical people... Yes, we have agreed in principle but we need the technical people to work on it and in a week to come we will reach to the conclusion,” minister Zayed said.

“We don't want to talk on figures because we are not ready as it requires a lot of technical work and may be after when they conclude – we will tell you,” he added.

The war torn young nation has been hit by economic crisis as prices of its only export commodity, the oil, has dropped from $110 per a barrel before the civil war in 2013 to just $24 per barrel.

After paying Sudanese their charges for transporting the oil through their facilities as well as paying oil companies, the government of South Sudan remains only with less than $5 dollars a barrel.

(ST)

February 02, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan government and the opposition led by ex-vice president, Riek Machar have agreed to speed up formation of transitional government by ensuring rebel forces are in Juba soon, a senior government official said.

South Sudanese information minister Michael Makuei Lueth attends a press conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 5 January 2014 (Photo: AP/Elias Asmara)

Addressing reporters in the South Sudan capital, Juba at the end of Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), information minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the country's warring parties adopted the communiqué from the Intergovermental Authority on Development (IGAD).

“The meeting went on very well and in the meeting we discussed the communiqué which was issued by IGAD and we adopted the communiqué as it is, as the best option and the way forward and as a roadmap for the implementation of the agreement and the establishment of the Transitional Government of National Unity,” he explained.

The regional bloc, which mediated the peace agreement, asked the parties to form an interim government this week and resolve the stalemate over the 28 new states, seen as an obstacle to the unity government's formation.

Makuei said that the Juba government and the armed opposition would also agree on the security arrangements within the national capital, Juba.

“So we have agreed that within this coming short period we need to work hard and ensure that the security elements from the IO are brought in. That the police of 1,500 for Juba town and the police for the greater Upper Nile of 1,200 are also brought in and the other security forces of 1,410 all should be brought in as soon as possible so that the first vice president comes in and the transitional government of national unity is established,” he said.

Last week, the United Nations secretary-general, Ban ki Moon expressed concerns over the two warring parties' deadlock over the establishment of the 28 states, and their failure to meet the 22 January deadline to establish the TGoNU in South Sudan.

He said the TGoNU's formation was an essential step in implementing the peace accord and laying the foundation for peace and stability in the world's youngest nation.

Ki moon urged South Sudan government and its armed opposition faction to place the interests of the people first and make the necessary compromises.

"I call on all parties urgently to resolve the disputes that are preventing establishment of the government, he said, adding "The parties must place the interests of their young nation and its people, who have suffered long enough, above their own".

(ST)

January 2, 2016 (LEER) - South Sudan's government troops killed about 50 civilians by placing them in a shipping container in Leer county and applying heat to the metallic device in October last year, a report revealed.

A soldier from the South Sudanese army stands in front of a vehicle in South Sudan's Unity State on 12 January 2014 (AP)

The incident, according to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), which oversees the country's ceasefire, occurred in Unity state.

"About 50 people suffocated in a container on about 22 October. The investigation was protracted. Attribution of responsibility: Government Forces," said JMEC's report.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over two million displaced since violence broke out in the world's youngest nation following political wrangles in South Sudan's ruling party (SPLM) in December 2013.

The JMEC report also accused both government troops and rebel forces of rape, murder and looting, allegations both parties have repeatedly denied.

ARMED OPPOSITION RESPONDS

James Yoach, a spokesperson for the armed opposition in Leer county welcomed the JMEC report, which he said confirm earlier claims that pro-government forces were commit crimes against civilians in the country.

He, however, claimed the number of those killed in the incident could be higher than what was officially disclosed in the JMEC's latest report.

“We know these people were in hundreds of numbers,” he said by phone from Leer county.

In October, he added, 50 girls and women were abducted by government and 100 men were rounded up and taken to Leer town from nearby villages when militias allied to government attacked civilian hideouts.

(ST).

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

The flaws in the NCP decision of carrying out Administrative Referendum in Darfur regardless of the attrition proxy civil wars it continues waging against the unarmed noncombatant citizens will be exposed in this article. With the facts at hand all in detail, time is overdue for action taking; condemnation statements fell on deaf dumb ears and have not taken us forward one iota. The Sudanese opposition components need today before tomorrow to move into action because dwelling in the past and ruminating the pains, licking the wounds and complaining will not help the country's issues and crises of its people, but more damage. The political and armed opposition components need putting their differences aside for the sake of Lifting the country out of the dark abyss after finishing off the putschist authoritarian criminal regime who shops in the name of the Islamic faith which disowns all the hypocrisy of the gang led by the dictator Omer Bashir and his entourage.

