Africa

October 2, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government on Tuesday has renewed its commitment to implement the Roadmap Agreement expecting the Two Areas talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) to resume within three months.

Mbeki speaks to participants at the inaugral session of Strategic Consultations Meeting in Addis Ababa on 18 March 2016 (AUHIP Photo)

The government and the opposition Sudan Call alliance including the political forces and the armed movements signed in March and August 2016 the Roadmap agreement brokered by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) including several steps towards their participation in a national constitutional process inside Sudan.

However, the parties failed to sign a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian agreements that are seen crucial before to move forward in the roadmap implementation process.

Following the failure of talks for a ceasefire agreement in August 2016, the government held its national dialogue conference without the opposition groups and formed a national consensus government.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) Tuesday has quoted the Minister of Information and government spokesperson Bishara Guma'a Aror as saying peace has become a reality on the ground in the Two Areas and is lacking only the signing of an agreement between the government and the SPLM-N.

He pointed out that no military clashes have occurred between the government and the SPLM-N during the past two years, saying the two sides have adhered to the unilateral cessation of hostilities.

Aror called on holdout groups to join the peace process, stressing his government's seriousness and commitment to achieve sustainable peace, security and stability in the Two Areas and the country in general.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as the Two Areas since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

The talks with the SPLM-N groups to end the conflict in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states are stalled as the African mediators failed to bring the parties to sign a permanent ceasefire and to engage talks on the political issues.

Following the spilt of the SPLM-N in two factions, the mediation sought to hold peace talks between the group of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu and the government in vain.

For the other faction led by Malik Agar, the mediation deals with it within the framework of the Sudan Call opposition umbrella which includes armed groups from Darfur region and political parties.

Also, this process is impeded by the failure to reach a framework agreement for talks on Darfur conflict and the revitalization of a roadmap struck in August 2016 but no longer fits with the political developments.

(ST)

October 2, 2018 (NEW YORK) - The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock has praised Sudan's decision to allow humanitarian access to rebel-held areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as the Two Areas since 2011.

Last week, the Sudanese government said it has accepted a proposal from the UN to deliver humanitarian aid to rebel-held areas in the Two Areas from inside Sudan.

Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam Tuesday told Sudan Tribune that he met with Lowcock on Monday in New York.

He pointed out that the UN official described Sudan's decision as a positive move towards improving the humanitarian situation in the Two Areas.

Adam added he briefed Lowcock on the latest political and humanitarian developments in Sudan and the need to make concerted efforts among the government, the UN and other partners in order to promote peace and stability and to move from emergency relief to reconstruction and development.

According to Adam, the UN official expressed his conviction that humanitarian situation has improved and announced his support to government efforts in this regard.

He also urged donors to increase funding in order to contribute to enhancing the stability and resilience of affected communities.

Meanwhile, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Gwi-Yeop Son, has welcomed Sudan's decision to accept her request to facilitate humanitarian access to the affected population in the rebel-held areas.

“The request is purely humanitarian in nature and is based on humanitarian imperatives. The UN's relief operations will adhere to the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality” she wrote in a letter to the Sudanese government

Son stressed the UN would monitor the delivery of humanitarian assistance, calling on all parties to facilitate humanitarian access and the delivery of assistance to the most vulnerable people in the Two Areas.

Talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access are stalled since August 2016.

The SPLM-N demands to deliver 20% of the humanitarian assistance through a humanitarian corridor from Asosa, an Ethiopian border town.

But the government rejects the idea saying it is a breach of the state sovereignty and a manoeuvre from the rebels to bring arms and ammunition to their locked rebel-held areas in the Two Areas.

The SPLM-N, in November 2016 declined an American proposal to transport humanitarian medical assistance directly to the civilians in the rebel-held areas in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Also, during the last round of talks from 1 to 3 February, the Sudanese government and SPLM-N al-Hilu failed to reach a cessation of hostilities agreement.

The mediation delinked the ceasefire and the humanitarian access and focused at this round only on the cessation of hostilities agreement.

However, differences between the sides emerged when Khartoum proposed that the cessation of hostilities be a step towards a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian access.

(ST)

October 2, 2018 (JUBA) - The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA)'s groups that rejected the revitalized agreement Tuesday broke away from their allies who signed the peace pact and picked Thomas Cirilo Swaka as leader of the new coalition.

Thomas Cirillo Swaka (Photo Reuters)

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune the National Salvation Front (NAS) of Gen. Thomas C. Swaka, People's Democratic Movement (PDM) chaired by Hakim Dario, National Democratic Movement (NDM) led by Emanuel Aban and the United Democratic Republic Alliance (UDRA) of Gatwech K. Thich and South Sudan National Movement for Change (SSNMC) of Vakindi L. Unvu, said they met on Sunday 30 September to restructure the alliance leadership.

"The leaders of the alliance who remained true to SSOA objectives met and resolved to establish an interim SSOA Executive body, tasked with defining the way forward for SSOA post the 12th September 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS),".said the statement.

Following what the statement said the new SSOA team is constituted from Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka as the Chairman, Vakindi L. Unvu as Deputy Chairman, Amb. Emmanuel Y. Ajawin as the Secretary-General, Hakim Dario: the Secretary for Foreign Relations and Kwaje M. Lasu will keep his post of the Spokesperson.

In a statement issued on 16 September SSOA leader Gabriel Chang Changson denied accusations of betraying the plight of the South Sudanese.

Further, he called on the holdout groups to reconsider their position from the deal and to rejoin them, stressing on the need for the unity to achieve the shared objectives.

Changson-led SSOA faction includes his group FDP/SSAF, NDM of Lam Akol, SSNMC led by Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro of, SSPM/A of Hussein Abdel Bagi, SSLM/A of Bapiny Montuil Wegjang, SSUM/A of Peter Gadet Yak and a PDM's faction led by Josephine Lagu.

The new SSOA team, however, the African Union, IGAD, EU, UN Security Council, and the TROIKA countries that "we will continue to work hard to attain a genuine, sustainable and lasting peace for the people of South Sudan and to establish the rule of law and justice in our country".

It is not clear if Swaka's faction is planning to make some proposals in order to reopen negotiations with the peace partners or not and under which conditions.

It is agreed that SSOA split sapped the strength of the third political group in South Sudan after the SPLM-IG and SPLM-IO. Observers fear that this development impact negatively their efforts to achieve their goals during the transitional period.

(ST)

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