Sudan former foes fail to reach deal
Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:40pm GMT
By Skye Wheeler
JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Sudan's former civil war foes failed to agree on how to conduct a referendum on independence for the south on Thursday, with one side blaming a lack of trust.
North and south Sudan fought a two-decade war that ended with a peace deal in 2005, but tensions remain and time is running out to prepare for two deadlines in the accord -- a national election scheduled for 2010 and the referendum in 2011.
Leaders from both sides meeting in the south's capital Juba said they had failed to reach an agreement on how the referendum should be organised and had not even got round to discussing a contested census, a building block for elections.
The failure will raise fears for the roll-out of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the oil-producing nation, where analysts have said wrangling over politics and disagreements over the sharing of oil revenues could reignite conflict.
Armies from the two sides have clashed since 2005 and the south has said it will not accept any delay to the referendum.
"We are very disappointed that while we had excellent discussion, we were not able to reach an agreement on the referendum law or the issues that are part of the referendum law," U.S. Sudan envoy Scott Gration told reporters at the end of two days of U.S.-backed talks.
The lead negotiator for north Sudan's dominant National Congress Party Ghazi Salaheddin said the sides had only managed to agree on one issue -- a definition of who was eligible to vote in the referendum.
"We have to bear in mind this (the referendum) has always been a very critical issue and very difficult issue to discuss. On the question of referendum, there is so much misgiving and suspicion and distrust that need to be cleared away."
The parties had identified nine sticking points, including the proportion of voters who would have to vote for independence for it to be granted, said Malik Agar, head of the delegation for the south's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
"They (the north) want 75 percent and we're talking 50 plus one," said Agar, one of the SPLM's deputy leaders.
The parties said discussions would continue, although they had not set a date for another meeting.
Most southerners, who have bitter memories of the civil war, are thought to favour independence. Many northern officials are nervous about the prospect of losing the south, which produces most of Sudan's oil wealth.
Two million people were killed and 4 million fled between 1983 and 2005 as Sudan's Muslim north and mainly Christian south battled over differences in ideology, ethnicity and religion.
The war is separate from Sudan's Darfur conflict which flared in 2003, when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms accusing Khartoum of neglecting the remote western region. Gration is due to visit Darfur and Khartoum over the weekend.
*Sudanese ex-foes fail to reach deal in talks
by Peter Martell Peter Martell
JUBA, Sudan (AFP 10 Sep) – Former enemies from north and south Sudan failed on Thursday to reach an agreement on a key referendum law at the break of the latest round of talks with US special envoy Scott Gration.
"I'm very disappointed that while we had excellent discussions, and I think we framed out the issues on both sides, we were not able to reach an agreement on the referendum law," Gration told reporters at a joint press conference at the end of the two-day talks.
It was hoped that the talks, aimed at bolstering the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan's 22-year civil war, would break a deadlock over framework details for a referendum due in 2011 on the south's possible full independence.
"We will continue to discuss these issues on the margin of the UN General Assembly, and other times where it is appropriate."
The talks in the southern capital of Juba follow a deal signed last month by the north?s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the south's dominant party, the former rebel Sudan People?s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
It covered 10 key areas on which the two sides will work together, including upcoming elections next April, peace efforts in the war-torn region of Darfur, demarcating the north-south border, and power-sharing.
However, two other issues remain: the referendum, and census results rejected by the south but which are seen as key to the upcoming elections.
The two parties said these issues needed more discussion -- they had not even begun negotiations in this round on the census.
"We have to bear in mind that this has always been a very difficult and very critical issue to discuss," said NCP official Ghazi Salahuddin.
"We are still committed to proceed with discussion until we reach agreement on this point," he added.
"In the meantime we are going to focus our efforts on the implementation of the 10 points we agreed on last time."
Tensions have been running high between north and south, still divided by the religious, ethnic and ideological differences over which the war was fought.
However, both sides said they would continue to work together to find a solution.
"We believe that with more negotiation and more dialogue, we will reach the conclusion on a good agreement," said SPLM deputy chairman Malik Agar. "The two parties are in continuous dialogue. We are always available to each other."
Gration, who is in Sudan for six days, is due to travel on Friday to Boma, in the south's Jonglei state, whose wildlife migrations are reputed to rival those of the famed Serengeti park in Tanzania.
He is then due to travel to displaced people's camps in Darfur, followed by talks in the northern capital Khartoum.
*Rifles, anti-aircraft guns found in Sudan search
Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:17pm GMT
JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) South Sudan's army found more than 600 pistols and rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and four anti-aircraft guns during a surprise search of houses in the region's capital, officers said on Thursday.
"There were a lot of guns ... These are very strange things to find in the houses of civilians," the southern army's chief of staff James Hoth told Reuters.
Officers shut down large parts of Juba on Wednesday as they made door-to-door searches as part of a crackdown on illegal weapons.
The region is awash with guns after more than two decades of civil war that ended in a faltering 2005 peace deal.
The region's semi-autonomous government has vowed to disarm its population to improve security in the region, currently suffering from a wave of ethnic violence.
Some attempts to disarm remote communities over the past years have led to more bloodshed, but Juba's raid went peacefully, Hoth said.
Officers had to apologise, he added, after they accidentally knocked on the door of the Dutch embassy, and South Sudan's own legal affairs ministry during the search.
*US Clears Way for More Humanitarian Aid to Parts of Sudan
By Joe De Capua
VOA 10 September 2009
2005 peace agreement ended 20 years of war between north and south
The United States has amended the regulations for its sanctions against Sudan, allowing for more humanitarian assistance. The announcement comes during a visit to Sudan by U.S. Special Envoy Scott Gration.
The Treasury Department is issuing a general license that allows the "exportation and re-exportation of agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices to specified areas of Sudan."
Those areas include Southern Sudan, Southern Kordofan / Nuba Mountains State, Blue Nile State, Abyei, Darfur and what are called marginalized areas in and around Khartoum.
The change was made by OFAC, the Office of Foreign Assistance Control within the Treasury Department. Such amendments are not uncommon when the U.S. wants to clear the way for humanitarian aid for parts of a country that may be at odds with the United States.
The announcement also comes at a time when the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the North and South is showing signs of strain.
"I think it is an interesting and an important step," says Foud Hikmat, special advisor on Sudan and the A.U. for the International Crisis Group, in Nairobi.
