June 14, 2017 (ADDIS ABABA) - Qatar on Wednesday said it has pulled out its 450 troops deployed at the disputed border line of Eritrea and Djibouti since seven years ago.
Qatar had mediated border dispute between Eritrea and Djibouti that ended a two-year long conflict under Doha peace deal signed in 2010 between the two eastern African nations.
After the peace pact was sealed, Qatar sent 450 troops to the disputed mountainous border area to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement.
"The state of Qatar has informed the government of Djibouti that it has withdrawn all of its troops deployed on the borderline," said Wednesday Qatar's ministry of foreign affairs.
The ministry said Qatar had been an "impartial diplomatic mediator" in resolving border disputes between Eritrea and Djibouti.
Qatar's decision to withdraw its troops and suspend its peacekeeping mission in Africa comes a day after Asmara's decision to cut its diplomatic ties with Doha in support of Saudi Arabia's and its allies.
Eritrea which has cordial relations with Saudi and Its allies on Monday officially announced its full support of collective actions taken against Qatar.
Also, Asmara recently developed close relations with Cairo which has troubled relations with Addis Ababa and Khartoum.
Qatar said it will continue to engage in resolving disputes and crises that might spark between "brotherly and friendly countries and will continue to be a major player in the international community".
The statement didn't mention the reasons for its decision to call off the peacekeeping mission on Eritrea-Djibouti border.
Qatar's faces a campaign by the Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE) encouraging countries in the region and across the world cut ties with the tiny state in order to isolate it.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Doha accusing it of support to terrorist groups and becoming close to the regional arch-rival Iran.
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June 14, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - President Omer al-Bashir Wednesday has relieved the state presidential minister and director of the president's offices Taha Osman al-Hussein amid conflicting reports on the reasons behind the move.
Al-Hussein who is a security general had been appointed in June 2015 as state presidential minister and director of the president's offices at the presidential palace and the council of ministers.
On Wednesday evening, al-Bashir issued a presidential decree appointing Hatim Hassan Bakhit as state presidential minister and director of the president's offices. However, the decree didn't mention whether or not al-Hussein would retain his ministerial position.
Reliable sources told Sudan Tribune that al-Hussein, who gained a reputation as being the most influential person within the president's inner circle, was informed of his removal verbally before he was allowed to leave for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).
The reasons behind the sacking of al-Hussein are not yet known, but observers point that it might be linked to Sudan's stance on the ongoing Gulf crisis or was due to internal differences with the Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Salih.
It has been purported that the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Tuesday verbally instructed the chief editors of Khartoum's newspapers not to publish any reports on the issue.
Also, unconfirmed reports say he is under arrest since Tuesday evening when he sought to travel to Saudi Arabia.
During the last couple of years, al-Hussein played a pivotal role within the presidency and appeared to be the person behind important decisions especially after al-Bashir named him as personal envoy to a number of countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Al-Hussein's last assignment was his participation in the Arab-American Islamic Summit in Riyadh last May where he represented al-Bashir, whose participation was vetoed by Washington.
His powers have significantly infringed on the role of the foreign ministry on several occasions.
In 2016 he conveyed al-Bashir's decision to cut ties with Iran to the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohamad bin Salman without the knowledge of the foreign ministry officials who read the news on the Saudi News Agency.
Also, following an unannounced visit to Washington last December in which he met with a number of congressmen and former President Jimmy Carter, he claimed he was the person behind the U.S. decision to ease the 19-year sanctions on Sudan.
June 14, 2017 (WAU) – Taban Deng Gai, South Sudan's First Vice President, claimed that the return of rebel leader Riek Machar to Juba to participate in the National Dialogue was a “recipe for disaster and would impose more catastrophe in the country.”
In a speech before an extraordinary meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) leaders on Monday 12 June, Gai insisted that the presence of Machar in the country always lead to death and disaster, something the people of the country do no need.
“Machar who has been exiled to South Africa should remain there and will not consent to re-join the political process to end the conflict in the country without using his army,” Gai told the IGAD leader in the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa, according to the text of his statement seen by Sudan Tribune.
During the discussions of the one-day meeting, the heads of state and government decided to urgently "revitalise the full implementation of the ARCSS;" pointing to the failure of the current government in Juba to implement the peace agreement and pave the way democratic reforms.
IGAD leaders praised the national dialogue process which would lay down the ground for national reconciliation but stressed that the ending the war and improve the humanitarian situation in the country should be prioritised for the time being.
