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May 03, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The University of Khartoum has partially suspended lectures and closed eight colleges in its old building along the Nile Avenue.

Anti-riot police uses water cannon to disperse student protesting outside Khartoum university on April 26, 2016 (ST Photo)

On Tuesday, University of Khartoum Deans Council suspended classes after renewed clashes between students and police turning streets around the university to what looked like a military barracks after a heavy deployment of police and other security forces.

The council blamed students for the “dangerous developments” that threatened the stability of the university.

Eyewitnesses said that heavy police forces were deployed around the university and security forces extensively used tears gas to disperse rioters. Activists posted photos on social media for students claimed to be injured in clashes with police.

In a communiqué issued on Tuesday the University's Deans Council blamed students for the escalating violence and suspended indefinitely lectures in eight college located in the university buildings in central Khartoum.

The partial closure of University of Khartoum is the third of its kind among Sudanese universities in the past four weeks.

University of Kordofan was closed on April 19 after the killing of one student and injuring 20 others. Last week, Ahlia University, in Omdurman, was closed after clashes between students supporting opposition parties and others loyal to the government. One student was killed and others were injured.

University of Khartoum Deans Council statement said that the eight colleges were closed to safeguard students, staff and properties. “University of Khartoum will implement regulations against the violence culprits, against those involved in attacking teaching staff, those incited violence or damaged the university assets,” reads the statement.

In addition, the statement criticized some students' behaviour towards its teaching staff and for hurting some security guards who sustained injurers.

University of Khartoum former Chancellor was attacked by some students when he blamed them for forcing their colleagues to leave a lecture room. “Breaking gates and forcing students to leave lecture rooms is shameful and students' regulations will be enforced,” said that statement.

The decision to suspend university classes is seen as a bid to curb the outbreak of demonstrations against the deteriorating economic situation in the country, which coincided with the call of opposition forces to topple the ruling regime.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (JUBA/MOGADISHU) – A team of the British army soldiers has arrived in Somalia as part of the UK's plans to deploy hundreds of troops in several African countries, following a pledge by Prime Minister, David Cameron.

David Cameron

An advance party of 10 soldiers will support the African Union peacekeeping efforts against the al-Shabab militant group in Somalia, Presstv reported.

The UK Defense Secretary, Michael Fallon said the deployment of the troops was “another demonstration of the flexibility and global reach of our armed forces.”

The group is expected to be joined by additional 60 soldiers who will handle medical, logistical and engineering duties.

The AU mission has deployed about 22,000 peacekeepers from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia to help Somali government forces stabilise the country.

Meanwhile, the UK is planning to send around 300 troops to South Sudan, where thousands of people have been killed as a result of a bloody civil war since December 2013.

The British forces in the young nation will reportedly carry out engineering work to strengthen the country's infrastructure.

A plan to deploy troops was announced by the British prime minister at a United Nations event in September last year.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – In a rare meeting, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Deputy Chairman, Ibrahim Mahmoud, met in Khartoum with the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) leading figure , Mubark al Fadil on Tuesday. The ruling party said that the meeting is a beginning for cooperation with all the leading Sudanese politicians.

NUP figure Mubarak al-Fadil (L) received by NCP deputy chairman and presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid on May 3, 2016 (ST Photo)

In 2002, Mubarak al-Fadil had split from the National Umma Party (NUP) chaired by his cousin Sadiq al-Mahdi and formed his own party the Reform and Renovation. Up to 2005, he participated in the NCP-led government as he was appointed a presidential aide. In 2011, however dissolved his party and rejoined the NUP. But his relations with al-Mahdi remained strained

In a meeting at the Sudanese presidency in Khartoum , the two figures agreed that the “Roadmap Agreement”, brokered by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) last March, is the best way to achieve peace and political consensus in Sudan.

During the meeting, al Fadil, proposed to form a national mechanism to contact the holdout opposition groups in a bid to end their rejection of the roadmap.

Previously, al-Fadil announced his support to the “Roadmap Agreement” and criticized the opposition parties that refused to sign the peace plan.

“I have discussed with the ruling party ways to push a head the “Roadmap” and supporting peace process in Sudan,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

He further said that the regional and international conditions are favourable to support Sudan to emerge out of its crisis and to achieve peace.

“AUHIP Roadmap” has provided all the needed guarantees and laid clear bases for the discussion of key issues, rather than insisting on preconditions,” al-Fadil said.

