Sudan: ICC 'seeks to have Bashir handed over'

• Mr Fadi El Abdallah, an International Criminal Court (ICC) spokesperson, told Middle East Eye (MEE) that the arrest warrants against Sudan's former president, Omar Al-Bashir, remained valid
• "The two arrest warrants delivered by the ICC judges for Mr al-Bashir remain valid," he said
• "The court has and will continue seeking the compliance of Sudan with its obligation under international law and in relation to the resolution 1539 of the United Nations Security Council"
• Sources tell MEE that the Hague-based court will petition Khartoum's new government to hand over longtime autocrat
• Legal expert Mohamed Omer Shomena told MEE that the new council was aiming to hand over Bashir if asked by the ICC
• The Alliance of Sudanese Lawyers has vowed to collect and submit hundreds of cases against Bashir

Article from Middle East Eye.net

By MOHAMMED AMIN in Khartoum

Dated Monday 02 September 2019 14:12 UTC 

Sudan: ICC 'seeks to have Bashir handed over' as Khartoum trial opens old wounds

Photo: Bashir admitted in court that he had received $25m from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sent in cash on a private jet (Reuters)

The appearance of ousted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in court for the first time last month has encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as many Sudanese, to bring their own cases against the former leader, sources have told Middle East Eye.

MEE understands that the ICC is among several international institutions seeking justice for alleged crimes committed during Bashir's 30-year rule, with sources saying that the intergovernmental organisation is preparing to submit an official request to urge Sudan's new transitional government to hand over Bashir to the Hague-based court for alleged crimes in the Darfur region. 

Bashir is wanted by the ICC after it issued an arrest warrant against him in 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, rape and torture. In 2010, pre-trial judges issued a new warrant with additional charges, including genocide.

Sudan's former president was formally charged on Saturday with illicit possession of foreign currency and corruption, after being charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters during the demonstrations that led to his overthrow in April.

However, others affected argue that the current trial is merely a cosmetic exercise that seeks to brush over many of Bashir's alleged crimes. 

Lawyers and activists are preparing to lodge more serious charges, including the toppling of the democratically elected government in 1989, much larger cases of corruption, and the deaths of protesters on earlier occasions.

New ruling council

Sudan's new 11-member sovereign council, which was sworn in last month, is made up of military and civilian representatives.

The council will govern for the next three years and three months, ultimately paving the way for democratic elections.

Salih Mahmoud, a leading member of the Darfur Bar Association, told MEE that the ICC will ask the new cabinet to hand over Bashir to the court. 

Mahmoud, a legal expert and award-winning human rights activist, said that the new ruling council faced a critical decision as it was part of its responsibility to impose justice and to cooperate with the international community and the institutions of international justice. 

The Sudanese Military Council (TMC), which led the country from the ousting of Bashir in April until the formation of the new military-civilian sovereign council last month, repeatedly stressed it could not decide the fate of the president regarding the ICC arrest warrant against him.

The TMC generals argued that the possible handover of Bashir was something that should be determined after the end of a transitional period and the election of a new government after three years. 

“We have credible information that the ICC judges will urge the new regime of Sudan to hand over Bashir as soon as possible because it's now a democratic government and supposed to be committed to international laws," said Mahmoud.

'Arrest warrants remain valid'

Fadi El Abdallah, an ICC spokesperson, told MEE that the arrest warrants against Bashir remained valid.

"The two arrest warrants delivered by the ICC judges for Mr al-Bashir remain valid," he said. 

"The court has and will continue seeking the compliance of Sudan with its obligation under international law and in relation to the resolution 1539 of the United Nations Security Council."

Abdallah also added that if the Sudanese government wanted Bashir to be tried in Sudan, it must demonstrate that a genuine national investigation and prosecution will be conducted, among other conditions.

Legal expert Mohamed Omer Shomena told MEE that the new council was aiming to hand over Bashir if asked by the ICC.

Shomena said that Bashir could be tried inside Sudan but that situation would require major reforms to the entire justice system following 30 years of corruption, interventions by the government, and the lack of any independence.

“I do believe that the Sudanese judges and courts are ethically and technically eligible to prosecute Bashir, but that also needs a huge reformation process to our judiciary system, as well as a lot of amendments and new laws to match the international laws and respect for human rights. 

