Joint Troika Statement on the Attack in Abyei Region

From Norway in South Sudan

Royal Norwegian Embassy in Juba

Dated Wednesday, 03 January 2024 | Juba - here is a full copy:

Joint Troika Statement on the Attack in Abyei Region, December 31, 2023

The Embassies of Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States condemn the latest attack in the Abyei Administrative Area in which Deputy Administrator Noon Deng Nyok and several of his colleagues were killed on Sunday, December 31, 2023.

The use of violence as a tool for political or economic competition perpetuates a dangerous cycle and must be universally rejected by all South Sudanese leaders. This attack and all other incidents of violence should be investigated, and perpetrators held accountable.

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View original: https://www.norway.no/en/south-sudan/norway/news-events/joint-troika-statement-on-the-attack-in-abyei-region-december-31-2023/

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Related

Sudan Watch - January 03, 2024

Sudan & S. Sudan: Fiji's Merelea Dileba Drotini will be the second female going for the UNISFA in Abyei

Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew congratulated ASP Drotini for her appointment and reminded her of the image of the Fiji Police Force.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/01/sudan-s-sudan-fijis-merelea-dileba.html

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Sudan Watch - January 02, 2024

Sudan & South Sudan: Six killed in disputed Abyei. MP calls for UNISFA to protect Abyei people in Abyei Box

“We are saying that the issue of Abyei and Twic is taking a different turn, it is like there are invisible hands behind the issue of land. We call on the South Sudan Government to swiftly form an investigation committee to probe the killing of the deputy administrator and the former minister,” Tabitha said. She further called on the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect the people of Abyei within the Abyei Box.

Full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/01/sudan-south-sudan-six-killed-in.html

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United Nations UNISFA Press Release - December 31, 2023

UNITED NATIONS INTERIM SECURITY FORCE FOR ABYEI CONDEMNS KILLING OF DEPUTY CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR

Abyei - 31 December 2023 - The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) strongly condemns the killing of Hon. Noon Deng Nyok, the Deputy Chief Administrator of Abyei, along with five other people during an ambush by an armed group at Wunpeth, near Agok. 

The Deputy Chief Administrator was known for his dedication to community service and commitment to fostering unity and peace. UNISFA extends its deepest condolences to his colleagues, including the Chief Administrator and members of Abyei Administration, as well as his family, friends and the wider community who are deeply affected by this tragic loss.  

This act of appalling and senseless violence risks the gains that have been made towards resolving the difficult situation in Southern Abyei. It is also stark reminder of the ongoing challenges faced in securing and maintaining peace across the Abyei region.

UNISFA calls on all parties to exercise restraint and collaborate in bringing the perpetrators of this crime to justice. The mission reaffirms its commitment to supporting local authorities in their efforts to promote reconciliation, stability, and the rule of law.

As the Abyei community comes to terms with this loss, UNISFA calls for a renewed focus and commitment to the pursuit of sustainable peace in Abyei. In this regard, the mission will continue all efforts to deliver on its mandate to help create a secure and stable environment where all people can enjoy peace and prosperity.

View original: https://unisfa.unmissions.org/united-nations-interim-security-force-abyei-condemns-killing-deputy-chief-administrator

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ENDS

Sudan & South Sudan: Six killed in disputed Abyei. MP calls for UNISFA to protect Abyei people in Abyei Box

STRADDLING an ill-defined border between Sudan and South Sudan, oil-rich Abyei has been claimed by both countries since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011. 

Tabitha Chol, an MP representing Abyei in the Council of States, alleged of a systematic scheme, targeting of constitutional post holders from Abyei by elements from the neighbouring Twic County. She said a former minister from Abyei was also killed in a similar ambush in November last year. 

“We are saying that the issue of Abyei and Twic is taking a different turn, it is like there are invisible hands behind the issue of land. We call on the South Sudan Government to swiftly form an investigation committee to probe the killing of the deputy administrator and the former minister,” Tabitha said. She further called on the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect the people of Abyei within the Abyei Box.

Read more in the four articles here below.

From Reuters
Reporting by Waakhe Simon Wudu

Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Jan Harvey
Dated Monday, January 1, 2024, 9:39 AM GMT - here is a copy in full:

Six killed in disputed region bordering Sudan, South Sudan

JUBA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Six people including a senior local administrator were killed in an ambush by armed men in the Abyei region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, local officials said.