Commenting on the student protests in several universities, the NUP figure said that violence jeopardizes stability in the universities and communities. He added they have agreed to revive “the code of honour” among students to not resort to violence and arms in universities.

Further he said it was agreed to form a panel of educators and retired senior police officers to the Student violence in universities and to find out the right measures to stop it.

On his part, NCP Political Secretary, Hamid Mumtaz, stated that the meeting has agreed on AUHIP roadmap as a base for achieving peace in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

“NCP and NUP discussed ways to improve Sudan's relation with international community and especially with European Union and Unites States,” said Mumtaz stressing that NCP will cooperate with various Sudanese politicians to achieve the national goals and supporting political stability.

Observers in Khartoum say the ruling party sought in vain during the past months to convince NUP leader to return to Sudan and join the national dialogue and now seeks to take advantage of the internal divisions among the largest opposition party.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (RUMBEK) – At least 20 youth who were engaged in cattle raids were arrested and 400 heads of cattle recovered by authorities in South Sudan's Tonj state.

A cattle camp in Lakes state (AP)

The acting state governor, Manhiem Bol Malek, said those arrested would be arraigned in court to answer charges related to cattle theft and murder.

“We have about 400 herds of cattle that we have retrieved and they are now in Wathalel waiting to be identified by those who claim to have been raided”, said Manhiem.

“All the cows are been assembled in Wathalel at the headquarters of the payam awaiting screening and identification for rightful owners will take place,” he added.

Manhiem said security operatives cracked down on suspected pastoralists and managed to apprehend 20 youth.

All detained youth are currently being held at Tonj town prison with maximum security.

The arrest comes in the wake of the recent passing of a law sanctioned by the state parliament, which considers criminal cattle raider in possession of illegal firearms.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (RUMBEK) - Authorities in South Sudan's Western Lakes state have called on citizens to prioritise food production, reconciliation, peace and security in the region.

Map detail showing South Sudan's Lakes state in red

Local government minister, Benjamin Mabor, said the situation was normal as people went about their businesses.

The region was a scene of inter-clan clashes, until recently when the state government deployed different units of the security forces to control the situation after various clashes.

“We are normal, everything will be well – our security forces are controlling town security very well. The clashes that happened last week in grassland are over and everyone is going about his/her normal businesses”, said Mabor.

Meanwhile, the deputy state governors, Agum Reuben Macier urged residents to build trust within the community.

She advised youth to sensitize their respective communities, with the intention of achieving lasting peace in the state.

“Let us work for the common goal called peace, it is the duty of everyone, neither youth nor intellectuals to work for peace as our common goal in this state,” said Macier.

She urged communities to mainly concentrate on food production.

NEW PORT UNVEILED

In a related development, a new port at Mingkaman in Eastern Lakes state was opened Tuesday, courtesy of a $4.1m donation extended by Japanese aid arm (JICA).

The state minister for roads and bridges, Kuong Daniel inaugurated the newly opened port in Eastern Lakes state.

He remarked, “The port will ease shipping of goods for the purposes of humanitarian assistance and fish production.”

Local government minister, David Mayom said the port will ease public transport demand, urging investors and stakeholders to assist Eastern Lakes state in all capacities.

The Japanese envoy to Juba, Kiya Masahiko urged South Sudanese to work for the country's development.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (BOR) – Heavy armed Ethiopian troops entered South Sudan territory in search of children abducted in last month's raid in the Horn of Africa nation, sources said.

Governor of Ethiopia's Gambella region pictured with the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn during a visit to the region (FILE photo)

An eyewitness said he witnessed over 20 tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) patrolling areas in Pochalla town.

“A lot of troops from Ethiopia slept in Pochalla and in the morning of May 3, they started their journey toward the direction of Pibor, with heavy weapons. We also saw, this morning, jet fighters, flying over from the direction of Gambella towards Pibor and returned. They come to look for their abducted children”, said the eyewitness.

The Boma state coordinator in Juba said he was informed about the presence of Ethiopian troops, who were in different places, including Jebel Raat, Akobo and Pochalla.

“The Ethiopian troops are either in or around these areas right now,” Gabriel Amokori told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

He, however, said the Boma state governor and South Sudan government were in all contact with their Ethiopian counterparts regarding the fate of the children abducted.
“Our government is telling the Ethiopian government to hold on a bit so that the children are searched for and handed over to them [Ethiopians]”, said Amakori.

The Boma state information minister, Julius James Otong, said he had heard about the entry of the Ethiopian troops into Boma state territory, but said her office had not got full information about their whereabouts over the last two days.