After the CPA was signed, he says, funding development programs for Southern Sudan lagged because of the crisis in another region of the country, Darfur. Donors attached conditions to the funds, calling for a settlement there between the government and its militia allies and rebel groups.
Several million people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands killed, in what U.S. officials and others have described as genocide.
"It is important at this…time where Sudan now is really going through a bottleneck. And everybody is concerned whether it is going to come out of this bottleneck into stability or perhaps implode," he says.
Both sides want something
"One of the things that they (ruling party leaders) want is normalization…with the U.S. administration. And as part of this bargaining the U.S. envoy wants to make sure that theCPA does not fall apart…and finding a solution in Darfur, the National Congress Party alsowants something back, something in return," he says.
Normalizing relations would include the lifting of sanctions and removing Sudan from the U.S. list of nations that support terrorists.
"The areas that now are excluded from these sanctions definitely need this money because without the peace dividends (for) the normal citizen, in terms of the social services, in terms of livelihood, the situation is not going to change," Hikmat says.
Sanctions amendment sends message
"Politically, it's giving a message. How significant, of course, remains to be seen…. The biggest problem in Sudan is the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the benchmarks ahead of us, which are the elections and the referendum (in Southern Sudan) and finding a solution to Darfur. So that then Darfur could be…brought into the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. At the moment, this is not there," he says.
The referendum is scheduled for 2011 on whether Southern Sudan should break away and become independent.
The ICG advisor describes the situation in Sudan as "serious stagnation."
"If there isn't a breakthrough in the coming period, I think that we'll see Sudan risking sliding into more chaos," he says.
Hikmat and other analysts see a real risk of renewed war in Sudan if the CPA is not fully implemented. The war between the north and south lasted more than 20 years.
"It's not just only the war like before. It might be even bigger than that because it might involve…violence within the north and not just only Darfur, which is going to have serious consequences for Sudan and for the immediate region and for Africa as a whole," he says.
*In Brief: Darfur aid worker and peacekeeper security - 16 statistics
NAIROBI, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - A Darfur security scorecard: figures for 2009 from OCHA (as of end-August 2009):
• Seven national humanitarian staff and three UNAMID staff have been killed.
• 12 humanitarian staff and 10 UNAMID staff have been wounded or injured.
• 11 humanitarians (seven international) have been kidnapped.
• 26 humanitarians and three UNAMID staff have been physically or sexually assaulted.
• 18 humanitarians and 11 UNAMID staff have been abducted during carjackings.
• 44 humanitarians and 12 UNAMID staff have been arrested or temporarily detained by the Government of Sudan.
• 64 humanitarian vehicles and 31 UNAMID vehicles have been hijacked or stolen.
• There have been 103 assaults or break-ins on humanitarian agency premises, and 22 on UNAMID premises.
*Storm clouds over Sudan
Al-Ahram (Cairo) 10 Sep
News of the humanitarian crisis and inter-tribal violence in Sudan contains dire warnings for the country's future, writes Asmaa El-Husseini
Pagan Amum, secretary-general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), has a story. He once went to a restaurant in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia with friends from north and south Sudan. The owner of the restaurant was puzzled to see presumed enemies walking into his establishment together and acting like a group of old friends. "Listen here," he said. "Are you northerners or southerners, Muslims or Christians, from the southern liberation movement or from the northern parties?"
"We're just hungry!" Amum and his companions shouted at the restaurateur, as if with one voice.
Their answer sums up the condition of the great majority of Sudanese, both northerners and southerners. As prices go up, ordinary Sudanese are having an increasingly hard time making ends meet, with economic hardship across the country having reached near-famine levels and politicians not doing enough to remedy it.
As if underlining the problem, the Higher Population Council (HPC), part of the Sudanese government, recently warned that more than half the population of the country now lives under the poverty line, admitting in a report that Sudan's realisation of the UN Millennium Development Goals may be far from being achieved by the deadline of 2015.
The country's oil production has fallen short of budgetary requirements this year, and, with falling government revenues, health and education services have deteriorated.
Liz Grand, UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, agrees with the HPC's assessment, describing the present humanitarian situation in the country as like a "human hurricane". With nearly 40 per cent of southerners already living in perilous conditions, Grand adds that tribal violence in the country has now risen to a level that is quite out of hand. Yet, despite repeated pleas for humanitarian aid, funding for Sudan has not been forthcoming from the international community.
Meanwhile, leaders from both the north and south have largely ignored the humanitarian crisis, preferring to trade accusations instead.
According to Grand, 90 per cent of the population in the south lives on less than $1 a day. One in seven pregnant women dies giving birth, and the southern Sudan has only 10 properly qualified midwives.
Illiteracy is another problem plaguing the country. At present, only 10 per cent of southern Sudanese women can read and write, and only a third of girls attend school. Grand calculates that the south of the country has only one teacher for every 1,000 students.
Health conditions in the south are worsening, with polio, thought to have been eradicated, making a comeback. Vaccination rates among children in the south of the country are among the lowest worldwide, while the food crisis is complicated by the lack of security in the country, the displacement of the population, inadequate rainfall and depressed trade.
As food prices continue to rise, nearly 1.2 million people are now in need of urgent help, with the country as a whole expected to suffer from food shortages until at least mid- October.
These grim statistics come against a background of inadequate international assistance. In 2009, humanitarian organisations working in Sudan estimated needs of $419 million. Promised $115 million in aid, this figure was later cut down to $85 million, with actual donations totalling merely $60 million.
Particularly worrying for humanitarian officials is the escalation of violence in the country, particularly the tendency to target civilians, especially women and children. According to Grand, nearly 2,000 people have been killed since January this year in inter-tribal violence, with clashes driving more than 250,000 people from their homes in the south of the country.
Some 22,000 tonnes of food are now needed to meet the shortages in the south, she says, with more than half this quantity needed in Jonglei, one of the states worst hit by tribal violence.
Since the beginning of this month, fighting has been going on throughout the south, with the intensity of the current clashes suggesting that the problem surpasses the usual turf frictions over water and pasture rights. Tribal fighting has recently become particularly brutal, with more than 1,000 people killed in one recent raid.
Such skirmishes are not new in this part of Sudan, with many tribes fighting over land and cattle. However, the slaughter of women, children and the old, as has happened in recent fighting, is something new.