“The objective of judicial reform in Sudan is very important not only for Bashir’s trial but also for the entire transitional justice, accountability and good governance in Sudan in the coming period, and this is the only way to achieve the goals of the revolution."

Hundreds of cases 

In the meantime, the Alliance of Sudanese Lawyers has vowed to collect and submit hundreds of cases against Bashir.

Those cases include alleged atrocities in war zones, the killing of protesters and other civilians, missing persons, and the thousands of people dismissed from their jobs for political reasons.

Wail Ali Saeed, a leading member of the Alliance of Sudanese Lawyers, told MEE that they had prepared dozens of cases against Bashir, especially from families of protesters killed during the September 2013 nationwide protests in which more than 170 people died, as well as the recent wave of protests from December 2018 to April 2019 that saw Bashir's overthrow. 

"We have done a lot of work and we have a lot of work still to be done... We have divided ourselves into groups to reach any Sudanese, or their relatives, that faced any kind of violations during Bashir's era," he said. 

"We have reached a lot of victims and families and we will continue gathering these cases as we will submit all of these cases to the court, especially after the appointment of the new independent general prosecutor and chief of justice in the country." 

Sulema Ishag, a leading member of an initiative by activists to seek justice for Sudanese victims, told MEE that they were coordinating with independent lawyers to gather evidence over the different kinds of violations, especially against women, in order to submit legal cases against Bashir.  

“We are a large number of activists who are worried about the achievement of justice for the victims in Sudan because we believe that justice is the first step for the stability of Sudan," said Ishag. 

Gulf money trail

Activists and lawyers have also highlighted the disclosure during last month's case of the receipt of money personally by Bashir from Saudi Arabia.

Bashir admitted in court that he had received $25m from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sent in cash on a private jet.

The former president said he used the money for donations and not for his own benefit. 

Dismissing Bashir's claims, Saeed said that the case showed how Bashir and his assistants dealt with public money. 

An investigator had previously told the court that Bashir received a total of $90m in cash from Saudi royals.

Sudanese army and intelligence members who searched Bashir’s residence in April found around $7m of foreign currency.

Saeed said given the other figures involved, the $7m for which Bashir was being charged in the current case was insignificant.

“This court [case] is nothing actually... I do believe that the stealing of $7m is nothing and it's a shame on all of us if it's considered that this case is enough for the accountability of Bashir," he said. 

"The involvement of the ousted president with the Gulf in their competition for access, and his attempt to play off the different sides to get money to overcome his economic crisis, has caused a lot of corruption and mismanagement of the money and we will pick up this point from this court [case]."

Sudan swears in new Sovereign Council

Read More »

Sudan's Bashir indicted as he admits to receiving millions from Saudi crown prince

Read More »

SOURCE: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hundreds-more-seek-justice-bashir-trial-reawakens-old-wounds

Sudan: In Darfur Hemeti has victims by the millions

In Darfur Sudan Hemeti has victims by the millions - He's positioning to be paramilitary ruler of Darfur 

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: Who knows what the Canadian lobbying firm Dickens and Madson is doing to earn the $6 million it is being paid by Messrs Hemeti and al-Burhan? When I see news about Hemeti I read it carefully to check that he is not being turned into a hero after the atrocities he was responsible for in Darfur and for the 03 June 2019 massacre of innocent civilian protestors in Khartoum. So much grief.

The following article by AP has an interesting title.  People who've paid close attention to Sudan and South Sudan over the past 16+ years know Hemeti is a wicked monster.  He dropped out of primary school to become a camel herder.  Can he read and write?  After he initialled the constitutional declaration, he was photographed showing off its gold emblazoned folder.  In this photo he is holding it upside down.  Idiot.

Article by Associated Press

Written by JOSEPH KRAUSS and SAMY MAGDY 

Dated Tuesday, 06 August 2019 6:59 am

A new strongman in Sudan? Experts aren't so sure

CAIRO — When Sudan's protest leaders signed a preliminary power-sharing agreement with the ruling military council in early July, they had no choice but to shake hands with the man many of them accuse of ordering a massacre just a month earlier.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a paramilitary commander from Darfur who is widely known as Hemedti, has emerged as Sudan's main power broker in the months since the military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir.

