Showing posts with label Darfur peace talks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darfur peace talks. Show all posts

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Sudan: Darfur war leader Abdelwahid El Nur calls for revolution to overthrow Burhan's military coup

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor:  It is difficult to imagine where Sudan and South Sudan would be without Mr Abdelwahid El Nur (pictured below). Putting a complicated situation simply, he and other armed rebels including JEM started the Darfur war in 2003. They have much blood on their hands. 

The photo caption does not indicate where or when the photo was taken. Since shortly after starting the Darfur war he has been living in luxury in Paris and travels widely even as far as Israel. Once in a while he pops up in Sudan on rare occasions when the security situation is unusually calm. 

In the photo he is wearing an expensive jacket. His face still doesn't show any worry lines, guilt, angst, suffering, poverty or malnutrition. He is from Darfur. Years ago he used to brag about the people from Darfur being his people. Until fifteen years ago he had the support of many Sudanese people in and from Darfur. I suspect most of them gave up on him while he sat enjoying himself in Parisian bars and hotels. Maybe he's too shy to visit Darfur incase the world will see how little support he has nowadays. 

He once said he aims to be the president of Sudan. As stated many times here at Sudan Watch, I believe he is too cowardly and not intelligent or skilled enough to preside over Sudan or anything else. In the report below by Netherlands-based Radio Dabanga one can see how he states the obvious and uses the words and ideas other people have already thought of and publicised for years. He's an opportunist, not a leader. 

When he uses his brain and his own words and ideas he sounds like an idiot. I can't recall reading news that explains how he is funded and manages to travel abroad while living safely in Paris. He directed the Darfur war using a satellite phone while sitting in a comfortable armchair in a Parisian hotel. 

If he made sense and was a genuinely brave freedom fighter with realistic and good intentions not only for the people of Darfur but for all Sudanese people, he could be someone to respect and admire. Frankly speaking, seeing his face makes me feel sick. I've observed how much death and destruction his idiotic thinking and actions have caused. Deep down he must know he's responsible for the suffering of millions of Sudanese people. I find it odd that journalists fail to explain how he lives and how he is funded.

The following report respectfully gives him a platform from which to pontificate his nonsense, none of which he deserves. In my view, he's a dodgy character and a deluded chancer. He reminds me of Tintin.

Copy of news report at and by Radio Dabanga.org
Dated 4 November 2021 - KHARTOUM
Sudan rebel leader Abdelwahid El Nur calls for ‘comprehensive popular revolution to overthrow coup’
Photo: The head of the mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW), Abdelwahid El Nur (File photo)

The head of the mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW), Abdelwahid El Nur, has called for “a comprehensive popular revolution in order to overthrow the coup and restore Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok”, and calling on the resistance committees “not to accept any compromise”.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga broadcast today, El Nur asserts that “the salvation of Sudan lies in the restructuring of the military institution,” and called for the reintegration of all military and paramilitary forces into a single unified army, with a combat doctrine aimed at defending the citizens and protecting the land and the constitution, and non-interference in politics.

‘The army’s intervention to suppress the demonstrations is an attempt to turn the peaceful uprising into a bloody one…’

He considers the army’s intervention to suppress the demonstrations as “an attempt to turn the peaceful uprising into a bloody one,” stressing the need to adhere to peace. He stressed that the people’s will is stronger than all weapons.

El Nur accused the military institution of committing crimes in the south, Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile and the East since 56, and said that it had committed genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and caused the displacement of millions, and created militias and mujahideen.

‘Sudan possesses the human and economic resources that can rescue it from the current situation…’

On the Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue initiative adopted by the movement, the rebel leader said that the initiative aims to reach the state of institutions and form a unified national army. He stressed the need to adhere to PM Abdallah Hamdok’s government “to move from a state of obstruction to future horizons”, explaining that Sudan possesses the human and economic resources that can rescue it from the current situation through a national project. He called for giving priority to the interests of the Sudanese people, dealing with foreign countries according to their positions, and helping Sudan to get out of the crisis in order to reach a civil state and a civil government.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Sudan: Russia opposes a UN peacekeeping in Darfur


Sunday, February 23, 2020

Sudan: Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of Darfur rebel group SLM-AW, calls for referendum before peace talks

NOTE from Sudan Watch editor: Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of Darfur rebel group SLM-AW, is an idiotic coward. Shortly after helping to start the Darfur war in 2003 he fled to France where he still lives comfortably in self-imposed exile. While hiding in France, he sat in a Paris hotel armchair directing the Darfur war by satellite phone. The war killed 300,000-400,000 Darfuris. His nonsensical talks are breathtaking.

News report by Sudan Tribune.com
Published Saturday 31 August 2019
SLM’s al-Nur calls for referendum on Sudan’s transitional authority before peace talks
August 30, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) has called for an internationally monitored referenda on the transitional constitution and the representation of its cosignatories before to engage in peace talks.

Four months after the ouster of former President Omer al-Bashir last April, the SLM-AW for the first time and in a statement written in English made public its response to the calls from various Sudanese political forces to lay down arms and to join a national process for peace during the first six months of the transitional period.

