Showing posts with label AU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AU. Show all posts

Friday, February 16, 2024

Sudan: Malik Agar explains his 3-day visit to S. Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Here is a copy of two reports by Mr Malik Agar Eyre, Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council

The reports, posted at X and date stamped Feb 14, 2024 are separated into short posts accompanied by photos taken using Mr Malik's phone. 

The reports are in full because news outlets (Sudan Tribune is one of the worst offenders) have a habit of stealing other people's work, rearranging words and passing it off as their own research and news without credits.

It is mean spirited and makes my blood boil. Professional journalists and writers spend hours researching, writing, editing, fact-checking and polishing their reports under strict guidelines. What's troubling is that news outlets take it upon themselves to twist words to suit their own agenda.

I've followed Sudan Tribune for 20 years. Not sure if it's still based in France. Its ex deputy editor in chief Wasil Ali@wasilalitaha is a prolific poster at X. 

He's quick witted and can be hilarious. 2 photos (pictured) on his page at X suit his cheeky, playful, irreverent, strong personality. Thanks for the laughs.

Wasil Ali@wasilalitaha

Also, below is a copy of Mr Malik Agar's bio at Wikipedia. Note, under the heading of 'Ideology' it says: "Agar rejects President Omar al-Bashir's vision of an Arab-Islamic state, and has argued instead for a multicultural civil democracy". I saw footage of Mr Agar walking to/from a plane during below mentioned trip, he appeared to have trouble walking like he was in pain.

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Post from X microblogging platform (formerly Twitter) split into 4 posts

By Malik Agar Eyre | مالك عقار اير @MalikAgarEyre 

Date stamped 5:56 PM · Feb 14, 2024 - here is a full copy, showing splits:




I went on an official working visit to the State of South Sudan on February 12, 2024 for the purpose of meeting with His Excellency the President of the Republic, Salva Kiir. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Jibril Ibrahim, accompanied me during the first meeting with the President, which touched on issues concerning the two countries. Our meeting was renewed this afternoon.  1/4

I gave him an explanation about the current military positions and explained to him the extent of the progress made by the armed forces and the specific strikes that the army carried out on the rebel forces.


In the conversation, we touched on the Sudanese position on regional initiatives from the African Union and IGAD 2/4


I explained to him the reasons for freezing our membership in IGAD, and he understood this position well. We also discussed the situation and the political movement that had occurred recently.


The talk about the Jeddah platform was at the end of the agenda of our meeting, and I assured the president that returning to the Jeddah platform is linked to the rebel forces implementing what was agreed upon. 3/4


From ending the occupation of citizens’ homes, among others. At the conclusion of the meeting, we renewed our commitment to resolving the problems of African countries within the African House. I renewed our confidence in the state of South Sudan and praised the treatment they received of the Sudanese coming from the war zones in Sudan.


May God protect Sudan and the people of Sudan 4/4

View original: https://twitter.com/MalikAgarEyre/status/1757826186254700549

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Post from X microblogging platform (formerly Twitter) split into 8 posts

By Malik Agar Eyre | مالك عقار اير @MalikAgarEyre 

Date stamped 7:51 PM · Feb 14, 2024 - here is a full copy, showing splits:







Today, my visit to the State of South Sudan, which lasted for three days, concluded with two separate meetings, the first meeting included a group of ambassadors and heads of missions of the Troika countries and the European Union in South Sudan 1/8


followed by another meeting that included African ambassadors in South Sudan and the representative of the African Union in South Sudan. As well as the Ambassador of Sudan in Juba, Jamal Malik 2/8


where a short film documenting the crimes and violations of the rebel Rapid Support Forces was presented, exposing the killings, rape of women, the ethnic targeting of citizens, the destruction of infrastructure and other violations in the long list of atrocities 3/8


committed by the rebel forces in violation of the international humanitarian law and the International human rights Law.


We’ve also touched on the stages of the development of the rapid support forces from the Janjaweed forces to support forces called 4/8


the border guards and then to rebel rapid support forces in 2023, and i assured them that the government of Sudan is open and working to alleviate the suffering of the Sudan and end the war in a way that preserves the country's sovereignty, unity and national security. 5/8


I’ve also stressed that it is not possible to talk about any political process under the bangs of cannons and bullets, and that the attempts made by some now are nothing but a shot outside the goal, which will not achieve any result, and 6/8


that the slogans of the rebel forces, that is bringing democracy and fighting Islamists have failed before the test of international humanitarian law and international human rights law through the series of violations committed by them in all the areas they entered in Sudan. 7/8


I concluded the meeting with alerting of the consequences of what will happen in the Horn of Africa region in the event of the collapse of Sudan and the details of the impact of such catastrophe on the entire region.