“I heard about them, but I have not got full information about where they are today,” said Otong.

According to the minister, state authorities, with the help of the area local chiefs had managed to rescue 32 children from Likuangole county through a village-to-village search.

“The president issued an order that the abducted children from Ethiopia should be collected and returned to their families. So the deputy governor went and met the chiefs in Likuangole to bring the children. So the chief went and brought 32 children. These children are still in our hands in Likuangole. We want to hand them over to UN so that they are flown back to their area in Gambella,” said the minister.

“We still expect more children to be recovered from Likuangole so the search is ongoing in villages”, she added.

Likuangole, bordering Akobo to the north, Uror to north-west, Duk and Twic East counties to the west, is the home area of the governor of Boma state, Baba Medan Konyi.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) said the opposition parties and rebel groups failed to mobilize the streets and stressed it wouldn't allow the latter to export the armed conflict to the capital, Khartoum.

A student throws stones during a confrontation with the police outside the University of Khartoum on Wednesday April 13, 2016

The Sudanese capital witnessed recently a wave of student protests where two students were killed in Omdurman and El Obied. The bloody incidents came after calls by the opposition groups to overthrow the regime through peaceful means.

NISS deputy director Osama Mukhtar said the security of Khartoum is a “red line”, stressing they would prevent the armed groups from exporting violence to the outskirts of the capital.

Mukhtar , who addressed the graduation ceremony of a new batch of NISS on Tuesday, said the Sudanese people no longer trust the rebel groups and opposition forces, describing the latter as mercenaries and agents of foreign hostile forces.

“The opposition leaders call on the Sudanese people to take to the streets while they are staying at the hotels and resorts and that is why they hasn't and won't respond to their calls,” he said

On Sunday, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) also accused the armed and political opposition groups of bringing violence from the peripheral conflict areas to the Sudanese universities, particularly in Khartoum.

Mukhtar pointed that the government has opened the doors for the national dialogue and welcomed the opposition work within the legal institutions, saying those who opt for illegal work would pay a heavy price.

he added they wouldn't allow the country to plunge into chaos and unrest, pointing to the example of important nations in the region.

The security official further pointed to the military victories in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, saying the rebellion would soon be crushed and the regular forces will establish security across the country.

The Sudanese army and its allied militias have been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

Also, the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile state have been the scene of a violent conflict since 2011 when fighting broke out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) and Sudanese army.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - The deputy governor of North Darfur state Adam al-Nahla said the work of the foreign aid groups active in the state was unsatisfactory and has met only 12% of the targeted needs.

UNAMID's Police Advisers from Sortoni, North Darfur, interact with the newly displaced seeking refuge in the vicinity of the Mission's team site On 27 January 2016 (UNAMID Photo)

On Tuesday, al-Nahla discussed with the United Nations Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Darfur, Emmy Martin, the security, economic and humanitarian situation as well as the IDPs conditions in North Darfur.

He told reporters following the meeting that the two sides agreed to cooperate to carry out the work according to the agreed upon mandate, pointing the government continues to provide all possible facilities for the foreign aid groups.

“However the actual work [of the foreign aid groups] is weak and unsatisfactory”, he said
The governor denied that the authorities has placed restrictions on the movements of any foreign aid group in North Darfur, noting it is the government responsibility to secure the highways and establish security in the conflict areas before allowing aid groups to deliver relief to the needy population.

Al-Nahla acknowledged that the northern part of his state suffers from water shortage due to the large numbers of cattle, saying that is why the herders seek to get water from the farming areas which cause clashes between them and the farmers.

He added that he discussed with Martin ways to provide water in order to end the clashes between the herders and the farmers.

For her part, Martin said she discussed with the governor several issues including the humanitarian situation and the conditions at the IDPs camps in Tawila and Sortoni.

Last December, the Sudanese government suspended Tearfund, an international aid group active in Darfur, accusing it of violating the law and interfering in the internal affairs of the country.

Immediately after the first arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudan's president Omer al-Bashir in March 2009, Sudan expelled 13 aid groups from Darfur accusing it of collaborating with the war crime courts.

Since then, the activities of foreign aid group in Darfur are strictly controlled and more organizations were evicted through the years.

Sudan refuses to allow new aid groups to work in the region.

The government also banned the access of foreign groups to the rebel-held areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile as well as the establishment of camps for the displaced civilians, stressing the experience of Darfur camps should not be repeated in the two states.

May 3, 2016 (RUMBEK) - A family member of the former commissioner of Rumbek Central County Matur Majok Magol is protesting the prolong detention without charges.

