Sudan Tribune

December 9, 2015 (GAMBELLA) – President Omer Hassan Al Bashir of Sudan on Wednesday participated in the Ethiopian all-tribes cultural event in Gambella town, capital of Gambella regional government in western part of Ethiopia where he praised Ethiopians for their unity in diversity.

Tens of thousands gathered at Gambella regional stadium celebrating cultural event of all tribes in Ethiopia, Gambella, 9 December 2015 (ST Photo)

The Sudanese head of state whose country has been marred with violence, sometimes pitting tribes against one another particularly in the western region of Darfur, visited the Ethiopian town close to the South Sudanese border at the invitation of his counter-part, prime minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn.

Bashir who spoke in Arabic and translated in Amharic at the opening of his speech as the Guest of Honour for the event, addressed tens of thousands of participants from all over Ethiopia. The Sudanese president turned the crowd wild when he made his greetings in Nuer language, one of the ethnic groups in Ethiopia who constitute the majority population in Gambella region.

“Maale, maale mi goaa. Yien a thin,” he said, which translates ‘how are you, how are you doing', a similar greeting language spoken by South Sudanese Nuer across the border.

He was earlier received at Makot Airport in Gambella by the governor of Gambella region, Gatluak Tut Khot, whose regional government hosted the event.

The Sudanese leader is also expected to conduct bilateral talks with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Dessalegn on Wednesday evening to discuss issues of mutual interest after he and his counter-part returned to Addis Ababa from Gambella.

“The two presidents will meet to discuss issues of common concern and [President] Bashir might also meet with other guests. This is a good occasion to renew contacts between the leadership of the two countries at the highest levels,” announced the Sudanese ambassador to Ethiopia, Osman Nafie, on Tuesday.

Senior officials from other African countries also participated in the event. South Sudan was represented by the speaker of the national parliament, Manasseh Magok Rundial, who said he represented president Salva Kiir who could not come in person to Gambella for the celebration.

More than 80 different ethnic groups of Ethiopia participated in the cultural event, displaying their respective cultures at the Gambella stadium.

Nuer and Anyuak cultural groups, the host communities, had been welcoming the guests with their respective traditional dances, dressed in traditional dresses. Symbolic traditional villages of Nuer and Anyuak have been built outside Gambella town for show to the guests from other regions.

EVENT COMMEMORATES CONSTITUTION

The Ethiopian cultural day, 9 December, is celebrated annually to commemorate the ratification of the country's constitution by parliament after the fall of the Ethiopian former dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, 24 years ago.

The constitution established the federal democratic republic of Ethiopia which is based on ethnicities and referred to as the ‘Nations and Nationalities' grouped into administrative regional governments across the country.

Ethiopia is the second-most populous nation on the African continent after Nigeria with over 100 million inhabitants who are distributed among 83 nationalities or tribes, with largest tribes such as the Oromo and Amhara having their own regional governments while smaller tribes are grouped into other regions.

Gambella region is inhabited by five ‘nationalities' with the Nuer and Anyuak ethnic groups being the majority in the area. They also share cultures and languages with their South Sudanese communities on the other side of the border.

The Ethiopian federal government has also encouraged the development of ethnic languages in schools. In Gambella currently, the Nuer and Anyuak languages are being taught from primary to secondary school levels and with further intention to introduce it into colleges in Gambella region.

The cultural day served as an important forum for nations, nationalities and peoples to show their respective cultures; learn about cultures of other ethnic groups and show unity in diversity as Ethiopians and strong solidarity for peace.

The event is also an opportunity to implement development projects in a particular regional town where an annual cultural event takes place.

Almost all main roads inside Gambella town and leading to the other neighbouring regions including to the South Sudanese border town of Pagak have been tarmacked, some constructed years ago while others shortly before the cultural event.

(ST)

December 9, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Wednesday said that subsidies would be lifted gradually admitting the move will negatively impact on the poor and low-income families.

FILE - A man selling eggs waits for customers at the market in Khartoum, Sudan (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

On Monday, Sudan's finance minister Badr al-Din Mahmoud urged the National Assembly legislators to approve the 2016 budget including lifting of government subsidies on wheat, flour, fuel and electricity in order to avoid economic collapse.

The chairman of the NCP's economic sector in Khartoum state Al-Mahi Khalafalla stressed that the lifting of subsidies is part of the economic reform program, saying it would be implemented gradually according to a well-thought plan to remove the distortions of the national economy.

He told the official news agency (SUNA) that the poor and vulnerable sections of the society must be put into consideration when the gradual lifting of subsidies is implemented.

“Subsidizing commodities doesn't [help] achieve social justice [in the country] because nobody is benefiting from government subsidies but the [foreign] diplomatic missions and the rich people,” he said.

Khalafalla added that subsidized goods are being smuggled to neighbouring countries where they are sold at higher prices, pointing the government couldn't control Sudan's vast borders to prevent smuggling operations.

The NCP official underscored the need to direct part of the subsidies money to build a wide social security network to offer health insurance and financial support for the productive and the low-income families.

He also stressed the importance to direct large amounts of the subsidies money to increase the production and the productivity to achieve the goals of the economic reform program including improving the living conditions and increasing exports.

Khalafalla further noted that the 2016 budget must include an increase in government employees' salaries because lifting of subsidies would provide real financial resources and help avoid deficit financing which increases inflation rate.