He boasts tens of thousands of paramilitary forces who have spent years battling insurgents across Sudan as well as rebels in Yemen on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Experts say he can draw on his family's vast livestock and gold mining operations in Darfur, as well as funding from Gulf Arab countries, to buy the support of tribal leaders and other local elites. That could be the recipe for a new patronage system like the one that kept al-Bashir in power for three decades.

But he also faces considerable headwinds: from the pro-democracy movement that has brought tens of thousands into the streets; from rival tribes and rebel groups that have battled his forces; and from elites in Khartoum, who view the onetime camel trader from distant Darfur as an outsider.

This week the protesters and the military announced a new breakthrough in their efforts to form a joint government that would pave the way to civilian rule. But the democratic transition remains fragile, and Hemedti's rise — along with the growing resistance to it — could plunge the country into further chaos.

A NEW PATRON

Hemedti leads the Rapid Support Forces, which grew out of the feared Janjaweed militias mobilized to put down a rebellion in Darfur in the early 2000s. The International Criminal Court, which charged al-Bashir and other top officials with genocide and crimes against humanity, has not brought charges against Hemedti. But rights groups say his forces burned villages and raped and killed civilians during a series of counterinsurgency campaigns over the last decade.

Spokesmen for the military and the RSF did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Hemedti's past actions or present ambitions.

His forces have won a number of military victories against both rebels and rival Arab tribes, allowing his family to expand its livestock business and branch into the mining of gold, which emerged as Sudan's biggest export after the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011. He can also count on financial aid from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have contracted his forces to battle Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen.

There are few if any publicly available figures for the wealth at the disposal of Hemedti and the RSF. But in recent months he has boasted of depositing $1 billion in the Central Bank and paying the salaries of teachers and police.

"There are all the signs of someone who is trying to be the next military dictator of Sudan," said Suliman Baldo, a senior researcher with the Enough Project. But he doubts Hemedti can sustain a patronage system like the one that kept al-Bashir in power.

"Sudan is totally exhausted, the national economy is in total collapse because of all of this, and there is no way Hemedti can sustain a national economy," Baldo said.

DISTRUST IN KHARTOUM

In the months since al-Bashir's ouster, Hemedti has worked out of an office in the presidential residence, receiving foreign envoys and other officials. But in the capital he is still seen as an outsider.

"The Khartoum elites are unanimous that Hemedti cannot be the ruler of Sudan, because as an uneducated Darfurian he is from the wrong class and the wrong place, and lacks the formal qualifications of education or staff college," said Alex de Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University.

The protesters blame the RSF for the clearing of their main sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum on June 3, when security forces killed scores of people. Sudanese prosecutors have charged eight RSF officers, including a major general, with crimes against humanity but say the ruling generals did not order the crackdown.

Some protest leaders have called for the RSF to be disbanded, and both the Sudanese Professionals' Association, which spearheaded the protests against al-Bashir, and the Communist Party have said Hemedti should be tried for alleged crimes in Darfur.

In the end, however, under international pressure , the protesters returned to talks with the military over a power-sharing deal. The two sides signed a preliminary document last month. While Hemedti is technically the deputy head of the military council, it was he who attended the signing ceremony.

The follow-up constitutional document signed Sunday would place the RSF under the command of the military. The protesters said it would also allow for the prosecution of military or civilian leaders if there is evidence of involvement in violence against protesters. Hemedti hailed the deal as a "win-win."

RESISTANCE IN THE PROVINCES

Another route to power for Hemedti could run through the provinces, where neglect and marginalization by the central government have spawned rebellions going back decades.

"The most intriguing possibility today is that Hemedti will cash in on his credentials as a man of the far periphery, and build a support base that includes making agreements with the armed groups," de Waal said. He says Hemedti knows the price of loyalty from personal experience, and that the RSF can more readily integrate the armed groups.

An activist from Hemedti's Rizeigat tribe confirmed that he has paid "lots of money to tribal leaders" and provided jobs and other services to buy their loyalty.

"The opposition against him is silent because they fear the crackdown," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Hemedti has also met with the leaders of various rebel groups — including those he has fought against — in Chad, South Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. But experts say he may still have too many enemies from his past campaigns.

Jerome Tubiana, another Sudan researcher, said Hemedti has "already failed to secure a strong base in the center, and his bet to represent all the peripheries, or even the whole Darfur, will be uneasy given his violent past."

Baldo is also skeptical.

"In Darfur, he has victims by the millions and I don't think they will rally behind him," he said.