The regime of the National Islamic Front (NIF) came to Sudan at the cunning of history and the moment of a wasted time to stifle the breath of the great people of the giant Homeland Sudan in Darfur. Therefore, the failure came walking on feet protected by tanks of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), unfortunately on 30th June 1989 and beyond the Lost Time. Moreover, the regime wasted the entire state budget on its security devices. NIF came chanting deceptive religious slogans that say “we are out for the worship of God and not for the transitory world and it is a Cultural Project with Apostolic Orientation. They aimed at building a police state for the country, pave the way for Omer al-Bashir and his family and NCP to loot, and steal all the bounties of the country and its resources. Furthermore, the economy collapsed because of the corruption of the ruling regime. The indebtedness of Sudan to the global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and other financial institutions amounted to $ 45 billion US dollars and an annual budget deficit of more than $ 5 billion. Sadly that Omar al-Bashir and his regime has demolished the great Sudanese army for fear of coups, and replace it by tribal militias of Janjaweed, bandits and gangs of armed robbery and fleeing expatriate mercenaries from neighboring African countries. Thus, the people of Sudan have to spend their entire budget on a failed army that does not fight a war against an aggressive foreign country, nor against neighbour who usurped the land of Sudan. The NCP President Omer al-Bashir got rid of a committed National Sudan Armed Force (SAF) because of his fear of the danger the national army could pose to his continuation in power. This is a regime that spent more than a quarter of a century to kill children, women and elderly people in Eastern Sudan, region of Darfur, Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, Ingessana in southern Blue Nile, people of Nubia in Kajbar and Amrey and burning villages and raping women! !! For these reasons the Sudanese people became convinced that such an army is not worthy to honoured, and they would rather prefer to be in a state without an army to spend its budget on education, health, electricity and water services for the welfare of the poverty stricken majority citizens to live honorable enhanced life.

Corruption and waste of public money reached the summit
Corruption under (NIF/NCP) regime reached its peak. According to the daily Newspaper which the spy agent (NISS) instantly closed said that the President of the Islamism regime Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir granted as a free gift a brand new Land Cruiser 2016 model car with –price of one billion and a half pounds - to every one of the army officers in his former batch colleagues in the Military Academy; the act of corrupted bribery!

The systematic plots woven and cultivated by the regime of the NCP, one after the other, against the people of Sudan in the Darfur region represented in the following manner and at this pace as a continuation of the previous genocidal crimes and other series of atrocities:

Chain of events, which affected the Darfur region and its people, included

1) The massacre of the citizens of El Geneina town and villages around
2) By the decision to dismantle the IDP camps the Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MBM) regime led by the genocidal criminal Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir tries to bamboozle the international community that the problem of the IDPs camps in Darfur has ended by the return of the residents to their homes voluntarily! In conformity with the plan, an influential official of the ruling regime announced the intentions of his government to dismantle all IDP camps during 2016. He gave two options for the displaced citizens; accepting resettlement or return to their original areas in a period of 50 days from his announcement. He further reiterated his government's commitment to take all necessary measures and do the needful to achieve this goal, stressing that "the year 2016 will see the end of displacement in Darfur. http://www.sudanjem.org/2016/01/walking-the-talk-or-fleeing-the-scene/
3) Scorched earth campaign in the areas of Jebel Marra
4) The systematic targeting of Darfur students in Sudanese universities with murder, arbitrary arrest and expulsion from boarding student accommodation by students affiliated to the National Congress Party (NCP) and by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).
5) Omar al-Bashir government's attempts to expel the joint mission of the United Nations and the African Union (UNAMID) in Darfur to provide the opportunity for the militias and mercenaries of the regime of the NCP to exterminate or forcefully remove the displaced population from the IDP camps, thinking that this would bamboozle the world that the issue of Darfur has been addressed and ended!
6) The plan for imposition of an alleged administrative referendum to Darfur to undermine the region and causing fragmentation of the social fabric of the people of Darfur and dividing the communities on ethnic lines in order to apply the principle of divide and rule, and sow discord among the components of society and stir up tribal warfare.
7) Recruitment of the notorious Janjaweed militias, codenamed rapid support forces (RSF) and mercenary from neighboring countries to occupy and colonize Darfur
8) Continuous shelling and aerial bombardment of areas of citizens' housing by war aviation that result into the destruction of water sources and the killing of cattle and burning farms and houses
9) Use the most humiliating crime of mass gang rape as a war weapon against young girls and women sometimes in front of their relatives who are threatened and forced to watch the crime as it is going on; mass rape crime in the village of Tabit in north Darfur against more than 200 women and girls by army soldiers in October 2014. Rape in Tabit remains the most egregious example of the horror.

