Eastern Sudan rebels accuse Khartoum of fomenting tension

Sudanese rebels on Tuesday accused the government of fomenting tension in the eastern part of the country, a restive belt through which an oil pipeline to the country's largest port passes, reports AFP/st Mar 15, 2006.

Note, the article says Eastern rebel offical Abdalla Hamid threw cold water on the prospects of a planned Libya sponsored peace talks between Khartoum and east Sudanese rebels, which were called off last month following disagreements over Eritrea's participation.

Japan extends donation to provide vehicles for removing landmines in Sudan

The Government of Japan has supplied the Swiss Organisation for Land-Mines (FSD) with a donation to provide four vehicles which specially designed for the removal of land-mines in Sudan.

Full story at ReliefWeb via Suna.

UN Jobs - International Job Vacancies in Sudan

Note the increasing number of Vacancies in Sudan. Link is now in sidebar here at Sudan Watch.
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Click here for Feb. 06, 2009 Multiple vacancies announcement: local Sudanese needed in Southern Sudan's Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, and Warrap States.

Insurers pay out on Garang crash

An insurance firm says it will pay Uganda $3m for the presidential helicopter that crashed killing former Sudanese rebel leader John Garang, reports BBC March 14, 2006 - excerpt:

"I hope this puts an end to the whole affair," said Ugandan Foreign Minister Ezra Suruma. "We deeply regret this incident happened but there was nothing we could do to stop it."

"An insurer will not pay out if he has doubts as to the nature of the accident," managing director Bola Ososamya told the Associated Press.

Both Mr Garang's SPLM group and the government said at the time they believed the crash had been an accident.

Sudan court frees 8 Turabi party members

Arabic News.com March 14, 2006 report via Sudan.Net says Sudan court frees 8 Turabi party members. Excerpt:

A Sudanese court found not guilty 8 out of 18 members of the opposition People's Congress party who were recently arrested by the authorities for possible involvement in plans violating general security.

They were charged those detained men on charge of conspiracy in order to topple the regime in the country, provoke war against the state, intention to use violence, and committing damaging operations as well as having unlicensed weapons.

The court justified its decision to that initial evidence was not provided to support the accusations. A matter which was considered by the defense lawyers as a victory for justice.

Meantime, the leader of the People's Congress party Sheikh Hassan al-Turabi said commenting on the court's decision that the rules that control the country by using special and security laws are still in effect in the country (and have not changed).

Turabi said that the foreign pressures on the government were behind what he called lifting the pressure off his supporters. He said that the country has to change its political composition otherwise not all people in Sudan will feel safe.

AU statement tells fighters at Darfur peace talks: Time is up

Key to UN troops being deployed in Darfur will be whether rebels fighting a three-year insurgency and the Sudanese government can reach a peace deal, reports the Financial Times today.

Reuters report just in says Sudan's AU statement [see next entry here below] was entitled "AU tells the Sudanese parties in Abuja: Time is up."

Reuters notes Sam Ibok, head of the AU mediation team in Abuja, said on Saturday that the response from the parties to preliminary soundings on the AU's proposed solutions had not been encouraging. But he expressed hope that the full, detailed proposals would meet with a more positive response.

April 30 deadline set by the African Union Council

China's Xinhuanet Mar 12 2006 reports as rebel leaders come to Abuja, Nigeria to attend the Monday peace talks on Darfur, all sides appear pessimistic for reaching a peace deal before the April 30 deadline set by the AU Council.



Photo: Sudan Defence Minister, General Abdul Raheem Mohamed Hussein waves to civilian militiamen from the Popular Defence Forces as they demonstrate against international interference in Sudan in front of the Sudanese Army HQ in Khartoum 8 March 2006. (EPA Philip Dhil/mc)

Darfur's SLM rebels won't allow any more deaths in Darfur?

"SLM welcomes the decision to transfer the AU mission to the UN after the six-month extension expires," the rebel group said in a statement issued Saturday, reports AFP/st 12 March 2006:

"The movement calls on the AU to shoulder its responsibilities within this period in full, seriously and transparently," the SLM said. "The movement won't allow any more deaths in Darfur," it added.