For its part, the SPLM has accused the north of instigating the attacks in order to depict the south as a chaotic region that cannot govern itself. Northern leaders have denied such charges, saying that they are excuses made by officials who have failed to bring law and order to the region.
Part of the reason behind the increasing violence is the proliferation of firearms in the south, with harsh living conditions also helping to explain the rising violence. As the economy has deteriorated, many young men have lost their jobs, and some may have been tempted to join militia groups.
In addition, the so-called Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan militia of 25,000 men operating in southern Sudan, may have been responsible for some of the recent atrocities. Its very presence in the south, some say, fuels the disturbances.
However, with ongoing tribal rivalries impeding the need for coexistence, the disarmament of tribal militias is now more necessary than ever. The strife in Sudan will not end unless present talks lead to genuine reconciliation.
*Arab League cmte stresses support to Sudan
CAIRO, Sept 10 (KUNA) -- The Arab League ministerial committee for Sudan underscored Thursday its support to Sudan and its rejection of any attempt to harm its sovereignty, unity, security, or stability.
In a press release issued after its meeting ion the sidelines of the 132nd Arab League Council meeting, the committee expressed its satisfaction regarding reports issued by delegation of the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) in Darfur, which stated that humanitarian and security conditions in the region had improved.
The committee praised Qatar's efforts in trying to encourage the resumption of peace talks in Doha on Darfur, and hailed the Egyptian and Libyan efforts to unite stances of Darfur's rebellious movements regarding the negotiations.
The committee called on all the movements to immediately respond to international and regional efforts to resume the peace process in Darfur.
It expressed its support to the efforts of the Arab-African ministerial committee and called on Arab countries to encourage investments in southern Sudan, especially in the infrastructure sector.
Meanwhile, Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Karti hailed, in a press conference after the committee meeting, Arab support for Dafur.
He called for increasing Arab contributions to the development of infrastructure in Darfur's villages, including digging wells, renovating hospitals and medical centers, as well as schools, and encouraging refugees to return to their homes.
He said that Arab financial support to Darfur began two years ago, pointing out that Egyptian medical teams regularly visited the region and that some Arab countries had established hospitals there.
*Darfur groups 'padded' death tolls
Al-Jazeera 10 Sep
A group of former Sudanese activists says some of the figures of those reported dead and displaced in the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region were exaggerated.
The former Darfur rebel activists told Al Jazeera that they increased tolls and gave false evidence during investigations conducted by delegates from foreign organisations into the conflict.
"We used to exaggerate the numbers of murders and rapes," Salah al Din Mansour, a former translator with World NGOs in Darfur, said.
"If the figure was 10, for example, we asked people to say two or three hundred."
"In case of an attack on a certain village, from the Janjawid, we used to ask them to mention the government forces with their Land Cruiser cars, in order to involve the government in the tribal clashes."
The group said they had decided to admit to their fabrications in an attempt to put an end to the crisis.
'False' testimonies
Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall said the group claimed its false testimonies also helped build a criminal case against Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC issued a warrant for al-Bashir's arrest in March on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the conflict in Darfur.
But the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the Sudanese leader for genocide.
Al-Bashir has denied the prosecution's allegations and has refused to recognise the court's jurisdiction.
He also expelled 13 international aid groups and three local aid organisations from Darfur after the ICC decision, accusing them of co-operating with the ICC against him, a charge the groups denied.
The government later agreed to allow some of the groups back in after international pressure.
The UN says the fighting in Darfur has killed up to 300,000 people and displaced an estimated 2.7 million.
'Vindicated'
But officials in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, dispute the figures, saying that only 10,000 people have died since ethnic minority fighters rose up against the Arab-dominated government and its allies.
Government officials have hailed the activists' alleged confessions as vindication of their long-time denial of committing war crimes in Darfur.
"We will continue listening to these confessions with the UN, with the permanent and non-permanent members ... namely in terms of raising the awareness of the international community to the necessity to support the national efforts," Halim Abdul Mahmoud, Sudan's ambassador to the UN, said.
But Yahia Bolad, a spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement, said the people making the allegations were not a part of Sudan's resistance group and were fabricating their claims.
"Many NGOs and many international leaders visited Darfur and they concluded that there are war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the United States also labelled it as a genocide," he told Al Jazeera.
"The evidence was there. The villages were destroyed, the IDPs [internally displaced persons], the refugees - this is clear evidence."
*Radio Dabanga 10 Sep
Security for aid workers Darfur in 2009 not improved
KHARTOUM (10 Sept.) – The security for Darfur aid workers and peacekeepers has not improved according to the statistics provided by the humanitarian coordinating office (UNOCHA). The number of killed, injured and detained aid workers in the first 8 months of 2009 levels already almost the total figures for the years 2008 and 2007. The recently departed head of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur UNAMID, Rodolphe Adada, claimed that the situation for aid workers had improved. But the UN-OCHA provided today (10 September) a Darfur Security scorecard for 2009 as of end-August. It summarizes the casualties and assaults:
- 7 national humanitarian staff and 3 UNAMID staff have been killed.
-12 humanitarian staff and 10 UNAMID staff have been wounded or injured.
-11 humanitarians (7 international) have been kidnapped.
-26 humanitarians and 3 UNAMID staff have been physically or sexually assaulted.
-18 humanitarians and 11 UNAMID staff have been abducted during carjackings.
-44 humanitarians and 12 UNAMID staff have been arrested or temporarily detained by the Government of Sudan.
-64 humanitarian vehicles and 31 UNAMID vehicles have been hijacked or stolen.
-There have been 103 assaults or break-ins on humanitarian agency premises and 22 on UNAMID premises.
Minnawi rejects census Darfur
KHARTOUM (10 Sept.) - Minni Minnawi, Senior Presidential assistant and leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction, has rejected the recent results of the census in Darfur. He also rejected the division of the geographical constituencies which took place in the 3 states of Darfur.Minnawi said in an interview to Radio Dabanga on the Frankly program, that the division of the constituencies was based on wrong census. He stated that this is not only the stance of the SLM but also of the other political forces active in the country.
Scott Gration visits Darfur this weekend
Scott Gration, US envoy to Sudan will visit IDP camps Abu Shok and Zamzaam in Darfur next Saturday and Sunday to review the security and humanitarian situation after the expulsion of the international organizations in March. Gration will discuss the gender-based violence s in the region with woman leaders. He will also have a meeting with general Patrick Nyambmba, new commander of peacekeeping in Darfur.