10) Sanctity of killing innocent humans went unheeded in the NCP ruled Sudan
The NCP regime which claims of applying Islamic Sharia in Sudan, in clear contradiction, has legitimized to its security apparatus National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to use live ammunition to shoot to kill innocent civilians in the West Darfur City of Geneina in complete disregard to the sanctity of Spilling the blood of innocent civilians formed of children, women and infirm elderly who were protesting peacefully against the government allied Janjaweed militias. The militias attacked their villages, killed people, looted property and burnt homes. When the NISS opened fire at them, the civilians were trying to take refuge at the headquarters of the state government building. The Janjaweed militia that attacked the villages of Moly and the surroundings and killed the civilians is allied to the (NCP) regime and is known as the Rapid Support Force (RSF). Thus, the regime of the NCP made the sanctity of killing the innocent unheeded.

In order not to forget the facts, it is pertinent to delve to Darfur's role in the founding of the modern state of Sudan in the following:

1) The year 2016 marked the hundredth Anniversary of the martyrdom of Sultan of Darfur Ali Dinar who was assassinated by the colonial invaders in 1916 and the annexation of the Sultanate of Darfur to the State of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
2) Sultan Tairab of Darfur ruled from 1752 to 1787 and his soldiers entered the city of Omdurman chasing Musabbaat Army
3) Fung Sultanate lasted from 1504 to 1821 when the Turkish colonialism came in the period from 1821 to 1886 and followed by the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium colonialism
4) Sultanate of Darfur lasted from 1650 to 1916
5) Sultanate of Darfur was not subject to the rule of the Turks during the period 1650-1916
6) Statistics show that more than three million people in the Darfur region have become either internally displaced people or refugees in the neighbouring countries. This figure is more than the population of the region in the northern Sudan extending from the city of Shendi to Halfa!

Divide and Rule Doctrine hit the Sudanese in the Kill off
The biggest problem for the Sudanese people in dealing with the NCP regime is that we tend to not realize that the (NCP) regime is trying to deal with all the component of the people of Sudan as individuals and not as one unit. The regime takes head on the Southern Sudan, Darfur, Eastern Sudan, Nuba Mountains, South Blue Nile and then Kajbar and Amry of Nubia to impose forcibly river dams without the feeling of intense pain of the others. Therefore, all of us, the Sudanese, are in dire need of unity and to feel the pain of each other before our fateful turn comes true with the Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MBM) entity. Let us stand steadfast together to confront the common enemy with the view to oust it and rid the whole Sudan of their evils. Moreover, let us join our ranks together and do not remain silent when one part of the Sudanese nation suffers burning under the grip of the bloodstained fists of the (NCP) despotic regime. With solidarity, at the end of the day, the people of Sudan in Darfur would not be suffering alone.

Objectives for Darfur Referendum
The alleged Administrative Referendum aims at the removal of the indigenous population of the Darfur Region from their Hawakeer to become IDPs or refugees or Diaspora and replaced by the NCP allied mercenaries and militias from the neighboring countries in place aiming at complete demographic change. It is a forged right intended for a falsehood. Thus, the (NCP) regime as usual tends to reproduce itself through the spurious ongoing evil plots for the distraction of the components of the opposition and the Sudanese people by running sagas as the Wathba national dialogue process and the alleged Administrative Referendum for Darfur.

Dialogue is a Value
Dialogue is a value and a way to bridge the gap between human beings and access to participants make peaceful coexistence possible. Dialogue is a Value and fruitful in stop wars and conflicts. Dialogue is also Value and tool for addressing the causes their eruption. Nevertheless, the ruling regime of the NCP as usual, takes the ideas of others and then trying them out of their content and context with a view to throw them away, wrap and dodge to win time in power and mislead the international and regional community. The Sudanese issue is not resolved, but the Sudanese people. The international community does not want the overthrow of the (NCP) regime.

Responsibility to Protect
The atrocities happening to the children, women, the elderly and other vulnerable civilian populations in Darfur and carried out systematically by the National Congress Party (NCP) regime in Sudan is Global issue and humanitarian problem. The international community of the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) needs to pay attention to this continuing ethnic cleansing and genocide against the civilians in the Darfur region. The Responsibility to Product (RTP) becomes onus upon the UNSC today before tomorrow.