Sudan's economy was hit hard since the southern part of the country declared independence in July 2011, taking with it about 75% of the country's oil output.

However, the government succeeded in bringing inflation rate down from a high of 46.8% in July 2014 to 11.3% in August 2015 but ordinary citizens continue to complain from cost of living increases that impaired their access to basic commodities.

Also, the Sudanese pound has lost 100% of its value since South Sudan's secession. The exchange rate of the US dollar on the black market has reached 11.5 Sudanese pounds (SDG).

The official dollar exchange rate stated by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) is around 6.1 SDG.

The curtailment of fuel subsidies in September 2013 almost doubled prices of gasoline and diesel, triggering some of the worst protests Sudan has seen in years.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the time approved of Khartoum's decision saying that fuel subsidies “disproportionately” benefit the rich, but called for “a new package of corrective measures”, including addressing fiscal imbalances and tax reforms.

In august 2014, the Sudanese government announced the implementation of the five-year program as an extension of the tripartite program, which included the partial lifting of subsidies in 2012 and 2013.

It also agreed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) to help it achieve a set of economic and financial policies and objectives which include sustaining economic growth, controlling inflation, reforming the banking sector and reducing budget deficit among others.

(ST)

December 9, 2015 (JUBA) - Rebecca Nyandeng, wife of late John Garang de Mabior, founding leader of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), has called on South Sudanese rival leaders to launch a nationwide reconciliation plan ahead of the SPLM extraordinary convention scheduled to take place on Saturday, 12 December.

Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior (ST File Photo)

In an exclusive interview with Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, Nyandeng said the country has been deeply divided by more than 21 months of civil war, urging rival leaders to work for reunification of the ruling party as a prerequisite for stability in the nation.

“The momentum in which the Arusha reunification agreement was reached should be maintained because many believe unity of the SPLM is the unity of the country,” Nyandeng said on Tuesday.

“SPLM is a historical party with many people having attachment to it and they feel that it is good to resolve differences through dialogue,” she added.

She revealed that in her recent meeting with vice-president, James Wani Igga, and members of former detainees, they discovered that one of the challenges the South Sudanese leadership should address together as the first priority was to silence guns and embark on reconciliation process in order to take the country forward.

“The biggest challenge today is to unite the hearts of our people through a national reconciliation process because there is no path towards nation building and reclaiming our pride as people of one nation if we don't take bold decisions and reconcile our people,” she said.

The former presidential advisor who fled the country and lived in the neighbouring Kenya in a self-imposed exile, however said she hoped the upcoming extraordinary convention of the SPLM leadership would be an opportunity for the leaders to pledge commitment to pursue national reconciliation in a country still divided by a war resulting from attempts to reform the ruling party in 2013.

SPLM split in November 2013 when its top leaders could not agree on the way forward, particularly on democratic processes and political reforms as well as on leadership succession and intra-party elections of top leaders.

The differences centered on the type of documents to adopt including the party's constitution, manifesto, code of conduct and rules and regulations. Nyandeng also together with the armed opposition leader, Riek Machar, who was the party's first deputy chairman and Pagan Amum, secretary general, announced their interest to contest for the chairmanship position in an upcoming convention of May 2013.

When the differences resulted to military clashes on 15 December 2013, Nyandeng accused the country's president, Salva Kiir, who also chaired the party, of dictatorship and massacre of members of the Nuer ethnic group in the capital, Juba, sparking the war. She then fled the country and only returned to Juba last week in the company of former detainees, a group of 10 senior party leaders who were once detained, released into exile and returned to the country this month.

But while Rebecca is keen to speak about reunifying the party, supporters of President Salva Kiir are unlikely to accept radical institutional reforms prerequisite for reconciliation and to change the way the government had been running the affairs of the country before and after independence in 2011.

Although it is unlikely to bring about immediate change as it is unclear what exactly it will look like in the coming months since the government “does have an impact to the extent that it is a step in the right direction”, Rebecca believed it could be a preliminary step in what is likely to be a long road.

"In order to halt blood-letting and stabilise the situation, I appeal to the government, particularly the president himself and the parties in peace process to refrain from making sensational statements and commit ourselves to implementing the peace agreement,” Nyandeng stressed.

“Peace is the priority of our people,” she emphasized.

The appeal called on global community to support launching a political dialogue on the basis of the IGAD brokered peace agreement in August which calls for the formation of a transitional government of national unity to run the country for 30 months before elections can be conducted in 2018.

Nyandeng however said the peace agreement is at a critical stage and needed support from the international community in order to survive.

“The peace agreement which has been signed is at [a] critical stage and it is time the international community come together to launch a political process to make parties work together, government and opposition,” she further stressed.

She pointed out the need to halt offensive operations by the government's military forces and armed rebel units in the country, particularly in the conflict affected states of Upper Nile region.

She also called for compliance to security provisions in the peace agreement which call for redeployment of all the forces to positions from which they cannot shell themselves and to halt both ground attacks and air strikes.

She also called for deployment of international observers to monitor the ceasefire, the unconditional release of all prisoners, the establishment of corridors for refugees and humanitarian aid, and the dispatch of aid to rebuild infrastructures which have been the brunt of intense fighting in the conflict affected areas.