The holdout group in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune voiced its rejection of the Political Agreement and the Constitutional Declaration signed by the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), describing it "as patently illegitimate and exclusionary".

"The accord reached between the TMC and FFC is simply another new variant of a civilian rubber stamp for the soldiers, paramilitaries, secret policemen," said the statement to explain the group’s rebuke for the process.

Since last April, there were several contacts by various political FFC groups with the SLM leader in a bide to persuade the group to negotiate a lasting peace agreement after the regime change.

During the era of the Islamist regime, the SLM had only participated in the Abuja process in 2006. Since the group asks to repair the consequences of the conflict and disband the government militia accused of war crimes before to negotiate a deal addressing the root causes of the conflict.

In his nine-page statement, emailed to Sudan Tribune, al-Nur set what he called "terms and condition for conflict resolution dialogue".

"We call for preparations for a national plebiscite to be undertaken immediately for a free and transparent vote under international observation, to take place sixty days from now," he further said.

He added that Sudanese should answer by yes or no to three questions.

The first question: asks the Sudanese if they approve "the continuation of the interim government under the terms the Constitutional Declaration; the second: complete withdrawal of the militaries from the transitional authority institutions; the third: do they approve a full and immediate return to civilian rule.

The armed group went further to propose to hold elections within 90 days after the referendum on the national level. Once the national elections are conducted, regional elections for state governors will take place 60 days after.

In a briefing to the Security Council on 26 August, Jean Pierre Lacroix said the intermittent clashes continue in Jebel Marra between the Sudanese army backed by the Rapid Support Forces and the SLM fighters.

In his position paper, al-Nur added 13 other conditions before the referenda including the full withdrawal of the army and government militias from Darfur region, al-Bashir’s transfer to the International Criminal court, and release of prisoners of war and conscience.

In addition, the paper reintroduced the SLM-Aw demands for disbanding of militias, land restoration to its owners and compensation for the war-affected civilians.

President Salva Kiir has called on al-Nur to come to Juba and join consultations meetings his government is holding with the other armed groups in preparations for peace talks with the government headed by Abdallah Hamdok.

The South Sudanese initiative aims at bringing the divided armed groups to establish a one negotiating paper before to meet the Sudanese government.

Juba also consults with Sudan’s neighbouring countries particularly Egypt and Chad and seeks to involve them in this demarche.

Egypt expressed willingness to host Sudan’s peace process. (ST)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Sudan's President Bashir sets Darfur talks deadline - Unity still viable in Sudan, says SPLM leader

SUDAN'S President Omar Al-Bashir has threatened to withdraw his delegation from the Doha peace talks if the Darfur anti-government group fails to reach a consensus by tomorrow, Thursday, 30 December 2010.

"If we reach an agreement tomorrow, praise be to God. But if there is no agreement, we will withdraw our negotiating team and the talks will then be held in Darfur," he told thousands of supporters in the South Darfur capital Nyala.

Al-Bashir added that the government rejects any humanitarian aid to Darfur and will abolish all internally displaced persons’ camps.

"We will fight those who choose to take up arms, but we will sit next to those who want development," he added in a speech broadcast live on state television.

In other news
  • President Bashir said that his government will be the first to recognize southern Sudan’s independence, should the south opt for secession in the referendum scheduled for 9th January 2011.
  • The two CPA partners, the NCP and the SPLM have reached agreements on most of the outstanding post referendum issues which include citizenship, security as well as international agreements.
  • The GOSS Minister for CPA Implementation and the SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum told SRS on Tuesday from Khartoum that he is optimistic that an agreement will be reached on the issue of citizenship before the referendum. Amum said that they have agreed on the principles on protection of northerners and southerners on either side in case of secession.
  • President Bashir has strongly reacted to the call by the national opposition forces for the formation of a national government in case the south secedes. The National coalition of opposition parties on Sunday threatened to remove the ruling National Congress Party from power if it continues to ignore their demand for a constitutional reform and national government.
  • The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday for a two day visit where he will meet with senior officials in Khartoum and Juba.
  • The League of Arab Nations has donated on Wednesday ten mobile clinics to the Government of southern Sudan to boost health services within the region.
  • The governor of Blue Nile State who is also the deputy chairman of the SPLM Malik Aggar says a united Sudan is still viable. Addressing a joint press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday, Aggar stated that he is still optimistic that Sudan would remain united.
  • The SPLM says it would continue as a political party in the north if the country split in two after the self determination referendum in January.
  • The twenty-second inter-school national sports’ tournaments ended on Wednesday in Khartoum. President Bashir who attended the closing ceremony, said the tournaments have for the 1st time unified students from all over the country.
  • Thousands of people have expressed interest to return to Abyei from the north following a statement made by President Bashir early this week. Mr Bashir announced that northern Sudan will move fully into an Islamic law state after the likely secession of the South in next month’s referendum. The SPLM secretary in Abyei, Chol Changat has attributed the large turnout of returnees from the north to Bashir’s statement.
  • The UN Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda in Sudan says it believes that the south 2011 self-determination referendum will be very transparent as the voter registration exercise was peaceful. All materials are in place for voters in South Sudan to cast ballots for self-determination in January, a U.N. election official said.
  • Sudan, Egypt and Libya vowed on Tuesday to respect the outcome of the south’s self determination referendum in January 2011. According to Sudan state radio, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi issued a statement calling for a peaceful, calm, transparent and credible environment that will reflect the will of southern Sudan's people. The statement follows a two hour meeting on Tuesday with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and GOSS President Salva Kiir in Khartoum.
  • Ahmed Haroun the Governor of South Kordofan state has pledged to provide adequate security to protect internally displaced persons returning to their ancestral areas in Abyei and various parts of south Sudan.
  • In western Sudan, aid continues to flow into makeshift camps outside UNAMID team sites in North and South Darfur, where thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge from recent clashes. However distribution to Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur has been momentarily suspended today after new restrictions on movement were put in place. UNAMID is collaborating with local security officials to gain access to all affected areas and ensure the safe delivery of aid.
SOURCES: See reports below.