The vulnerable group of the civilian population are subjected to all kinds of crimes by the official army of Omer al-Bashir and his so-called Rapid Support Force ( RSF) Janjaweed militia and mercenaries. They use the most humiliating crime of mass gang rape as a war weapon against young girls and women sometimes in front of their relatives who are threatened and forced to watch the crime as it is going on.
The insistence of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MBM) regime and its pressed demand to hold an administrative referendum in Darfur in April 2016 is a warning signal for deceit. The regime claims it as a constitutional duty. We know for fact that the (NCP) regime itself has continued breaching the 2005 Constitution repeatedly and before that, it breached the Transitional Constitution of the Sudan of the democratic Constituent Assembly by the fateful military coup it carried out on June 30, 1989 and overthrew the democratically elected government of the Republic of Sudan. Thus, the shameless unconstitutional (MBM) regime tries to claim legitimacy for its illegal alleged administrative referendum as a constitutional justification without batting an eyelid. The genocidal criminal, fugitive from the international justice, Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir and his criminal entourage and the ilk have to understand that all the components of the Sudanese people in Darfur and other regions have categorically announced their refusal of a referendum in the Darfur region. The Sudanese people know well that the purpose for conducting referendum remains conspicuous. Accordingly, the people of Sudan in general and those in Darfur in particular will stand steadfast opposed to the referendum and would struggle to foil it by all the available means. The people of Sudan in the Darfur region, who continued suffering the woes of wars of attrition, ethnic cleansing, genocide and other heinous crimes will not rest their mind until this conspiracy for demographic change brought to its demise. Moreover, their mind will not rest until they stop the plot to rob the soil of the homeland of ancestors and the plot of fragmentation of the social fabric of indigenous people in order to bring in foreign mercenaries and militias into the Hawakeer of people of Sudan in the Darfur region.

Proof for rejection of Darfur referendum
The evidence for the attitude of the Sudanese people to reject the decision to hold the alleged Administrative Referendum the Darfur region is the thundering demonstrations that swept the world's cities with the participation of all segments of the people of Sudan, condemning the decision of the criminal regime of the National Congress Party (NCP). The demonstrations held in front of the embassies of Sudan and consulates. Furthermore, it is a clear message from the people of Sudan sent to the symbols of the regime and their genocidal criminal Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir who remains on the run fugitive from international justice that they rejected the referendum outright.

Anything short of that they remain ready for scarifying hearts and souls. The termites may try the stone as the saying goes! This represents an ultimatum that there is no excuse for those warned. On Saturday 23 January 2016 thousands of Sudanese demonstrated through the streets of the city of London. They chanted slogans against the regime led by the Génocidaire Omer al-Bashir and demanding to stop the genocide in Darfur, Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile and the arrest of those indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In solidarity with the the issue, many human rights activists joined the demonstration demanding to stop the gross violations taking place in Sudan against unarmed civilians. The demonstrators repeated slogans condemning genocide, repression, looting of properties and brutality against the Sudanese people by Bashir's regime and demanded the arrest of Omar al-Bashir and his regime entourage and bringing them to trial. The fugitives from the ICC indictment include Omar al-Bashir, Ahmad Harun, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein and Ali Abdelrahman Kushayb.

Referendum Debated
If we accept the controversy over administrative referendum that mentioned in the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) , which was boycotted by the main Darfur armed movements, the current dire conditions of the population in Darfur while the warfare continues unabated, access to the results representative of the unanimous opinion of the majority become farfetched and the credibility of the results of the ballots would be mooted.

The main Objective behind the scenes of NCP for the Darfur Referendum
Are the reasons for the insistence of the ruling regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) to proceed with the administrative referendum in spite of the dire conditions on the ground and against all odds are for making unity unattractive and even repulsive for the people of Darfur to the point of forcing them to resort to request the right to self-determination? A rather dimensional Question demanding an answer to it! If so, let us delve into the question as to whether the people of Darfur are ready to leave their country of origin Sudan to join some other soil?
No to the Demand for Self-Determination Right

Darfur is the part and parcel of the Origin of Sudan
According to the ideological set of the gangsters in the National Congress Party (NCP) regime they wish that the people of Darfur demand the right of self-determination as it did the people of southern Sudan before to get rid of the citizens of Sudan of African descent. Nevertheless and to the disappointment of the regime, the people of Sudan in Darfur would say in a loud voice that they are the Sudan and the asset of it who have been maintained the sovereignty on the borders of Sudan, where the Sudan was governed by the Sultanate of Darfur and the Sultanate of Fungi. It is pertinent to note that the Sultan of Darfur Tairab had arrived in his war with the Musabbaat up to the outskirts of Sudan's border with Egypt. This remained the true part of the history of Sudan, which is neglected deliberately by the Arabism elites. Those elites attempted to confine the history of existence of Sudan, in Isolation from the foregoing facts by referring it 'to the entry of the Arabs' as if there were no people in the land of Sudan before the alleged planned entry of the Arabs! It was an outright falsification of history, which the Arabism elites tried to teach schoolchildren in Sudan since childhood to wash their brains until they reach maturity for alienation away from the origin of their identity and from their historic background heritage. Thus, the term Sudanese remains the identity of the citizens residing within the geographical land referred to SUDAN and none of other words, neither Arabism and nor Africanism can accommodate the population of Sudan on a single identity. As said by the Inspiring leader late Dr. John Garang Mabior.

