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By Mehreen Khan

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Gérer une crise sur le territoire national, c’est appréhender un environnement bien spécifique, différent du milieu des opérations extérieures. Dans un contexte d’engagement accru de nos forces militaires en métropole, il est essentiel de développer notre coordination avec les acteurs locaux (sécurité civile, préfecture, …) et notre connaissance de cet espace d’intervention. C’est dans ce cadre que les officiers servant dans la chaîne OTIAD* (délégations militaires départementales, zones de défense, etc.) sont dernièrement venus se former dans l’armée de Terre, à l’école du génie d’Angers. Objectif : leur préciser les capacités et les moyens du génie dans le cadre d’un engagement sur le territoire national. Entretien avec le colonel Jean-Christophe, directeur général de la formation.

Eritrea celebrates independence war tactics 25 years on

May 23, 2016 (JUBA) – Military spokesperson of a co-national army in South Sudan, the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), has refuted allegations that their forces had attacked locations of their partners, the SPLA under the command of President Salva Kiir.

Lt. Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual, the chief of staff of the SPLA-IO, talks to the press at a rebel military site in Juba on April 25, 2016 (Photo AFP/Charles Lomodong)

Colonel William Gatjiath Deng, in a statement he circulated on social media on Monday, said their forces had become co-national army of the transitional government of national unity and would have no reason to attack their colleagues, the SPLA.

“Now SPLA-IO has become a part of the current government and completely there would be no genuine reason for SPLA-IO to fight the SPLA, IG at all,” said Col. Deng.

On Friday, the spokesperson of the SPLA of the former government, Brig. Lul Ruai Koang, lashed at the SPLA-IO leadership, accusing it of attacking their positions near Bentiu, capital of Unity state.

General Koang also described SPLA-IO commanders as “idiots” in his press statement, prompting the response from his counter-part, Col Deng.

“I am sure SPLA-IO generals are not idiots as you [Koang] put it on your naïve press release issued on Friday at Bilpham, we are here to implement this agreement as it is in the book, and they are professional generals that is why they have delivered you this lasting peace,” he said.

He also said SPLA-IO has forces in Equatoria and Bahr el Ghazal regions, contrary to what the SPLA spokesperson refused to recognize.

General Koang, who was SPLA-IO's spokesperson for nearly two years before rejoining President Salva Kiir's government in a dubious deal in 2015, once argued that SPLA-IO had forces in Equatoria region, indicated by his previous infamous press statement entitled, “It has exploded in Equatoria” which he circulated to the media last year.

His former colleague, but currently opponent, Col Deng, said it was better to “ignore” Brig. Koang's statement, although he also said it needed analysis.

“I would like to inform the general public that, such incited and abusive language always used by the then Spokesman, needs to be analyzed and ignored as the country is ready to live in peace rather than to use antagonistic and horrible speeches,” he added.

He said it was the government forces which attacked positions of opposition forces in Rubkotni county in Unity state, or the newly created Northern Liech state.

(ST)

May 23, 2016 (BOR/JUBA) – Thousands of Ethiopian troops who have crossed into South Sudan have entered Pibor county of the newly created Buma state in search of abducted children from the Ethiopian Nuer community by the South Sudan's Murle ethnic group.

A top Ethiopian diplomat, Ambassador Fesseha Shawel Gebre, has revealed that the troops will continue to pursue the Murle criminals until all the children abducted have been recovered and returned to their parents back in Ethiopia.

Last month, thousands of armed members of the Murle ethnic group crossed into Ethiopia and simultaneously attacked 13 villages belong to the Nuer community in Ethiopia, killing at least 200 people, abducting over 100 kids and took away also with over 2,000 heads of cattle.

Ethiopia responded by deploying troops to rescue the children, threatening to attack suspected targets within South Sudan should the Murle community not hand over all the kids.

Ambassador Gebre said the deployment of the Ethiopian troops inside South Sudan has been approved by the South Sudanese government, stressing that the move was important in order not to strain relations between the two neighbouring countries.

He said no order has been issued by the Ethiopian government to begin the attack as two governors of Gambella region in Ethiopia, Gatluak Tut Khot, and governor of Boma state in South Sudan, Baba Bedan, have been peacefully trying to recover the children.

“The Ethiopian troops are in the soil of South Sudan with the permission of the government of South Sudan to facilitate work for the governors on the two sides," Ambassador Gebre told a local newspaper on Monday in Juba.

He said the Ethiopian troops may shoulder the operations as South Sudanese troops were not capable for the joint operations given the difficulty of the terrain in Boma state.

"That area is very remote and access is difficult including crossing the rivers. It is the army of Ethiopia that is best placed and equipped with the infrastructure to rescue the children,” he said.