Sudan's Bashir sets Darfur talks deadline
Source: AFP - www.google.com
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Excerpt:
(Khartoum) - Sudan will withdraw from the Darfur peace talks in Doha and organise its own negotiations if no agreement with the rebels is reached imminently, President Omar al-Bashir said on Wednesday.

"If we reach an agreement tomorrow, praise be to God. But if there is no agreement, we will withdraw our negotiating team and the talks will then be held in Darfur," he told thousands of supporters in the South Darfur capital Nyala.

"We will fight those who choose to take up arms, but we will sit next to those who want development," he added in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Sudanese officials had earlier set December 31 as the deadline for a Darfur peace accord, with a referendum on independence for the south, now just 11 days away, due to dominate the government's agenda next month.

Bashir's special adviser on Darfur, Ghazi Salaheddine, was expected to arrive in the Qatari capital on Wednesday to push the talks, according to Sudan's official SUNA news agency.

The Khartoum government has for months been trying to secure a comprehensive peace agreement with all Darfur rebel groups, to no avail.

Earlier in December, the government and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the most heavily armed group, resumed talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire.

The Liberty and Justice Movement (LJM), an alliance of rebel splinter factions, was expected to finalise a peace deal with Khartoum in mid-December after agreeing a ceasefire in March. But the accord was never signed.

Deadly violence in Sudan's war-torn western region since December 10 has displaced around 32,000 people, according to UN estimates.

"These clashes are deplorable and demonstrate the importance of a ceasefire... If the violence escalates, the general atmosphere in the negotiations will deteriorate," Djibril Bassole, the UN-African Union chief peace negotiator for Darfur, told AFP on Tuesday.

Bassole said he would try to persuade the different parties not to abandon the peace process, even if an agreement was not reached in the coming days.

"I am among those who want a swift and satisfactory solution. But mediation by someone with a stopwatch in his hand is not good mediation," he added. [...]
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Bashir Threatens To Withdraw Government Delegation From Al-Doha Peace Talks
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Full copy:
29 December 2010 – (Nyala) – The Sudanese president has threatened to withdraw his delegation from the Doha peace talks if the Darfur anti-government group fails to reach a consensus by 30th December, 2010.

Omar Hassan Al-Bashir said that the negotiations will be transferred to Darfur and dealt with internally other than in foreign nations.

He was addressing a gathering in Nyala town, South Darfur during a signing ceremony of a charter on peaceful and social coexistence amongst Darfur people on Wednesday.

[Omar Al-Bashir]: “We want it to be the end of the rebellion. We thank our brothers in Qatar and the mediators for their patience and mediation. But we are saying this is enough, peace will be here from inside Darfur, because the people of Darfur are the ones who will bring about peace. We have put a deadline till tomorrow (Thursday), if peace is achieved, that is what we want. But if there isn’t an agreement, we will withdraw our delegation from Doha and the negotiations will be done inside Darfur. The people of Darfur are the ones who will determine the present and future of Darfur, but not anybody who is carrying a gun.”

Al-Bashir added that the government rejects any humanitarian aid to Darfur and will abolish all internally displaced persons’ camps.

[Omar Al-Bashir]: “We don’t want humanitarian aid and we don’t want internal displaced persons (IDP) any longer. All of us are citizens, and first class citizens for that matter. No one will be considered as a second or a third class citizen.”

President Al-Bashir warned that the government will use force against any armed group that rejects peaceful resolutions in Darfur.
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Further Reading

President Bashir To Recognize South's Independence Incase Of Separation
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Full copy:
29 December 2010 – (Wad Medani) - President Omar al-Bashir said that his government will be the first to recognize southern Sudan’s independence, should the south opt for secession in the referendum scheduled for 9th January 2011.

Al-Bashir’s statement comes a mid preparations for the south Sudan referendum, where southerners will choose to vote for either unity or separation of the Sudan.

Al-Bashir was addressing a gathering on Martyrs Day on Tuesday in Wad-Medani town.