The Citizens in Sudan's Darfur region will remain in the land of their ancestors and their ancestors Sudan in spite of those racists who made the unity of Sudan repulsive and unattractive to our compatriots, the Sudanese citizens from the southern part of Sudan. Sadly, they left with that dear part of ancestral land to form their nascent state of South Sudan. As far as the people of the remaining Sudan in Darfur, they would remain as Sudanese whether they are in the IDP camps inside the country, in refugee camps in the neighboring Chad or in the middle of nowhere in the Diaspora . They would like to see the back of the supremacist racist elements leaving Sudan to join their alleged countries of origin. But there is considerable doubt that it would welcome and receive them as equal citizens of the indigenous population in the country that are trying falsely to belong to!

The people of Sudan in Darfur would not allow and have not complied with the plots of the totalitarian regime who always tried imposing its misleading racist criminal divisive wedge between the components of the Sudanese citizens who accept each other without discrimination based on color, ethnic, gender, belief, language, the cultural background, political party or regional affiliation.

In the wake of the current accelerating tragic events planned and orchestrated by the National Congress Party (NCP) regime that claims the monopoly of the Islamic religion against the people of Sudan in the Darfur region, seem unprecedented. The genocidal ruling regime of the NCP resumed committing the reprehensible crimes especially in sync with the sixtieth Anniversary of the Independence of Sudan by the First of January 2016 and the passage of the Centenary since the British Colonials annexed the Sultanate of Greater Darfur The invading British troops killed Sultan Ali Dinar - and is the last sultan of the Sultanate of Darfur on the sixth of November 1916 to the New Sudan. The renewed crimes perpetrated by the NCP regime in the Western State of the Darfur Region were meant for specific purposes, particularly in this pivotal time referred to above. The Sixty years of Independence represented an abject failure of the national Sudanese state and the absence of a national project that transforms and transmits Sudan to state for all its citizens. The result is a current massacre like the massacre in El Geneina in West Darfur State and conspiracy to dismantle IDP camps and impose a scorched earth policy in Central Darfur With view to forge results of the so-called Administrative R referendum of Darfur aimed for demographic change.

The components of the Sudanese people, know very well for fact the underlying cause for the hatred and the obstinate determination of the despotic racist regime of the NCP to retaliate from the Sudanese people in the Darfur Region for demanding their legitimate rights of equitable sharing of the National power and wealth as citizens and for their alleged support of armed resistance by the Darfur rebel movements after the National Congress Party (NCP) government refused to negotiate with those who do not carry weapons and the result was the Deluge of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that led to the indictment by the International Criminal Court ((ICC) and the conviction of the criminal, Omer Hassan Ahmed Bashir, President of the regime who remains at large, fugitive from international justice. Darkest Chapter in the Sudanese History is the era of the reign of the political Islamism of the National Congress Party (NCP) led by the genocidal criminal fugitive from the international justice, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictee. We do not expect the shadow to be straight when the wooden pole of the shadow itself is serpentine and crooked.

Retaliatory spirit prevails
And out of the retaliatory Spirit, the National Congress Party (NCP) gang allowed for the Janjaweed militias and mercenaries extermination of the people of Darfur and evacuated them from their Hawakeer and execute the alleged administrative referendum the results of which are known in advance. They then falsely claims that the people of Darfur are in favor of the end of the Darfur region forever to be ground forfeit for foreigners from neighboring countries mercenaries who had occupied a wide swath of indigenous lands in preparation for achieving the long awaited goal of demographic change and the end of the Darfur issue under the carpet.

All the evidence on the ground confirms the impossibility of a credible administrative referendum in Darfur in the conditions imposed by the regime of the NCP for remaining for more lean years in power. Many had already written in the past two weeks about the brutal massacres, which affected unarmed the civilian citizens in the West Darfur State by the Janjaweed militias affiliated to the National Congress Party (NCP) regime under the sight and earshot of the Authorities of the West Darfur state, without batting an eyelid, where it was playing the role of the Dump –devil; So to speak. Evidence of the situation in Darfur in general does not enable the regime hold the alleged referendum with any credibility just like its predecessors of the fraudulent previously rigged ballots. Ballot rigging has become synonymous with the reign of the genocidal criminal Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, the fugitive from international justice par excellence.

The administrative Referendum, which the ruling regime of the NCP intends to conduct in Darfur in April 2016, is a false endeavor for falsification of the will of the Sudanese citizens in Darfur. Besides the illegitimacy of the plan, it is not the right time to hold a referendum. The Darfur region at the present is devoid of the original population as a result of wars imposed on them and made them either internally displaced in IDP camps or refugee camps in neighboring African countries or asylum seekers in the Diaspora. Omer al-Bashir has interspersed the region by dividing it into five states based on tribal lines of the population to sow sedition and discord and ethnic strife. The second important goal of the regime is the imposition of demographic change in Darfur through the process of substitution and the replacement. Housing the arrival mercenaries from neighboring countries in the Hawakeer of the natives remains the gall. Thus, the alleged Administrative Referendum for Darfur planned by the National Congress Party regime in April 2016 is nothing but falsification of the will of the Sudanese citizens in the Darfur region. Resistance of this plot by the NCP genocidal criminal has become the duty of every Sudanese citizen, whether inside the homeland or abroad.