*SMC 10 Sep
Taha Urges NCP Youth Advance for Taking over Leadership Positions in the Party
Khartoum (smc)
Vice President Ali Osman Taha urges youth to advance forward for taking over leadership positions in National Congress Party NCP. Taha gave this statement yesterday before the party’s youth conference held in Khartoum. He said he wants NCP youth get engage themselves with strategic goal issues and lead development process and design a project aimed at resisting global injustice. Taha reveals the government will undertake arrangements within state executive organs to maintain more freedoms however he has not elaborated on the details.
Gration Holds meetings in Juba with the Two Partners
Khartoum (smc)
US presidential envoy for Sudan Scott Gration starts meetings with National Congress Party NCP and Sudan People Liberation Movement SPLM delegates in Juba. It reportedly Gration said his discussions with the two partners will focus on the implementation of Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA.
GONU Parties Council Calls for halting Juba Conference
Khartoum (smc)
Government of National Unity Parties Council urges first Vice president, chairman of Sudan People Liberation Movement Salva kiir, to prevent holding Juba proposed conference because it contradicts with the constitution and CPA spirit. The council said in statement yesterday that how can a party such as SPLM represented in the government sponsored an opposition conference and its hidden agendas aimed at aborting CPA. The statement highlights that Juba proposed conference has hidden agendas aimed at displacing parties participating in the government of national unity.
Sudan to Host Arab Estate Investment Conference in next October
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
The State Minister at the Ministry of Investment, Salman Suleiman Al-Safi, has declared Sudan welcome to hosting the Arab Estate Investment Conference in Khartoum during October 3 - 6. This came when he received Wednesday noon a delegation of the Arab Estate Development Union, which is headed by its chairman Dr. Ahmed Yahia Matar. The delegation''s visit aims to discussing the preparations for holding the conference in Sudan. The minister said that Sudan door is open for all the Arab brothers, especially the brothers from the Arab Republic of Egypt. He said that the Sudanese Investment Law is encouraging to the investments in all the services, agricultural and industrial sectors. The minister said that Sudan is number four in the Arab World concerning attraction of investments. He said that the economic growth rate in Sudan is ranging between 7 - 10% and expected to increase in the year 2010.
West Darfur Government Affirms its Readiness to Liberate Two UNAMID Abductees
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
The Wali (governor) of West Darfur State, Abul-Gasim Imam Al-Haj, has affirmed the readiness of his government to liberate the two abductees at Zalenge are who are working with the UNAMID without ransom to be paid to the abductors or causing threat to the lives of the abductees. In a statement to SUNA, the Wali said that the security committee in the state has exposed its plan in this regard to the central security delegation which approved the plan for liberating the two abductees. He said that his government is keen to liberate the two abductees without payment of any ransom so as to prevent repeating of such cases. The Wali said that his government has worked out a strict plan to secure the markets, roads and major towns and to prevent crimes at the state in the second half of Rmadan month and Eid Al-Fitr
OIC Appreciates Continuous Support of President of the Republic to it
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has welcomed the appreciation of the President of the Republic, Field Marshal Omer Al- Bashir, of the organization for its leading role in serving the Muslim nations as well as its considerable efforts in Sudan. This came in a message sent by the OIC Secretary General, Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, to the State Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ali Karti, in reply to his message that included the appreciation of the President of the Republic of the OIC.
Sovereignty Sector Approves Draft of National Security Act
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
The Sovereignty Sector, chaired by the Minister of the Presidency of the Republic, Gen. Bakri Hassan Saleh, approved in its meeting Wednesday the draft of the National Security law for the year 2009. The draft law was presented at the meeting by the Justice Minister, Abdul-Basit Sabdarat. The draft law comes in accordance with the Transitional Constitution for 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the human rights charters
Oil Generates Unprecedented Economic Growth, Parliament Committee
Khartoum (smc) Sudan Vision Daily
Member in Parliament Economic Committee, Omer Alsheikh Badr, stated that oil production has facilitated realization of unprecedented rate of economic growth. In statement to Sudan Vision on the 10th anniversary of oil exporting occasion,
Badr noted that during the last 10 years, oil contribution to GDP amounted to 70% with 90% in South Sudan where GoSS relies overwhelmingly on oil as the other revenue generating sources are negligible.
He added that, non-oil exports contribute 30% of the GDP, hoping that the major development projects in Gezira, Rahad, and Halfa will help achieve economic equilibrium given the drop in international oil prices.
Badr assumes that 2009 should have realized a gain of $11 per barrel as it has been on an estimate of $59 per barrel while the actual price hit 70$ per barrel.
He urges diversification of the economy, hence exports so as to minimize exclusive reliance on oil, suggesting more concern with Gum Arabic, animal resources, the irrigated sector and timely delivery of agricultural production inputs.
President Al-Bashir Calls for Expansion of Health Security Umbrella
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
President of the Republic Omer Al-Bashir, has called for expanding the umbrella of health security to include all the poor families, continuing support to the university students, implementing projects for combating poverty and providing support for the areas of voluntary repatriation. This came when President Al-Bashir received at his office at the premises of the Council of Ministers Wednesday the Minister of Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs, Ustaza Samiya Ahmed Mohamed. The minister provided President Al-Bashir with the performance of the Zakat Chamber during the period from January until August 2009 and the performance of the Social Security Fund.
Taha Affirms State Commitment to Create Environment for Elections
Khartoum (smc) Sudan Vision Daily
Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha affirmed the commitment of the state to create the suitable political environment for the coming elections and the following stage to realizing a perfect political building.
He said, “We want to make the coming elections additional to consolidate the national unity and not approach for splitting or an invitation for foreigners to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.” He affirmed that it’s a great challenges for the current generation.
Addressing the NCP Youth third conference, Taha laid the responsibility of securing the elections and preserving the Sudan unity on the youth. He indicated that it requires accurate planning to build between the Sudanese areas through a political project that makes the voluntary unity attractive.
He tackled the world injustice against Sudan and the Arab nation indicating Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and the African continent. Taha called on the NCP youth to hold strong dialogue on the international and regional relations aimed to correct the balance of the said relations.