"In return, (the movement) affirms its readiness to cooperate with the AU forces until the mandate expires," the SLM statement promised.

Photo: A soldier from the SLA stands guard against crowds who gathered to witness the rebel SLA unity conference in Haskanita, in Sudan's eastern Darfur province October 29, 2005. (Reuters/st)

AU presents enhanced ceasefire proposals for Darfur conflict

Today, the African Union presented comprehensive proposals for an enhanced humanitarian ceasefire agreement for parties involved in the Darfur conflict, reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur/mc - excerpt:

The enhanced ceasefire proposals urged all sides to 'bring bloodshed and suffering in the region to an immediate end.'

'Any of the parties to the conflict not prepared to sign the Enhanced Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement would be regarded as not interested in the peace and wellbeing of the people of Darfur,' Salim Ahmed Salim, AU Special Envoy and Chief Mediator at the Darfur conflict, said in Abuja on Sunday.

'Our proposals are fair, workable and in compliance with previous commitments entered into by the parties,' he noted.

The head of the AU mediation team, Sam Ibok, said that 'while we have been attempting to negotiate a peace agreement, the parties have continued to fight it out on the ground in Darfur.'

Humanitarian agencies in Darfur are reaching fewer people than they did when the first ceasefire agreement was signed in N'djamena, Chad, on April 8, 2004, he noted, terming the humanitarian situation 'catastrophic' and 'unacceptable'.

'Our experience over the past 16 months has led us to conclude that there is neither good faith nor commitment on the part of any of the parties. Our new proposals give the AU Mission in Sudan necessary powers to protect civilians and ensure that the ceasefire is respected,' Ibok said.

The Enhanced Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement focuses on the demilitarization of humanitarian supply routes and camps for displaced people. The AU contends that the routes and camps should be secured by peacekeepers and civilian police. All parties to the conflict should withdraw their forces to clearly identified areas, with buffer zones between them.

The AU Mission in Sudan currently has 7,000 soldiers in Darfur.

Meanwhile, the president of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, Dr. Halil Ibrahim, arrived Saturday to attend Monday's talks as did the president of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement and Army, Minni Minawi.

'Their presence is a sure indication that faster progress will be made at the talks,' Nourreddine Mezni, AU mediation team's spokesman, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Sudan's Salah Gosh met UK and US officials last week in London for talks on al-Qaeda and Darfur peace process

Sudan's head of intelligence Major-General Salah Abdullah Gosh secretly visited London last week. Gosh is accused of being an architect of the genocide in Darfur reports Peter Beaumont in today's Observer - excerpt:

The Foreign Office admitted it had issued a visa to Gosh, the head of Sudan's National Security agency and the man accused of being a key figure behind the counter-insurgency campaign that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands.

While officials originally claimed the visa had been issued so Gosh could undergo 'medical treatment', they added yesterday that he had also met unnamed British officials for 'discussions on the Darfur peace process'.

British officials are also understood to have discussed al-Qaeda with Gosh, who knew Osama bin Laden in the Nineties. The admission that Foreign Office officials met Gosh - who has been accused of having recruited the janjaweed Arab militias responsible for most of the abuses in Darfur - drew claims of British 'hypocrisy' from human rights groups.

The Sudanese government has repeatedly denied any involvement in recruiting and commanding the militias.

The visa was issued to Gosh to come to Britain for 'medical treatment' after he was apparently refused re-entry to the United States, which he visited last year for meetings with the CIA.

Gosh is number two on a widely leaked but unpublished United Nations list of senior Sudanese officials who have been blamed by a UN panel of experts for failing to prevent a campaign of widespread ethnic cleansing in Darfur carried out by the janjaweed militias whom Gosh is accused of directing.

The list forms the basis of a UN Security Council resolution that would ban Gosh and others from international travel and freeze his foreign assets. Gosh's name is also understood to be on a second list, which is being considered for referral on war crimes charges to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

His visit last week, during which he is understood also to have met American officials, has outraged human rights campaigners, who, with the US government, have accused the Sudanese government of prosecuting 'genocide' in Darfur. The outrage comes not least because, as sponsor of the UN resolution, the British government, along with other Security Council members, has seen the list of Sudanese officials threatened with sanctions over Darfur.