Matur Majok Magol former commissioner of Rumbek Central County Lakes state (ST Photo)

Mary Rol Ater, wife of Magol said her husband has been arrested since March 3, 2016 by state government without charges.

Rol said that Magol was taken to Malou military barracks and all his telephone was confiscated and no clear information being provided by state government with regard to his detention.

However, Western Lakes State Minister of Information and Communication Daniel Dut Makuet have denied the arrest of former commissioner of Rumbek Central County, saying that Magol is kept in Panda Hotel as part of precautionary measures because his relatives were suspected to be involved in revenge killings inside Rumbek Central County in March.

“ Matur Majok was not arrested, his relative got involved in march clashes . The security organs were trying to follow up the accused () But Matur was not arrested. He was taken to Panda Hotel to protect him from revenge.”

Meanwhile, former commissioner spouse Mary Rol Ater said Panda Hotel is turned into military secret prison since the time of former governor Matur Chut Dhuol.

She further stressed that he is in jail at that hotel since last March.

The former commissioner was reportedly arrested following inter-communal clashes in March 3, 2016.

(ST)

May 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) - following the formation of the new transitional national unity government in Juba, Sudan and South Sudan expressed hopes to settle the post-separation issues peacefully and to have good cooperation.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (L) and his Sudanese counterpart, Omer Hassan al-Bashir, attend a press conference at Khartoum airport on 4 November 2014 (Photo: AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others. But only the oil transit deal was implemented.

Sudan and South Sudan still speak about presence of rebel groups in the two countries. Also, Abyei referendum and border disputed areas are still to be resolved as the two countries have to reach an agreement on border demarcation.

In a speech before the parliament in Khartoum Tuesday, Sudanese foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour said that his government welcomed the transitional government of national unity and expressed hopes to work together for peace and stability in the region.

In Juba the South Sudanese cabinet minister Martin Elia Lomoro,said his government does not need to fight with the government of neighbouring Sudan from which it seceded in 2011 to settle the unresolved issues

South Sudanese cabinet affairs minister Lomoro told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday his government has a clear and unique approach to settling post -secession matters with Sudan.

“We don't need to panic and fight in order to claim our rights. The issues which have not been resolved can be resolved amicably through peaceful dialogue" said Lomoro.

"The Sudanese themselves are rational. They know what is right and wrong. And even if they are tempted to claim what does not belong to them, they will never be secured and they will never feel free psychologically because you know when you have taken something which does not belong to you, you will always remain suspicious and trying to understand the reasons for which the person permitted you to take what does not belong to you”, he further said.

South Sudan, according to Lomoro, is currently in an unstable relations with Sudan but that does not mean the world youngest country and its leadership would compromise on sovereign matters.

“We will continue to dialogue with them because South Sudan and Sudan are not going to make a miracle to avoid being neighbours. We will continue to remain as neighbours in the same region and this is why it is very important to keep good relationship with neighbours because the two countries are going to remain neighbours forever,” he explained.

The minister called on Sudanese government to engage his country in direct negotiations to resolve unresolved post secession issues in the same way the 2005 peace agreement was reached or resort to international arbitration as the best approach to resolve differences related to border.

South Sudan broke out from Sudan in July 2011 after a referendum on self-determination held in January 2011.

In January 2016, Sudan opened border and allowed border trade between the population from the two sides. However two months later, President Omer al-Bashir ordered again to close border, and accused Juba of supporting the rebel groups.

However , the Sudanese foreign minister told the lawmakers that his government welcomes the new coalition government which is formed in line with a peace agreement between the warring parties after two year and a half of violence, adding they hope it would be a "honest partner" and cooperate with Khartoum.

"We welcome the new government, including the appointment of Deng Alor as a Minister of Foreign Affairs" Ghandour said and stressed his readiness to work with him in the interest of the two countries in order to build a model relationships in the region.

Alor, is from the disputed area of Abyei. His appointment was seen by many in Juba as an obstacle for good relations between the two countries, but the G10 insisted he is their candidate for the post in this coalition government.

In response to a question by the legislators, Ghandour said his government would work for the stability support peace in the neighbouring country.

He stressed that "security and stability of the South Sudan means also the security of Sudan" and urged Juba to stop supporting Sudanese rebel groups.

This week, the semi-official news service SMC said that a group of Darfur rebels who returned recently form South Sudan, has provided new evidence of Juba support to the rebels groups and their camps.

(ST)

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