Africa

April 27, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Finance Minister Mohamed Osman al-Rikabi has discussed with the U.S. Assistant Treasury Secretary the removal of Sudan's name from the list of states sponsors of terrorism.

The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, has also discussed the cancellation of Sudan's foreign debt.

In press statements upon his return from Washington on Thursday, al-Rikabi expected Sudan's name to be lifted from the terror list soon.

“We held separate meetings with the World Bank group and the U.S. Treasury Department besides the UK Department for International Development where we discussed issues facing the African continent and ways to provide funds for it,” he said

Al-Rikabi also pointed to his meeting with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Sullivan, describing the meeting as fruitful and successful.

The Sudanese minister said he demanded Sullivan to speed up the process for removing Sudan's name from the terror list and normalization of relations between the two countries.

He added a meeting was held with some U.S. businessmen and banks with the participation of representatives from the Bank of Khartoum, saying they discussed ways to open branches for US banks in Sudan as well as urging correspondent banks to deal with Sudanese banks.

Al-Rikabi further pointed to his meeting with the Deputy Managing Director at the IMF, saying they discussed challenges facing the Sudanese economy including the lifting of Sudan's name from the terror list and the debt relief.

In a report released in December 2017, the IMF estimated that Sudan's external debt reached $ 52.4 billion or 111 percent of GDP.

The international body repeatedly underscored the need to remove Sudan from the U.S. terror list to benefit from debt relief.

Last October Washington permanently cancelled the 20-year economic sanctions on Sudan opening the door for the normalization of bilateral relation and removal of remaining sanctions on the east African country particularly its removal from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Washington is involved in a five-track engagement process with Sudan towards the full normalization of relations.

The five-track process includes the fight against terrorism, Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Sudan's role in the peace process in South Sudan, Sudan's peace and the humanitarian situation in the Blue Nile andSouth Kordofan states.

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April 27, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Thursday said the permanent constitution would be approved by the elected parliament following the 2020 elections.

On Thursday, al-Bashir met with the parliament speaker Ibrahim Ahmed Omer who handed him over the parliament response to his address before the National Assembly earlier this month.

In a press release following the meeting, al-Bashir said the “next legislature would approve the permanent constitution according to the recommendation of the national dialogue”.

“But that doesn't prevent from holding broad discussions on the constitution in order to prepare a draft to be presented before the next parliament to approve it and then it would be presented to the Sudanese people in a referendum,” he said

The Sudanese president said the various branches of the government need to work in harmony to face the existing challenges.

He described the participation of the various political forces in the executive and legislative powers as “significant success”, saying it comes in implementation of the national dialogue's recommendations.

Al-Bashir further said cooperation among the various government branches would continue until the 2020 elections, saying these elections would lay the foundation for a new era of political practice.

In January 2014, al-Bashir called on political parties and armed groups to engage in a national dialogue to discuss four issues, including ending the civil war, allowing political freedoms, fighting against poverty and revitalising national identity.

In October 2016, the political forces participating in the national dialogue concluded the process by signing the National Document which includes the general features of a future constitution to be finalised by transitional institutions.

However, rebel groups and opposition parties refused to join Khartoum process as they demand the government to end the war and ensure freedoms in the country ahead of the dialogue.

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April 27, 2018 (JUBA)- Rival forces in South Sudan conflict have resumed offensives in Upper Nile region, forcing humanitarian organisations to relocate some members following a surge in violent clashes in Unity, Jonglei and parts of Central Equatoria.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) issued a statement confirming resumption of the offensives, pointing out that having a devastating impact on thousands of civilians and on humanitarian agencies trying to provide desperately needed assistance to vulnerable people.

The mission expressed deep concern at the intensification of fighting in areas such as Nhialdiu, Mayendit, Rupchai, Thaker, and Mirinyal, in the vicinity of Leer and Bentiu in the Unity region, as well as around Motot and Akobo in Jonglei.

“Innocent civilians are being caught in the crossfire, including many women, children and elderly people,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, David Shearer. “Our teams on the ground are reporting incidents of killing, sexual violence, homes being burnt to the ground, cattle raiding, and the looting of hospitals and schools," he further said in a statement seen by Sudan Tribune.