[Omar Al-Bashir]: “We want to tell our people there in the south, that now the ball is in your ground, and the decision is yours, if you vote for unity, you are most welcome and we are brothers. If you vote for separation, you are most welcome as well, and you are welcome as a new neighboring country, so as we co-operate and work together in every thing.”

On Tuesday, the two partners to the CPA, the SPLM and the NCP said they have reached an agreement on most post-referendum contentious issues, and hope that an agreement will be reached on the issue of citizenship before the referendum.
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CPA Partners Agree On Most Post Referendum Issues
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Full copy:
28 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - The two CPA partners, the NCP and the SPLM have reached agreements on most of the outstanding post referendum issues which include citizenship, security as well as international agreements.

The GOSS Minister for CPA Implementation and the SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum told SRS on Tuesday from Khartoum that he is optimistic that an agreement will be reached on the issue of citizenship before the referendum.

Amum said that they have agreed on the principles on protection of northerners and southerners on either side in case of secession.

He stressed that the rights of people will be protected and guaranteed and return would be voluntary. He however said only one issue on citizenship has not been agreed upon.

[Pagan Amum]: “The only issue that is left for us is the issue of according those northern Sudanese who are attached to southern Sudan who have been living permanently in southern Sudan, the right to choose between citizenship of southern Sudan and nationality of southern Sudan or retaining the right of Sudanese citizenship in the north. The same also to southern Sudanese who are permanent residents in northern Sudan that need also to be given the right to choose either the citizenship in the north or retaining or assessing citizenship in the new state of southern Sudan. We are hopeful that we will be able to reach agreement on the all the issues of citizenship before the referendum.”

Amum said that the two parties reached an agreement on security issues with the exception of security arrangements for the two areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

According to Amum, another unresolved issue pertains to the currency.

[Pagan Amum]: “The last issue is the economic sector. There are progress that we have made in the area of currency where we have agreed that southern and northern Sudan will issue their own currency and that will be coordinated and there is going to be an interim period in which the current Sudanese Pound will continue to be the legal tender for both south and north and we are left with only one item on the issue of currency, it is the question of who pays the cost of recovering the Sudanese money that is in the hands of the people or in the economy in the market. Is it the Central Bank of Sudan or both sides? This is one issue we have not reached an agreement on.”

Amum stressed the importance of the registered people to come out and participate in the forth coming referendum.
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Bashir Strongly Criticizes Opposition Over Demands For National Government
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Full copy:
28 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has strongly reacted to the call by the national opposition forces for the formation of a national government in case the south secedes.

The National coalition of opposition parties on Sunday threatened to remove the ruling National Congress Party from power if it continues to ignore their demand for a constitutional reform and national government.

Bashir was addressing a gathering on Martyrs Day on Tuesday in Wad-Madani town.

[Omar Al-Bashir]: “Let us come to those who talk, they are traders of politics and are known to you all. You have experience with all of them. What did they say? They said they will dismantle our salvation regime, they will remove the regime from power, and they will sweep the salvation. The salvation regime is currently the Sudanese people, it is not the revolution command council, or the national assembly or governments, it is the Sudanese people. When the Sudanese people voted for the symbol of the tree in the last elections, they voted to the salvation and projects of salvation, principles of salvation and vision of salvation, anyone saying he wants to uproot salvation, let him lick his elbow.”

The NCP Information Secretary Fateh Al-Rahman Sheila, said that the regime derives its legitimacy from the National Constitution which was approved by all political forces. He said the opposition political forces are a key part of the National Assembly, which passed the Constitution.
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Arab League SG Visits Sudan
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Tuesday, 28 December 2010. Full copy:
28 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - The Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa is expected to arrive in Khartoum on Tuesday for a two day visit where he will meet with senior officials in Khartoum and Juba.

The purpose of the trip is to review the implementation of the CPA and to get acquainted with preparations for the south Sudan referendum that is due in less than two weeks.

The Arab League Ambassador in Khartoum Mr. Salah Abuhalima spoke to SRS from Khartoum on Tuesday.

[Salah Abuhalima]: “The purpose of the visit is to look into the referendum, and the articles regarding the implementation of the CPA, to make sure that the referendum is carried out in a transparency and peaceful manner, relations between both ruling parties in north and south to be based on common interests and good neighborliness and peaceful coexistence. We will meet many political leaders.”

Arab League Secretary General, Amr Moussa will meet both President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and GOSS President Salva Kiir among other senior officials.
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GOSS Receives 10 Mobile Clinics From League Of Arab Nations
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Excerpt:
(Juba) - The League of Arab Nations has donated on Wednesday ten mobile clinics to the Government of southern Sudan to boost health services within the region.
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Unity Still Viable In Sudan, Says SPLM Leader
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Friday, 24 December 2010. Full copy:
24 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - The governor of Blue Nile State who is also the deputy chairman of the SPLM Malik Aggar says a united Sudan is still viable.

Addressing a joint press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday, Aggar stated that he is still optimistic that Sudan would remain united.