May God protect Sudan and the people of Sudan 8/8

View original: https://twitter.com/MalikAgarEyre/status/1757855209412264384

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HERE is a bio of Mr Malik Agar from Wikipedia Friday, 16 Feb 2024:


Malik Agar is a Sudanese politician and former insurgent leader who was active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state. Since 2023, he has been the deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Sudan's ruling military junta.


Early life

Malik Agar was born Nganyofa Agar Eyre Nganyofa to an Ingessana chief in Blue Nile State. He did not know he was a Muslim until he was eight. His headteacher gave him the name "Malik" and told him he was a Muslim. From then on, he was called "Malik Agar Eyre"


Second Sudanese Civil War

Agar joined the Sudanese armed opposition shortly after the beginning of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. 


In the 1990s, he was the commander of a section of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) military forces along the Ethiopia–Sudan border south of the Blue Nile to Geissan. SPLM units under his command captured the towns of Kurmuk and Qaissan in 1997.


Agar was close to John Garang, and shared his goal of overthrowing the Government of Sudan, as opposed to fighting for the secession of South Sudan


After Garang's death, Agar, along with others who shared a desire for a revolution in Sudan, were marginalised by the new SPLM leadership. Agar expressed his disapproval of the secession of South Sudan to a US official in 2009, stating that it would cause the eventual splintering of the rest of Sudan.


He was elected governor of Blue Nile State in the Republic of the Sudan in April 2010. Agar was one of the few high-profile members of the Sudanese opposition to run in the election, and was the only non-National Congress Party (NCP) candidate to win a governorship. Agar defeated the NCP candidate, Farah Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Aggar, by 108,119 to 99,417 votes.


In February 2011 Malik Agar also became chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, the part of the SPLM that operates in northern Sudan. The southern portion of the SPLM became a separate political party in South Sudan when the country seceded from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011.


On 2 September, Agar was deposed as governor on the orders of President Omar al-Bashir. He fled to the southern part of the state and was reportedly planning a counterattack. He warned that the Sudan–SPLM conflict may ignite a wider Sudanese civil war.


In February 2012 Agar helped found the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF); a coalition of Sudanese opposition groups that aims to overthrow the Sudanese government and replace it with a democracy.[4] In February 2012, Agar was elected president of the SRF.


On 2 February 2021, he was appointed as a member of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan.


Ideology

Agar rejects President Omar al-Bashir's vision of an Arab-Islamic state, and has argued instead for a multicultural civil democracy.


Read more, including references, at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malik_Agar


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Related


Radio Dabanga English website

South Sudan president discusses civil bloc outcomes with Minawi

Dated Wednesday, 14 February 2024. 14:29 JUBA - excerpts:


Consultative sessions aimed at reaching an end to the war in Sudan concluded in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Monday. In attendance were several Sudanese political and civil blocs, a delegation of which met with South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday. 


Moataz El Fahl, a leader in the Forces for Freedom and Change-Democratic Bloc (FFC-DB) and Secretary-General of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), told Dabanga in an interview that the meeting concluded with the “formation of a mini-mechanism for communication with the Sovereignty Council, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and other political and civil forces”. 


The meeting included several political and civil blocs, most notably the FFC-DB, the National Movement Forces coalition, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N Agar), led by Sovereignty Council Vice President Malik Agar.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit meets with a Sudanese delegation in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Monday (Photo: @ArkoMinawi via X)


Full story: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/south-sudan-president-discusses-civil-bloc-outcomes-with-minawi

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Sudan Watch - February 14, 2024

Darfur tribal leaders agree with Sudanese Sheikh Musa Hilal to lead initiative to stop war in Sudan

A civil delegation of tribal leaders in Darfur states announced that it has agreed with the head of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, Sheikh Musa Hilal, to lead a national initiative to stop the war between the army and the Rapid Support.


The delegation, which included the principals of the tribes of Tarjum, Fallata and Rizeigat and notables of a number of tribes in the states of South, East, Central and West Darfur, visited Sheikh Musa Hilal in the suburb of Mistriha in North Darfur state, and the delegation spent about a week during which he held several meetings with notables of the region.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/02/darfur-tribal-leaders-agree-with.html


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Saturday, February 10, 2024

Sudan: A European-led tripartite meeting in Addis discusses arms embargo on Sudan & Article Seven, ignoring the position of both sides of the conflict

THIS report published in Arabic was kindly sent in to Sudan Watch by a Sudanese reader living and working in the UK over the past twenty years. Here is a copy in full, translated from Arabic by Google translate.

From sudanakhbar.com
By Radio Dabanga Arabic
Dated Friday, 9 February 2024


A European-led tripartite meeting in Addis Ababa discusses the arms embargo on Sudan, the imposition of Article Seven, and ignoring the position of both sides of the conflict - Sudan News

The Darfur Bar Association and the African Centre for Peace and Justice meet with a joint delegation with representatives of the European Union Mission Badis Ayaya


At the request of the Darfur Bar Association and the African Centre for Peace and Justice, a joint delegation met with representatives of the European Union Delegation in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, this morning, February 8, 2024, and the meeting was devoted to consultation on the situation in Sudan and with a focus on stopping the war and the humanitarian situation.