Youth sector head Haj Majid Sowar pointed to the challenges facing the said sector
Khalid Mishaal Appreciates Sudanese People Support to Gaza People during the Israeli Aggression
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
Chairman of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Khalid Mishaal, said that the Sudanese and Palestinian peoples are partners in confronting the Zionist project and realizing the Arab and Islamic Nation''s renaissance. Addressing Wednesday the Conference of the Youth Sector at the National Congress in Khartoum, Mishaal appreciated firm stance of the Sudanese people in support of their brothers in Gaza during the recent Israeli Aggression and their continuous support to the Palestinian people and their just cause. The conference was attended by the Vice - President of the Republic, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha. Mishaal stressed that the banner of Jihad and steadfastness will remain high, and that the determination to restore the right will never collapse. He described as futile and plot the American attempts for resuming the settlement negotiations with Israel according to an American vision. Mishaal said that the American project that would appear in the coming days represents a vision that is unable to absorb the legitimate rights of the Palestinians and Arabs. He said that the American project is far away from the Palestinian people''s demand. He tackled in his address the current developments at the internal Palestinian arena and efforts for reconciliation between Hamas and Fath, which are sponsored by, number Arab countries. Khalid Mishaal said that he is visiting Sudan in the context of an Arab tour to hold consultations with Arab leaders and to warn from the conspiracy that will have its impacts and consequences on the Palestinian rights and cause. He gave in his address a number of advices for the Sudanese youths, calling on them to stick to the lofty religious values, patience and to cope with the modern sciences. He affirmed the steadfastness of Hamas and the Palestinian people and their determination to restore their legitimate rights and to defeat the Zionist enemy
South African Foreign Minister to Visit Sudan Next Monday
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
A South African delegation led by the Foreign Minister, Nkoana-Mashabane, is due to arrive in Khartoum next Monday on a three-day official visit. The Director of the African Administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Al-Obeid Mohamed Al-Obeid, told SUNA that the South African delegation will meet with senior government officials and the Chairman of the National Elections Commission to be acquainted with the current developments in the country regarding the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the efforts to reach a peaceful settlement for Darfur issue and democratic transformation process. He pointed out that the delegation will also discuss with the Sudanese officials ways to consolidate the bilateral relations. They will also discuss the works of the joint ministerial committee of the two countries
Fartak Announces Holding of National Congress Conferences in Bahral-Ghazal States next week
Khartoum (smc) SUNA
The Presidential Advisor and Deputy Supervisor of Bahral-Ghazal States at the National Congress, Ali Tamim Fartak, announced that the conferences of the National Congress at the states'' levels will begin early next week and due to last till Tuesday. He said in a statement to SUNA that holding of the states'' conferences comes after completing convocation of the grass-root conferences in the southern states lately. Fartak said that the conferences will elect leaderships who are aware with the objectives of the coming stage, especially that the country is approaching the periods of general elections in next April and self-determination for south Sudan in the year 2010.
Federal Cabinet to Discuss National Security Law Tomorrow
Khartoum (smc)
Federal cabinet chairs by President Omar Hassan Al Bashir will hold session tomorrow to discuss national security law. Cabinet secretary General Omar Mohammed Salih told (smc) that the law will be presented to cabinet by minister of Justice Abdel Basit Sabdarat in the presence of security organs leaders. The law previously discussed by National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC). Salih said the law features constitute new development and responsive to demands of political forces particularly national congress party and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Meanwhile Salih predicts will be passed by executive and legislative authorities
Authorities in W. Darfur Identify Hijackers of UNAMID Workers
Khartoum (smc)
Western Darfur state authorities have said they are able to identify hijackers of UNAMID workers. Reliable security source said the hijackers are a gang composed of six persons and the abducted workers are in good health. Local authorities in the state said they have completed 80% of negotiations with hijackers in order to release the victims. For his party commissioner of Zalinge locality said following a meeting within UNAMID chief and other UN officials that the government is insisted not to pay the financial ransom requested by hijackers. The hijackers firstly demanded 10 billion Sudanese pounds then reduces it 500 million said the commissioner.
Constitutional Court Cancels a Claim against Press Censorship
Khartoum (smc)
Constitutional court Chairs by Judge Abdallah Al Amin Al Bashir cancels a complaint presented to the court against National Intelligence Security Service (NISS) on a case related to publishing Materials on Newspapers.
The court verdict highlights that previous cases showed the government has right to impose restrictions on freedom of expression for certain circumstances. The verdict stipulates no one could imagine allowing publicity of an article calling for no respect of religious faith, without prosecuting the responsible party. The court stated freedom performance is a common case of responsibility between demanding rights and observing obligations
*Uganda troops catch top rebel in Central African Republic
Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:44am GMT
By Frank Nyakairu
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Ugandan military said on Thursday it had captured a feared senior rebel from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who is accused of leading the massacre of 250 villagers more than 14 years ago.
Okot Atiak was apparently detained last month during a campaign against the guerrillas by Ugandan forces in southeast Central African Republic (CAR). Uganda's army spokesman said he was providing intelligence to troops in the field.
Atiak is not one of three top LRA commanders wanted for war crimes by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but he has held several senior positions in one of Africa's most brutal rebel movements.
He is blamed for leading the fighters who slaughtered 250 civilians at Atiak village in northern Uganda's Gulu District in April 1995. The attack was seen as an LRA reprisal against fellow ethnic Acholis who failed to support their rebellion.
"Our forces came into contact with the rebels in CAR and we captured him in action," Ugandan army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayigye told Reuters by telephone from Kampala.
The militaries of Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been fighting the LRA in remote south Sudan, northeastern DRC and southern CAR since two years of peace talks collapsed last year.
The negotiations stalled amid mutual mistrust after Joseph Kony, the rebels' elusive leader, refused to sign a final peace agreement that the Ugandan government said would have given him and his top deputies immunity from ICC prosecution.
More than two decades of rebellion by the LRA have killed tens of thousands of civilians and a large swathe of central Africa has been destabilised by marauding LRA guerrillas who are notorious for slicing off body parts and abducting children.
The multinational assault on Kony's fighters has only served to sow more chaos, with fleeing rebels attacking more villages and kidnapping hundreds of children, mostly to serve as porters.
Kulayigye said most civilians rescued by the military from the LRA in recent weeks were from Congo, CAR and southern Sudan.
"(Kony's guerrillas) have been trying to look for survival by spreading their tentacles in the region," he said.
*UPDF captures top LRA commander
New Vision (Kampala) 10 Sep
By Henry Mukasa
THE army has captured another senior LRA commander in the on-going military push against the rebels in the DR Congo and the Central African Republic.