[Malik Aggar]: “I am still dreaming of unity and I will work for unity until I feel that unity is no longer possible. The nature of things may change and the nature of things may change from the person who is calling for it and he is not taking effective part in it. I think that very few of us here will go to the polls in order to determine the destiny of the country but some people in a certain geographical area in the country will be the ones to determine the future of the country, but we hope that there will be unity. If it is so, all of us will rejoice and if it is the reverse then that would mean that the people in a certain geographical area in Sudan have decided their destiny and have chosen their way. We will respect the way they choice regardless of our feeling towards the same.”

Meanwhile, the deputy governor and SPLM Chairman in Southern Kordofan State, Abdul-Aziz Adam Al-Hilu warned that if Southern Sudan secedes, the areas should not be forgotten.

[Abdul-Aziz Al-Hilu]: “There are attempts to sideline the two areas: The Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, but I would like to assure that these two areas are part and parcel of the CPA and parts of the dividends enshrined in the six protocols: power sharing, wealth sharing and security arrangements. There is also a special protocol concerning the two areas due to their special situation. And because of the concern for these areas that was why there is a special protocol for the two areas which gives them special status and gives them rights to recognize their situation. And in case of secession of southern Sudan, this does not mean that the CPA has collapsed completely and that the dividends achieved in it are lost. There were people behind these dividends.”

Mister Al-Hilu also warned that in case of secession, any new constitutional arrangements in northern Sudan should be done with the approval of the people of the two areas.

[Abdul-Aziz Al-Hilu]: “If it happens that the south chooses secession and any constitutional arrangements, they must be presented to the people of the two areas for approval. This is not something that should be done unilaterally or done by one party without consulting the two areas, but we also think that anything of this kind should be subjected to the opinion of all political forces and all political social categories and also other parties.”

Mister Al-Hilu stressed that the popular consultation is the only solution to the problems of the remaining part of the Sudan that will be in northern Sudan.
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SPLM To Operate In The North In Case Of Secession, Says Official
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Thursday, 23 December 2010. Full copy:
23 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - The SPLM says it would continue as a political party in the north if the country split in two after the self determination referendum in January.

The SPLM Deputy Secretary-General for Northern Sector Yasir Arman addressed a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday.

[Yasir Arman]: “The SPLM is there to stay in northern Sudan and it will remain in northern Sudan for two main reasons: it will work for the realization of a new northern Sudan that enjoys lasting peace and sustainable development and democracy. Two, the SPLM will remain in northern Sudan also for re-unification of Sudan once again on a new basis even if the south seceded.”

Arman also suggested that the National Congress Party should accept rotational presidency in order to convince southern Sudanese to vote for unity at last moment.

[Yasir Arman]: “The NCP has up to twenty-five hours before the referendum on the 9th of January a chance but it must present a new constitutional arrangement to Southern Sudan. It must suggest to the people who would vote on the 9th of January that it would accept rotational presidency and must accept the presence of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army even in case of unity of the Sudan, must accept new wealth sharing arrangements for the people of southern Sudan. This new arrangement is good even if Southerners vote for secession perhaps it would convince some southerners to vote for unity because this gives hope for the re-unification of Sudan in the future.”

Arman also said once a new country is declared in Southern Sudan on the 9th of July next year, the SPLM would want the war in western Sudan’s region of Darfur to stop.

He said the SPLM leadership is ready to lead mediation between northern Sudan and the Darfur factions in order to bring lasting peace in the region.
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Bashir Says Inter-School Tournaments A Prove Of Coexistence
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Thursday, 23 December 2010. Full copy:
(Khartoum) - The twenty-second inter-school national sports’ tournaments ended on Wednesday in Khartoum.

President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir who attended the closing ceremony, said the tournaments have for the 1st time unified students from all over the country.

[Omar Al-Bashir]: “For the first time in Sudan’s history, Sudanese students gathered in the south, since independence. Our people in the south are now happy because they saw their children and they were received well. We thank the people of Wau, Kwajok and Aweil for receiving the students and celebrating with them. It would have been a great shock for the students if our brothers in Khartoum state did not decide to host the games in a short time. This is because this is Khartoum; it is the capital of Sudan, where all the people of Sudan are represented.”

The governor of Khartoum state Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Kiddir said the games unified the people of Sudan.

[Abdulrahman Al-Kidir]: “Regardless of the shortage of time and confusion caused by the cancellation or postponement of the session to unknown date at Wau, regardless of all these, but thanks to God the session completed in well. We are happy that it accomplished its objectives; it achieved the practical unity between different parts of Sudan. Looking at the field I am sure that the whole of Sudan is presented here, therefore this is greatest achieved message that the Sudan is united and by God’s will it will never be separated and nobody will be able to do that.”

The tournaments which started on December 14th had been canceled in both Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and Warrap states.
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Influx Of Returnees To Abyei Attributed To Bashir's Statement
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Thursday, 23 December 2010. Full copy:
23 December 2010 – (Abyei) - Thousands of people have expressed interest to return to Abyei from the north following a statement made by President Bashir early this week.

President Omar Al-Bashir announced that northern Sudan will move fully into an Islamic law state after the likely secession of the South in next month’s referendum.

The SPLM secretary in Abyei, Chol Changat has attributed the large turnout of returnees from the north to Bashir’s statement.

He spoke to SRS on Thursday from Abyei.

