Sudan top priority for UN Security Council - UK takes the rotating presidency at the Security Council for November

Sudan top priority for Security Council
Source: UPI.com - www.upi.com
Date: Wednesday, 03 November 2010 at 1:25 PM

(LONDON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- London will place Sudan at the forefront of U.N. Security Council debates as it assumes the rotating presidency of the body, the foreign secretary said.

London takes the rotating presidency at the Security Council for November. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London considered Sudan a high-priority topic during its presidency.

He said he would lead a Security Council debate on Sudan on Nov. 16, where the focus would be on the steps needed to complete a January referendum on time.

South Sudan is voting for self-determination in January as part of a comprehensive peace deal brokered in part by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2005.

Residents in the central Sudanese area of Abyei will also vote on whether they want to joint North or South Sudan.

Hague said London would "push for timely completion" of the peace deal through the January measure.

Election officials with the United Nations said more than 3,000 voter registration kits were delivered during the weekend in preparation for a registration drive.

Washington added that it believes the January measure is on schedule "but clearly, the parties need to come together, make some decisions and then take the appropriate actions to prepare not only for that referendum but also the one regarding South Sudan."

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UN Security Council's British presidency aims at Sudan peace - Summary
Source: Earthtimes.org
Written by: The German Press Agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) - www.dpa.com
Date: Tuesday, 02 November 2010 - excerpt:

The 15-nation council will hold an open debate on November 16 on the situation of Sudan, to be presided over by British Foreign Secretary William Hague. London said that Sudan is its "highest priority" as it took over the rotating presidency of the council this month.

"We will use our presidency to push for timely completion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, give support to the efforts of President (Thabo) Mbeki and the African Union," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"We will maintain the Security Council's focus on Darfur and reinforce the importance of lasting and inclusive peace settlement for the Darfuri people," it said.

The British ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, told reporters the debate will involve UN, Sudanese and other African diplomats.

"We believe it critical that the Security Council maintains very close focus on Sudan," Grant said. He led a council delegation that visited Africa's Great Lakes region last month.

"The council attaches great importance that the referenda be held in a timely and peaceful fashion, and that the outcomes are respected by all parties," Grant said.

London said it is working with donors and Sudanese parties to make "urgent progress on preparations" for the referenda and is providing 10 million British pounds (16 million dollars) to support the vote.

London is also providing 100 million pounds to support the UN mission in Sudan and the UN-African Union peacekeeping operations in Darfur.

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EU allocates €17 million for ongoing humanitarian needs ahead of upcoming referendum on South Sudan
Source: Sudan Tribune - www.sudantribune.com
Date: Monday, 01 November 2010 - excerpts:

The European Commission approved an additional package of €17 million to support the advance preparation of essential humanitarian provisions in Darfur, the South and the Transitional Areas ahead of the referendum on the self determination of Southern Sudan, expected in January 2011. This new decision brings the Commission’s support for humanitarian aid in Sudan to a total of €131 million.

Sudan is the European Commission’s largest beneficiary country for humanitarian aid. With this new allocation, the budget for 2010 is €131 million, covering operations in Darfur, South Sudan and the Transitional Areas.

For further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm

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UN continues to providing support to Sudan ahead of referendum
Source: UN News Centre - www.un.org
Date: Monday, 01 November 2010



Photo: UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division (UNIRED) hands over material to support the January 2011 referendum

The United Nations stands ready to assist the upcoming referendum that will decide whether southern Sudan declares independence from Africa’s largest country, an official with the world body said today, with voter registration set to kick off in two weeks.

People in southern Sudan are set to register at referendum centres throughout the country and abroad to vote on 9 January.

“This exercise, conducted by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission [SSRC], is one of the most important steps in the lead-up to the polling,” Denis Kadima, Director of the UN Integrated Referendum and Electoral Division (UNIRED), told reporters in Khartoum today.

Over the weekend, more than 3,000 registration kits for distribution in southern Sudan and 840 kits for the north, along with registration books and cards, were handed over to the SSRC and its bureau in Juba, the southern capital.