SOURCE: https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900082821/a-new-strongman-in-sudan-experts-arent-so-sure.html

Related News

Eid in Sudan: 9 killed, several injured after RSF launched assault on Shangal Toubaya, North Darfur

Sudan Watch - Sunday, 11 August 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/eid-in-sudan-9-killed-several-injured.html

Film: MEET THE JANJAWEED - Hemedti is positioning himself as paramilitary ruler of Darfur (Alex de Waal)

Sudan Watch - Tuesday, 13 August 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/film-meet-janjaweed-hemedti-is.html

Sudan: Darfur tree is her newsstand

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: A few days ago I remembered reading a news report twelve years ago about an extraordinary young woman in Darfur who wrote news on paper and posted it on a tree in Darfur. 

I was writing news about Darfur using my laptop to post it on this blog and wanted to try reach her via a blog post but decided against it incase it caused trouble for her. In those days what she was doing was courageous and dangerous. 

Today, I searched online for the story and found that it had been published by The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post twelve years ago, in 2007. Here below are the original articles in full.

Incidentally, today when I tried to access the article at the LA Times from here in England, the LA Times threw up a white page saying: "While most of our pages are available in a version of latimes.com created for European Union users, some are currently unavailable. We are engaged on the issue and committed to identifying technical compliance solutions to this problem. Thanks for your interest in the Los Angeles Times. https://notices.californiatimes.com/gdpr/latimes.com/“

Thanks to Reem for reprinting the LA Times' article at her blog “Wholeheartedly-Sudaniya" in 2007. Here is a question I would love to have an answer to: "Dear Awatif Ahmed Isshag: I've often wondered what became of you, did you make it to Khartoum University in Sudan, where are you now?"

Incidentally, here are three quotes featured on the front of Reem's blog:

"Sudan is not really a country at all, but many. A composite layers, like a genetic fingerprint of memories that were once fluid, but have since crystallized out from the crucible of possibility" -Jamal Mahjoub, a Sudanese novelist

What is Sudan? "An uncertain country haphazardly cobbled together first by the Ottomans in the 19th century and later by the British during the 20th. It has no cultural coherence or geopolitical logic, even though its populations have become used to living together". -Gerard Prunier

"I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.”-Nelson Mandela

- - -

Article from The Los Angeles Times

By EDMUND SANDERS, Times Staff Writer

Published March 4, 2007

Darfur tree is her newsstand

People walk miles to read the sharp reports that 24-year-old Awatif Ahmed Isshag pens and posts outside her home.

EL FASHER, SUDAN — For Awatif Ahmed Isshag, covering Darfur is the story of her life. Nearly a decade ago, at 14, Isshag started publishing a handwritten community newsletter about local events, arts and religion. Once a month she'd paste decorated pages to a large piece of wood and hang it from a tree outside her family's home for passersby to read.

But after western Sudan plunged into bloodshed and suffering in 2003, Isshag's publication took on a decidedly sharper edge, tackling issues such as the plight of refugees, water shortages, government inaction in the face of militia attacks, and sexual violence against women. 

Her grass-roots periodical has become the closest thing that El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, has to a hometown newspaper. 

More than 100 people a day stop to check out her latest installments, some walking several miles from nearby displacement camps, she said.

"I feel I have a message to deliver to the community," said Isshag, now all of 24 years old. The petite reporter is an increasingly common sight around town, her notebook and pen in hand as she interviews local people for her articles. 

Last week she roamed El Fasher asking people how they felt about the International Criminal Court's recent accusations against two war-crimes suspects in Darfur.

Critics have attempted to intimidate her and force her to shut down. Instead, Isshag is expanding this month with a new printed edition, enabling her to circulate for the first time beyond the neighborhood tree. 

"She represents the only indigenous piece of journalism in Darfur," said Simon Haselock, a media consultant with Africa Union in Khartoum. "She's got energy and drive. It's exactly what they need." 

Readers say her magazine, called Al Raheel (which roughly translates as "Moving" or "Departing"), is one of the only places they can read locally produced stories about issues touching their lives.

"It's the best because this magazine shows what is really happening in Darfur," said Mohammed Ameen Slik, 30, an airline supervisor who lives nearby. Isshag complained that despite international attention, the suffering of Darfur remained vastly underreported inside Sudan. 