The oil-rich region experiences frequent bouts of violence, where rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group - Twic Dinka from South Sudan's neighbouring Warrap State, and Ngok Dinka from Abyei - are locked in a dispute over the location of an administrative boundary.

Abyei Deputy Chief Administrator Noon Deng and his team came under attack along the road from Abyei to Aneet town when they were returning from an official visit to Rummamer county, where they were celebrating the New Year, government officials said.

"His driver and two bodyguards plus two people of national security were all killed," Tereza Chol, a South Sudanese lawmaker, told Reuters.

Bulis Koch, the information minister for Abyei Administrative Area, blamed the Sunday evening attack on armed youth from Twic County of Warrap State, and said the bodies had not been retrieved as of Monday morning.

His counterpart in the Warrap State William Wol said it was still early "to point fingers".

The incident is the latest in a region where dozens were killed in ethnic clashes in November.

Straddling an ill-defined border between Sudan and South Sudan, Abyei has been claimed by both countries since Juba declared independence from Khartoum in 2011.

It has a special administrative status, governed by an administration comprising officials appointed by both countries.

South Sudan erupted into civil war shortly after independence, which pitted President Salva Kiir and his allies against his Vice President Riek Machar.

A peace agreement signed in 2018 is largely holding, but the transitional government has been slow to unify the various factions of the military.

Reporting by Waakhe Simon Wudu; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Jan Harvey

View original: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/six-killed-disputed-region-bordering-sudan-south-sudan-2024-01-01/

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Related Reports

Radio Tamazuj - January 2, 2024 

Juba: MPs want inquest into Abyei administrator’s killing - here is an excerpt and map:

Tabitha Chol, an MP representing Abyei in the Council of States, alleged of a systematic scheme, targeting of constitutional post holders from Abyei by elements from the neighbouring Twic County. She said a former minister from Abyei was also killed in a similar ambush in November last year. “We are saying that the issue of Abyei and Twic is taking a different turn, it is like there are invisible hands behind the issue of land. We call on the South Sudan Government to swiftly form an investigation committee to probe the killing of the deputy administrator and the former minister,” Tabitha said. She further called on the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect the people of Abyei within the Abyei Box.

View full story: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/juba-mps-want-inquest-into-abyei-administrators-killing

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Radio Tamazuj - January 1, 2024

Opinion piece by Morris Kuol Yoll - here are some excerpts and map:

Abyei Box is a distortion of the boundary between Sudan and South Sudan

The northern boundary, known as the “Kordofan-Barh el Gazal boundary,” refers to the boundary between the Sudan and South Sudan north of Abyei. This boundary separates Ngok and Messirya. The Southern boundary between Barh el Gazal and Kordofan, as of 1 January 1956, is known as the Kiir River and separates Ngok of Abyei and Twic County. 

The boundary between Twic Dinka of Barh el Gazal and Ngok Dinka of Kordofan, Sudan, was left as it is according to The Hague's arbitration awards ruling of 22 July 2009, as stipulated in the following document: “In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “[t]he southern boundary shall be the Kordofan – Bahr el-Ghazal – Upper Nile boundary as it was defined on 1 January 1956,” the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate” (Report of International Arbitration Awards, P.413).

The Southern Sudan Boundary Background report recommends that the Southern boundary between Twic and Ngok be resolved after 2011 and recommends that physical landmarks be developed to help when the demarcation of this boundary comes forth in the future.

The ABC's "Southern Sudan Boundary Background" report does not refer to the map of the Sudan, which indicates the 1 January 1956 boundary running through the Kiir River, but another map (the current Abyei Box) that crossed the Kiir River with undefined physical boundaries, and a map with no "topography” or landmarks, a map that according to the ABC report could pose problems when the time to demarcate the boundary between Twic County and Abyei Special Administration arrives.

View full story: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/opinion-abyei-box-is-a-distortion-of-the-boundary-between-sudan-and-south-sudan

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Sudan Watch - January 10, 2009

Former Wall Street banker Philippe Heilberg gambles on a warlord's continuing control of 400,000 hectares of land in South Sudan (Update 1) - here are two excerpts:

There are few regions in Africa as remote and undeveloped as southern Sudan. Unity state, where Philippe Heilberg says he has secured a huge tract of arable land, is inaccessible even by south Sudan's standards.