The Army and RSF are not qualified to discuss post-war issues


Mr. Saleh Mahmoud, Chairman of the Darfur Bar Association, described the humanitarian situation as aggravated and worrying, not only in Darfur, but in the whole of Sudan, given the number of people affected, which the most modest statistics indicate exceeds 10 million people.


In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Mr. Saleh Mahmoud pointed out that the meeting also touched on gross violations of human rights and international law and the continued commission of heinous crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.


The meeting also touched on the future of the political process after the cessation of the war, as the Darfur Bar Association and the African Center for Peace and Justice confirmed that there is currently no government in Sudan representing all Sudanese to discuss the post-war situation, stressing that the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (Janjaweed Foundation) are not qualified to discuss the situation of Sudan and negotiate that indicates the return of the situation to what it was before the war.


Sudan arms embargo


On ways to stop the war, Mr. Saleh Mahmoud stressed that the discussion touched on the activation of all measures under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and various international treaties. He pointed to the importance of taking measures related to banning the import of weapons flowing into Sudan as a priority, not dealing with the parties to the war and not for the purpose of negotiations to return them to the position of power again, given that the task of determining how and who will govern Sudan is a task for the Sudanese people.


Mr. Saleh Mahmoud stated that they explained to the representatives of the European Union Mission the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid in a shorter way through Chadian territory for the people of the Darfur region in order to avoid the difficulties facing its flow through the port of Port Sudan as well as to the rest of the affected areas in Sudan. We asked them to think together about ways to deliver aid in the presence of the old state institution that is tainted by corruption that could hinder the delivery of this aid or sell it in the markets to those affected.


Exceeding the consent of the parties to the war


Mr. Saleh Mahmoud warned that the passage of aid in areas controlled by the army or the Rapid Support Forces threatens the possibility of reaching those who deserve it. Mr. Saleh Mahmoud stressed that they called for activating international humanitarian law, especially the articles that allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected without obtaining the consent of the force controlling the ground, whether it is rapid support or armed forces, and the international community and regional institutions in delivering aid should not be subject to the will of the warring parties that do not represent the Sudanese people.


Calling for a greater role for the African Peace and Security Council


Regarding the speech addressed by the African Center for Justice and Peace to the African Peace and Security Council, Musaed Mohamed Ali, director of the center, confirmed in an interview with Radio Dabanga that the message is mainly aimed at stopping the war as a top priority. The letter called on the Peace and Security Council and the African Union to play its role and exert greater efforts to stop the war and stop hostilities in Sudan as soon as possible. In the short term, the letter called on the council to work towards a swift cessation of hostilities to allow the passage of humanitarian aid to those affected who have been displaced inside Souda.


View original: https://www.sudanakhbar.com/1483595


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Friday, February 09, 2024

South Sudan: Thousands displaced by fighting in Abyei, 100 people killed including UN peacekeepers

Cartoon credit: Cartoonist Adija @AdijaAcuil 

Caption: "Abyei and the Stakeholders 

#SSOX #UN #UNSC #AU #IGAD #UNISFA"

Source: https://twitter.com/AdijaAcuil/status/1727616044544512400 

Nov 23, 2023

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"The UN says more than 2,200 people, most of them women and children, are sheltering at one of its compounds in Rumajak, about 7km (4 miles) north of Abyei town. The humanitarian body also says it is beefing up land and air patrols to deter further violence". Read more.

From BBC News
By Anne Soy, BBC News, Nairobi
Dated Friday, 9 February 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Thousands forced out by fighting in disputed Abyei region

Humanitarian agencies have warned that two weeks of fighting in the oil-rich region of Abyei on the border between Sudan and South Sudan have led to widespread displacement and hindered efforts to distribute aid.


Both countries jointly administer Abyei and claim ownership of the region.


The clashes have been linked to conflict between rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group - called the Ngok and the Twic.


Close to 100 people including UN peacekeepers have been killed.


Britain, the US and Norway - known as the Troika - have called on the South Sudanese government to hold accountable those behind the attacks.


Save the Children also says there have been incidents of looting of health and nutrition supplies at one of its health facilities.


The UN says more than 2,200 people, most of them women and children, are sheltering at one of its compounds in Rumajak, about 7km (4 miles) north of Abyei town. The humanitarian body also says it is beefing up land and air patrols to deter further violence.


Click here to view original. 

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Cartoon credit: Cartoonist Adija @AdijaAcuil 

Caption “No comment. #SSOT”. 

Source: https://twitter.com/AdijaAcuil/status/1665807379034767367 

Jun 5, 2023


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