There are no television stations in the area, and most newspapers operate under government control or are based hundreds of miles away in Khartoum."The local media don't cover the issue of Darfur," she said. 

"We hear about it when one child dies in Iraq, but we hear nothing when 50 children die" in Darfur. 

Through articles, essays and poems, Isshag frequently blames the government for failing to protect the citizens of Darfur. A recent story titled "What's Going On in El Fasher?" compared the government's tightening security vise in the city to checkpoints in Lebanon. 

A thinly veiled poem told the story of a sultan who blithely tried to reassure his long-suffering subjects.

Isshag said government officials had so far largely dismissed her as "just a young girl." But during a recent trip to Khartoum, she received an anonymous phone call from someone who warned her to "stop writing" and "take care of your education" instead.

She shrugged off the threat. "I'm not afraid," she said. "Journalism is a profession of risk. I'm not doing something wrong. I'm doing something right." 

Her passion for giving voice to the region's victims stems in part from her own family's losses. A cousin walked for three days to escape attacks by Arab militias, known as janjaweed, after her village was burned down. 

Her grandfather died in a displacement camp near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. About a dozen other relatives still live in the camp, unable for security reasons to return home.

Darfur's crisis began in 2003 after rebels attacked government forces. Government officials are accused of responding by hiring the janjaweed to attack Darfur villages and terrorize civilians. The government denies supporting the militias. More than 200,000 have died in the conflict, and 2 million more have been displaced. 

An advocate for women's education, Isshag credits her parents for allowing her to avoid being tied down by housework and pursue her interest in writing. But she occasionally uses her columns to lecture other women on pet peeves. 

A recent "For Women Only" article lambasted those who took off their shoes on the bus. "It's wrong," she said with a laugh.

Isshag hopes to complete a master's degree in economics at the University of Khartoum and one day to lead a development company, building schools and houses in her long-marginalized homeland. 

But for now she's focused on improving the magazine.

After a local Khartoum-based newspaper profiled her, Isshag received a new computer and printer as a gift from a well-wisher in Qatar. She's also looking into launching a website.

She said she would never charge readers for the paper or turn it into a business. "I don't care about the money," she said. "I would fast to get the story." 

ORIGINAL article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-newshound4mar04,0,4420036.story?coll=la-home-headlines

SOURCE: https://wholeheartedly-sudaniya.blogspot.com/2007/04/darfur-tree-is-her-newsstand.html

- - -

Article from The Washington Post 

By STEPHANIE MCCRUMMEN

Published 6:30 am CST, Monday, March 5, 2007

Sudanese journalist tells tales of conflict, refugees in her country

She tells tales of conflict, refugees

Awatif Ahmed Isshag, 24, has taken a 'risk' to tack candid stories of her community to a wiry tree

Photo: STEPHANIE MCCRUMMEN, WASHINGTON POST

Awatif Ahmed Isshag posts her newspaper, Al Raheel, on a tree near her house in El Fasher, Sudan.

EL FASHER, SUDAN — In this dusty market town in northern Darfur, a lucky few with satellite dishes can get news of the war surrounding them from CNN or the BBC. Others rely on a tree.

For the past 10 years, Awatif Ahmed Isshag has handwritten monthly dispatches and commentary about life in El Fasher and hung them on a short, wiry tree that scatters shade along the yellow-sand lane by her house.

For the past four years, the dispatches have included items about the conflict in Darfur that appear to represent the only independent local reporting about the fighting in a region where most media hew to the official government line.

Advice and satire

Along with advice on how to be a lady, Isshag, a slight 24-year-old with an undergraduate degree in economics, has satirized the local governor and described the suffering of displaced families and gun battles in the markets of El Fasher.

Working in her new office — a cement-floored, cracked-walled space in a building with faulty wiring — Isshag dismissed the notion that she was doing anything unusual.

"Journalism is a profession of risk," she said matter-of-factly, her voice echoing slightly in the nearly empty room. She also said, "I will fast to get the story."

She estimated that 100 people a day stop to read the newspaper on the tree as they make their way through the neighborhood of dried-mud walls and painted steel doors. She refers to it casually as "the world paper."

Officially, it is called "Al Raheel," which means something close to "moving," a phrase that gently describes the 2.5 million people displaced in Darfur since 2003, when rebels took up arms against a central government they accused of hoarding power and wealth.