The statement further added that There has been gunfire overnight near UNMISS' temporary operating base at Leer and Ghanaian peacekeepers are on high alert to protect an influx of 600 internally displaced people who have sought sanctuary from the violence in recent days. This brings the total number of IDPs at the Leer base to around 1100. A small number of displaced people have also arrived at the UN protection site at Bentiu and more are expected.

More than 30 humanitarian workers have been relocated over the past two weeks because it is too dangerous for them to operate in the midst of the escalating conflict. Thousands of people have fled into swamp and bush areas without access to much-needed aid, including food, clean water and medical care.

“This surge in violence is causing immense suffering and harm to civilians and the ability to provide humanitarian support,” said David Shearer. “It is at odds with the cessation of hostilities agreement that was signed just a few months ago. We urge the warring parties to lay down their guns, put the interests of the people first, and work together to build lasting peace.”

“The success of the upcoming round of peace talks at the High-Level Revitalization Forum is dependent on all parties committing to stop the fighting and to come together in good faith. Political leaders must demonstrate they are willing to compromise and resolve this conflict which is causing terrible harm to their people,” he said.

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April 26, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council (SLM-TC) said on Thursday that their fighters have clashed with the government forces in Jebel Marra confirming reports about military operations in the mountainous areas of Central Darfur States.

Recently the SLM- Abdel Wahid al-Nur said the government militia are attacking their position in southeastern and northern Jebel Marra. But the government official spoke about operations to secure the routes and stop harassment of civilians by the holdout rebels.

SPM -TC chairman Elhadi Idriss Yahya told Sudan Tribune that their group "has dealt with government attacks in the north and east of Jebel Marra".

However, he said they are no coordination with the SLA-AW fighters pointing the latter are based in the western part of Jebel Marra.

The SLM-TC splinted several years ago form the SLM-AW and its fighters carried out coordinated attacks with the SLM- Minni Minnawi in North and East Darfur states in May 2017.

The SLM-TC spokesperson Nurraldine Kouki, reaffirmed the group readiness to abort government second plan to commit "genocide and operate a comprehensive demographic change in Darfur".

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Thursday, Kouki said that government militias early this month burned the villages of "Vina and Duwa" and other areas in southern Jebel Marra after what they burned this week the villages of "Aru, Lugu, Malmal, Saliya, Tukmah, Kaya, Sankara, Kitti, Durkuru, and Ja'ahora "in northern Jebel Marra.

"The assault still taking place and faced by the resistance of the movement's forces amid the continued silence of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)," he said.

The rebel spokesperson further said the UNAMID should "assume the responsibility for genocide and demographic change". He further added hybrid mission "is repeating its failed experience and its inability to protect defenceless civilians, as happened in Rwanda in the 1990s".

UN secretary-general in his report to the UN Security Council last March mentioned military confrontation in Jebel Marra but said the operations continued to be limited to pockets of the Jebel Marra.

The SLM-TC which refuse to negotiate with Khartoum before to achieve a number of conditions similar to those posed by the SLM-AW issued a joint statement with JEM of Gibril Ibrahim and SLM-MM on 3 February extending a unilateral cessation of hostilities until 30 April.

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April 26, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The governor of South Darfur State Adam al-Faki Thursday repeated threats that his government is determined to dismantle Kalama camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and threatened to arrest the camp's leaders who are accused of inciting the residents to reject returning to their areas of origin.

South Darfur governor Adam al-Faki (ST Photo)

Despite the improvement of the security situation in Darfur region, the displaced people remain in the IDPs camps, pointing to the continued insecurity and attacks by gunmen. They also ask for financial compensations, and to provide them with basic services.

But government officials accuse rebel supporters inside the camps of manipulating the IDPs and use them as a political expression of their demands and to sabotage the government's plans to end the conflict.

Addressing a group of IDPs who accepted to return to their villages in Dgraiss area, 25 km south of Nyala on Thursday, al-Faki said that his government would close Kalma camp within the framework of a presidential plan to dismantle Darfur camps before the end of 2018.