[Chol Changat]: “Abyei administration was planning to get 20 thousand but when I was talking yesterday with the organizing committee they said it has reached to 70 thousand. The number has shot up. The reason is that the NCP said that if the south separates from the north then we do not have any ethnic group. It is only going to be sharia law and you only speak in Arabic. This statement by Bashir has made people to come out. To go to the square and say they want to come home. That is the fear. That is what made the number go to 70 thousand people who want to come back.”

The SPLM and the NCP are still deadlocked over who is eligible to vote in the Abyei referendum slowing down the formation of the Abyei Referendum Commission.

Abyei which is supposed to be conducting a referendum concurrently with the south on the 9th of January as it was stipulated in the CPA may not hold the vote.
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UN Panel Optimistic That Referendum Vote Will Be Transparent And Peaceful
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Wednesday, 22 December 2010. Full copy:
22 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - The UN Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda in Sudan says it believes that the south 2011 self-determination referendum will be very transparent as the voter registration exercise was peaceful.

The Chairperson of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda in Sudan, the former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa addressed a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday.

[Benjamin Mkapa]: “We have based our assessment first from our own observations because we did visit a couple of registration centers. We have field officers of our own as panel who have reported so. There are observers: international observers as well as domestic observers in both north and south who have attested to the transparency of the process and we have no reason to doubt them, and they have given statements to that effect. Whether this referendum vote will be more transparent than the ones in the elections in April, I can only say that in the south we have certainly been told that they believe that the voting this time round will be more transparent than the April’s voting.”

Mkapa said that the court cases filed against the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission pose real challenges to the process leading to the 9th of January referendum.

[Benjamin Mkapa]: “We are concerned about the court cases naturally and our hope is that they can be concluded so that we can know one way or another whether the 9th of January will hold. We have heard that there are as many as possible; it rises from four to six cases we don’t know. We do know for the fact that the commission has received information about one case where they have been asked to response to the petition and I believe they will do so speedily. Our hope is that the court will settle these cases as urgently as possible so that work can go on.”

Mkapa further assured the press that his panel has not received any report on insecurity in southern Sudan that may delay the conduct of the referendum.

On the Abyei referendum, Mister Mkapa stated that they are concerned about the delayed process and urged everyone involved in the negotiations to do their utmost best to reach a peaceful and permanent settlement acceptable to all.
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Everything in place for South Sudan vote
Source: UPI - www.upi.com
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Excerpts:
All materials are in place for voters in South Sudan to cast ballots for self-determination in January, a U.N. election official said. [...] U.N. officials delivered more than 4 million ballots to regional voters after severe weather in Europe threatened delays. Ballots were distributed to election officials in Juba, the capital of South Sudan; and in Khartoum, Sudan's capital. Eamon O'Mordha, the deputy director of the U.N. Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division, said in a statement that everything was set for the vote, scheduled to take place for one week starting Jan. 9. "I am happy to say that all the materials and plans are in place to meet the goal of a timely start to the referendum," he said. [...] The ballot features two symbols -- one featuring a single hand for independence and another depicting two hands for unity.
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Egypt And Libya To Respect Outcome Of Self Determination Referendum For South
Source: SRS - Sudan Radio Service - www.sudanradio.org
Date: Wednesday, 22 December 2010. Full copy:
22 December 2010 – (Khartoum) - Sudan, Egypt and Libya vowed on Tuesday to respect the outcome of the south’s self determination referendum in January 2011.

According to Sudan state radio, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi issued a statement calling for a peaceful, calm, transparent and credible environment that will reflect the will of southern Sudan's people.

The statement follows a two hour meeting on Tuesday with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and GOSS President Salva Kiir in Khartoum.

The adviser to the federal minister of information Rabie Abdullaati spoke to SRS on Tuesday.

[Rabie Abdullaati]: “The presidency assured both the Egyptian leader, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and the Libyan, Muammar Gaddafi to look into how to support efforts by both partners to reach agreements over pending issues, which include the post referendum issues, concerns of security and peaceful coexistence and issues related to preserving joint and to avoid interfering with regional security whatever the result of the self determination referendum for the people of southern Sudan.”

Both presidents have in the past called for the nation to remain united.
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South Kordofan governor pledges adequate security for returnees
Source: B'Nai Darfur - www.bnaidarfur.org
Author: Sudan Tribune
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Excerpt:
December 26, 2010 (ABYEI) – Ahmed Haroun the Governor of South Kordofan state has pledged to provide adequate security to protect internally displaced persons returning to their ancestral areas in Abyei and various parts of south Sudan.

Haroun was speaking at the briefing held at Abyei administrative headquarters office with the regions chief administrator, Deng Arop Kuol on December 23.
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Sudan: 29 Dec 2010 - Update on security situation
Source: United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)
Reprinted at ReliefWeb - www.reliefweb.int
Date: Wednesday, 29 December 2010. Full copy:
29 December 2010 - Aid continues to flow into makeshift camps outside UNAMID team sites in North and South Darfur, where thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge from recent clashes. However distribution to Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur has been momentarily suspended today after new restrictions on movement were put in place. UNAMID is collaborating with local security officials to gain access to all affected areas and ensure the safe delivery of aid.