The UN is helping to transport kits and books from Juba to the capitals of Sudan’s states to train nearly 11,000 referendum centre staff, Mr. Kadima said.

UNIRED’s technical assistance includes designing voter registration forms, developing complaint regulations and designing voter education materials, he added.

“The UN provides logistical support to deliver those items to locations throughout Sudan and in the eight countries where southerners will exercise their right to vote,” the official said, referring to Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya.

For its part, the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan, known as UNMIS, will deliver these supplies by air to remote and isolated locations, while the joint UN-African Union mission in the Darfur (UNAMID) will transport registration materials from Khartoum to the war-ravaged region’s state capitals.

Security for the delivery of referendum materials will be ensured by the Southern Sudan Police Service in the south and by the Sudan Police in the north. UNMIS police have trained nearly 14,000 police officers in the south between May and October, with preparations for referendum security training in the north under way.

“Informing the Sudanese people and potential voters about the referendum process is another way in which UNIRED is helping to create the conditions for a free, fair and transparent process,” Mr. Kadima said today.

The SSRC voter education materials – including posters, stickers, banners, caps and bags – are being procured with the support from the UN Development Basket Fund, while donors are supporting civil society organizations in carrying out awareness programmes.

“Within its capacity, UNMIS will continue to do its most to ensure that the referendum is held on time and peacefully,” Mr. Kadima said, adding that the upcoming voter registration is one of the most “important milestones” in the referendum process.

On 9 January the inhabitants of southern Sudan will vote on whether to secede from the rest of the country, while the residents of the central area of Abyei will vote on whether to be part of the north or the south.

The referenda will be the final phase in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed in 2005 to end two decades of conflict between the northern-based Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the south.

“This peace process is unique in the history of the Sudan and the next few months will be critical for safeguarding the achievements made since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote in his latest report to the Security Council on Sudan.

“As the Comprehensive Peace Agreement deadline for the referendums approaches, public anticipation and anxiety are building up at an accelerated pace. The events of the next three months will have a profound impact on the future of the Sudan.

“The stakes are undeniably high, as failure to meet the deadline for the referendums prescribed by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement could have severe consequences. Notwithstanding the progress made so far, it is imperative that the parties to the Agreement and all relevant authorities redouble their efforts to ensure that they successfully meet the deadline,” he said.

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REFERENDUM MATERIALS HANDED OVER IN KHARTOUM
ON 30 OCTOBER 2010

U.N. preps for Sudan's voter registration
Source: UPI.com - www.upi.com
Date: Tuesday, 02 November 2010 at 1:19 PM - excerpt:

Voter registration for a referendum on self-determination for South Sudan gets under way in two weeks, the United Nations announced.

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Photo: U.N. Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of Sudan (SRSG) Jasbir Lider, U.S. Special Envoy Scott Gration (L), Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) Chairperson Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil (C), Senior Adviser USAID Larry Garber (2nd L), Commissioner Sabit Alley (2nd R) pose with election materials that include voter registration kits, manuals and cards of referendum materials that were handed over in Khartoum October 30, 2010 (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah) Yahoo News



Photo: U.N. Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of Sudan Jasbir Lider hands over election materials that include voter registration kits, manuals and cards of referendum materials to the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) Chairperson Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil in Khartoum October 30, 2010. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah) Yahoo News



Photo: U.N. Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of Sudan (SRSG) Jasbir Lider, U.S. Special Envoy Scott Gration and Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) Chairperson Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil look at election materials that include voter registration kits, manuals and cards of referendum materials that were handed over in Khartoum October 30, 2010. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah) Yahoo News

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Sudan's commitment to election welcomed
Source: UPI.com - www.upi.com
Date: Monday, 25 October 2010 at 9:01 AM - excerpts:

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, completed a three-day visit to the African country Sunday and said the government has put its commitment in writing to conduct the Jan. 9 referendum, Voice of America reported.

