Africa

October 9, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Monday prevented the deputy president of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi from travelling to Paris.

NUP deputy chairman, Mariam al-Mahdi (AFP Photo)

Al-Mahdi was heading to the French capital to attend the meetings of the rebel umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) faction led by Gibril Ibrahim.

She said in a WhatsApp text message that the NISS at Khartoum airport prevented her from boarding the plane after she completed departure procedures.

“There are no reasons for the ban, according to the statement of the NISS element who seized my boarding pass,” she added.

Al-Mahdi was heading to the Egyptian capital, Cairo and will travel from there to Paris to attend the SRF meeting scheduled for 12 October.

Media reports during the past few days said the NUP leader, al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, had apologized for not attending a meeting of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call dedicated to discussing the unity of the Sudanese opposition in Paris which resulted in the cancellation of the meeting.

The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, NUP, the SRF, and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).

Sudan Call internal groups include the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA).

(ST)

October 9, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The fourth meeting of the strategic dialogue between Sudan and the United Kingdom (UK) would kick off on 16 October in London.

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) has quoted the British Ambassador to Khartoum Michael Aron as saying the UK-Sudan relations have witnessed significant improvement since launching the strategic dialogue in 2016.

He pointed to a number of tangible measures that have been implemented by both countries especially with regard to granting of visas.

“There has been remarkable progress in cooperation [between the two countries] in areas of combating illegal migration and terrorism and coordination on human rights issues,” said the British envoy.

According to the SMC, the Sudanese delegation to the fourth meeting of the strategic dialogue would be led by the Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdel-Ghani al-Nai'im.

The strategic consultations meetings between the two countries started in March 2016 in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum and considered the first talks of its kind at this level in 25 years.

Sudan and Britain agreed to exchange of visits at the level of senior officials from the two countries along with increasing cooperation in the fields of economy, investment and culture.

The UK Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Chris Trott earlier this year visited Khartoum several times to discuss ways to develop bilateral relations and encourage Khartoum efforts to reduce the illegal immigration from the Horn of African countries towards Europe and Britain especially.

The dialogue also was seen within the framework of the after-Brexit policy aiming to develop trade relations with the former British colonies.

(ST)

October 9, 2017 (JUBA) - The Sudanese government through its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, has declined to grant the entry visa to the former South Sudanese deputy defense minister and member of the former detainees group, Majak D'Agoot.

South Sudan's former Deputy Defence Minister Majak D'Agoot poses for a photograph at his office in Juba, October 16, 2012. (Photo Reuters/Adriane Ohanesian)

The former official was due to take part in a three-day meeting jointly organized by the African Union (AU), the East Africa bloc IGAD and the Sudanese government over issues relating to peace, security, stability, cooperation and development in the Horn of Africa region.

t started on Sunday in Khartoum but Majak, one of the officials who received invitations from the African Union said he could not travel to attend because he was not until Sunday received a permission from the Sudanese government to attend the meeting, saying his visa was not approved.

The Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, he said, did not provide any explanation. It just decided to keep quiet until the day the prior travelling time came to pass.

Kosti Manibe Ngai, who speaks for the group to which Majak associate said he was invited as a security expert in the Horn of Africa and not as a member of the former political detainees.

Majak had a long-serving military career and security service, leading to his previous appointment in key command position before the singing of the 2005 peace agreement.

His two most senior assignments before the eruption of the conflict in 2013 were being deputy minister of defence in South Sudan. He also served as deputy head of National Security and Intelligence Services before South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011.

(ST)

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