Mickman Opuk, who was close to LRA leader Joseph Kony, was captured from the jungles of the Central African Republic a fortnight ago as the joint military offensive pursued a group of rebels.
“We picked him like a grasshopper and he is intact,” said army spokesperson Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye yesterday. “Our forces had been in hot pursuit of Kony’s group which he was part of.”
Four other LRA junior commanders have been killed and 98 abductees rescued since the army entered the Central Africa Republic to hunt down the rebels, Kulayigye added.
Opuk is one of the most notorious rebel commanders. According to the army, he participated in the 1995 Atiak massacre of over 200 civilians.
Asked when Opuk would be flown to Uganda, Kulayigye said he was being kept in the field to assist the joint forces with information.
“Slowly by slowly we are harvesting them. The fact that we have been allowed in the Central African Republic shows that Kony is not safe anywhere.”
He said the chief of defence forces of Uganda, the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan met in Kampala on Friday to review the progress of the anti-LRA operations.
Officials from the four affected countries met a month ago and agreed to allow Ugandan army units into the Central African Republic, Kulayigye told Reuters earlier.
“(Ugandan army) squads entered Central African Republic under the auspices of the joint security meeting.
“It was agreed that since Kony is a regional problem, he should be pursued into the Central African Republic.”
He, however, suspected that Kony was heading for Sudan's western Darfur region.
The joint military offensive was launched on December 15, 2008 after Kony refused to sign the final peace agreement.
The operation, codenamed Operation Lightning Thunder, involving ground troops and jet-fighters, pounded LRA bases in Garamba forest in eastern Congo, killing some rebels and sending others in disarray.
The UPDF withdrew from Congo at the end of March when the time-frame given by the Khartoum government elapsed.
It, however, maintained intelligence officers to help the Congolese army flush out the remaining rebels. The UPDF returned to the war-front when the rebels sneaked into the Central African Republic.
*Sudan opposition parties forge alliance
CSM 9 Sep
A new deal between former southern rebels who hope to secede in 2011 and a northern opposition group could threaten President Omar al-Bashir's grip on power if fair elections are held next year.
By Scott Baldauf
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Johannesburg, South Africa
Sudan's crucial presidential and parliamentary elections – a possible milestone for peace in a country rattled by two decades of civil war – appear to be well underway.
This week, a former southern rebel group that now shares power in Khartoum with its northern rivals signed a memorandum of understanding to form an electoral alliance with a northern opposition group, bringing the strongest-yet challenge to the rule of President Omar al-Bashir.
The very fact that the southern rebels, the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement, have a campaign strategy for the 2010 elections is a hopeful sign, since the SPLM is thought to be preparing itself for a referendum in 2011 that could give southern Sudan its independence. But in the meantime, SPLM leaders are willing to fight for power in a unified Sudan, this time with votes rather than with weapons of war.
"There are a number of hopeful signs for this election," says Abdul Rahim Ali Mohammad Ibrahim, a political analyst who has close ties to Mr. Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP). "The leaders of the SPLM are saying openly that they want to stay in a united Sudan, although a number of people in their party do not feel the same way."
Like many observers, Mr. Ibrahim says the SPLM's alliance with the northern-based Umma Party of former Sudanese Prime Minster Sadiq al-Mahdi should be seen more as a symbolic gesture of mutual support against a common political enemy.
"This agreement is more in the interest of the Umma Party than it is for the SPLM," says Ibrahim. "I think it says something not very material or substantial, and somewhat harmless. Sadiq al-Mahdi was in Juba, and he wanted to make a gesture to the SPLM."
A key step for peace
Sudan's general elections, scheduled for April 2010, are a potentially crucial step for peace in the war-torn North African country, since they would give Sudanese voters from north and south and even the strife-torn Darfur region their first chance to elect their leaders in a decade. At war for nearly two decades – most recently in the ongoing conflict in the western region of Darfur – Sudan has been ruled by an active-duty general, Bashir, who led a coup that overthrew an elected government in 1989.
If they go well, and are perceived to be fair, elections could be Sudan's best chance of remaining a united and peaceful country.
"The SPLM is attempting to create a coalition that is a political counterweight to the NCP's domination of the current system," says John Prendergast, an Africa expert at the Enough Project, a human rights group that focuses on the prevention of genocide. The NCP has strong advantages over opposition parties, Mr. Prendergast says, and its past use of bribery and armed militias to undermine its enemies could be the main motivation for the SPLM to use all methods, including peaceful political ones, to make friends and influence people.
With this alliance, he adds, "The NCP will have to rig the elections fairly profoundly in order to win next year's vote."
The South will rise again?
Explaining the alliance to a reporter from Voice of America, Mr. Mahdi said the Umma Party was prepared to accept the possibility of South Sudan's secession from Khartoum, and sees this agreement as a chance to maintain peaceful relations throughout.
"We think its time to begin to discuss the possibilities of separation and an independent South, so that we are prepared for the eventuality," said Mahdi. A pragmatic and moderate former prime minister of Sudan, Mahdi was overthrown by Bashir at a time of intense negotiations with the rebellious leadership of southern Sudan in 1989.
The SPLM's participation in the 2010 elections is by no means guaranteed, and its relations with Bashir's party have been rocky. In October 2007, the SPLM temporarily suspended its participation in the so-called Unity Government with Bashir's NCP, because of what it regarded as broken promises. Disagreements over boundary lines between northern and southern controlled states – lines that cut across some of Sudan's most productive oil fields – and distrust over the sharing of the government's oil revenues have at times led to sporadic bouts of fighting between soldiers loyal to Khartoum and those loyal to the southern capital of Juba.
This is not the SPLM's first foray into political alliances. During the 1990s, when the SPLM was still at war with the Bashir government in Khartoum, the SPLM's leader John Garang forged a National Democratic Alliance with several northern parties, and maintained these ties leading up to the eventual peace treaty that ended the civil war in January 2005. But Murtada al-Ghali, editor of the Khartoum-based newspaper Al Ajras al-Huriya, says that the agreement between SPLM and the Umma Party is "significant."
"An alliance with Umma Party is very significant, as SPLM moves to elections," says Mr. Ghali. "These elections have real importance to the SPLM and NCP, because there are a lot of issues still to be dealt with, and a lack of trust between the two sides."