"I believe that a strong demonstration of commitments, translating words into actions is needed now. The leaders should reach mutual understanding on the steps that will facilitate full implementation of the peace agreement,” she said.

However, observers fear that the rush by the SPLM and former detainees to conduct a partial extraordinary convention without the armed opposition faction led by Riek Machar, will further widen divisions between the factions of the ruling party and become counter-productive to the spirit of Arusha reunification process.

It was the second time the movement split in 2013 after the first split in 1991 over whether or not to fight the 21 years of war with Sudan for the objective of the right to self-determination for the people of South Sudan.

The two factions, led by Garang and Machar, respectively however reunited in 2002 with the understanding to accommodate both the objectives of secular united Sudan advocated by late Garang and self-determination leading to independence for the people of South Sudan, which Machar advocated, resulting to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 and independence of South Sudan in 2011.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The third meeting of the joint Sudanese –South Sudanese Joint Political and Security Committee (JPSC), scheduled to be held here on Wednesday, was postponed for internal Southern Sudanese security reasons.

South Sudanese ambassador in Khartoum Mayan Dut Waal

South Sudanese ambassador to Khartoum Mayan Dot Waal on Tuesday announced for the third time the delay of a security meeting to discuss the operationalization of a buffer zone on the border between the two countries and the deployment of UN supported joint monitoring patrols.

Waal said the South Sudanese delegation headed by the defence minister was not able to travel to Khartoum due to security considerations in his country. However, he didn't elaborate on those reasons.

He told the semi-official Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) that a new date will be fixed for the talks later on.

In an extraordinary meeting in Addis Ababa held under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel(AUHP) last September, the JPSC agreed to reactivate the 10-mile wide safe demilitarized zone.

The two countries had deployed troops on the border following the signing of the Cooperation Agreement on 27 September 2012. But Juba stopped the operation fearing that demilitarized zone which is established on disputed areas along the border may be used by Sudan to support its territorial claims.

The deployment of the joint monitoring force however was seen crucial to support a successful implementation of a peace deal aiming to end the 21-month South Sudanese conflict.

Sudan also urges Juba since several years to implement this agreement as it accuses the South Sudanese government of harbouring rebels from Darfur and the Two Areas.

South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July, 2011, following a referendum held in January of that year.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (MALAKAL) - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has officially opened a new primary health care clinic at the United Nations protection of civilians (PoC) site in South Sudan's Upper Nile state capital, Malakal where nearly 48,000 South Sudanese are reportedly seeking shelter and protection.

A woman carries water through a UN camp for internally displaced people in South Sudan's Upper Nile state (Photo: IOM)

The clinic, IOM said in a statement, provides a safe space for its health staff to conduct general health care services for approximately 7,200 internally displaced persons sheltering in Sector 2 of the PoC site.

With a five-bed maternity ward, the clinic is reportedly offering reproductive health care services, including antenatal and postnatal care, family planning and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. As part of routine services, health staff provide immunizations against common diseases for children less than five years of age and pregnant and lactating mothers.

The new clinic was made possible by support from the Government of Japan, USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance and the UN Common Humanitarian Fund.

According to the agency, with more than 1.66 million people internally displaced across South Sudan, emergency health operations such as these remain critical as displacement, overcrowding, poor hygiene practices, seasonal disease outbreaks and chronic exposure to violence continue to increase health risks for IDPs of all ages.

“With the ongoing movement of IDPs into the Malakal PoC site, IOM is continuing to prioritize strengthening of health service provision. Collaboration with partners through the Health Cluster mechanism has allowed us to ensure all sectors of the PoC have coverage and avoid duplication of efforts. The opening of this IOM clinic in Sector 2 is an example of this collaboration,” said IOM South Sudan Health Programme Manager, Kelsi Kriitmaa.

As part of a holistic approach to reducing morbidity at the crowded site, IOM health staff in Malakal also work with community-based health promoters to spread health messaging, both in health promotion sessions at the static clinic and through household visits. These efforts, it explained, go hand-in-hand with IOM's hygiene and sanitation promotion efforts conducted every day throughout the PoC site.

To date, IOM staff in Malakal have conducted over 46,500 health consultations, vaccinated nearly 7,400 children against common diseases and facilitated the delivery of 754 babies.

The organisation, however, plans to open a second clinic in Sector 4 in the coming weeks to serve the population of IDPs in newly opened sectors of the Malakal PoC. The IOM clinic currently operating in PoC 1 will be closed and the services relocated to the new clinic in Sector 2, where more IDPs are located due to improved living conditions. Expanding services are crucial to meet the needs of the IDP population, which increased rapidly in late July and early August due to humanitarian needs in nearby Wau Shilluk.

IOM also offers primary health care services at the UN PoC site in Bentu, Unity State, and for IDPs, returnees, refugees and vulnerable host communities in Renk, Upper Nile state.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (RUMBEK) - Three main rival communities in South Sudan's Lakes state have accepted in principle to reconcile their differences and coexist peacefully.

Map detail showing South Sudan's Lakes state in red

Youth from the Rup, Kuei and Pakam communities merged to discuss ways of forgiving each another and open a new page for free movement on their routes.

Movement on the road between Rumbek North and Rumbek Central county had stopped due to fear of counter revenge killings resulting from highway ambushes.

The pastoralist youth formed several allies within each other gainst other sections.