The three high-level Sudanese officials - including Gosh and Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha - were placed on the 17-name list because they failed to take appropriate action to carry out the Sudanese government's commitment to disarm the janjaweed, who have been attacking non-Arab villagers in Darfur, according to a report to the UN by a panel of experts. The Khartoum government promised 18 months ago to disarm those militia, but has failed to do so.

As well as being held responsible for the Sudanese government's counter-terrorism campaign in Darfur, which has resulted in the displacement of two million people and the deaths of tens of thousands, Gosh also gained notoriety when he acted as the Sudanese government's liaison with Osama bin Laden, who was based in Sudan between 1990 and 1996.

It is for this latter reason that Gosh was flown by the CIA to its headquarters in Langley, Virginia, last year in a private jet before his presence in the US was leaked to the media. Inevitably, this provoked outrage.

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Massacres suspect let into Britain

Excerpt from report by Hala Jaber in today's Times:

Foreign Office spokesman said this weekend that while Gosh's status remained uncertain, there was no reason to ban him from travelling to Britain.

"We can confirm he recently visited London," the spokesman said. "We knew about it and did not seek to stop it because he had genuine medical reasons and he has not been charged with any crime, and I can't speculate whether he will be.

"We must remember that we do need to maintain a relationship with senior Sudanese officials to take forward the peace process and he happens to be one of the key senior officials."

Click on label 'Salah Abdallah Gosh' here below for related reports and latest updates.

Progress in London talks on Horn of Africa

BBC reports progress on talks in London between reps from Ethiopia, Eritrea, US and UN to end a border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The talks, chaired by the international tribunal that decided where the border should run, were held with the blessing of the UN Security Council which had urged the countries to resume a dialogue.

Ethiopia indicated that it now accepts the tribunal's ruling without reservations.

Eritrea for its part accepted the appointment of a technical expert to assist in the demarcation of the border.

TENSE BORDER
Dec 2000: Peace agreement
Apr 2002: Border ruling
Mar 2003: Ethiopian complaint over Badme rejected
Sep 2003: Ethiopia asks for new ruling
Feb 2005: UN concern at military build-up
Oct 2005: Eritrea restricts peacekeepers' activities
Nov 2005: UN sanctions threat if no compliance with 2000 deal

Egypt calls Arabs to help Sudan to face challenges

Chairman of the Egyptian council for foreign relations, Abdelrauf al-Reidi told reporters the upcoming Arab summit, to be held in Khartoum on March 28-29, should back Sudan to maintain its unity and sovereignty, in addition to preventing to make the Darfur crisis an international issue.

Al-Reidi called on Arab investors to establish investment projects in Sudan to help economic and social development. (ST/KUNA) 12 Mar 2006.

AU calls for SLA to withdraw from Gereida, South Darfur - JEM rebels say 27 killed by gov't, Janjaweed in Gereida area

Sudan Watch entry 2 March 2006 re Gereida, South Darfur features an informative IRIN report on the towns of Gereida, Shaeria and Mershing in South Darfur. The AU says SLA's illegal occupation of Gereida is a constant source of provocation. Gereida is now home to more than 90,000 displaced people. Last year oil was discovered in South Darfur.

Today, March 11, Darfur rebel group JEM accused Sudanese government troops and their Janjaweed of killing 27 people and stealing livestock Friday in attacks on villages in the area of Gereida, reports Reuters - excerpt:

Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator for the JEM at the Darfur peace talks, gave the names of six villages in the Gereida area of South Darfur which he said were attacked by troops and Janjaweed militiamen.

"These villages have been completely destroyed. They killed 27 people, 17 are injured and six are missing including children," he said, adding that he had obtained this information by telephone from JEM members in the area.

"They took 150 heads of cattle and 300 sheep," Tugod said.