He further said the security forces would conduct a weapons collection operation within the coming weeks in the troubled camp of Kalma which was described in the past as a "rebels' hideout".

The governor stressed that the security forces would arrest wanted individuals and called on the IDPs to return to their areas and evacuate the camps before the launch of the operations of dismantlement.

The Sudanese government and the UN agreed to not force the IDPs to return to their area of origin and vowed to work together to create the necessary conditions for the voluntary return.

Concerning the Kalma camp, which is one of the largest in camps Darfur and home of around 100,000 people, the government, UNAMID and the leaders of the camp agreed not to forcefully collect weapons without prior consultations with the peacekeeping mission or the IDPs representatives.

Until now, no weapons search has been implemented inside the camp despite the conduct of similar operations in different camps in the whole Darfur region.

The governor said his government is now preparing prison cells in the famous Suakin Prison in eastern Sudan for 300 persons for those who resist the government policies.

He further advised the returnees not to listen to those who incite them to resist the voluntary return programme.

Sudanese security forces killed several residents of Kalama camp during a visit of President Omer al-Bashir to their area in September 2017.

The Kalma camp was the theatre of bloody clashes between the supporters of the holdout rebels and those who joined the Doha peace process in 2010.

Also in August 2009, the camp witnessed one of the most bloody clashes between the residents and the Sudanese security forces that resulted to the death of some 30 people and many others wounded.

Mohamed Issa Solbang, humanitarian secretary of Kalma camp committee denounced the statements of Governor al-Faki.

"The state government plans to commit again genocide and crimes against humanity," he told Sudan Tribune on Thursday evening.

Issa stressed that the displaced people are more interested by the voluntary return than the government but the lack of security forces them to remain in the camps.

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April 26, 2018 (WAU) – South Sudan's vice president, James Wani Igga is in Greater Bahr el Ghaza region ahead of the next phase of the high-level revitalization of the peace process due next month.

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

Addressing reporters in Wau town on Thursday, Igga said he is visiting Gogrial, Wau and Tonj states of the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region to consult the country's ruling party (SPLM) officials and state governors before the next rounds of peace revitalization forum begins.

He urged South Sudanese to support the country's peace initiative.

“We have come because everybody needs to support the peace talks for the sake of peace in this country. We will about the SPLM ideology and the peace revitalization which is to take place there in Addis Ababa so that people know what is happening,” said Igga.

A high-level SPLM delegation accompanied the vice-president.

The mediation team from the regional bloc (IGAD) announced on Thursday the postponement of the second phase of the next round of peace talks to mid next month.

The postponement, IGAD said, was decided at a meeting convened by the office of the chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers with IGAD ambassadors on 25 April in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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Eric Reeves

“The scale and brutality of these attacks are hard to put into words. The images and videos we have seen in the course of our research are truly shocking; in one a young child is screaming with pain before dying; many photos show young children covered in lesions and blisters. Some were unable to breathe and vomiting blood.”

The use of chemical weapons, as former Secretary of State John Kerry once declared, is a “moral obscenity, particularly when used indiscriminately against civilians. There are compelling reasons they have been banned and their use is a war crime, to be investigated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

It appears very likely that the Assad regime in Syria has yet again used chemical weapons, and President Trump has vowed a tough response.

But Trump and Kerry had no words of condemnation or warning about another, sustained use of chemical weapons—this time in Darfur, the western region of Sudan that has been the site of sustained ethnically-targeted destruction for more than fifteen years now. The counter-insurgency mounted by the Khartoum regime has killed more than 500,000 non-Arab/African civilians and displaced three million people. It is the longest and most “successful” genocide in over a century, and in 2016—during the U.S presidential campaign—it was the scene of the attacks described in my opening quote.

That quote comes from Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International's Director of Crisis Research, speaking in the Forward to Amnesty's report on Khartoum's assault on the Jebel Marra region of Darfur 2016; that report provided overwhelming evidence of chemical weapons use: “satellite imagery, more than 200 in-depth interviews with survivors, and expert analysis of dozens of appalling images showing babies and young children with terrible injuries.”