Intellectual youth from the three communities helped facilitate the forum in the Lakes state capital, Rumbek.

The county commissioner of Rumbek Central county, Mawet Manuer Kok confirmed the meeting and expressed confident that peace will be restored between rival communities.

Manuer said discussions covered cattle raiding, counter revenge and rape as well as the way forward on how to reconcile communities by encouraging of one another.

“We have agreed to open roads between Rumbek North county and Rumbek Central county. We agreed to stop hostilities between Kuei, Rup and Pakam pastoralists youth- this peace will work," he said.

The meeting also allowed free movement of cows within the counties minus restrictions.

Lakes state has remained in a vicious cycle of counter revenge attacks since caretaker governor Maj Gen Matur Chut Dhuol took over more than two years ago, with activists, traditional authorities and intellectuals calling upon South Sudan's president Salva Kiir Mayardit to remove Dhuol, but so far all the calls have been overlooked by the president.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - A two-day informal meeting will be held between the Sudanese Government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) in the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa next week, disclosed the Khartoum office of the African Union (AU), Tuesday.

SPLM-N Yasir Arman (L) in a private discussion on the contentious issues with government chief negotiators Amin Hassan Omer (R) and Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid at the venue of the talks in Addis Ababa,on November 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

The AU office said the talks are aimed at reaching understandings on pending issues.

Thabo Mbeki, head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) which brokers peace talks to end armed conflicts in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and Darfur region, last November suspended the 10th round of negotiations after the two sides had voiced their need for more consultations on the outstanding issues.

Mbeki had said, then, that contacts will continue with the parties in a bid to fix a new date for the resumption of talks on the two tracks.

Director of the AU office in Khartoum Mahmoud Kan on Tuesday told the semi-official Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) that the AUHIP has proposed to the government and the SPLM/N the convening of talks between small delegations from the two parties and experts from the AUHIP.

“The forthcoming meeting is not official. It is meant to narrow the differences between the two sides ,'' Kan said, adding that the two sides had agreed to attend the Addis Ababa talks next week.

During the tenth round of talks, held in Addis Ababa from 19 to 23 November, the two sides had failed to reach agreement on humanitarian access to civilians in the war affected zones in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

The SPLM-N calls for the delivery of humanitarian assistance through Ethiopia and South Sudan, a matter which is forcefully rejected by Khartoum.

Another point of contention was the issue of security arrangements between the two sides. In that respect the SPLM/N had rejected a government proposal for the deployment of its forces in the two areas once an agreement was signed.

Also Khartoum demands the immediate negotiation of a permanent ceasefire agreement leading to disarm the SPLM-N fighters but the rebel group says such step can intervene only when a political agreement is reached on the contentious issues.

In the meantime, over 100 civil society organizations and prominent personalities from around the World sent a letter to the UN General Secretary and the United States President urging for hold Sudanese government responsible for preventing humanitarian aid to reach the needy in the war zones.

The signatories underlined that the refusal of humanitarian access should be recognized as a crime and violation of the international humanitarian law.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir Wednesday will travel to Ethiopia to participate in the Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and People's Day celebration.

President Omer Al-Bashir meets with the Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn on 26 December 2012 (SUNA)

Media reports in Khartoum Tuesday have quoted Sudan's ambassador to Addis Ababa Osman Nafie as saying that Bashir and the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn would meet in Addis Ababa on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations.

He added that Desalegn has invited Bashir to participate in the 10th Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and People's Day celebration which will take place in the Gambella region.

Nafie pointed that Bashir will address the celebration as a guest of honour, saying the occasion also marks the 21st anniversary of the ratification of the Ethiopian Constitution.

“This is a very big occasion and Ethiopia's invitation for the president comes within the framework of the excellent relations between the two nations besides the keenness of the Ethiopians on the personal participation of the president,” he said.

“The two presidents will meet to discuss issues of common concern and Bashir might also meet with other guests. This is a good occasion to renew contacts between the leadership of the two countries at the highest levels,” he added.

Ethiopia is the second-most populous nation on the African continent after Nigeria with over 100 million inhabitants who are distributed among 83 nationalities.

It has decided to celebrate Nations, Nationalities and People's Day on 9 December since 2005, to commemorate the day of the ratification of the nations' constitution.

The day serves as an important forum for nations, nationalities and people's to show their culture, know each other and show unity and strong solidarity for peace.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese army released 13 prisoners of war on Tuesday as a show of commitment to fully implement the peace agreement signed with the opposition faction of SPLM-IO led by former vice president, Riek Machar.

Speaking to journalists as the former SPLM in opposition combats were paraded before cameras, SPLA spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer said the release is in accordance with the army war principles.

“The SPLA, since the war of liberation (1983 – 2005) has been releasing prisoners of war and we have record with the International Red Cross Committee,” said Aguer.

The thirteen former fighters were captured in Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei states.

Aguer did not say if there are more prisoners of war remaining in government's cells.

“We are telling the people of South Sudan and the world at large that the SPLA is committed to peace and will implement it to the spirit and letter,” he said.

The release of prisoners of war comes just three days before an advance team of SPLM in opposition is due in Juba.

However, this comes at a time both sides continue to trade accusations for violations of ceasefire in other parts of the country.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

December 8, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Egypt has accussed Ethiopia of delaying tripartite negotiations on a controversial dam project the latter is building along the Nile River.

The planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project (AP)

Cairo's accusation comes after a planned meeting to discuss Ethiopia's dam project known as the Grand Renaissance Dam was postponed till next week.

The foreign and irrigation ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan were to hold a meeting in Khartoum from 6-7 Dcember, but was postponed till 11 and 12 December.

In an interview with Egypt's Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, the Egyptian irrigation minister's adviser, Meghawry Shehata, accused Ethiopia of postponing the latest meeting.

Ethiopia, however, said the meeting's postponement was because the Ethiopian foreign affairs minister, Tedros Adhanom, would be in Kenya to launch an integrated border peace program aimed to end border conflicts along the Ethiopia-Kenya common border.

The Egyptian official claimed Ethiopia was deliberately stalling negotiations in order to buy time and reach a construction stage that makes it difficult to demolish the new dam.

“We have been negotiating for six months, whereas we should have finished in just one month”, Shehata said.

Egypt fears the construction of what would be Africa's largest dam would eventually diminish its water share. The North African nation sees the dam project as a threat to its water security and has previously even considered military options to halt the project.

Ethiopia, however, argues that the construction of the power project was never meant to harm any of the down stream countries (Egypt and Sudan) and insists on its completion, despite external pressure.

Shehata said if the dam project was deemed a threat to Egypt, then Cairo would ask Ethiopia to stop building it further and will instead compensate Ethiopia for the electricity it intends to generate from the dam.

“Egypt should resort to global institutions to find out if Ethiopia has other motives”, he said, adding “Egypt's reaction should be firm and strong”.

Meanwhile Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir said mutual trust and cooperation is needed between the Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to ensure the power project is a reality.

Unlike Egypt, Sudan had been expressing support to Ethiopia's Nile dam project and further offered to provide technical support for the project to succeed.

In an interview conducted on Al-Arabiya Saturday, Bashir said Egypt's ex-president Mohamed Morsi's rule allegedly heightened tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt.

“Some Egyptian officials under the rule of Morsi who were non-Islamists appeared on air directly threatening Ethiopia, claiming that they would support the opposition and launch military operations targeting the dam itself”, said Bashir.

The over $ 4 billion power plant project, expected to be completed in 2017, will have electricity generating capacity of 6,000 MW. The dam is currently 50 percent completed.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese vice-president, James Wani Igga, has on Monday in Juba met the former first lady, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior and members of the former political detainees, becoming the first top official in president Salva Kiir's government to do so.

South Sudan's vice-president, James Wani Igga (Photo: Larco Lomayat)

Igga met the wife of founder of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), late John Garang, at her home for a courtesy visit. Earlier, Igga had a brief meeting with former political detainees led by former cabinet affairs minister, Deng Alor, and former justice minister John Luk Jok, as well as senior secretariat official of the SPLM-IO, Gabriel Gabriel Deng.

“The vice president and SPLM deputy chairman reiterated the government's unwavering commitment to the Arusha reunification agreement during the meetings,” said Akol Paul Kordit, the chairperson of SPLM youth league who accompanied Igga during the two separate meetings.

Nyandeng returned to Juba two weeks ago as part of the efforts to implement the peace agreement signed in August. She was in exile in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for nearly two years with the senior SPLM leaders detained at the onset of the conflict in December 2013.

She was reportedly attacked inside Emmanuel Jieng Parish church in Juba few days after her return to Juba, with her critics accusing her of playing an anti-government campaign after 15 December 2013, which played to the tune of the armed opposition faction led by former vice-president, Riek Machar, in which her eldest son, Mabior Garang, is a senior official.

According to Kordit, the meetings with participation of Nyandeng discussed efforts to implement the SPLM reunification agreement signed in Arusha, Tanzania, in January.

“The leadership of this country is committed to the peace agreement to end the suffering, stop the war and enhance development,” he said.

Former justice minister Luk also applauded the meeting. “We discussed matters connected to the implementation of the peace agreement as well as issues connected to the reunification of the SPLM,” he said.

An extraordinary convention of the SPLM is scheduled to take place over the weekend in Juba and the former detainees, who are senior members of the ruling party, are expected to participate.

Luk said his team also met president Salva Kiir although no footage was shown on the state-owned South Sudan Television (SSTV).

Leader of the former detainees, Pagan Amum, is not however expected to participate in the said convention as he declined to return to Juba with the team, earlier citing personal security concerns on his life. He was in August threatened by senior officials of the government for signing a peace agreement alongside Machar while his party chairman, Kiir, refused to ink the deal on 17 August.

SPLM-IO under the leadership of former vice-president, Machar, is not also expected to participate in the convention.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (JUBA) - A group of armed men, identified as South Sudan Armed Forces (SSAF), claimed to have seized a key military base in Eastern Equatoria state, operated by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), an official army of South Sudan, setting an alarm of the increasingly growing dissidence among the rural populations and politicians taking advantage of the inability of the government institutions to provide protection.

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers are pictured in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria state on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

The capture of the base came days after the SSAF claimed to have earlier seized another police post called Idolu, some 35km from the state capital, Torit.

The group in an interview on Tuesday with Sudan Tribune confirmed the responsibility for the attack seen as a new setback for embattled troops loyal to president Salva Kiir. The attack on the military base took place in Longiro, a remote but strategic village over the weekend, capturing government soldiers and local youth before disarming and freeing some of them.