In response, the government armed nomadic tribesmen and launched a campaign of systematic violence. Experts estimate that as many as 450,000 people have died as a result of the fighting, though the government disputes that.

Straining resources

Around El Fasher, a bustling town of one-story brick buildings and tiny, blue Korean taxis, things are relatively calm, if difficult. The war has driven up rents and the price of nearly everything else. Basic resources such as water are under strain as the town continues to absorb refugees.

Isshag, who is pursuing a master's degree in economics, said she would like to start her own company to help develop El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.

For now, though, she is consumed with Al Raheel. In the next week or so, she plans to launch a printed newspaper that she will distribute around town for free.

Isshag's sister originally started the newspaper on the tree, writing articles about El Fasher but with an emphasis on women's rights. When her sister died in 1998, Isshag took over. She was 15.

Radio experience

She had some experience working on a student radio program for children, for which she would interview people around town. "From the beginning, I liked journalism," she said.

Isshag's father, a policeman, is supportive. Her mother relieves her daughter of chores so she can write the paper.

During a trip in January to Khartoum, Sudan's capital, Isshag received a harassing phone call that she believes came from someone in the government.

"He said to stop writing and to take care of your studies," she said, adding that the call hardly had its intended effect. "I'm not doing something wrong that I should be afraid. I'm doing something right."

SOURCE: Washington Post reprinted by https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Sudanese-journalist-tells-tales-of-conflict-1845729.php#item-85307-tbla-2

Sudan: PM Hamdok studied & married in England UK

Article from Manchester Evening News.co.uk

By Sophie Halle-Richards

Dated Sunday 01 September 2019

The new prime minister of Sudan lived in a Hulme apartment block and got married here in Manchester

Dr Abdalla Hamdok lived in Hulme for over nine years and studied at Manchester University before being elected as the country's new leader earlier this month

Prime Minister, Dr Abdalla Hamdok

He might be the new Prime Minister of Sudan, but Dr Abdalla Hamdok lived, studied and married in Manchester.

Following the toppling of Omar Al-Bashir in April, the honorary Manc, who hadn't been allowed back to Sudan for over forty years, was elected as the country's leader earlier this month.

The 65-year-old economist, who lived in Manchester for nine years, took office on August 21, and is the biggest hope among the Sudanese that he will turn around the country's precarious economy.

Prime Minister Hamdok moved to Manchester in 1978 and studied at the university's Faculty of Economics, where he completed a Masters degree and PHD in Economics and Socialist studies.

Close friend, Gaafer Ali, grew up with Dr Hamdok in Sudan and lives in Heaton Chapel with his family.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Mr Ali tells of how the Manchester University student rose to power.

"When I came to Manchester to study, Dr Hamdok had already been here for about two years, but we knew each other already as we grew up together in Sudan," Mr Ali said.

"Abdalla was already working for the Sudanese government for the Ministry of Economic Planning when he came over to do his degree."

Prime Minister Hamdok finished his PHD in the late 1980s and had planned to return to his job with the Sudanese government.

But in 1989, following a military coup, Omar Al-Bashir rose to power - leaving Dr Hamdok without a job, or a country he could safely return to.

"Whilst he was still in Manchester, Abdalla was sacked from his job and there was no way he could go back to Sudan as it was too dangerous," Mr Ali said.

The Prime Minister instead remained in Manchester, renting an apartment block in Hulme at the back of Manchester Metropolitan University.

It was there that he met his current wife Muna, and the pair married in 1993 in south Manchester - possibly in Didsbury, Mr Ali said.

The couple have two grown-up sons, with one studying at Exeter University, and one having recently graduated from a university in America.

Still unsafe to return to his home country, Dr Hamdok moved to Zimbabwe in the mid 90s, before travelling around several African countries including Ethiopia and South Africa, working as an economic advisor.

Mr Ali said that during the course of the next twenty years, his friend built up a successful reputation as one of Africa's most trusted, and respected economists.

It was no doubt then that when Bashir's government was finally toppled, Dr Hamdok was considered for the job. 

By this point, it had been forty years since Dr Hamdok had stepped foot in the country he was about to rule.

"When Bashir fell, the military was taken over by a new civilian council who needed to elect a new president," Mr Ali said.

"At the time, Dr Hamdok was the most experienced and trusted economics in Africa and he was chosen by the Sudanese Professional Association to become Prime Minister."