Jarch Management Group is linked to Jarch Capital, a US investment company that counts on its board former state department and intelligence officials, including Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador and expert on Africa, who acts as vice-chairman; and Gwyneth Todd, who was an adviser on the Middle East and north Africa at the Pentagon and under Bill Clinton at the White House.

View full story: https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/former-wall-street-banker-philippe.html

ENDS

South Sudan: April 30 attack on SPLM/A military base in Malakal, Upper Nile state

UPDATE - Thursday, May 06, 2010 - BREAKING NEWS: Malakal, Upper Nile - S. Sudan govt will not take any military actions against George Athor - GREAT NEWS just in from SRS (Sudan Radio Service) via email: Today, Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) spokesman, Paul Mayom Akech told SRS that his government will not use force against George Athor or any of his followers. High level GoSS officials are in consultation with Mr Athor in order to resolve the issue amicably and peacefully.
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FULL STORY - Tuesday, May 04, 2010 - South Sudan, Malakal, Upper Nile State: GoSS to dialogue with armed SPLM/A defector George Athor Deng
+ + +

Saturday, May 01, 2010
South Sudan: April 30 attack on SPLM/A military base in Malakal, Upper Nile state

ACCORDING to a report published today at Sudan Tribune, southern Sudan officials on Friday (30 April) confirmed that George Athor, who recently contested as independent candidate for governorship of the region’s largest state of Jonglei, was behind yesterday's attack on an army base of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) near the Upper Nile state’s capital, Malakal in semi-independent South Sudan.

In South Sudan, the ex-rebel group Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) is the ruling party and political wing of the SPLA. Collectively, they are known as known as Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) or SPLM/A. The SPLM has been criticised for alleged vote manipulation in the country's first elections in 24 years.

The attacked army base is in the town of Delab Hills (aka Doleib or Doleb) area located inside Upper Nile state, not far from Khorfulus, the home town of George Athor, where is he is currently based and situated on the other side of the border in Jonglei state. The base houses soldiers of the SPLM, some of whom are said to have taken part in the attack.

Reportedly, the attackers were trained soldiers and supporters of Mr Athor, an independent candidate who had campaigned against the reigning SPLM party to be governor of the state of Jonglei. Athor denied leading the troops but told the BBC he sympathised with them and said the polls were rigged.

The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says there have been intense negotiations for several days to avoid just this sort of problem in Southern Sudan and says it is too early to tell if this is an isolated incident, or the start of a much bigger problem.

Jonglei is one of the 26 states in the south to elect governors and legislators. George Athor ran unsuccessfully against incumbent governor Kuol Manyang Juuk.

Further details here below.



Click here to view a map of Malakal, Upper Nile State, southern Sudan. (Thanks to ReliefWeb)

Quote of the Day

Guys, Can we stop speculating this since it is a sensistive matter and still under "suspicion". Athor is denying it and Dominic Kuol Dim has not come out to tell us what happen and who is behind it. Are we going to war or do we want to apprehend those who carry out this heinous act. The argument here is political insufficient, and I advise that we all wait before we fueled with our rhetoric. "KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN AMD KEEP WATCHING EM".
- Maruon Ayiei, 1 May 2010

Source: Comment by Maruon Ayiei posted at Sudan Tribune on 1 May 2010 in response to the following article:

Defeated candidate launches destructive attack on South Sudan army in Jonglei
From Sudan Tribune, Saturday 1 May 2010:

April 30, 2010 (JUBA) – A defeated candidate and former Lt. General and Deputy Chief of General Staff for Moral Orientation in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), has launched a deadly assault on the army’s military barrack of Doleib Hills area near the Upper Nile state’s capital, Malakal.

Southern Sudan officials on Friday confirmed that General George Athor, who recently contested as independent candidate for governorship of the region’s largest state of Jonglei, was behind the attack.

The SPLA’s Head of Information and Public Relations, Colonel Malaak Ayuel Ajok, on Friday in a televised statement on Southern Sudan TV announced that the surprise attack occurred at around 1:30AM in the early morning of Friday.

Col. Malaak said many of the attackers were killed and five of them captured. He said the captured soldiers confessed that they were ordered by General George Athor to carry out the attack.

He said hundreds of soldiers loyal to General George Athor involved in the operation.

The defeated Gen. Athor denied ordering any attack. He told Reuters that soldiers in Doleib military barrack had mutinied after receiving orders to arrest him.