Fouad Hikmat, International Crisis Group's African Union and Sudan special adviser, said the assurances given to Kerry were a positive development

"I think it is very good news, and this maybe a reiteration from (Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir) what he just recently said to the Sudanese people through his speech to the national assembly that he is going to work very hard to make sure that the referendum is going to be on time, and that the government is going to respect the results of the referendum provided that it is done in a transparent, free and accurate way," Hikmat said.

During his visit, Kerry warned of tougher U.S. sanctions against Sudan if the governments of north and south Sudan hamper the referendum, VOA said.

Hikmat said Khartoum wants its relationship with the United States to improve, as well as sanctions lifted and the country's removal from the terrorist watch list. He also said Sudan would like U.S. help with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Bashir for war crimes allegedly committed in Sudan's Darfur region.

U.N. extends mandate for Darfur
Source: UPI.com - www.upi.com
Date: Friday, 15 October 2010 at 1:31 PM - excerpts:

Security Council voted to extend the mandate for the mission to Darfur as South Sudan gets set for a January vote for self-determination.

The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, voted to extend a mandate for a monitoring group for Darfur. The group is tasked with monitoring an arms embargo and individuals who are thwarting the peace process in the troubled region of Africa.

China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, abstained from the vote, saying it questioned the panel's objectivity.

Members of the Security Council recently returned from a tour of Sudan where they reviewed developments in Darfur and preparations under way to hold the referendum.

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From The New York Times - 02 November 2010

Headlines Around the Web

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keeps pressure on vote

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NOVEMBER 2, 2010

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News round-up: North, South Sudan Launch Post-Referendum Negotiations - Mbeki's Statement

HISTORIC NEWS. Today (Saturday, 10 July) Northern and southern Sudanese leaders began talks on a strategy to ensure a smooth transition should a referendum next year result in the war-scarred south gaining its independence.

Talks between Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) and the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) were focused on planning a peaceful transition for January's referendum.

The SPLM, which controls the semi-autonomous government in south Sudan, is campaigning for secession while Bashir's NCP has pledged to work for unity but promised a fair referendum.

They told reporters at the launch they would consider four options suggested by an African Union panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

In one option "we considered the possibility of the creation of two independent countries which negotiate a framework of cooperation, which extends to the establishment of shared governance institutions in a confederal arrangement," said Mbeki, who spoke at the launch in Khartoum.

Another option was for two separate countries with shared "soft borders that permit freedom of movement for both people and goods," said Mbeki.

The other two options, he added, were for total separation - - with citizens needing visas to cross the border -- and for continued north-south unity, if southerners chose that option in the referendum.

"These (the four options) will be part of the issues to be discussed by both parties," Sayed el-Khatib, a senior member of north Sudan's National Congress Party, (NCP) told reporters.

The parties said they would spend the next months working out how they would share out oil and other assets, as well as the burden of Sudan's national debt, after the vote.

Discussions are due to continue July 19.

Note that the negotiations between the NCP and the SPLM reviewed several strategic issues, including the security arrangements, the most complicated of all.

Sudan now has three armies -- the Sudanese Armed Forces of the north, the Sudan People Liberation Army of south Sudan and the Joint Integrated Units which are composed of elements from north and south Sudan armies.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), inked between north and south Sudan in 2005, stipulates that the joint integrated units should constitute a nucleus of post referendum army of Sudan and accept the result of the referendum, otherwise they would be dissolved.

Other issues touched upon during the session included the file of oil revenues sharing, in which the two sides should agree on the distribution of the oil revenues, presently and in the future, the Nile water issue, and issues concerning assets of the state and the currency and the banking system.

Note that the contested oil-rich region of Abyei will hold a separate referendum to decide whether it wants to join the north or the south of Sudan. The Abyei referendum is expected to be conducted simultaneously with south Sudan referendum, slated for January 2011.

Sudan produces 500,000 barrels of oil per day and has reserves estimated at six billion barrels, most of it on the border between north and south.

SOURCE: Reports from Reuters, AFP, Xinhua News Agency, reprinted below.



