Africa

May 17, 2019 (WASHINGTON) - United States, and western partners Friday discussed in Washington ways to support a civilian-led democratic transition in Sudan and called for the resumption of talks to finalize an agreement on power handover.

The meeting which was convened by Tibor Nagy the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for Africa was attended by diplomats from the African Union, United Nations, European Union, Ethiopia as the chair of IGAD, Germany, France, the UK and Norway.

In tweets he posted after the meeting, Nagy said the participants "committed to coordinating efforts to encourage the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition to reach an agreement as soon as possible on an interim government that is truly civilian-led and reflects the will of the Sudanese people".

On Tuesday 14 May, the TMC and Sudanese opposition forces agreed to a three-year transitional period also the FFC forces would have two-thirds of the seats on a legislative assembly.

However, after the shooting on civilians for the second day the army cancelled a meeting that had to discuss the composition of a sovereign council.

The TMC spoke about infiltrators saying they were behind the attack. They pointed to the need to create conducive atmosphere saying the opposition forces have three days to remove the roadblocks before to resume discussions.

Nagy said the meeting called on the Sudanese parties to immediately resume talks and discussed ways to support the standing-up of a civilian-led government.

"We also discussed ways to support a civilian-led interim government in the future to implement the political and economic reforms and institution building needed for a stable transitional period leading to free and fair elections in Sudan, and to facilitate economic growth and prosperity," he stressed.

The 30-year rule of Islamists in Sudan led to the isolation of the east African nation which is in the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and faces important economic challenges besides internal armed conflicts in Darfur and the Two Areas.

According to the U.S. top diplomat for Africa, he and the other participants underlined their support for the African Union's efforts in Sudan particularly the decision of the Peace and Security Council to give the TMC two-month delay to hand over power to a civilian-led government.

The meeting, also, voiced concern about the recent violence directed by "security forces against protesters", and called on the military council to allow peaceful protests and hold accountable those responsible for recent violence.

Five civilians and one military were killed and over a hundred protesters were injured following attacks on Monday and Tuesday by Sudanese security forces on protesters in the streets surrounding the sit-in area outside the arm headquarters in Khartoum.

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May 16, 2019 (JUBA) - The South Sudan Opposition Alliance voiced its support to Khalid Boutros, the leader of a National Salvation Front (NAS) faction that joined the revitalized peace agreement.

Boutros's chairmanship of the group recently was put at risk by a member of his faction called Gasim Barnaba Kisanga, who declared himself as the new chairman of NAS.

"We condemn such irresponsible political opportunism in the strongest possible terms and caution any anti-peace elements who are trying to detract the focus of SSOA member parties," said SSOA spokesperson Stephan Lual in a statement to Sudan Tribune on Thursday.

The statement urged the faction members who broke away from Boutros to reconsider to "come back to their Party or risk being isolated".

The IGAD mediation refuses to acknowledge the splinter groups to discourage the proliferation of dissents. Also, it needs to Juba's consent if it considers to integrate them into the peace process for the non-signatory groups.

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May 16, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - The Transitional Military Council (TMC) told Western ambassadors in Sudan that the attacks on civilians at the protest sites were carried out by "groups not belonging to the regular forces."

According to the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, the Council's spokesperson, Lt- Gen Shams al-Din Kabbashi and the Chairman of the TMC Security Committee, Mustafa Mohamed Mustafa met Thursday with ambassadors of the European Union, the United States and Canada and the United Nations Resident Representative in Khartoum.

The director of the Department of European and American Affairs in the ministry Siddiq Mohamed Abdallah said in a press statement that the head of the security committee briefed the Western diplomats on the circumstances surrounding the events on Monday and Wednesday and pointed out that it was "caused by groups not belonging to the regular forces."

The military council said it formed an investigation committee to identify the assailants.

At least eight people were killed and more than 100 injured on Monday when protesters were shot directly by regular forces trying to remove roadblocks set up by the sit-inners on the road.

Witnesses confirmed that the assailants were using SUVs and wearing the uniforms of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but the militia leader denied the charge.

The assaults were repeated on Wednesday when at least 14 of the demonstrators were attacked by regular troops who attempted to remove the barricades. Also, witnesses said they belong to the RSF militiamen.

According to the Sudanese diplomat, the ambassadors posed some questions in this regard and were answered.

He explained that al-Kabbashi who is also a member of the TMC political committee briefed the ambassadors about the political developments in the country.

He spoke about the outcome of negotiations between the transitional military council and the forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change and the reasons that led to the suspension of negotiations between them in order to create the needed conditions for reaching a settlement on the issues for negotiation, as he said.

On Wednesday chairman decided to suspend the talks for three days saying they would resume discussions only when the barricades are removed.

In a related development, the British Ambassador to Sudan Ifran Siddiq said he met with TMC on Thursday for their explanation of the suspension of talks.

The "TMC claims environment not conducive given escalation: expansion of roadblocks, blocking of the railway line, worsening security and hostile statements from FFC (Forces for Freedom and Change)," Siddiq said in a tweet posted on Thursday.