A government army spokesman in Khartoum said the army and popular defence forces, the official militia, had not moved into the area.

"This is absolutely false. There is always fighting in this area between the (rebel) movements themsleves," he said. "We are not even there."

Gereida was named as a contentious area in an AU communique on Friday, which called for the SLA, a larger Darfur rebel group, to withdraw from the area.



Photo: Ahmed Tugod, chief negotiator for the JEM (Reuters/ST)

PRESSURE TO STRIKE DEAL

The JEM's Tugod accused the government of inflexibility on the key issue of power-sharing. He said Khartoum was resisting granting Darfur sufficient representation in national institutions.

He added that if these matters could be resolved, the other two areas of negotiation, wealth-sharing and security, would be easily wrapped up.

A government delegate, who did not wish to be named, said rebel disunity was the main obstacle to a deal. "The question is not whether to sign a peace deal or not. The question is, with whom are you signing it? There is chaos in the movements."

TEXT: AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) resolution on Sudan 10 March 2006 keeps troops in Darfur for 6 months

The African Union Peace and Security Council decided Friday 10 March to extend its peacekeeping mission in Darfur for six months to give itself time to negotiate a peace agreement.

Also, it promised to transfer control to the UN once that is accomplished.

Click here to read full text of the AU PSC decision March 10, 2006.

See March 11, 2006 news round up: Annan says AU agrees to hand over Darfur force to UN.

East Sudan opposition members detained over travelling to rebel-held area of Hamesh Koreb on Eritrea border

Under a 2005 southern Sudan peace deal, SPLA forces will withdraw from the east and Sudan's northern army should take control of the areas, a move the Beja Congress Party in Port Sudan oppose.

Mediators had hoped eastern peace talks would have started and been close to resolving the conflict before the SPLA were due to withdraw on January 9 2006, but rebel divisions and a government incursion into the area have delayed the talks, reports Reuters 11 March 2006.

Note the report states the three in Kassala had been questioned on Friday and again on Saturday over travelling to the rebel-held area of Hamesh Koreb on the border with Eritrea.

Malloch Brown appointed Deputy UN Secretary-General

America and Europe should provide troops and money for a major international peacekeeping force for Darfur, the new deputy UN secretary-general, Mark Malloch Brown, said yesterday. Guardian report excerpt:

Mr Malloch Brown, who was appointed last Friday, told the Guardian that only modern mobile forces, trained in helicopter operations, could be effective in Darfur. Peacekeeping operations by poorly equipped African and Asian countries were no longer sufficient.

"We want the rest of the world to make a higher level of contributions to peacekeeping, involving more mainstream militaries around the world. It's going to need a whole new level of investment and logistical support," he said.

British-born Mr Malloch Brown, 52, said he had been involved in discussions at the White House when Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, met George Bush last month. Contrary to subsequent reports, Mr Malloch Brown said the Americans were not to blame for a lack of involvement. "The president is the hawk on this and the whole of the Washington system is running to make sure they live up to his demands," he said.

"The president is driven by this belief, as many have said, that there will be no Rwanda on his watch and perhaps by the Christian evangelicals as well - but also by a common humanity. I think [Mr] Bush really wants to do something there but with the caution that he does not want it to be heavily American or to provoke the Sudanese or deter others from joining in."

Mr Malloch Brown said the developed world could not continue to rely on African and Asian countries to supply troops that were already overstretched and undersubscribed for peacekeeping missions.

"I think if the P5 [the permanent five members of the security council: Britain, the US, France, Russia and China] and the rest of the security council endorses this mission, they're going to find that their own public opinion, newspapers, media and advocacy groups are going to be asking them, 'OK, are you going to put your money and troops and logistics where you mouth is?'

"That is not going to be a no-cost decision for the P5. I'm not predicting that it is going to be ground troops but somehow or other there is going to have to be major support from a significant number of European governments." He added: "You can't do this [peacekeeping in Darfur] through just troops on the ground with Landcruisers or lightly armoured vehicles because this place is the size of France. However many troops you have, the only way they are going to be effective in preventing attacks on civilians is if they are highly mobile.