Col. Malaak said Gen. George Athor got angry after he was declared the loser in the Jonglei state’s gubernatorial elections. The independent candidate said he won the elections but the results were later on rigged in favor of Kuol Manyang Juuk, the incumbent governor and declared winner in Jonglei state’s gubernatorial election.

The first elected governor of South Sudan’s vast-populous Jonglei, the incumbent Gov. Kuol Manyang scored 165,387 votes. George Athor Deng (Independent) comes second with 67,639 votes as Joseph Duer Jakor (NCP) trails with 16,704 votes.

Senior government officials also confirmed the clashes, saying the cabinet for the semi-autonomous region was briefed on Friday by the minister of Internal Affairs, General Gier Chuang Aluong, about the developing situation.

Also, Jonglei elected Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk, held a closed door meeting with SPLA senior officers but there was no public statement.

The number of casualties was not yet confirmed as officials said more details were still emerging, but according to the security chief, among the dead SPLA soldiers included many SPLA officers in addition to a number of civilians who were caught in cross fire.

Military depots were also looted by the attacking force and among the weapons they captured included a number of anti-tanks and 12.7 artillery.

Eye witnesses in Malakal town said about six vehicles were packed with the wounded and taken to Malakal Hospital.

General George Athor, who confirmed the incidence, however told the BBC that he was not directly involved in the incidence, saying it was an internal mutiny within the SPLA forces.

He however added that it was an action against the “corrupt SPLM” system, saying he was sympathizing with the soldiers who carried out the attack.

The attacked military barrack is located inside Upper Nile state, not far from Khorfulus, the home town of General Athor, where is he is currently based and situated on the other side of the border in Jonglei state.

Officials suspected that General Athor was planning heavy attacks inside targeted locations within Jonglei state and that his initial attack on the barrack across the border in Upper Nile state was to snatch the weapons and ammunitions for use in his planned activities in Jonglei state.

Officials quoted General Gier Chuang as saying that General Athor has already coordinated his activities with other SPLA elements including in the Southern Sudan’s capital, Juba, and that he has about seven Brigadier Generals and several Colonels on his side.

General George Athor lost to the incumbent Jonglei state governor, Kuol Manyang Juuk, according to the declared results by the National Elections Commission (NEC) but earlier warned that he won the elections and the ruling SPLM party latter on rigged it in favor of Kuol Manyang.

Jonglei state is the largest state in Southern Sudan inhabited by about five different ethnic groups which population is pre-dominantly of the Nuer ethnic group. Both General George Athor and his rival, Kuol Manyang, are from the Dinka tribe, the largest ethnic group in Southern Sudan.

Officials said the government would take measures to control the situation before it gets out of control.

Col. Malaak Ayuel in his televised statement on behalf of the SPLA Chief of General Staff, Lt. General James Hoth Mai, warned General George Athor to stop attacking the SPLA forces, saying the army was capable of responding to the situation with full force. (ST)

BREAKING NEWS: discontented SPLA forces attack army barrack
From Sudan Tribune, Friday 30 April 2010:

April 30, 2010 (JUBA) – News reaching Juba have confirmed a military attack on SPLA barrack by suspected discontented army elements said to be under the command of an independent gubernatorial candidate who recently lost elections in the largest southern Sudan state.

The SPLA barrack at Doleib was attacked yesterday evening by forces that are suspected to be under the command of Major General George Athor, who recently lost against the incumbent governor, Kuol Manyang Juuk in Jonglei state.

A number of people are reported killed and wounded while four people from the attackers were captured and reportedly confessed that they were under the directive of Gen. Athor.

According to security sources, the attack occurred when the discontented forces surrounded the barrack and tried to break into arms and ammunition store in the barrack.

It was not clear why the forces wanted to take the arms, but sources were suspicious that they were planning for more attacks on other locations.

Maj. Gen. George Athor, the suspected leader behind the attacks, is currently based in his home town of Khorfulus, which is not very far from where the attacks were carried out across the border with Upper Nile state. (ST)

Sudan: Base Attacked in South
From The New York Times by REUTERS, Friday 30 April 2010 [Note from Sudan Watch Editor: The base referred to in the following report by Reuters, reprinted in the NYT, is located in Upper Nile State, not Jonglei State]:

South Sudan’s army said that armed men attacked one of its bases in Jonglei State on Friday, killing at least eight soldiers. A spokesman for the south’s army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, said it had captured five of the attackers, who said they were working under orders of Gen. George Athor, a defeated candidate for governor of Jonglei, an oil-producing region. General Athor, a senior officer in the south’s army, denied involvement in the attack, saying soldiers in the base had mutinied after receiving orders to arrest him.