56 children have been rescued and returned to Ethiopia so far. That is about half of the number of people abducted following the raid.

But Ambassador Gebre said the raiders should be brought to books. He said Ethiopia expected "cooperation from Juba" to avoid the cross border military incursion.

PUNISH THE CRIMINALS

Meanwhile, Boma state administration announced a plan to persecute the raiders, and child abductors belonging to the Murle ethnic group, saying at least 50 criminals have been identified and awaiting prosecution.

Boma state governor, Baba Medan, made the remarks after he visited the Ethiopian region of Gambella to normalize security tensions between his state and Gambella region.

“On the 15th of April, a group of criminals from my state went and attacked people of Gambella. According to the reports, over 100 children were abducted and 2,000 cattle stolen,” he said.

“We, the government of South Sudan and government of Boma state are committed to bring these children. The directive from the president [Salva Kiir] was very clear that we have to work out this issue of children so that we hand them over to their parents,” he said.

Governor Bedan revealed that he had asked the governor of Gambella region, Gatluak Tut Khot, to give him time to recover all the abducted kids.

“I went to meet the President of Gambella region to give us another time for us to collect cattle and the remaining children. I hope very soon, we will be able to collect and hand over these children to their government,” he said.

Although no arrest has been made, possible majors of bringing them to justice would be drafted after Ethiopian children and cattle have all been returned.

“These criminals made a mistake to cross the border and steal cattle and children from Ethiopia. It is our mistake; we will ask the criminal to pay these numbers of cattle according to the report. Even if the number of cattle is 1,000 and they are claiming for 2,000 heads of cattle, we have to collect two 2,000 from these criminals,” lamented the governor.

The Ethiopian troops had again entered Raat, seeking approval from Boma state to allow them to pass through to Lamurnyang state, pursuing the cattle.

According to Medan, he denied to grant passage of Ethiopian troops to former Eastern Equartoria state, particularly the current Namurnyang state in an attempt to pursue their stolen heads of cattle.

However, the Ethiopian troops may act unilaterally should there be no cooperation or success in recovering all the human and animals raided from their country.

(ST)

‘Greece currently has its hands full with a twin crisis − continuing economic turmoil and an escalating influx of refugees. Despite such intractable problems at home, however, the prospect of Britain’s exit from the EU attracts considerable interest and is a frequent topic of discussions between decision-makers and academics.

There are several reasons for this, not least the important historical, political and cultural ties between Greece and the UK. There is also the concern from the Greek perspective that Britain’s exit would break an entrenched European taboo.

The assumption has been for many years that the EU and its institutions would grow ever larger. A Brexit would show it was possible for the EU to actually shrink, establishing a dangerous precedent for a country still haunted by the threat of an imposed Grexit. Greece is also aware of the wider significance of losing Britain from the European club. Athens has always been among the strongest supporters of a common European foreign and security policy. To stabilize its neighborhood and to be taken seriously at the global level, the EU needs, in addition to its soft power, some hard power capabilities.

Britain and France are the only European countries with the capability to project such power. In addition, the UK carries along a first-rate diplomatic tradition and influence in various ‘interesting’ parts of the globe. In some of these places, other EU countries lack sufficient influence. A Brexit would strip the EU of important military and diplomatic capabilities and would weaken its ability to eventually develop a meaningful and effective foreign and security policy.

Britain’s departure would just be the first step in a long and complicated process of disengagement from the EU and its institutions. Its relationship with the rest of the Union would need to be redefined and that process would be neither easy nor quick. Scottish plans to leave the UK and join the EU would further complicate matters.

All this will be taking place at a time when the rest of the world, and especially powers such as Russia and China, but also the new US Administration, will not only be watching the EU’s performance but testing its cohesion and willingness to remain an influential regional and global player. This will serve the interests of neither the EU, nor the UK. Finally, ‘losing’ its second largest economy will not be in any way beneficial for the EU.

Even if the UK decides to stay, Eurosceptics will still be influential and its relationship with the EU will probably remain problematic. Facing serious challenges and with enough Eurosceptics already in Central and Eastern Europe, the Union hardly needs another one. Greece is also concerned that too many exemptions for any member state will weaken the Union.

At the end of the day, however, the thinking in Athens is that the EU would be better off fighting its battles and sorting out its differences with a difficult member state such as Britain inside the EU institutions rather than outside the Union’

Source: Chatham House

Les ministres des Finances de la zone euro se retrouvent ce mardi 24 mai à Bruxelles pour évoquer à nouveau le cas de la Grèce. Ils devraient décider de débloquer une nouvelle tranche de prêts pour le pays. Le plan d'aide de 86 milliards d'euros, voté en juillet dernier, était suspendu depuis plusieurs mois dans l'attente de l'adoption par Athènes de nouvelles mesures de rigueur. La Grèce a besoin de cet argent car elle doit rembourser 2,2 milliards d'euros à la Banque centrale européenne en juillet prochain. L'Eurogroupe devrait également se pencher sur un éventuel allègement de la dette du pays qui se monte à 180% de son PIB.