An assessment mission carried out by UNAMID and several UN aid agencies today met with local authorities and IDP leaders in Khor Abeche and Shaeria in South Darfur, where over 10,000 people have been sheltered. UNAMID peacekeepers today escorted a four-truck humanitarian convoy to Shaeria.

The Mission is also investigating reports of conflict in Kazanjadeed, about 40 km from Shaeria, which has allegedly resulted in thousands of new displacements.

An inter-agency mission to Zamzam camp, outside El Fasher in North Darfur, has observed that around one hundred IDPs, mostly women and children, have arrived from the Shangil Tobaya area. Revised figures put the number of IDPs in and around Shangil Tobaya at 14,000, with an estimated 5,000 at the UNAMID team site.

Tomorrow, UNAMID military, police and civilian peacekeepers are to embark on a four-day verification and confidence-building mission from El Fasher to Shangil Tobaya, Jebel Tin and Dar al-Salam.

Meanwhile, the security situation in all team sites remains tense and UNAMID has taken additional measures to ensure the protection of civilians and increased the frequency and scope of its day and night patrols.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Ocampo announces ICC's verdict before indictment - Darfur peace talks progress in Doha - Libya will rein in JEM leader - Sudan's Bashir visits Chad

Quotes of the Day
"According to my understanding of the decision, the [International Criminal] Court did not find [Sudanese] President Bashir guilty of these crimes. Rather, it considered that there were reasonable grounds to suppose that he might be guilty. This is an important distinction. While the Prosecutor will argue, in court and in public, that Bashir is guilty, I am surprised that he is announcing a verdict of the Court before there has been an indictment (so far we have an arrest warrant — any indictment will follow a confirmation of charges hearing) let alone a trial." - Dr. Alex de Waal OBE, Making Sense of Sudan, 18 July 2010

“The absence of both the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid at the negotiation table and the ongoing fighting in Darfur are putting at risk the chances for a definitive and stable peace.” - Joint UN-AU mediator Djibril BassolĂ©, 20 July 2010

"Everything that went on between Chad and Sudan was an accident. We regret it enormously. Now we have turned the page. We are working together for the interest of our two nations." - Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir (Ref: CRIENGLISH.com 22 July 2010 - Sudanese President al-Bashir on 1st Visit abroad since Genocide Warrant)

Source: further details below.
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Joint UN-African Union mediator reports progress in Darfur peace talks
Report from UN News Centre - Wednesday, 21 July 2010 - excerpt:
The negotiations taking place in Doha aimed at bringing an end to the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan are making good progress, according to the joint United Nations-African Union mediator.
Djibril BassolĂ© said the talks between the Government of Sudan and some rebel groups are “advancing well” and noted the inclusive nature of the peace process, with Darfur civil society, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, participating actively and constructively.

At the same time, he noted that the main Darfur rebel groups are not participating in the talks in the Qatari capital.

“The absence of both the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid at the negotiation table and the ongoing fighting in Darfur are putting at risk the chances for a definitive and stable peace,” Mr. BassolĂ© said in a statement issued to the press yesterday after meeting in Juba with Sudan’s First Vice President, Salva Kiir Mayardit.

The mediator said he encouraged Mr. Kiir to help bring all remaining rebel groups to the talks.

He added that ongoing fighting in Darfur is putting at risk the chances for a definitive and stable peace, echoing what Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated in his latest report on the joint African Union-UN mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID.

Mr. Ban noted that violence flared between Sudanese Government forces and JEM in May, in breach of a cessation of hostilities agreement signed earlier this year, making May the deadliest month since the establishment of UNAMID in 2007.

He urged the Government and JEM to immediately cease their ongoing military confrontations and commit to the peace process, stating that the rebel group’s withdrawal from the Doha talks has undermined the goal of a rapid resolution of the conflict. [...]
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Wanted Sudan's Bashir arrives in Chad
From Reuters - Wednesday, 21 July 2010
(Reporting by Moumine Ngarmbassa; writing by David Lewis)
N'DJAMENA - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Chad Wednesday, the first time he has visited a full member of the global court demanding his arrest for war crimes and genocide.

A Reuters witness saw Bashir exit the plane and be welcomed by Chadian President Idriss Deby.

Sudanese officials have said they are confident Deby would not turn Bashir over to the International Criminal Court, which accuses him of rape, torture and murder in Sudan's remote Darfur region.
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Sudan's President Bashir defies arrest warrant in Chad
Report from BBC News - Wednesday, 21 July 2010 at 21:02 - excerpt:
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is visiting neighbouring Chad, in defiance of calls from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his arrest.

The trip is the first time Mr Bashir has set foot on the soil of a court member since the ICC called for his arrest on war crimes charges in 2009.

Chadian officials said Mr Bashir, who denies the charges, would not be arrested.

Chad and Sudan have often clashed bitterly over the Darfur conflict.

According to the rules of the ICC, which has no police force and relies on member states to make arrests, Chadian forces are required to arrest Mr Bashir during his stay in the country.