"He is a professional and people really believe that he will be able to save the country from the economic crumble that Omar Al-Bashir left it in."

A number of countries including the UK and USA have since congratulated Dr Hamdok's appointment as Prime Minister, calling his election a 'historic moment.'

A joint statement from Troika (United Kingdom, United States and Norway) said: "The Troika countries congratulate Dr. Abdalla Hamdok on his appointment as prime minister by the Sovereign Council and welcome the extensive professional experience he brings to the role.

"We welcome this step in creating a civilian-led government. As Prime Minister Hamdok begins the process of selecting ministers and identifying the government’s priorities, we look forward to working with Sudan’s new institutions.

"At this historic moment, Sudan has a unique opportunity to establish peace within its borders, draft a constitution that enshrines human rights protections and empowers all Sudanese, including women and youth, and create the infrastructure for free and fair elections.

"We encourage all sides to engage in good faith to deliver these goals, in particular urging the armed movements to engage constructively with the new Government to achieve peace.

"We will continue to support Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government as it conducts an investigation of the violence perpetrated against peaceful demonstrators and holds those responsible to account.

"The appointment of a civilian-led government presents an opportunity to rebuild a stable economy and create a government that respects human rights and personal freedoms. Prime Minister Hamdok will have the Troika’s support in achieving these objectives."

View original article here:  https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/sudan-prime-minister-manchester-university-16841938

S. Sudan: Holdout rebels meet to unify against govt

Article from and by Radio Tamazuj.org

Dated Sunday 29 August 2019

Meeting of South Sudan rebel groups begins in The Hague

File photo: Emmanuel Ajawin (L) and NAS leader Thomas Cirillo (R)

Disaffected South Sudanese rebel figures who are not part of the September 2018 peace deal have started a two-day meeting in the Netherlands, an opposition official announced.

Emmanuel Ajawin, secretary general of the opposition coalition South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA), told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon that the holdout opposition groups kicked off a meeting aimed at hammering out a united front against the Kiir administration.

The opposition South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA), a coalition of non-signatory groups, is led by NAS leader General Thomas Cirillo.

Ajawin, who was part of today’s meeting, noted that the gathering in The Hague this morning seeks to define a common stance among the holdout opposition groups for a genuine peace in South Sudan.

He revealed that the meeting was attended by General Thomas Cirillo, Pagan Amum, General Oyai Deng Ajak, Cirino Hiteng, Sunday de John, Thomas Tut and other opposition officials.

“General Paul Malong spoke by telephone when the meeting started officially. General Malong talked and presented the position of his movement,” he said.

“The opposition groups agreed that the unity of the holdout opposition groups is very important because the government of Salva Kiir is destroying the country,” he added.

Ajawin, who also leads a faction of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), pointed out that the talks are expected to reach satisfactory understandings that will lead to the Declaration of Principles and shared plans.

Several rebel factions, including those led by former army chief Paul Malong and General Thomas Cirillo are not part of the revitalized peace deal signed in September 2018.

Under the peace deal, prominent opposition leader Riek Machar, along with four others will serve as President Kiir's deputies in a transitional government.

But the peace deal is already behind schedule and there are growing concerns that the parties to the peace accord may not meet a November 12 deadline to form a new government.

SOURCE:  https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/meeting-of-south-sudan-rebel-groups-begins-in-the-hague

S. Sudan: Govt forces kill 7 rebels, capture 34

Article from and by Radio Tamazuj.org

Dated Sunday 01 September 2019

7 rebels killed, 34 captured in Raja fighting: government

Government forces killed seven rebel fighters loyal to Gen. Paul Malong and captured 34 others during fighting in Lol State on Tuesday and Wednesday, a local official said.

The State information minister Anei Anei told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that 18 rebel forces affiliated to South Sudan United Front/Army (SUF/A) were captured after they launched an attack on government troops at the Khor Shamam area of Greater Raja County on Tuesday.

He added that five rebel soldiers were also killed during fighting.

Anei further said government forces launched another attack to hunt down the rebels on Wednesday during which two rebel soldiers were killed and 16 others were captured in the battle.

There were no casualties from the government side, he added.

On his part, the SSUF/A spokesman said he was unaware of the clashes.

Gen. Malong's group is not part of the peace deal signed in September 2018.

View original article here:  https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/7-rebels-killed-34-captured-in-raja-fighting-government