The fighters of the group, according to a gunman identifying himself as Colonel Mario Bertino, who claimed he was the spokesman of the group, clashed with the government forces on Saturday and Sunday.

"Our forces took full control of Longiro base on Saturday and fought the pro-government forces attempting to attack our forces in our area after 24 hours of fierce clashes, the spokesman of the group, colonel Mario Bertino told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

"The Longiro area has now been fully liberated from pro-government forces,” he said, further claiming that at least two companies of his group took part in what he called "short and quick" assault.

The base lies near a major highway running from Torit town to Kapoeta town, a border area with Kenya and is also near the frontier with neighbouring Uganda, which is largely government-controlled territory as it is the home area to Eastern Equatoria state governor, Louis Lobong Lojore.

"This base was one of the main lines of defence for the regime forces. It was a nightmare, because they used it to shell all the areas under our occupation to the east of Torit town," Bertino claimed.

Their forces, he said, were combing the area in search of remanants of the pro goverment troops. He added their forces would likely launch additional attacks in attempt to widen their scope. South Sudan's conflict initially seen as a result of political differences about democratic reforms within the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) has evolved into a complex, multi-front war that has drawn in several ethnic groups who are fighting either under the loose coalition of the rebel fighters allied to the former vice, Riek Machar or setting up their own separate command in defence of local interest.

Colonel Philip Aguer, spokesperson of the government confirmed the incident on Tuesday to have taken place in the area but described the group as "bandits" involved in "thuggery activities" along the major roads in the country.

Aguer also pointed out that government's forces were still gathering information about the size of the group and their motives.

Residents and local officials believe the group is based in Komosi area where they clashed with the pro-government troops coming out from Ikotos on Sunday, resulting in the death of at least three government soldiers and the capture of several rifles and ammunition.

The Sunday incident is the latest development on the government-run facilities in what appears to be an attempt by the group to assert their presence in the area and to draw attention from the local population and put pressure on the state government.

The group last week overran a police post in Idolu area which has remained under their control. State officials have not come out to comment on the existence of the group, although some officials in the area admitted that a local police commander and his officers have lost contact with authorities in Torit town, capital of the state and their whereabouts remain unknown.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has released a college student who has been detained for seeking to join the Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya.

ISIS fighters in Derna, eastern Libya (Photo Reuters)

Multiple sources told Sudan Tribune Tuesday that Salih Kamal al-Deen al-Majzoub has been arrested at the crossing point on the Sudanese/ Libyan border while he was trying to join ISIS last July.

The same sources pointed that al-Majzoub, who is a sophomore student at the University of Bahri, left his parents' home in Al-Doroshab neighborhood in Khartoum North under the pretext that he is travelling to offer his condolences on the death of his friends' father in Gadaref State in eastern Sudan.

According to the sources, al-Majzoub has disappeared and his family informed the police and issued a criminal leaflet including his photo and circulated it in the social media networks.

It is noteworthy that al-Majzoub's father is a leading figure of the Sudanese Islamic Movement (IM) and holds the position of the movement's organizational secretary in Khartoum North.

A well informed source told Sudan Tribune that NISS have identified al-Majzoub after he crossed Al-Daba station along the North highway, saying he was detained inside a shed in the Great Desert (Sahara) before he reached the Libyan border.

According to the source, al-Majzoub was then transferred to a detention center in Khartoum where he spent about four months before he was released and handed over to his parents last week.

NISS organizes discussion rounds with the extremists inside their detention centers in order to review their thought. They usually pledge before their release not to seek to join any Jihadi movement abroad.

The flow of Sudanese youngsters- both males and females- to join ISIS has become a recurrent event this year with authorities in Khartoum seemingly unable to stop it.

In October, a college student who attends the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University of Omdurman has perished in mysterious circumstances on the borders with Libya while trying to join ISIS.

The list of Sudanese ISIS recruits included the daughter of former foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq who flew to Syria via Turkey with 17 others. Her father at the time reportedly accused circles in the state of facilitating her departure.

ISIS infiltration into Sudan among the youths has become known last March after British media outlets confirmed that nine medical students from Sudanese origins entered Syria via Turkey to work in hospitals under the control of ISIS.

Last October, the ministry of interior in Khartoum announced that about 70 Sudanese both males and females have went on to join the ISIS franchises both in Libya and Syria.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Officials of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) have defended the recent appointment of Angelina Teny, wife of the South Sudan's opposition leader, Riek Machar, to head their national committee for security and defence, saying there was no reason for critics to be “sensational” about it.

Angelina Teny (ST)

After her appointment became public on Tuesday, the topic dominated discussions in various social media groupings with proponents congratulating the SPLM-IO leadership while opponents criticizing it, arguing that the opposition leader should not have appointed his wife to the top defence position in the movement.

Critics, some of whom are supporters of the SPLM-IO, raised concern that there would be “conflict of interest” if she heads the important security and defence national committee while her husband is the commander-in-chief of the SPLA-IO forces.

Machar's media official, James Gatdet Dak, responded to the circulated criticism, saying Angelina's appointment was not based on being wife of the opposition leader.

“There is no reason to be sensational about it. Madam Angelina was not appointed to the position as wife of our chairman. She qualified as South Sudanese citizen, as active member of the SPLM/SPLA. And not only as active official of the SPLM/SPLA (IO), but also as somebody who represented the movement during the peace negotiations which led to the peace agreement,” Dak told Sudan Tribune when contacted on Tuesday.