*Dinka and Rizaigat tribes agree in principle on pastoral routes, water resources & trade
Source: Miraya FM
Date: 09 Sep 2009
The Malual Dinka and Rizaigat have agreed on marking pastoral routes and water sources and terms of trade in a conference that will be held next November.
A committee from both tribes promised to put an end to security breaches as well as disarmament and support for native administration in northern Bahr el Ghazal and Southern Darfur states
*US eases sanctions on parts of Sudan
ST - September 9, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The US department of Treasury published a new ruling today relaxing sanctions on parts of Sudan with regards to certain items.
The areas included in today’s ruling were already exempt from the comprehensive sanctions imposed by the US since 1997 for humanitarian reasons.
However, the designated regions are still covered by sanctions on any dealings that involve the government of Sudan or the petroleum industry.
In 2006, the US treasury defined the exempted regions to comprise of Southern Sudan, Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains State, Blue Nile State, Abyei, Darfur, and marginalized areas in and around Khartoum.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) suggested in its press release that there was a technical loophole in the exemption as a result of Sudan being designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The US bans “any export of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices” to any government labeled as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Trade in these items will be authorized to these specific areas effective immediately.
The announcement comes as the US special envoy Scott Gration started today a five day visit to Sudan for discussions on the Darfur peace process and the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Gration has been a proponent of easing sanctions on Sudan and lifting the latter from the list of states that are sponsors of terrorism. However, the US envoy later backed down from his earlier statements and instead called for “smart sanctions” that excludes the South.
The US is reportedly wrapping up its comprehensive policy review of Sudan that is supposed to look into the sanctions in place and incentives in return for progress on the Darfur and North-South peace process as well as democratic transformation and human rights.
Sudan has been pushing the US for normalizing relations hoping that the administration of President Barack Obama would take a different approach than its predecessor.
*Sudanese troops kill 11 rebels, displace civilians in Darfur’s Jebel Marra
ST - September 9, 2009 (PARIS) — Sudanese troops attacked the positions of a rebel group near Jebel Marra in Darfur killing 11 fighters and displaced thousands of civilians; a rebel spokesperson and an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) spokesperson said today
Abdal-Rahman Nimir, the military spokesperson of the Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur (SLA-AW) said the government troops and militias attacked on Monday their positions Korma and Ain Siro in North Darfur.
The rebel spokesperson said their fighters repelled the assailants and control the mountainous areas. He further said 11 rebels were killed during the fighting in the two positions: 7 in Korma and 4 in Ain Siro.
Nimir accused the Chadian rebels of taking part in the attack. However he was not able to provide the causalities among the government troops.
The Sudanese army during the six-year-long conflict failed to dislodge the SLA- AW from Jebel Marra, the highest region of the Sudan which inhabited by the Fur ethnic group. Since the start of the conflict many civilians remain in the areas controlled by the rebels.
Hussein Abu Sharati, speaking by telephone to Sudan Tribune from the troubled region, said civilian from the areas around the attacked positions fled their villages and they are in bad humanitarian conditions due to rains that prevent them from joining the IDPs camps.
"There are six thousand civilians mostly women and children who fled their villages and now without shelter. Those who are in Korma cannot move towards to the camps while Ain Siro displaced civilians moved towards the Jebel."
Abu Sharati, regretted the silence of the hybrid peacekeeping forces over the attacks which targeted the civilians. "The UNAMID is watching the attacks silently what is happening in clear violation of its mandate" he said.
"I hope this would not be considered as ’low intensity’ attacks, he further said.
The IDPs spokesperson was referring to a term used by the former UNAMID chief Rodolphe Adada in a reported to the UN Security Council last April.
He further urged UN agencies and international aid groups to provide the needed humanitarian assistance to the civilians in the affected areas.
The SLM/A of Abdel Wahid Al-Nur refuses to join the Doha peace process and asks to disarm militias and protect the civilians as well as return them to their homeland.
*Army retrieves illegal firearms in South Sudan’s Juba
By James Gatdet Dak
ST - September 9, 2009 (JUBA) – Security forces have retrieved thousands of illegally possessed firearms after a comprehensive dawn search of weapons in the semi-autonomous Southern Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Wednesday.
The search that caught Juba residents by surprise was jointly carried out jointly by the forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and other organized forces.
Several thousands of SPLA and police forces were involved in the operation in a house to house search that also targeted vehicles.
Businesses and schools were also closed and movement of people and vehicles was restricted.
Government officials and private business personnel were also prevented from reporting to their offices as their vehicles were being searched and turned back by the forces along the streets.
Thousands of illegally and privately owned weapons including RPGs, PKMs, Kalashnikovs and pistols were retrieved in the town’s residential areas.
Among them also included 12.7 anti-aircraft weapons privately owned by individuals.
The minister of Internal Affairs, Gier chuang Aluong, said the operation was aimed at freeing the town from armed criminal activities.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune by phone, Majak Kuol, a resident of Juba in Atlabara B, said they started a cordon and search operation in the town early this morning. He added the joint operation by the SSPS and SPLA was a peaceful exercise acknowledging having been restricted movement.
An official from the ministry of information who did not want to be named said advisory messages were on Monday sent out to head of departments in various ministries to inform their staff of the conduct.
The same message was extended to all heads of the United Nations agencies including UNMIS to advice their personnel living in and around Juba town of the conduct of this exercise so that they stay in their residence until further notice.
A ring leader of a criminal gang group that was believed to be responsible for a series of killings in the town was also arrested on Monday.
He was identified by the authorities as a former member of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF).
This successful operation to get rid of the weapons in the town also came two days before the Friday’s expected conference of dozens of political parties in Juba.
Authorities said the disarmament exercise will continue to all the other areas and states in the region.
*Sudanese opposition conference in Juba delayed: sources
ST - September 9, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — A conference of Sudanese opposition parties due to start in South Sudan capital of Juba this week has been delayed, Sudan Tribune has learned.
The participants included the Umma National Party, Umma Reform and Renewal Party, Sudanese Communist Party, Popular Congress Part (PCP), and other smaller parties.
The conference was called for by the ex-Southern rebel group Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) last May amid growing frustration with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) among opposition parties.
The NCP has declined to take part in the conference saying it was not consulted on the working papers to be discussed and also expressed suspicion over the motives behind the convention suggesting it is a coalition in the making against it.