Mutinous troops attack south Sudan army near Malakal
From BBC News at 5:16 GMT, Friday, 30 April 2010 16:16 UK - excerpt:

At least eight people have been killed when mutinous troops attacked an army base in south Sudan following this month's elections, officials say.

A southern army spokesman said the mutineers backed a former general who ran and lost in a Jonglei state poll.

George Athor denied leading the troops but told the BBC he sympathised with them and said the polls were rigged.

The ex-rebel SPLM party won a landslide victory to retain power in the south, amid widespread claims of intimidation.

The 11-15 April elections were the first in 24 years - and the first since the end of a two-decade conflict between north and south.

The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says there have been intense negotiations for several days to avoid just this sort of problem in Southern Sudan.

Several senior southern soldiers contested the elections as independents and all but one lost.

Mr Athor ran for governor of Jonglei state as an independent when he did not get the SPLM nomination.

'Weapons stolen'

The Delab Hill barracks, 12km (7 miles) south of Malakal, were attacked.

The army spokesman said weapons were stolen.

"We managed to push back the attackers, but there are seven dead and nine injured among the troops," southern army spokesman Malaak Ayuen Ajok told AFP.

"Several attackers also lost their lives."

Malakal was the scene of fierce fighting between rival militias in 2009, and in 2006, which left at least 150 people dead.

Our correspondent says it is too early to tell if this is an isolated incident, or the start of a much bigger problem.

He says the voting process itself was largely peaceful, but tensions rose, particularly in the south, as accusations of electoral fraud began to multiply.

From Earthtimes (press release) Friday, 30 Apr 2010 16:57:42 GMT
By dpa Nairobi/Juba, Sudan:

Violence in the wake of Sudanese elections earlier this month has left at least eight people dead in the southern Sudanese city of Malakal, the Sudan Tribune reported Friday.

The newspaper said that armed militants attacked the barracks of the South Sudanese Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

The attackers were trained soldiers and supporters of an independent candidate who had campaigned against the reigning SPLM party to be governor of the state of Jonglei.

The SPLM is the political wing of the SPLA and was criticized for alleged vote manipulation in the country's first elections in 24 years.

The SPLM won the bulk of the votes in semi-independent Southern Sudan, which is expected to vote to secede from Sudan in a 2011 referendum.

Soldiers Loyal to Failed Gubernatorial Candidate Attack Army Barracks in Southern Sudan
From Voice of America - Friday, 30 April 2010 c. 7pm GMT UK [Note from Sudan Watch Editor: The army barracks referred to in the following report by VOA News are located in Upper Nile State, not Jonglei State] - excerpt:

An official in South Sudan has confirmed an attack this morning on an army barracks in Jongolei State. Reports say that as many as eight people were killed in the attack, believed to have been led by supporters of Major General George Athor, an independent candidate for governor in last week’s elections.

The barracks, located in the town of Doleb, houses soldiers of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, some of whom are said to have taken part in the attack. [...]

Jongolei is one of the 26 states in the south to elect governors and legislators. General Athor ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate against incumbent governor Kuol Manyang Juuk. Mustafa Biong Majak, an official with the Government of South Sudan, said causalities were taken to the Upper Nile State’s Malakal hospital for treatment.

“Those who did it ran away,” he said, “and the security forces are running after them.” He says later today, an SPLM spokesman will make a detailed statement on the incident.

Listen to Biong Majak discuss the attack:

Sources of the Sudan Tribune say the assault was authorized by General Athor, who lives in the nearby town of Khorfulus in Upper Nile state. Reuters news agency says Athor has denied any involvement.

SPLM candidate and incumbent president of the south Salvia Kiir was re-elected with over 90 percent of the vote. His rival Lam Akol of the splinter group SPLM-DC has accused his party of harassment and intimidation. He rejects the election results and says he plans to take the matter to court for adjudication. South Sudan is gearing for a referendum early next year that will decide if they secede from the north.