Earlier this month, the ICC added genocide to the charges against Mr Bashir.

But the Sudanese president seemed more focused on improvements in relations between the two neighbours than on the possibility of his incarceration.

"Chad and Sudan had a problem in the past. Now this problem is solved. We are brothers," the Associated Press news agency reported him as saying.

During the conflict in Darfur, rebel groups based in both countries have launched attacks on their rivals from behind the sanctuary of their own borders.

Khartoum accused Chad and its President Idriss Deby of supporting anti-government rebels in Darfur.

In turn, Chad insisted that Sudan was backing rebels attempting to overthrow Mr Deby.

However, the two presidents met earlier in 2010 for the first time in six years, announcing they were ready for a full normalisation of ties.

Despite the issue of the ICC charges against Mr Bashir, the international community is pleased the two countries are now getting on, reports the BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross, because it potentially increases the chances of ending the long-running conflict in Darfur. [...]
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Security situation in Darfur
Report from United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) - via APO (KHARTOUM, Sudan) - Tuesday, 20 July 2010:
Security situation in Darfur
No significant incidents were reported in the past 24 hours.

UK Special Envoy, Ambassador visit UNAMID
A British delegation led by Mr. Michael Ryder, the United Kingdom’s Special Envoy to the Sudan, and Mr. Nicholas Kay, the UK’s Ambassador to the Sudan, today met with UNAMID Joint Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari and other senior mission officials in El Fasher, North Darfur.
The one-day familiarization visit focused primarily on the political and security situation.

UNAMID patrols
UNAMID military forces conducted 101 patrols including routine, short-range, long-range, night and humanitarian escort patrols covering 85 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

UNAMID police advisors conducted 173 patrols in villages and IDP camps.
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Libya's Gaddafi says will rein in Sudanese rebel
Report from Reuters - Monday, 19 July 2010 6:59pm
By Hamid Ould Ahmed (Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Christian Lowe) :
(ALGIERS) - Libya has told a Sudanese rebel leader staying on its territory he must do nothing to jeopardise peace talks in Sudan, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says in an interview to be broadcast later on Monday.

Gaddafi has come under pressure from Sudan's government to expel Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Darfur region's rebel Justice and Equality Movement, given refuge in Libya in May.

"He (Ibrahim) has stayed in Libya and all our brothers in Sudan and Chad are right to be sensitive about that," Gaddafi said in an interview with the France 24 television station and radio stations RFI and Monte Carlo.

"We told him that, to serve peace and to lay down arms, it's forbidden for him to issue orders from Libya or make any comments," Gaddafi said in a recording of the interview provided to Reuters.

"There is a group fighting in Sudan and its leader is in Libya and everybody has the right to make links between the one thing and the other," Gaddafi said.

Gaddafi, who last year held the chairmanship of the African Union, also criticised attempts to try Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir at the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Countries which back the prosecution "are using international law and the United Nations to carry out official terrorism," Gaddafi said in the interview.

The Justice and Equality Movement was one of two Darfur rebel groups that took up arms against Sudan's government in 2003, accusing it of neglecting the mainly desert territory.

The group was subsequently involved in peace talks with the government in Khartoum but suspended its participation earlier this year.

Sudan has called on Libya to expel Ibrahim, and it said last month it was closing its borders with Libya, citing a need to protect people from attacks by Darfur insurgents.

Ibrahim was given refuge in Libya after Chad, which had previously allowed the rebel movement to use its territory as a base, changed its policy and refused him entry as he returned from a trip to Libya.

The dispute between Sudan and Libya could cast a shadow over the meeting of African Union heads of state, which takes place in the Ugandan capital later this month.
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Ocampo announces a verdict of the ICC before there has been an indictment

Note the following copy of a comment by Alex de Waal (posted at his blog Making Sense of Sudan in reply to commentary by Pieter Tesch entitled Prosecutor’s African Roadshow Keeps on Muddling Through) regarding an opinion piece authored by ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo (posted at guardian.co.uk "Comment is Free" Thursday, 15 July 2010 20.30 BST entitled Now end this Darfur denial):
Alex de Waal:
July 18th, 2010 at 5:40 am
Writing in The Guardian, “Comment is Free”, on 15 July, Luis Moreno Ocampo asserted, “The genocide is not over.” He went on:
“the court found that Bashir’s forces have raped on a mass scale in Darfur. … The court also found that Bashir is deliberately inflicting on the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups living conditions calculated to bring about their physical destruction. Millions of Darfuris are living in camps for displaced persons and, at the disposal of Bashir’s forces, experiencing an ongoing genocide.”

According to my understanding of the decision, the Court did not find President Bashir guilty of these crimes. Rather, it considered that there were reasonable grounds to suppose that he might be guilty. This is an important distinction. While the Prosecutor will argue, in court and in public, that Bashir is guilty, I am surprised that he is announcing a verdict of the Court before there has been an indictment (so far we have an arrest warrant — any indictment will follow a confirmation of charges hearing) let alone a trial.
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From SRS (Sudan Radio Service)
Wednesday, 21 July 2010


From The New York Times -

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