“She played a leading role in the negotiations, and particularly on the security arrangements,” he further explained.

Dak further reminded critics that Teny negotiated the peace agreement without conflict of interest.

He said she is knowledgeable in the security sector reform in the peace agreement, adding she is an “outright politician” whose capacity to effectively contribute to the welfare of the nation should not be denied just because she is wife of the leader of the opposition faction.

Teny served for years as deputy minister of petroleum and mining in the then Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) in Khartoum before South Sudan split from Sudan in July 2011 while her husband, Machar, was at the same time serving as the vice president of the then Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS).

She also contested in the April 2010 elections for the position of governor in her home state of Unity, but narrowly lost to the opposition faction's current chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, at the same time when her husband was also serving as vice president.

He also said the British educated woman was instrumental in organizing women in the SPLM-IO, by playing a leading role in establishing their women league in the movement.

It is for the first time that the opposition faction has appointed an official to head the defence national committee which had been vacant for the past two years of the war.

The security and defence national committee will be responsible for formulating and initiating security and defence policies of the opposition army, pending reunification of the two separate armies after 18 months of the would be transitional period of 30 months.

It will oversee the implementation of the security arrangements as well as ensure adoption of security and defence policies in the reform and transformation agenda of the country's security sector.

A peace agreement was signed in August between president Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Machar, to end 21 months of brutal war which erupted on 15 December 2013 when differences emerged over democracy and reforms within the leadership of the ruling SPLM.

Tens of thousands have been killed and millions others displaced either internally or to neighbouring countries, with the country's economy on the verge of collapse.

(ST)

December 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese and international groups, and prominent rights activists Monday called on the UN chief and American president to hold the Sudanese government responsible for prevention humanitarian access to civilians in the war affected areas.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) meets with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C. on 4 August 2015 (UN Photo/Mark Garten)

In a letter extended to Ban Ki-moon and Barak Obama, the signatories said that blocking humanitarian access to civilians in the rebel held areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile should be recognized as a crime and violation of the international humanitarian law.

The letter seen by Sudan Tribune further says that the Sudanese government can be held accountable for this crime against humanity in line with the international law principles and treaties.

"Article 7 of the Rome Statute, the founding legal statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), sets forth crimes against humanity as including inhumane acts of intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health".

The International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in its judgment in Kristic, "found that the blocking of aid convoys was part of the “creation of a humanitarian crisis,” which, combined with crimes of terror and forcible transfers, incurred individual responsibility for inhumane acts and persecution as crimes against humanity" the signatories further stressed.

Also, they mention the UN Security Council Resolution 2046 (2012) on Sudan which strongly urges the warring parties in the Two Areas to comply with international humanitarian law and the guiding principles of emergency humanitarian assistance for safe, unhindered and immediate access of the United Nations and other humanitarian personnel to deliver equipment and supplies and to assist conflict-affected civilian populations.

Adding that the African Union Peace and Security Council has repeatedly urged the parties to respect human rights and International Humanitarian Law and to allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need.

During the recent round of talks in Addis Ababa last November, the two parties failed to strike a deal on the Humanitarian access to the war zones.

The government refused the SPLM-N demand for "multiple access of humanitarian assistance",
saying relief operations can be conducted only from government-controlled areas.

"For obvious reasons, the people of the Two Areas do not trust the government of Sudan, and many parts of the population may well refuse to accept assistance that emanates from government-controlled areas. This will make assistance coming solely from government controlled areas ineffective and will undermine the very result that the international community is hoping to create," the letter said.

The call has been signed by 93 groups including Sudanese organization in the Diaspora, Act for Sudan, Humanity United United to End genocide and Waging Peace- London.

Among the signatories also, former U.S. special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios, human rights Lawyer and former UN special representative in Gaza, Bosnia and Lebanon Amin Mekki Medani, House of Lords member, Baroness (Caroline) Cox, Sudan researcher Eric Reeves, Lord Alton of Liverpool who is also a member of the All Party British Parliamentary Group on Sudan and former head of the UN in Sudan Mukesh Kapila.

(ST)

December 8, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Angelina Teny, wife of South Sudan's opposition leader, Riek Machar, will chair the national committee for security and defence in the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), a position corresponding to the ministry of national security and defence in the government.

Riek Machar sits next to his wife Angelina Teny in front of their tent in rebel-controlled territory inside Jonglei state, on 31 January 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Teny has been appointed with effect from 6 November 2015 in accordance with the resolutions of the opposition faction in Nasir and Pagak, respectively.

“Pursuant to SPLM/SPLA Conference Resolutions (Nasir and Pagak), I, Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of SPLM/SPLA, hereby appoint Cde Angelina Tenya as Chairperson of National Committee for Security and Defence,” reads the appointment letter extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday morning.

It is for the first time that the opposition faction has appointed an official to head the defence national committee which had been vacant for the past two years of the war.

The security and defence national committee will be responsible for formulating and initiating security and defence policies of the opposition army, pending reunification of the two separate armies after 18 months of the would be transitional period of 30 months.

It will oversee the implementation of the security arrangements as well as ensure adoption of security and defence policies in the reform and transformation agenda of the country's security sector.