"That means militarised helicopters that can protect themselves against ground fire and troops trained in helicopter-based operations. This is a very different model of peacekeeping."

The US has said it wants to provide only logistical support in Darfur, but Mr Malloch Brown believes even this level of involvement would be complicated. "Logistical support is helicopters and those helicopters are going to have to fly troops into action.

"You may not be providing the troops but you are potentially putting your people in harm's way. I think the US hasn't made up its mind."

Full Guardian report by Ewen MacAskill and Simon Tisdall, 11 March 2006.

Annan says AU agrees to hand over Darfur force to UN

China's newswire Xinhuanet is usually reserved in its reporting but today it has added the word "urgent" to the heading of a news report on Darfur, as if it were broadcasting alarming news. Copy:

Urgent: Annan says AU agrees to hand over Darfur force to UN

UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday that the African Union (AU) has agreed to hand over its peacekeeping mission in Sudan to the United Nations.

Annan made the remarks at the UN headquarters in New York, adding the AU also agreed to extended its forces in Sudan for six more months.

"From what we know now, they have at least agreed to a six-month extension of the AU force and to work with the United Nations on transition," he said.

Further reading:

Mar 10 2006 AU proposes 9 month Darfur mission - Sudan ready to reinforce it with 10,000 troops - half SPLA - within 3 wks

Mar 10 2006 UN to take Darfur peacekeeping role after peace deal

Mar 11 2006 Sudan's VP Kiir: Darfur crisis solution possible by year's end

Mar 11 2006 Libya's Angola Press report says Annan pleased with AU decision to hand over force in Sudan to UN - Annan noted that he is still waiting for the full details of the decision, adding "from what we know now, they have at least agreed to a six-month extension of the AU force, and to work with the UN on transition."

Mar 11 2006 Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reports Annan cautiously welcomes AU decision to let UN take over mission on Darfur.

Mar 11 2006 Ireland's RTE reports AU extends Darfur mission mandate for another six months and to hand over the mission to the UN later; AU FMs made clear they accepted the Sudanese government's key condition for a UN deployment, that the rebel factions in Darfur should first agree a peace deal.

Mar 11 2006 AP/Washington Post reports African Troops Extend Darfur Mission - Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, said on state television that the agreement to extend the A.U. force's mandate was a success for Sudan's position. "We have achieved a great success by preserving the status of the African role in Darfur, and that the solution to the question will come within the African context," he said.

Mar 11 2006 China's People's Daily Online report credits Xinhua as source saying Sudan welcomes AU's decision on Darfur to extend the AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur for six months until Sept. 30 this year. The council also agreed in principle to hand over its cash-strapped peacekeeping mission in Darfur to the UN according to a joint communique issued at the end of the AU-PSC meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Friday. Abu Zaid al-Hassan, Sudan's Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative in the AU, described the decision as "balanced", adding "it met most demands of Sudan." The decision underlined the UN would not send any peacekeeping forces to Darfur without an agreement of the Sudanese government, he said in a telephone interview with Xinhua from Addis Ababa. He added that the AU-PSC decision talked on a transition of the AU peacekeeping mission towards a UN mission in terms of principle rather than a final decision.

Mar 11 2006 Islam Online reports Buying Time, AU extends Darfur Mandate for 6 months - AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said extending the mandate of the 7,800-strong AU force to Sept 30 would give the organization time to persuade Sudan to accept a UN presence. The PSC statement said that during this period the "international community has the obligation to finance this peacekeeping mission." Before September 30, "everything should be made to ensure a conclusion of the Abuja peace talks" between the Darfur rebels and the Khartoum government and both sides should work to "improve the humanitarian and security situation on the ground," the statement added. "The PSC stressed the need to conclude a peace agreement by end of April 2006," but called for the formation of a committee of heads of state to engage the Sudanese parties on how to "expedite the conclusion" of the deal.

Norway's NRC concerned about UN aid cut in Darfur

Norewegian Refugee Council report today says UNHCR's announced cut in activities in Darfur is another clear testimony that the international community and Sudanese authorities lack the ability to create the necessary humanitarian space for humanitarian actors to assist the Sudanese civilian population.