The components of the Sudanese people, know very well for fact the underlying cause for the hatred and the obstinate determination of the despotic racist regime of the NCP to retaliate from the Sudanese people in the Darfur Region. The marginalised people of Sudan in Darfur demanded their legitimate rights of equitable for sharing of the National power and wealth as citizens and they supported the armed resistance by the Darfur rebel movements after the National Congress Party (NCP) government refused to negotiate with those who do not carry weapons. Consequently, the (NCP) created the Deluge of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that led to the indictment by the International Criminal Court ((ICC) and the conviction of the criminal, Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, President of the regime who remains at large, fugitive from international justice. The past 26 years represent the Darkest Chapter in the Sudanese History is the era of the reign of the political Islamism of the National Congress Party (NCP). Therefore, the people in Darfur do not expect the shadow to be straight when the wooden pole of the shadow itself is serpentine and crooked! The situation in Sudan in general and Darfur in particular has become unconducive to negotiate with Omer al-Bashir and his entourage in the (NCP) regime. It has become the duty of every Sudanese citizen, whether inside the country or abroad to join ranks with the view to oust the regime by all the available means.

Let us not deceive ourselves. Omer al-Bashir is in need to be on the run. As we all know, previous marathon so-called peace negotiations abjectly failed. Peace negotiations started from N'Djamena and Abéché in Chad passed by Abuja in Nigeria and ended in Doha in Qatar without tangible beneficial effect to the Darfur refugees and the Displaced Persons. The main reason centred around Bashir's fear of the possibility of his arrest and extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the event of a sustainable peace in Darfur achieved. For this reason, any work aimed for striking a credible peace deal with the (NCP) Bashir would aggravate the situation in Darfur and causing more suffering to the civilians and exacerbate crises in all parts of Sudan.

Omar al-Bashir would do all in his power to avoid arrest and extradition to the ICC. He would try his utmost to abrogate any agreements that expected to lead to sustainable peace in Darfur. Accordingly, he would do all he could to aggravate the situation in Darfur to continue suffering and exacerbate crises. Furthermore, he will hire the receivables from the Darfur region to sow rift between the communities with resultant tribal warfare. Omer al-Bashir does not hesitate to betray his fundamentalist terrorist Muslim Brothers (MB) who fled their original home countries and sought refuge from his regime to provide classified intelligence about them to other interested countries in lieu of political support at the international institutions. Omer al-Bashir does not hesitate to get the country involved in regional wars of no interest to Sudan in return for payments to him to enable him to ignite civil wars in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile. The repression of the peaceful demonstrations protesting against the removal of subsidies on basic commodities such as that in September 2013 in Khartoum is a model.

Anyone who thinks that Omer al-Bashir wants sustainable peace to Darfur and wants to stop the war will be kidding or cheating himself or living with Alice in Wonderland or in Cloud Cuckoo land as the saying goes! We need taking action, challenging the policy of referendum and stop the implementation of it.

George Papandreou, the 182nd Prime Minister of Greece has been quoted as said: “If we had a consensus, we would not have to go to a referendum”.

Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

February 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to flee the fighting in Jebel Marra area that straddles three Darfur states, as the number of those who seek protection at a nearby UNAMID site in North Darfur has reached 21.000 civilians.

A group of women build a shelter in Kalma camp for internally displaced people in South Darfur on 9 March 2014 (Photo: UNAMID/Albert Gonzalez Farran)

"The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) says that as of 31st of January, the number of displaced persons seeking refuge in the vicinity of its Sortoni team site, in North Darfur, is reported to have increased to 21,328 from 14,770. This includes 13,269 children," said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq on Tuesday.

Haq further pointed that the number of civilians who have fled from Jebel Marra, Jebel Si and Fanga Suk, in Central Darfur, to the Rwanda and Argo camps in Tawila, North Darfur, is reported to stand at 9,209 civilians.

He said aid groups are providing emergency humanitarian assistance to the new IDPs. He added that an inter-agency humanitarian needs assessment team also arrived at the Sortoni team site on Tuesday.

"Humanitarian organizations, with the support of UNAMID, are working with relevant national authorities to deploy inter-agency assessment teams to Nertiti, Thur and Guldo in Central Darfur, to assess critical needs of civilians displaced in these areas," he added.