South Sudan army accuses poll candidate of attack
From Reuters by Skye Wheeler Friday 30 April 2010 12:09pm EDT
(Writing by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Maria Golovnina) - excerpt:

(JUBA, Sudan) - South Sudan's army accused a defeated election candidate of ordering an attack on one of its bases that killed at least eight soldiers Friday, stoking tensions days after the contested poll.

George Athor, defeated in the race to become governor of the south's oil-producing Jonglei state, denied ordering any attack, telling Reuters soldiers in the base had mutinied after receiving orders to arrest him.

Any confirmed involvement in the attack by Athor, who is also a senior officer in the south's army, would be a serious escalation in violence in the region, already hit by drought and clashes between heavily armed tribal groups. [...]

Athor and other independent candidates accused the south's dominant party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), of harassing their supporters and rigging the vote.

The south's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said that armed men attacked the southern army base in Jonglei's Doleib Hill area, close to state capital Malakal, early Friday.

"We have full evidence the force was ordered by General George Athor," acting SPLA spokesman Malaak Ayuen told Reuters.

"He contested as a governor in Jonglei but lost," Ayuen said, adding that the intention behind the attack was unclear. "It was very surprising ... (We think) he became angry and is trying to create insecurity."

Ayuen said the army had captured five of the attackers who said they were working under Athor's orders.

Athor decided to run as an independent after failing to get the SPLM nomination. Speaking by satellite telephone from Jonglei, he denied having any forces in the area.

"They wanted to send a force to capture me but they refused to do this and now they were trying to arrest those officers who refused to go and attack me and so there was a mutiny," he said.

Athor said he did not know why they would want to arrest him. "You should ask Salva Kiir," he said, referring to the president of the semi-autonomous south. [...]

Further reading
Click on Matip, Jarch, Heilberg, labels here below to view some eye opening reports in Sudan Watch archives, including the following reports:

Sudan Watch - April 16, 2009: Ex Wall St banker Philippe Heilberg - US Jarch mulling more land leases in S. Sudan

Sudan Watch - October 19, 2009: South Sudan: UN airlifts Paulino Matip’s forces to Juba

Bentiu, Unity State, S. Sudan: 16 killed in fighting between SPLA troops guarding governor's building and Paulino Matip's offices

According to the following AFP report, sixteen people have been killed and several injured in a misunderstanding between the guards of ex-warlord Paulino Matip and the guards of the governor's building in oil-rich Bentiu, Unity State, south Sudan.   Currently, Mr Matip is deputy commander-in-chief of southern Sudanese forces and has a loyal following of troops.  Unity State provides an estimated 80 percent of all the oil currently drilled in south Sudan.  

Source:  AFP, Saturday, 3 October 2009.  Copy in full:
Clashes in south Sudan oil region kills 16: army

JUBA, Sudan — Sixteen people were killed and several wounded in clashes in south Sudan between forces loyal to an ex-warlord and an oil-rich state governor's guards, military sources said on Saturday.

Friday's fighting in Unity State resulted from a "misunderstanding between Paulino Matip's guards and the guards of the governor" in the state capital of Bentiu, south Sudan information minister Paul Mayom told reporters.

Unity State, which provides an estimated 80 percent of all the oil currently drilled in the south, was the scene of persistent attacks in early 2008 between the Sudanese military and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the former southern rebel force that is now the southern Sudanese army.

Matip, a notoriously effective northern commander during the 1983-2005 civil war that claimed some two million lives, was integrated into the new southern Sudanese armed forces after the fighting ended.

He is now deputy commander-in-chief of southern Sudanese forces and has a loyal following of troops.

A military official said Friday's fighting involved SPLA troops guarding Matip's offices and those protecting the governor's building.

A senior SPLA source, speaking on Saturday on condition of anonymity, said 12 Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) members were killed and 17 wounded, and that four civilians died and four more were wounded.

Officials in Unity State earlier put the total number of dead at 12.

The military official said Bentiu was now calm, and that the SPLA had begun an investigation into the firefight.

Click on Bentiu label here below for previous report re unpaid East African teachers wanting to go home.  Also, see Sudan Tribune, 3 October 2009:  Fresh clashes erupt in Sudan’s Unity state: sources

Further reading

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4. SudanTribune article : Paulino Matip arrives in Washington for ...

   3 posts - Last post: 11 Aug 2008

   May your love for the South Sudan Nation be used by the healing power of treatment and spirit to heal you faster and come back to watch with ...
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