May 23, 2016 (YEI) - A leading civil society entity in South Sudan's Yei River state has expressed concerns over the increasing presence of soldiers who move with guns among the civil population in Yei town.

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

Centre for Democracy and Development raised the matter this week.

Felix Dara, the organisation's program manager said the presence of the army in town largely explains the rampant cases of insecurity, lootings, harassment, intimidation and even killing of innocent civilians.

Last week, a soldier shot and wounded an international medical doctor in Yei. Sr. Veronica Rackova later died at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

"It is very unfortunate to see that our SPLA [Sudan People's Liberation Army] soldiers who are meant to protect the lives of the people turned the guns on to civilians is very pain full, ” Dara told Sudan Tribune.

He demanded that the army be relocated out of Yei town to enable the authorities track down those criminals intimidating and killing civilians.

"We equally demand that the army except the joint patrol force must be relocated outside the town. They are really causing a security threat to the people of this town. We have a number of cases of people being arrested, intimidated and time has come for all these forces to be out of the town”, stressed Dara.

The officials further urged the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) to speed up allocation of cantonment areas for all the armed forces to enable smooth implementation of the peace accord.

"We equally demand that the security arrangement within the provision of the compromise peace agreement needed to be operationalized especially the issue of cantonment sites and this will enable the authorities to identify who these bandits are,” said Dara.

Meanwhile the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Yei, Erkolano Ladu Tombe urged the government, especially the army commanders, to ensure that soldiers under their command are controlled and guided.

“We need security. Security of lives, not security of things, animals, goats, trees and land. And we are telling the security to arrest those people who go out of hand, otherwise you security will be failing in your service to the people and the nation in securing the lives of the people”, he said.

“To the army commanders”, he added, “Don't let soldiers just go about robbing and killing people on the road. You our commanders command our soldiers and please control and punish them when they abuse civilians whom they are supposed to keep safe. Our government should keep the nation in peace; don't let the nation go into pieces [again]”.

The deputy governor of Yei River state, Abraham Wani vowed to ensure that soldiers who undermine the laws are brought to face books of law.

"Yei River County with a team of lawers have started the investigation and these soldiers will face the law accordingly”, he said.

Les Championnats d’Europe de natation de Londres ont été placés sous les couleurs hongroises.

Car en remportant dix médailles d’or, quatre médailles d’argent et cinq de bronze, la Hongrie a largement dominé les débats dans les bassins londoniens. Devant la Grande-Bretagne, l’Italie, les Pays-Bas…et la France.

Ont répondu présents les incontournables de la natation hongroise, Dávid Verrasztó et Lászlo Cseh qui a remporté quatre médailles dont l’or sur 100m et 200m papillon.

Mais la grande surprise vient de Boglárka Kapás, jeune nageuse de 23 ans, qui a effectué une véritable razzia sur la compétition. A tel point qu’elle a fait de l’ombre à la “dame de fer“, Katinka Hosszú. Elle s’est adjugé quatre médailles d’or : le 800m, le 4x200m, le 1 500m et le 400m nage libre.

Enfin on va pouvoir reparler de natation en Hongrie et pas de cette sordide histoire de viol vieille d’un demi-siècle qui a tenu le pays en haleine ces dernières semaines !

Source : london2016

May 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan and China signed, Monday, an agreement to construct the first nuclear powerhouse in the east African country.

Members of the Chinese delegation for the first meeting of the joint energy cooperation commission in Khartoum on 23 May 2016 (Photo SUNA)

The framework agreement to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Sudan was inked following the first meeting of the China-Sudan Joint Energy Cooperation Commission in Khartoum.

In December 2012, Sudan announced an agreement with China to build a research nuclear reactor, with the approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to a government official at that time, the reactor aimed to conduct research and scientific applications, and to encourage the use of atomic energy. Sudan carries out 10 projects with the help of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency.

The Sudanese Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity has started the actual preparations for producing power using the nuclear energy in cooperation with the Sudanese Atomic Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as the first nuclear plant is expected to be built in 2020.

The visiting Chinese delegation for the joint energy cooperation meetings is chaired by Nur Bekri, Director of the Chinese National Energy Administration, while the Sudanese side is chaired by the Minister of Finance Badr al-Din Mahmoud.

Speaking after the signing of the framework agreement, Mahmoud said the two sides agreed to discuss the problems that energy production is facing in Sudan and to reach effective solutions.