On Wednesday 24 January, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Marta Ruedas, expressed "grave concern" over the humanitarian impact of the fighting in Jebel Marra, adding that some 34,000 people have been displaced.

During an informal meeting for peace in the region held recently in Ethiopia, two armed groups: Justice and Equality Movement and SLM-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) called on the government to stop the military campaign but the government delegation refused saying the SLM-AW does not want to join the peace process.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council on 26 January, UN peacekeeping chief Hevré Ladsous called to stop the clashes in Jebel Marra and urged the SLM-AW to join the African Union-led efforts to end the conflict.

February 2, 2016 (KUAJOK) – Authorities in South Sudan's state of Gogial released on Tuesday 17 inmates, who included three expectant mothers, from detention.

Inmates released from Kuajok prison on February 2, 2016 (ST)

The move was made in collaboration with Gai Makiir, a leading South Sudanese tycoon who offered to assist those convicted of minor crimes.

Maj. General Justin Garang, the prison director, said the facility, initially constructed to house 50 inmates, now serves up to 168 prisoners. Some of the inmates, he said, were convicted and are on death row.

The official, however, said only those with minor offenses gained freedom.

“The process for the release was made through the state high court to make sure those legal procedures was follow,” explained Garang.

The state prison director appealed to those who had been freed to go back into their respective communities and share experiences acquired from jail.

“You should be the ambassadors for peace in the communities because what you acquired during your short term sentence should help you to transform yourself in to good person in the community,” stressed the Gogrial prison director.

Majith Mangong Manyang, one of the freed inmates, said he was in jail for nearly three years having been convicted by the court for killing a person.

(ST)

February 3, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan's former Vice-President, Riek Machar, will travel to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Wednesday evening for talks with President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, on the implementation of the peace agreement signed in August by warring parties in South Sudan.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Photo Reuters)

This was announced by the chairman of the external committees in the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth via social media.

“The President of Arab Republic of Egypt H.E. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi invited H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, First Vice President Designate of the Republic of South Sudan and Chairman and Commander in Chief of SPLM/SPLA (IO) to discuss the implementation of the Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and bilateral relations between Egypt and South Sudan,” Gatkuoth posted in various blogs.

“Dr. Machar will leave for Cairo, Egypt on February 3, 2016. This visit is historic and it is the first ever visit Dr. Machar had since the war broke out in South Sudan in December 15, 2013,” he said.

He added that Machar will be accompanied by “Madame Angelina Teny, Chairperson, National Committee for Defence and Security and First Lady of SPLM/SPLA (IO), Dr. Dhieu Mathok Diing, Secretary General SPLM, and Ambassador Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Chairperson, National Committee for Foreign Affairs.”

The visit comes two days after the IGAD Council of Ministers on the sideline of the African Union summit issued a communique urging the parties to form a transitional government of national unity (TGoNU) as soon as possible.

The communiqué called on President Salva Kiir's government to suspend the creation of 28 states, saying it is inconsistent with the provisions of the peace agreement which is based on the existing 10 states of the country.

The statement further urged the parties to implement the first phase of the security arrangements by deploying joint police and military forces in the capital, Juba, and other states capitals, before a unity government is formed.

The visit to Egypt will be the first of its kind by Machar since South Sudan became independent in July 2011.

It also comes a week after the opposition's top leader visited Uganda and held talks with President Yoweri Museveni.

(ST)

February 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese oil minister Wednesday will hold talks with his South Sudanese counterpart on the review of oil transit fees

A worker at the power plant of an oil processing facility in South Sudan's Unity state on 22 April 2012 (Photo: Reuters)

When the two countries stroke a deal on oil transit fees in 2012, world oil price had been stable at around $110 a barrel. But Since June 2015 princes have been cut roughly by more than 70 percent.

As result of this unprecedented fall of oil prices in the international market, Juba and Khartoum agreed to review the deal which gives Khartoum over $9 per barrel in addition to $15 as a transitional financial arrangement.

South Sudanese Ambassador in Khartoum Mayan Dot Waal announced that Sudanese oil minister Mohamed Zayed Awad, will fly to Juba on Wednesday for talks with his counterpart Stephen Dhieu Dau to discuss oil transportation fees via the Sudanese pipelines.

Waal who is travelling with Awad to Juba, further said the two ministers will discuss the resumption of oil production from Bentiu state which stopped since more than a year due to the South Sudanese conflict.

Presidents Omer al-Bashir and Salva Kiir recently expressed their will to normalize bilateral ties and settle the different disputes that caused tensions between the two countries since the secession of South Sudan.

In an interview with France 24 last Monday, al-Bashir said the outstanding issues between the two countries are not resolved. But, he pointed to the humanitarian and economic effects of the South Sudan's crisis, adding he was the president of the unified Sudan for over 20 years and he has to behave in the interest of South Sudanese people.