The British diplomat added he urged the TMC to resume talks as soon as possible.

"Progress made was significant and it seemed strange to suspend (talks) at this point and risk losing all gains made. Delay also creates a vacuum that could lead to further instability," he stressed.

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May 16, 2019 (JUBA) - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir congratulated Sudanese people for the victory of their revolution and called to develop cooperation between the two countries.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir arrives in Khartoum on September 3, 2013 (AFP Ashraf Shazly)

Kiir made his remarks during a speech before the transitional parliament on Tuesday 14 May where he spoke about the ongoing implementation of the peace process and his government efforts to ensure its successful achievement.

" I want to congratulate the Sudanese people for their victory and to express our solidarity with them" adding that "The people and government of South Sudan fully support the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a peaceful, democratic and secular nation".

He called to include the armed groups from Darfur, Kordofan and the Blue Nile in the transitional period stressing it provides an opportunity to achieve a comprehensive peace and to engender a new political dispensation in the country.

"The Republic of South Sudan, being a sisterly country offers to mediate among different actors to achieve a comprehensive peace in our sisterly country," he added.

The South Sudanese leader was referring to his offer to reconcile between the SPLM-N factions and to bring them to negotiate with Khartoum a lasting peace agreement.

Earlier this month, the SPLM-N led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu declined the reunification of the group and thanked President Kiir for his efforts stressing it was an issue on the vision not a difference between persons.

However, Kiir said the prospect of a democratic transition in Sudan is anticipated in South Sudan with hopes of peaceful relations between the two countries.

"Our two sisterly nations can prosper in collaboration and cooperation and my government shall do its utmost to ensure lasting peace between them," he emphasized.

Kiir who was the Sudanese first vice-president before the independence had always thanked al-Bashir saying he agreed to proceed with South Sudan's referendum for the independence in 2011.

Al-Bashir also helped Kiir during the negotiations on the revitalized peace agreement as he bridged the gaps between him and opposition leader Riek Machar.

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The five-year-old force working to stabilize Africa’s Sahel has shown great potential, but needs more support from the international community to reach full operational capacity, a top UN peacekeeping official said on Thursday, calling for enhanced political and economic solutions to help tackle the strife-torn region’s myriad challenges.

The UN Secretary-General has commended the progress made so far between Sudan’s military leaders and opposition forces towards agreeing a timetable for a return to civilian rule, following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir just over a month ago.

Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres have voiced their outrage at a deadly attack on a Catholic church in the north of Burkina Faso on Sunday, during which six people were reportedly killed by gunmen. 

An updated assessment by a United Nations Environment Programme-administered treaty has confirmed that poaching continues to threaten the long-term survival of the African elephant.

Now in its tenth month, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than a thousand lives, prompting Secretary-General António Guterres to throw the support of “the whole United Nations system” into stemming the spread of the deadly virus.

Repeated and increasingly sophisticated armed attacks in the Sahel and food shortages linked to last year’s severe drought, have reached unprecedented levels, putting the future of a “whole generation” at stake, three top UN humanitarian officials said on Wednesday. 

Hunger continues to rise as conflicts and protracted crises have worsened in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA), which is likely to affect food security for years to come, warned the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday. 

“I want the war to stop, I want to go home and I want to go to school” - the melancholy words of a 15-year-old Ola who has been caught up in the civil war in Yemen; her story is one of many which features in a photo exhibition called Caught in Conflict put on by the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) in the United States.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a “quantum leap” in funding for development and climate change for Africa, speaking to journalists on Monday, following the plenary meeting of the latest United Nations-African Union (AU) Conference, which took place in New York.

The UN human rights chief on Monday welcomed Cameroon’s willingness to cooperate over finding workable solutions to “major human rights and humanitarian crises”, caused by months of serious unrest and violence across the west and north of the country.

The deadly threat of lightning strikes, as well as their damaging impact on a country’s development, has been recognized in a new project supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). 

The United Nations security force for Abyei remains essential to stability in the border regions between Sudan and South Sudan, the UN peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday, proposing the creation of a civilian unit to support progress towards political resolution of the dispute between the neighboring countries, and requesting a six-month extension of its mandate.

Strengthening both security and the Ebola response effort is essential to contain the growing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health agency’s officials said on Tuesday, following a visit to the epicentre of what is already the worst outbreak in the country’s history.

With heavy rains expected to continue in the coming days across northern Mozambique, access to the most remote areas affected by Cyclone Kenneth “remains difficult” the UN warned on Tuesday.

Since fighting broke out on the edge of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, earlier this month, over 42,000 people have been displaced and thousands are believed trapped in the city’s southern outskirts. As UN humanitarian teams work around the clock to provide life-saving assistance, human rights chief Michelle Bachelet stressed on Tuesday the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, and humanitarian corridor for civilians.  

Justice can be hard to come by in countries hit by conflict. To ensure that communities can settle disputes, and see criminals lawfully punished, UN peacekeeping missions support mobile courts, which travel to places where no regular court exists.