However, a meeting took place between the Vice President of South Sudan Government Riek Machar and leading figures of the NCP late Tuesday night and discussed the Juba conference.
Sources told Sudan Tribune that the NCP asked the SPLM to reschedule the conference until after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan so that it can join it at a later date after it has prepared for it.
The SPLM agreed and the Juba conference is now set to start on September 26.
It is not clear why the NCP had a change of heart regarding participating in the conference. NCP officials and pro-government media has launched a bitter attack on the SPLM for hosting it.
Today a number of political figures were quoted by Sudan official news agency (SUNA) as saying that the Juba conference as “exclusionist” and “partial”.
The secretary general of the council for national unity parties Mudawi Al-Turabi said that they intend to formally address SPLM leader Salva Kiir “on the violations that targeted the parties that are in the government coalition with him [SPLM]”.
Al-Turabi said that the alliance of the SPLM with opposition parties “will unravel the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and democratic transformation”.
In another development the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is Sudan’s second largest Northern party has announced that it will send a representative to the Juba conference.
The DUP had announced last week that they will not take part in the conference for “partisan reasons”.
*UDP protests exclusion from Juba Conference
By Ngor Arol Garang
ST - September 9, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The leader of a newly formed Party, United Democratic Party (UDP), Mr. Tong Lual Ayat, today protested exclusion from Juba conference saying it violates South-South dialogue and unity of purpose amongst southern political parties.
In a meeting convened by the SPLM, the Sudanese opposition parties are preparing to hold before the end of the month a conference to discuss the political future of the country from the perspective of next year elections and the 2011 referendum.
The SPLM said it meant to invite the vital and main political forces in the country, the National Congress Party, its peace partner as well as some forces of the National Unity government.
The UDP is one of the 74 Sudanese political parties formed last year and registered in 2009 by group comprising all Sudanese ethnic group including northerners from Dongala, Darfur, East, Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains and Abyei saying wants to restore the country’s dignity tarnished by wars.
The chairman of the United Democratic Party, Mr. Tong Lual, in an interview with Sudan Tribune, condemned the SPLM decision to exclude them from Juba Conference and described the last week alliance with the Umma party of former Prime Minister Sadiq Al-Mahdi as a conspiracy against the interest of southern Sudanese people.
"The Umma alliance with SPLM is nothing but conspiracy against people interest in Southern referendum and elections," he said; adding that Juba conference has fallen short to mention these issues in the papers presented by the SPLM and its allies.
"SPLM should have organized this conference in agreement with her partner," the National Congress Party, because contents of agendas of discussion are national issues, therefore, SPLM failure to convince NCP with other parties is a violation of the CPA and SPLM shall be held accountable to what will happen in this country," he commented .
Tong who was angered by the exclusion from Juba conference during the interview further said that SPLM decision to ignore political parties emanated from Secretary Pagan Amum Okiech whom he described doesn’t care about the will of southern political forces.
He went further to add that SPLM would have invited southerners to discuss the future of the south together," instead of doing it alone with their Northerners alliances.
"This conference is similar to Juba 1947 conference, when the future of southern Sudan was discussed by educated Northerners and few Southerners sultans who were not educated," he described.
He further added that because of such ill-exclusion, the 1947 agreement resulted into Torit mutiny in 1955, which became Anya Movement in 1961 and the SPLM in 1983, he explained.
"Southerners are tired of war and therefore, any future of southern Sudan should not be decided alone by the SPLM," he adds.
He continued to say this movement was only mandated by the Southerners to negotiate CPA with NCP on behave of the entire marginalized populace.
He said the liberation war was fought by many Sudanese people from different parties who became SPLM in the bush under New Sudan Vision.
The angered UDP chairman concluded his interview with call upon President of GOSS and Chairman of the SPLM to look in to these issues which exclude participation of the political parties immediately prior to the commencement of the conference on 21 September 2009 in Juba
*Twic East petition Jonglei assembly over perpetual attacks
By Philip Thon Aleu
ST - September 9, 2009 (BOR TOWN) – Twic East County Youth have written to the speaker of Jonglei state assembly questioning government’s silence to assist victim of August 28, 2009 attack in Wernyol, Lith Payam.
"Surprising enough is why our government keep quite….or is the government unable to help or fearing international criticisms for it weakness to condone the work of militia," the letter, addressed to Speaker Jodi Jonglei Boyoris, reads in parts.
Repeated attacks in Twic East by armed men from Uror County have left over 50 people dead. The latest incident on August 28 hit an administrative unit of Wernyol left more than 40 people dead. South Sudan army forces are now stationed in Wernyol though the village is deserted by civilians.
Twic East youth leader Daniel Kuir Ajak, who visited the area to access the aftermath of the massacre there, told the Sudan Tribune that "people are counting days of another attack" when asked to speak about the general situation there.
"People are living in fear of new attack. All elderly people, children and women have fled the area and the villages around Wernyol are empty," Mr. Kuir further stated.
With harvests from this season of farming is still expected, the civilians are exposed to hunger. However, a UN convoy taking food items is said to be reaching there on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
The youth letter entitled: ’Devastating militia work in Twic East County, Jonglei state’ talked about past killing of civilians by Lou Nuer including the 1991’s. Since such crimes could be seen as committed with impunity, the youth wondered whether "there shall be a freedom, there shall be a day when the sound of gun shall not be heard…or there will be established government to depends the rights of people" facing death in cool blood. However, the letter warned the government for "not executing the stipulated tasks."
"Assuming that all the adamant tribes would become privileged and make use of the opportunity by forming and arming their militia to be attacking other sober tribes, there would be greater chances of civil war…hindering 2010 election [and] definitely the referendum," it worded.
According to the letter which is signed by 15 youth leaders and obtained by the Sudan Tribune, 250 children have being abducted since 2005 – the year when peace returned to Sudan. 300 people allegedly lost their lives and 6,000 cattle are stolen in the same period in Twic East County.
On his part, Speaker Jodi Boyoris says the assembly will discuss the letter and respond in writing to the youths. It’s unlikely that any reply could be expected soon since the assembly is under internal political tumor as chairpersons of specialized committees are relieved.
Southern Sudanese are due to choose in a referendum scheduled for 2011 for united Sudan or separate south. Unity and ability to govern own system by the southerners is being spoiled by enemies of peace as are called the suppliers of ammunitions to armed civilians
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