Photo: African Union soldier at Kalma camp for internally displaced people near Nyala, southern Darfur, Sudan. The placard reads: "We need international forces to protect us." (Andrew Heavens)

90,000 people in Kalma Camp, Nyala, S Darfur, W Sudan

Norway's NRC has many large humanitarian programs in Sudan.

In Nyala South Darfur NRC coordinates humanitarian work in Sudan's largest camp for internally displaced persons, Kalma, where more than 90.000 people live in temporary shelters.

NRC distributes food to 50.000 internally displaced persons in South Darfur, and it depends on a continuous monitoring of the security situation, which enables staff to implement field operations without in the process risking their own lives.

Further reading:

Feb 7 2006 Controlled anarchy at Kalma camp in South Darfur

Feb 14 2006 SLA shot down gov't helicopter in Shearia, South Darfur

Sudan's VP Kiir in Paris asks donors for more aid

Yesterday, the World Bank said it puts aid needs at $2.5 billion just in southern Sudan where more than 2 million people have died, mostly through famine and disease, during two decades of war formally ended by a peace deal last year.

"It's not enough because if it's $4.5 billion for all of Sudan for three years, and southern Sudan needs $2.5 billion, there is a gap there," said Gobind Nakani, World Bank Vice President for Africa.

See full article (Reuters/ST) 10 March 2006.



Photo: Salva Kiir Mayardit, first vice president of the Republic of Sudan (Reuters/ST)

Sudan's VP Kiir: Darfur crisis solution possible by year's end

Sudanese vice president Salva Kiir Mayardit, himself a former rebel, said Friday that he believes a solution to the Darfur conflict can be found by the end of the year, maybe sooner, reports AP 10 March 2006.

Note the report makes no mention of Sudanese rebels in eastern Sudan fighting for a share of power and wealth for their region. Darfur is in western Sudan.

Sudan's pyramids of Kush on US bills - Oriental Institute brings ancient Nubia to Chicago

The pyramids represented on the US bills are the pyramids of Kush, in Northen Sudan. These were built around 500BC, by the Nubians who eventually became Pharos of Upper and Lower Egypt.



Image courtesy Sudan Embassy at The Hague, Netherlands plus:

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement - now in sidebar here at Sudan Watch.
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Oriental Institute brings ancient Nubia to Chicago, USA

Some of the world's most significant artifacts from Nubia, an ancient African civilization that had important connections to Egypt, will go on display Saturday, 25 Feb 2006 at the Museum of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Click here for more details.



Photo: Excavated at Qustul, the incense burner found in a ruler's tomb is distinctively Nubian, though its design is similar to objects associated with early Egyptian rulers. (University of Chicago Chronicle)

Ex-Milosevic ally kills himself - Milosevic found dead in cell

March 6, 2006 BBC report Ex-Milosevic ally kills himself says the former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic committed suicide in his prison cell in The Hague Sunday March 5, 2006. Excerpt:

Babic, 50, was serving a 13-year prison term for crimes against humanity, after admitting persecuting the non-Serb population in Croatia's Krajina region.

He was a key ally of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic but later testified against him at the tribunal. He was found dead on Sunday evening, the UN war crimes tribunal said in a statement.

Today, March 11, BBC reports Milosevic found dead in his cell. Excerpt:

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has died in the detention centre at The Hague tribunal.

The tribunal said he was found dead in his cell on Saturday morning and that although the cause was not yet clear, there was no indication of suicide.

Mr Milosevic, 64, had been on trial at the UN war crimes tribunal for genocide and other war crimes since 2001.

Mr Milosevic faced charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged central role in the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo during the 1990s.

He also faced genocide charges over the 1992-95 Bosnia war, in which 200,000 people died. Mr Milosevic was in office for 13 years until 2000.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he hoped his death would help Serbia to come to terms with its past and allow it to look to the future.

Both the former Serbian leader's parents committed suicide.

Note, Babic had expressed shame and remorse but Milosevic never did.