Photo: Sudan's Second Vice President Ali Osman Taha (L) and former South African president Thabo Mbeki (Source: AFP report, 10 July 2010: Sudan ruling parties seek post-referendum 'roadmap')



Photo: The secretary general of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), Pagan Amum. (Source: AFP report, 10 July 2010: Sudan ruling parties seek post-referendum 'roadmap')



Photo: Nafie Ali Nafie (R) greets Pagan Amum. (Source: AFP report, 10 July 2010: Sudan ruling parties seek post-referendum 'roadmap')



Photo: Supporters of south Sudan independence rally in Juba. (Source: AFP report, 10 July 2010: Sudan ruling parties seek post-referendum 'roadmap')

Sudan to mull north-south confederation after vote
From Reuters by Andrew Heavens (Editing by Matthew Jones) - Saturday, 10 July 2010; 1:08pm GMT:

(KHARTOUM) - Northern and southern Sudanese leaders on Saturday said they would consider forming a confederation or a common market if southerners chose to declare independence in an upcoming referendum.

Citizens of the country's oil-producing south are six months away from a vote on whether to stay part of Sudan or split away as an independent state -- a plebiscite promised in a 2005 accord that ended decades of north-south civil war.

Leaders from the country's dominant northern and southern parties on Saturday started formal negotiations on how they would divide oil revenues and other issues after the referendum.

They told reporters at the launch they would consider four options suggested by an African Union panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

In one option "we considered the possibility of the creation of two independent countries which negotiate a framework of cooperation, which extends to the establishment of shared governance institutions in a confederal arrangement," said Mbeki, who spoke at the launch in Khartoum.

Another option was for two separate countries with shared "soft borders that permit freedom of movement for both people and goods," said Mbeki.

The other two options, he added, were for total separation - - with citizens needing visas to cross the border -- and for continued north-south unity, if southerners chose that option in the referendum.

"These (the four options) will be part of the issues to be discussed by both parties," Sayed el-Khatib, a senior member of north Sudan's National Congress Party, (NCP) told reporters.

Pagan Amum, the secretary general of the south's dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said the referendum would allow the south to "reset" its troubled relationship with the north, whether southerners chose unity or separation.

"If the choice is separation, then we will be ensuring that there will be good cooperation between the two independent states. It could take the form of a confederation. It could take the form of a common market," he said.

The parties said they would spend the next months working out how they would share out oil and other assets, as well as the burden of Sudan's national debt, after the vote.

Also on the agenda was the citizenship of their populations -- campaign group Refugees International last month warned southerners in the north and northerners in the south might be left stateless and vulnerable to attacks after a split.

Many commentators say southerners, embittered by decades of civil war, are likely to vote for separation in the referendum, due in January 2011. Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the head of the NCP, has promised to campaign for unity.

Most of Sudan's proven oil reserves are south of the border. Khartoum currently gets half the revenues from southern oil, under the terms of the 2005 deal. The south would have to reach some sort of accommodation with Khartoum, even after a split, as the only pipelines run through the north to the Red Sea.

Sudan ruling parties seek post-referendum 'roadmap'
From AFP by Guillaume Lavallee – Saturday, 10 July 2010:

(KHARTOUM) - North and south Sudan leaders began talks on Saturday on a strategy to ensure a smooth transition should a referendum next year result in the war-scarred south gaining its independence.

Talks between President Omar el-Beshir's National Congress Party (NCP) and the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) were focused on planning a peaceful transition for January's referendum.

"Today we are together to launch negotiations of post-referendum arrangements to clearly establish a vision that after the referendum life shall continue," said SPLM negotiator Pagan Amum.

"These negotiations are an opportunity for us to strengthen our relations because in the past they have been bitter," he said at a formal ceremony to launch the talks. Discussions are due to continue July 19.

The SPLM, which controls the semi-autonomous government in south Sudan, is campaigning for secession while Beshir's NCP has pledged to work for unity but promised a fair referendum.

Amum said both sides wanted to ensure a "smooth transition" for the referendum which was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended a two-decade civil war between the Muslim north and Christian and animist south.