Although Khartoum prevented tissue and soil samples from being collected—nor was their collection requested by the OPCW—the evidence left no room for scepticism about the use of chemical weapons: no known human pathogen or environmental hazard in this part of Darfur can possibly produce injuries of the sort visible in so many photos. More than 200 interviews also provide a congruent, consistent, and utterly compelling picture of chemical weapons use. In an article in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, drawing on the expertise solicited by Amnesty International, Jonathan Loeb wrote that scientists concluded: “many victims suffered injuries that can only be explained by exposure to chemical agents delivered by weapons used in the attacks” (January 17, 2017).

This is not the first time we have had such compelling evidence of chemical weapons use by the Khartoum regime. Nobel Peace Prize-winning Doctors Without Borders (known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) made public equally compelling evidence in February 2000. In a report by MSF/Switzerland several attacks are presented in excruciating detail:

On 23 July 1999, the towns of Lainya and Loka (Yei County) were bombed with chemical products. At the time of this bombing, the usual subsequent results (i.e. shrapnel, destruction to the immediate environment, impact, etc.) did not take place. [Rather], the aftermath of this bombing resulted in a nauseating, thick cloud of smoke, and later symptoms such as children and adults vomiting blood and pregnant women having miscarriages were reported…

These symptoms of the victims leave no doubt as to the nature of the weapons used. Two field staff of the World Food Program (who went back to Lainya, three days after the bombing, had to be evacuated on the 27th of July. They were suffering from nausea, vomiting, eye and skin burns, loss of balance and headaches.

Why the spectacular hypocrisy in responding to the Khartoum regime and the Assad regime? The OPCW specifically states that any State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention may request that an inspection team be sent to the site in question by the OPCW Director-General. Perhaps part of the answer is this same Khartoum regime is now Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the OPCW. But in fact, the OPCW has never in its history received such a request—astonishingly, not even in the case of Syria. And when it comes to Sudan, there appears to be no interest whatsoever.

So we are left with the unctuous words of John Kerry and Donald Trump—about Syria. About the equivalent evidence of chemical weapons in Darfur, there is not even outrage, merely silence. As Western nations pursue rapprochement with Khartoum's génocidaires for variously self-interested reasons, chemical weapons use seems to be merely an inconvenience best ignored.

Eric Reeves has written extensively on Sudan for two decades; he is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights

April 26, 2018 (JUBA) - The IGAD mediation team Thursday, for the second time, announced the postponement of the second phase II of the High-level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) process for South Sudan until mid-May.

The opening session of the revitalization forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, December 18, 2017 (ST)

The postponement was decided in a meeting convened by Office of the Chairperson of IGAD Council of Ministers with IGAD Ambassadors in Addis Ababa on 25 April.

The meeting realised the huge divergence between the different parties and decided to hold the next phase of the peace forum during the period from 17th May– 21st May of 2018.

The purpose of this additional delay is to allow further "shuttle diplomacy meetings with the Parties to the South Sudan conflict in order to have a meaningful outcome of the mediation," reads The IGAD statement.

The mediation consults the different parties on the key areas of disagreement in the governance and security arrangements chapters of the peace agreement.

The decision to adjourn the process was taken after meeting with South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), South Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), Civil Society Groups.

It is not clear if the mediation consulted the former SPLA chief of staff and intends to include him in the peace forum.

The peace forum had been suspended on 16 February after 11 days of discussions on the security and governance matters without tangible progress.

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April 26, 2018 (JUBA) – South Sudan's acting army chief of staff, Gen. Gabriel Jok Riak was Thursday flown to Kenya, “unconscious” after he had reportedly complained of chest and stomach discomfort.

General Gabriel Jok Riak (Getty Image)

Riak was scheduled to accompany the body of late army chief, General James Ajongo Mawut who died last week.

It was not immediately established what caused Riak's condition, with the military and family sources providing conflicting accounts.