The first deputy further tried in his speech to convince the IGAD leader that Riek Machar was filing with efforts to use military action to rule the country, stating that Machar did not need the National Dialogue.
“I who was with Riek Machar know him more than anyone and with his own mindset, he is not intending to take part in any process, he wants to become the President of South Sudan even through war,” said Gai who was the SPLM-IO chief negotiator.
He went on to respond to the calls by several political officials that Machar should be allowed to return to Juba as a normal citizen.
“This is the beginning of everything. If Riek is proposed to return to Juba, tomorrow people will move to a new topic of bringing him to his former post which he left last year. I am not predicting that he should take over of my post, the reality is, Riek is fill of destroying the country,” emphasised the First Vice President.
“By the end the of the transitional period, the full integration of the army will have been completed and it would be safe for South Sudan to accept the return of Riek Machar who can then come and contest peaceful democratic elections as a civil political leader,” he said.
Gai added that it would be unwise for Riek Machar to return to South Sudan now because of his behaviour, but he was more than welcome to send delegates on his behalf.
“The unity government has no objection in principle to Machar sending a delegation to deliver his views and message to the people of South Sudan in the National Dialogue Forum,” said the First Vice President.
SPLM-IO believe that the peace agreement implementation should be discussed to fix the modalities of the ceasefire and to open humanitarian access to the civilians but also they want their share in the transitional government tasked with the enforcement of the deal and to give their leader his position of the first vice president.
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June 14, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The trial of prominent human rights defender Mudawi Ibrahim Adam Wednesday has begun in Khartoum amid a large presence from activists and foreign diplomats.
Adam, a university professor and Chair of the non-governmental organisation Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO) was arrested on 7 December 2016 by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).
Earlier this month, Sudan's state security prosecutor office charged Adam with six offences, some of which are punishable by death. The offences include publishing false reports, undermining the constitutional order, espionage, provoking the war against the state, stirring up sectarian hatred and running a terrorist organisation.
The judge of the Khartoum North Criminal Court Abdin Hamad Dahi on Wednesday has held a procedural session in the trial of Adam and others.
More than 30 lawyers have appeared on the defence team while the prosecution was presented by the head of the state security prosecution office Babiker Abdel-Latif and 6 other prosecutors.
The court has allowed the defence lawyer Sati al-Haj to visit Adam at the Kober prison and approved his request to transfer him to the hospital due to his health conditions.
Also, the judge has agreed with the defence and prosecution to hold a trial session every Thursday, ordering to deposit names of both teams with the court.
It is noteworthy that Hafez Idris, who has been detained since late November, is also standing trial on the same case as he faces accusations pertaining to his work as a legal assistant in monitoring human rights violations against displaced people in Darfur.
On 14 March, Ibrahim's private driver Adam al-Sheikh, and two human rights activists from the troubled Blue Nile State identified by their first names, Abdel-Mukhlis and Abdel-Hakam have been released on bail.
From December 2003 to January 2005, Mudawi had been arrested, during several months in connection with his work with the SUDO in Darfur.
CALLS TO RELEASE MUDAWI
Amnesty International on Wednesday has called for the immediate release of the Sudanese rights defender and his colleague Hafiz Idris.
“Human rights work is not a crime, so Dr Mudawi and Hafiz must be immediately and unconditionally released. Their arrest and continued incarceration is a miscarriage of justice, plain and simple,” said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International's Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
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A Terület- és Településfejlesztési Operatív Program (TOP) mintegy háromezer nyertes projektjének megvalósítása kezdődhet el a közeljövőben - mondta a Nemzetgazdasági Minisztérium (NGM) regionális fejlesztési programokért felelős helyettes államtitkára.
Oláh Gábor a TOP-os projektek Tolna megyei nyitó rendezvényén tartott sajtótájékoztatón hozzátette: az 1300 milliárd forintos keretösszegű operatív program részeként 18 megyében 800 milliárd forintra lehetett pályázni. Az első körben beadott pályázatok nyerteseivel megkötötték a támogatási szerződéseket, a Magyar Államkincstár június végéig valamennyiüknek átutalja a támogatási előleget.
Várhatóan a következő egy-két hétben jelennek meg az idei Tanyafejlesztési Program pályázatai, erre a célra költségvetési forrásból 1 milliárd 225 millió forintos keret áll rendelkezésre - jelentette be a Földművelésügyi Minisztérium (FM) agrárfejlesztésért és hungarikumokért felelős helyettes államtitkára sajtótájékoztatón a Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg megyei Nyírteleken pénteken.