(ST)

February 2, 2016 (JUBA) – An alliance of 18 South Sudanese political parties has warmly welcomed regional calls for the formation of the country's Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU) this week.

South Sudan's main opposition leader, Lam Akol (AFP)

The 55th Extra-Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said on Sunday that various parties that were signatory to South Sudan's August 2015 peace agreement, which ended 21 months of conflict, should form the TGoNU in the first week of February.

The regional foreign ministers, in statement extended to Sudan Tribune, said obstacles to South Sudan's peace implementation process be negotiated afterwards.

“Although the National Alliance has been calling all along for the decision to create 28 states to be revoked, we believe that the compromise proposal by IGAD to suspend its operationalisation for a month is something we can live with in order to salvage the peace process,” said the alliance.

“We congratulate IGAD for reminding all of us to stick to the strict implementation of the Peace Agreement as this is the only way to end the suffering of our people and keep the country united,” its statement added.

The process to form the TGoNU hit a snag in after President Salva Kiir decree the formation of 28 states in October last year, contrary to provisions in the regional and internationally-backed peace agreement.

But IGAD said the South Sudanese government, the armed opposition-led by former vice president Riek Machar and other parties would discuss the stalemate “subsequent to the formation of the TGoNU at national level.”

The IGAD ministers said in the absence of agreement on the creation of new states, further action on implementing the operationalisation of new states until an inclusive, participatory National Boundary Commission comprising all Parties to ARCSS reviews proposed states and their boundaries, and that this review process occur, for a period of one month.

On Monday, however, President Kiir's government welcomed the communiqué saying it was consistent with government's position and the negotiations on the number of states will continue after forming TGoNU.

The national opposition alliance will nominate a minister to the 30 months interim government. Another minister allocated to the opposition parties will be selected by a separate opposition group allied to the government. SPLM-IO will name 10 ministers and President Kiir will name 16.

The former political detainees have already nominated two ministers for foreign affairs, transport as well as the deputy minister for foreign affairs.

(ST)

February 02, 2016 (JUBA) – People are starving to death in Mundri county of the newly created Amadi state in South Sudan according to the report by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), a body monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement signed in August last year.

Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Chairperson Festus Mogae meets with community leaders and civil society groups during a visit to Bentinu on January 14, 2016 (UNMISS Photo)

Speaking at the opening of JMEC meeting attended by government and opposition officials on Tuesday, former President of Botswana and JMEC chairman, Festus Mogae, said the death occurred due to continued fighting between government and opposition forces.

“I was told this morning that one of the ceasefire monitoring teams, which recently visited Mundri, found people there are starving to death,” said Mogae.

Mogae expressed “disappointment” that the parties have failed to form a transitional government of national unity (TGoNU) last month.

“Disappointed that I am not here today to see a new transitional government in place. Disappointed that another date has come and gone. This disappointment stems not solely because a day on a calendar was missed, but because the potential, the opportunity, the possibility of a new government is so close, so vital for this country, that it must be taken,” he said.

“Every day we spend here I think of the children I met growing up without the chance of education, the chance of bettering their own lives denied through no fault of their own. When will independence make a difference for these people? For all of your people? Africa has too many lost generations already,” he added.

According to JMEC timetable, TGoNU should have been formed on January 22. The parties missed the deadline after disagreeing on number of states. Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) council of ministers urged the parties to form TGoNU this week and resolve the issue of 28 states later.

President Salva Kiir created the new states in October, two months after signing the peace agreement. Mogae said the economic situation is worsening and there is need to save lives.

“When I left South Sudan in January, the South Sudanese pound was under 20 to the dollar. Today, I am told, it is close to 30. As a former central bank governor, as a former official at the IMF, I know how difficult it is for the economy to be managed in unstable times. But I plead with you to avoid ruin: form the transitional government of national unity without further delay, restore stability, repair the damage that has been done before it is too late, so that urgent economic assistance can become available,” he said.

Prices of basic commodities surged since the central bank and finance ministry devalued the South Sudanese pounds against the United States dollar.

Mogae said he expected parties in the meeting on Tuesday to take practical and immediate action to complete the tasks necessary to establish a new government, to agree on the urgency of introducing phased arrangements for the transitional security arrangements necessary for the capital city, Juba.

The interaction also discussed how the work of the other transitional security institutions can be accelerated and to identify, further to previous commitments, any additional steps that can be taken by the Parties to ensure constraints on humanitarian access are removed.

“I expect to report again to the AU Peace and Security Council, and to the UN Security Council on the status of implementation of the Agreement within weeks. I hope my next report can be more positive than my last, and that the delays that have plagued the process so far cease,” he said.

(ST)