Failing to conduct the vote according to the terms of the 2005 treaty would "run the risk of slipping our country back in conflict, a scenario none of us want to see our country returning to," he warned.

The NCP said it wanted to ensure the crucial vote would not be followed by conflict in a country and region prone to war.

"We are hoping that the negotiation will lead to sustainable peace not in Sudan only but over all the region," NCP negotiator Idriss Mohammed Abdel Qadir said at the ceremony.

The NCP and SPLM have set up a joint committee to discuss outstanding issues and plan a trouble-free transition after the vote.

Over the next few months they are expected to negotiate four key issues: sharing oil resources, citizenship, security and respect of international agreements, with the next meeting due July 19.

"We are confident that we can reach a framework agreement on post-referendum arrangement," Amum said.

"If the choice is separation then we will be ensuring that there will be good cooperation between the two independent states, it could take the form of a confederation or a common market," he told reporters.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who chairs an African Union committee on Sudan, said one of the possibilities under consideration was a "confederal arrangement."

"We considered the possibility of the creation of two independent countries which negotiate a framework of cooperation, which extends to the establishment of shared governance institutions in a confederal arrangement" he said at the ceremony.

"The responsibility to determine what will then happen to the entirety of the Sudanese people, whether as one nation or two, falls upon the leaders of the NCP and SPLM," he said.

Of the four issues facing talks, the question of sharing oil revenues is the most sensitive and has been a major source of tension in the run-up to the referendum.

Sudan produces 500,000 barrels of oil per day and has reserves estimated at six billion barrels, most of it on the border between north and south.

Oil accounts for 98 percent of revenues of the government of the semi-autonomous south and about 60 percent of revenues for the north.

The contested oil-rich region of Abyei will hold a separate referendum to decide whether it wants to join the north or the south of Sudan.

Southern politicians have accused Khartoum of increasing its military presence on its side of the border, which the north denies.

"There is a clear and present need for the negotiators to address what will happen to the oil, whatever the result of the referendum," said Rosie Sharpe of Global Witness.

Roundup: Sudan gov't partners begin negotiations on post referendum arrangements
From Xinhua News Agency (via newsystocks.com) - Saturday, 10 July 2010:

(KHARTOUM) - Sudan government's two major partners, the National Congress Party (NPC) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), on Saturday started a new round of negotiations on post referendum arrangements.

SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum who spoke at the opening session of the negotiations Saturday promised that the SPLM would negotiate with the NCP on the base of keenness and goodwill to ensure reaching an agreement on the issues concerning the post referendum phase after the key referendum early next year on southern independence.

"Today, the SPLM stands here to offer a promise to the people of Sudan, whether they are southerners or northerners, from western Sudan or eastern Sudan, that we shall negotiate in good faith with the national congress party and try to reach an agreement on all the post referendum issues," he said.

He further warned against escalation of differences between the NCP and the SPLM on the Abyei referendum, which is expected to be conducted simultaneously with south Sudan referendum, slated for January 2011.

"Even though the recent unfolding events have shown that the Abyei referendum is at risk, we in the SPLM want to categorically reiterate that the Abyei referendum is intertwined with the referendum for the people of southern Sudan," he said.

"Failure to conduct it concurrently with the referendum for the people of southern Sudan, as stipulated in the CPA, renders risk of slipping our country back to the conflict, a scenario none of us want to see," he added.

Iddris Mohamed Abdel-Ghader, a leading NCP member, on his part, expressed the NCP's desire and continuing endeavor to make unity attractive with the stress on the southerners' right to freely choose between unity and separation.

"Sudan's unity is still our priority and at the same time we stress on the southerners' right to decide their destiny according to the international principles and standards," he said.

Chairman of African Union (AU) Wisemen Panel Thabo Mbeki, who presented himself in the conference, disclosed four suggestions by the AU on the future of the relation between north and south Sudan after the referendum.

"In our option one, we visualize the situation which will divide the country into two independent countries with no durable links," he said.