Teny has been playing a leading role in the peace negotiations on security issues leading to the agreement on the permanent ceasefire and security arrangements for the transitional period.

Before the split of South Sudan from Sudan in July 2011, she served as deputy national minister of mining and energy in the then government of national unity in Khartoum.

The opposition leader also appointed Losube Ludoru Wongo as chairperson for national committee for land, housing and environment.

He also appointed Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, as chairperson for labour, human resources development, relieving him from his previous position as chairperson for public enterprise.

The latest appointments came as the opposition group prepares to return to the national capital, Juba, for formation of a transitional government of national unity with president Salva Kiir.

(ST)

December 7, 2015 (WAU) - The chairperson of South Sudan's opposition People's Liberation Party (PLP), Peter Mayen Majongdit was last week rushed to a nearby clinic in the capital, Juba after he was allegedly poisoned, close relatives disclosed.

Peter Mayen Majondit (ST)

"He started vomiting and fell on the ground unconscious; we immediately took him to hospital”, Aluet Majongdit, a sister to the opposition leader told Sudan Tribune Monday.

A report from a local clinic where Majongdit was admitted reportedly showed the PLP leader was "poisoned", but was slowly recovering at the Juba-based medical facility.

“I did eat local food with [an] unknown gentleman, who introduced himself as Mr. James and he said that he like my party and he did invited me for food at nearby restaurant closed to where I was waiting for a friend to meet”, recalled the vocal opposition figure.

A family member said they repeatedly warned Majongdit over his lifestyle.

"He [Majongdit] just believes in everyone, he interacts freely with everyone and he likes common places. He does not behave like a politician. He is so simple but that can be damaging to him”, said the family member.

“We as a party shall now regulate his movement and communication our chairperson lifestyles shall now must be regulated by, that shall include his meetings, visits and all appointment must be made to the party leadership”, said the party's secretary general.

“We cannot point at anyone [responsible] for now due to lack of enough evidence”, he added.

Last month, the PLP attracted public attention after it threatened to stage protests if government failed to address the economic meltdown in the country. He specifically cited fuel crisis, high prizes in markets and lack of foreign currency as major setbacks.

(ST).

December 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese minister of Finance Badr al-Din Mahmoud urged lawmakers to endorse his government's plan to introduce new cuts to subsidies on flour, wheat, fuel and electricity in the 2016 budget.

Sudanese finance minister Badr al-Din Mahmoud

Several hundreds of demonstrators were killed during nationwide protests in September 2013 after the government cut fuel subsidies in order to mitigate the financial downfall created by the secession of the oil-rich south in mid-2011.

Mahmoud said in remarks before the national assembly on Monday that over the past year 10.5 billion SDG pounds (USD $1.7 billion) were allocated to subsidies.

The curtailment of subsidies will enable the government to direct funds to other productive sectors to bring the country out of the current “economic bottleneck” and “distress” currently experienced by the Sudanese people, he said.

He stressed that the 2016 budget aims to reduce inflation and imports and direct more resources to agricultural production and boost non-oil revenue.

The minister urged the national and state legislative councils to lead a campaign to increase productivity and transform Sudan “from a consuming nation to a producing one”.

Mahmoud pledged to increase wages and pensions and widen social safety net to support the poor and improve living conditions, through the provision of basic goods and reducing of government expenditures.

The Sudanese pound has fallen against the dollar to a new low of 11.5 SDG in the black market compared an official rate of approximately 6 SDG thus increasing the prices of basic goods imported mostly from abroad.

(ST)

December 7, 2015 (BOR) - The governor of South Sudan's Jonglei state, John Kong Nyuon last week relieved and reappointed his health minister to the finance ministry.

The state decrees on the new changes were made by the office of the governor in Bor.

Angok Kuol, the former minister of health was relieved from his position and was reappointed as the minister of finance in the state. The finance ministry had been vacant since the former minister in charge, Dhano Obongo was sacked on 24 May this year.

Meanwhile, Nyoun appointed Barnabas Okuny, the Akobo county MP, as the new health minister.

(ST)

December 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's foreign ministry under-secretary Abdel-Ghani al-Naem will lead his country's delegation to the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Geneva.

Aid workers from the ICRC and Sudanese Red Crescent distribute blankets to Sudanese refugees in Sudan's Darfur. (File -Photo ICRC).

Representatives of nearly every government in the world, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and partner organisations will gather in Geneva between 8 to 10 December for the 32 nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq told reporters last week end that the conference would tackle three major issues including ways to prevent and respond to violence, safeguard safety and access to humanitarian assistance and services and reducing disaster risk and strengthening resilience.

He pointed that events accompanying the conference would focus on the reduction of the severity of effects and consequences of conflicts besides the lessons learned in peace-building and reconciliation.

Al-Sadiq added that an open discussion session on the fundamental humanitarian principles will also be held during the conference, expecting effective participation from his country's delegation in this regard in light of Sudan's experiences in this domain.

He further pointed that several sessions would be held on the sidelines of the conference to discuss migration issues and how to protect migrants, noting that Sudan's participation in those sessions would be based on its long experience in dealing with refugees from neighbouring countries.

It is noteworthy that the conference, which meets every four years to reflect and take decisions on pressing humanitarian issues, is the premier global forum to enhance and inspire humanitarian debates.

(ST)