For instance while family members linked it to fatigue following days of continuous engagement without enough rest, military sources who attended to him at the military hospital attributed the cause to food poison, citing complaints about stomach cramps and vomiting.

Riak, an ally of the late Mawut, was one of the top military officers poised to succeed the former army chief of staff who died in Cairo.

Also, being the second the army command structure, many felt Riak would be appointed if President Salva Kiir makes his appointment based on the new army chief from among the high ranking officers.

In July 2015, the United Nations Security Council imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Riak, among other senior military officers. The move came after the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated for sanctions Riak, who was then commander of Sector One of the South Sudanese military.

The move, it said in a statement, was in accordance with the executive order (E.O.) 13664, authorizing the department to sanction South Sudanese individuals responsible for threatening peace, security, or stability of South Sudan and for expanding or extending the conflict or obstructing peace talks or processes in South Sudan.

Riak was accused of engaging in actions that expand or extend the conflict in South Sudan, or obstructed peace talks or processes, and that he led forces who engaged in actions that expand or extend the conflict in South Sudan, or obstructed peace talks or processes.

He reportedly helped arm and mobilize as many as 1,000 youths to supplement traditional South Sudan army (SPLA) forces, and that he reportedly sought to have tanks repaired and modified for use against the country armed opposition (SPLA-IO) forces allied to rebel leader Riek Machar.

Last year, however, President Kiir promoted Riak to deputy chief of defence forces.

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April 26, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Germany and the Troika countries have urged the Sudanese government and Darfur armed groups to continue committing themselves to the ceasefire and to resume talks on a pre-negotiations and vowed to make new proposals

Following a meeting hosted in Berlin, on 16-17 April, Sudanese government and two armed groups: Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement Minni Minnawi warped up informal talks without reaching a declaration of principles paving the way for peace talks.

But, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States exhorted the parties to remain engaged in the process in a joint statement dated on 24 April.

“We call on the parties to continue to adhere to their pledges to cease hostilities and to remain engaged with the Joint Chief Mediator in order to find a solution to the outstanding issues and enter into formal talks,” reads the joint statement.

The facilitators acknowledged that the parties engaged and made a serious effort towards a compromise despite their failure to ink a deal.

The four western countries further said they will “consider options for further progress together with the parties, partners and interested international actors”.

The mediator and facilitators, since the end of 2016, have held a number of meetings with the two parties in order to narrow the gaps between them.

Following the failure of the meeting, the two parties accused each other of being behind the failure of talks despite the concession they made.

Khartoum and the armed groups diverge over the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), the government refuses the rebel demand to dissociate the new process from the framework agreement that served as a basis for previous deals.

The statement underscored that Germany and the United States served as facilitators with the Joint Chief Mediator and head of the UNMAID. Norway and the United Kingdom were present as observers.

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April 26, 2018 (JUBA) - 10 aid workers are missing after a field trip for humanitarian operations outside Yei town in South Sudan's Central Equatoria region, the United Nations relief coordinator in the war-torn nation said.

Alain Noudéhou (UN photo)

The aid workers, Alain Noudehou said, were in a convoy destined to Tore from Yei town to conduct a humanitarian needs assessment on 25 April.

“We are deeply concerned about the whereabouts of these humanitarian workers and are urgently seeking information about their well-being,” said Noudehou in a statement.

“These individuals, UN and NGO [Non-Governmental Organization] staff, are here to help the people of South Sudan and should not be targeted. Our colleagues must be released without condition so that their work can continue,” he added.

Those missing, all national staffs, included one from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), two from the UN Children Fund (UNICEF), one from the South Sudanese Development Organisation, (SSDO), two from ACROSS, three from Plan International and one from Action Africa Help (AAH).

“I firmly condemn the latest attack against colleagues engaged in emergency humanitarian assistance in Central Equatoria and call on all parties to the conflict in South Sudan to ensure a safe and secure environment, conducive to the delivery of assistance,” said Noudehou.

This is the third time, in six months, that aid workers have been held by militants in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation. At least 98 aid workers have been killed in South Sudan since its civil war started in 2013.

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