"In our option two, we visualize the situation in which there would be two independent states existing within a broader negotiated framework of cooperation, making for soft borders that permit movement for both people and goods," he added.

As for the third option, he said, "we consider the possibility of the creation of two independent states who can negotiate to the extent of the establishment of shared government institutions in a confederal arrangement."

"And finally, we visualize the possibility of Sudan remaining one country with the federal arrangements between the north and the south," he said.

The negotiations between the NCP and the SPLM reviewed several strategic issues, including the security arrangements, the most complicated of all.

Sudan now has three armies -- the Sudanese Armed Forces of the north, the Sudan People Liberation Army of south Sudan and the Joint Integrated Units which are composed of elements from north and south Sudan armies.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), inked between north and south Sudan in 2005, stipulates that the joint integrated units should constitute a nucleus of post referendum army of Sudan and accept the result of the referendum, otherwise they would be dissolved.

Other issues touched upon during the session included the file of oil revenues sharing, in which the two sides should agree on the distribution of the oil revenues, presently and in the future, the Nile water issue, and issues concerning assets of the state and the currency and the banking system.

RELATED REPORTS

Sudan faces split into two one-party states
From Reuters (via Zimbabwe Independent)

Friday, 09 July 2010. Excerpt:

AN internationally brokered peace deal that was supposed to transform Sudan into a unified democracy could be about to split Africa’s largest country into two one-party states. [...] “Sudan is now better classified as a two-party state where democracy takes a back seat to the authoritarian regimes that control their respective regions. Opposition parties throughout the entire country now hold less than 5% of the seats in the National Assembly,” academic Marc Gustafson wrote in an analysis of the results on the blog Making Sense of Sudan. If all goes as expected in the referendum, that two-party state would become two one-party states.

South Sudan Referendum Taskforce begins to strategize on its responsibilities
From Sudan Tribune by James Gatdet Dak (JUBA)

Thursday, 08 July 2010. Excerpt:

THE high level politically empowered Southern Sudan Referendum Taskforce (SSRT) under the chairmanship of the Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, met on Wednesday to strategize on its role and work on the budget.

The Referendum Taskforce, which is based in Southern Sudan, is different from the recently formed technical Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) which is headquartered in Khartoum with branches in Juba and states.

The role of the Taskforce is to give political guidance and mobilize the population to register and vote, among others, including maintenance of security in the region to achieve conduct of a free and fair referendum. This is in carrying out the government’s obligation as the custodian authority under which territory or jurisdiction the plebiscite will take place.

South Sudanese rally for independence

AFP - ‎09 July 2010‎

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6 months until South Sudan votes to secede

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JUBA, Sudan — Hundreds of people wearing bright orange shirts

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Abyei killings 'intended to upset Sudan referendum'

AngolaPress - ‎09 July 2010‎

JUBA, - Some 50000 fled their homes in Abyei two years ago

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Police kill man carrying 300 bomb detonators

The Standard - Cyrus Ombati - 10 July 2010

Another officer said they suspect the detonators were to either be

used locally or in Southern Sudan where their demand is high. ...

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STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AUHIP, THABO MBEKI, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SUDAN POST-REFERENDUM NEGOTIATIONS: KHARTOUM, JULY 10, 2010.

Click here to visit Alex de Waal's blog, Making Sense of Sudan, and read Thabo Mbeki’s Statement at the Launch of the Post-Referendum Negotiations.
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Quote of the Day

Here is a copy of a comment posted at above mentioned blog post re “Pres. Mbeki’s Statement at the Launch of the Post-Referendum Negotiations”:

Comment by Ibrahim Adam:
July 10th, 2010 at 10:27 am

Right man.

Right time.

Right place.

No bombast.

No axe to grind.

No threats or finger-wagging.

How refreshing.

I love Thabo.

We Sudanese are very, very lucky to have the huge well of wisdom, humility, sincerity, sobriety, and smartness that is the Honorable Thabo Mbeki.

Give thanks.

Ibrahim Adam
El Fasher
North Darfur
Sudan

Amen.