He added that they will also work to solve challenges facing the new projects, especially Al-Foula electricity plan and the transmission network in South Kordofan.

The government says the lack of funds and economic sanctions impede its efforts to extend electricity service and cover areas in Darfur and South Kordofan.

President Omer al-Bashir met the Chinese delegation on Monday, and discussed bilateral ties and means of bolstering them further.

Al-Bashir directed following the meeting to develop cooperation with China in areas of economy and trade, and expand it in fields of oil, gas, renewed energy, agricultural and industrial investment and infrastructure, said a statement issued following the meeting.

China has invested more than $20 billion in Sudan mostly in the oil sector during the past two decades. Beijing provides low-interest loans and weapons transfers in return for oil.

Minister Mahmoud said they reached an agreement with China to strengthen oil capabilities, to build new facilities and additional oil exportation ports on Red Sea.

Also, they agreed that Chinese companies will explore oil in new blocks, and increase the production of existing fields, besides an agreement for gas exploration and production.

The minister announced that the Chinese oil investments in Sudan have reached 17 billion dollars.

Speaking at the joint meeting; the Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Zayed Aw, said that Sudan exploited only small amounts of its oil reserves, and called on China to increase its investment in the oil sector.

On his part, the Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Mutaz Musa, pointed out that the ministry is implementing 155 electricity projects with china at a cost of 10 billion dollars.

He said that his government will fund the $10 billion projects from multiple sources, adding that the five-year plan includes power plants and dams.

(ST)

Das gesamte Banken System ist kaputt, vor allem weil Profi kriminelle Berater, wie Draghi, Ackermann, jede Kontrolle der Banken verhinderte, nachdem dem Lehmann Skandal und das Betrugs System nochmal 10 mal grösser aufbliesen, in ein Ponzi System wie es Alan Greenspan schon vor Jahren erklärte. Die Banken Mafia kaufte sich viele Gestalten wie Wolfgang Schäuble, was Tradition ist, setzte inkompetende Billig Showspieler ohne Berufs Erfahrung an Schlüssel Positionen. Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Mit dem Rauswurf des Finanzminister Yanis Varoufakis, wollte man vor 2 Jahren Freie Hand haben. Die EU, Banken und Deutsche Mafia zerstört Griechenland: Wirtschaftliche Erholung? interessiert uns nicht. Der Mega Betrug hat viele Namen, wie Wolfgang Schäuble, Deutsche Bank, die […]

May 23, 2016 (WAU) - The newly-appointed commissioner of Kwajeina county in South Sudan's Wau state, Barjuok Ucu said unity and security would form his top priorities.

Kwajeina county commissioner Barjuok Ucu on May, 23 2016 (ST)

Speaking exclusively to Sudan Tribune on Monday, Ucu urged the people to unite in order to champion developments in the region.

Kwajeina county, its commissioner revealed, mainly consists of three payams. The include, Kwajeiina centre, Mbili and Alur.

“Unity is what makes up peace, development and stability. After unity is guaranteed, then we will start the construction of the area to know the resources in the area,'' said Ucu.

The commissioner called on communities in Kwajeina to unite and distance themselves away from clan practices.

“If we are united as people of Kwajeina county, we shall overcome the challenges facing the development of the new county because in Kwajeina, we have natural resources, including stones and forestry,” he further stressed.

During the interview, the commissioner appealed to the state ministry of agriculture to expedite training of tractors experts to help boost agricultural production in the county.

A plan, he said, was in place to establish secondary schools for the people of Kwajeina

(ST)

Le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme (HCDH) a exprimé mardi sa préoccupation concernant une série de mesures prises par le gouvernement de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) depuis janvier 2015 pour réduire l'espace démocratique dans le pays avant les élections.

Le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) a déclaré mardi avoir constaté une augmentation de l'insécurité et une aggravation de la situation humanitaire dans la région de Diffa, dans le sud-est du Niger.

La Mission d'Experts indépendants des Nations Unies sur le Burundi, établie pour enquêter sur les violations des droits humains commises dans le pays depuis avril 2015, a terminé le déploiement d'une équipe de spécialistes sur le terrain, a indiqué mardi le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme (HCDH).

Le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU s'est félicité de la validation du processus électoral en Somalie par un décret publié par le Président Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, dimanche 22 mai, ce qui devrait permettre de procéder aux préparatifs techniques nécessaires pour le déroulement des élections cette année.

Le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme (HCDH) a exprimé mardi sa préoccupation concernant la violence croissante entourant les manifestations qui ont lieu chaque semaine au Kenya.

A l'occasion d'une réunion consacrée aux relations des Nations Unies avec les organisations régionales, le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU s'est félicité mardi des progrès de la coopération avec l'Union africaine et a souhaité son approfondissement.