Africa

October 30, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The British Ambassador to Khartoum, Michael Aron on Sunday has discussed with the Sudanese Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahomud Hamid humanitarian access to the rebel-held areas in the war-torn states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

British Ambassador to Sudan Michael Aron (Reuters Photo)

The Sudanese army has been fighting Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as the “Two Areas” since 2011.

After a series of talks in Addis Ababa between 9 to 14 August under the auspices of the African Union (AU), the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N failed to sign a humanitarian access agreement.

SPLM-N demands to bring 20 percent of the humanitarian assistance to the affected areas directly from Ethiopia. The Sudanese delegation rejected the demand insisting all the aid should come via the government controlled areas.

Following his meeting with Hamid on Sunday, the British ambassador expressed hope that talks on the Two Areas would resume soon to achieve peace and security in the country, pointing to the deep bilateral relations between Sudan and the United Kingdom.

According to the official news agency (SUNA), the meeting discussed the government position with regard to the humanitarian access to the Two Areas besides national dialogue and ongoing efforts to form the government of national concord.

On 21 October, SPLM-N announced the suspension of negotiations with the government over political settlement citing the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese army in the war affected areas in Darfur and the Two Areas.

However, the rebel movement expressed readiness to continue talks for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreement with the Sudanese government under the AU brokered process.

For his part, Hamid stressed his government's seriousness to implement the outcome of the national dialogue.

Earlier this month, the government and its allies concluded the National Dialogue Conference by signing the National Document which includes the general features of a future constitution to be finalized by transitional institutions.

The opposition groups boycotted the process because the government didn't agree on humanitarian truce with the armed groups and due to its refusal to implement a number of confidence building measures.

The recommendations of the conference provide to open the door for the holdout opposition groups to sign the framework text and to join the transitional government and parliament that would work to implement the reforms agreed in the National Document.

But, the opposition armed and political groups criticize the move saying it breaches the Roadmap Agreement which provides to hold a preparatory meeting to create a conducive environment for an inclusive process.

(ST)

October 30, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour on Sunday described China as an important partner in peace and development issues in Sudan and the region hailing the strong bilateral ties between Sudan and China.

“Relations between Sudan and China are strong and it is considered a model for South-South cooperation and the reason for the success of these relations is honesty and the firm desire to develop them” Ghandour told the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

He stressed that China is a key partner in establishing peace in Sudan and the region, saying “we live in the East African region which suffers from a lot of problems and Sudan has a pivotal role in this region”.

“China is an economic partner for the countries in the region and it was a party to the Sudanese-Sudanese, Sudanese-African and African-African dialogue and it continued to follow up on these dialogues through its various envoys,” he added.

Ghandour pointed that Sudanese-Chinese cooperation in oil production has significantly contributed to the development of the Sudanese economy, saying the partnership between the two countries has now extended to various fields including the infrastructure.

He pointed to the Meroe Dam which was built by China, saying it has increased electricity generation more than 6 times.

Sudan's top diplomat further said that partnership between the two sides has turned into political, social and economic partnership, saying that Sudan and China exchange support in all regional and international forums.

He said the two countries are now cooperating in the agricultural processing following the signing of a joint agreement on the model agricultural projects, pointing that Sudan, which has vast agricultural lands and water resources, could benefit from the Chinese experience in agricultural development.

Ghandour pointed that the two countries have signed a preliminary agreement to build a nuclear electric power station in Sudan besides another agreement on the renewable energy.

Beijing has invested more than $20 billion in Sudan mostly in the oil sector during the past two decades. Beijing provides low-interest loans and weapons transfers in return for oil.

During a visit by President Omer al-Bashir to China in 2015, Sudan and China signed “strategic partnership” that gave China the right to explore oil in new fields after Sudan lost 75% of its oil resources after South Sudan secession in 2011.

(ST)

October 30, 2016 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese armed opposition faction led by Riek Machar has captured at least 99 government soldiers loyal during the recent fighting in Greater Mundri area in Western Equatoria region, according to opposition leader's spokesperson.

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria state on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

Machar's official spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that up to 99 soldiers of the government were captured this week when the opposition forces overran Kadibe military base in Mundri county.

Commissioner of Mundri East County on Thursday confirmed to Sudan Tribune that Kadibe was briefly captured and controlled for two days by the opposition forces, but he said they were eventually dislodged by government's forces. He also accused the rebels of allegedly abducting up to 500 school children.

Dak however denied their forces abducted school children, adding civilians fled the area in fear of government's forces who targeted them for allegedly supporting the opposition faction. He said civilians including the elderly, women and children voluntarily fled to areas controlled by the opposition forces for protection.

He has however revealed that they did capture nearly a 100 government soldiers during the brief capture of Kadibe, further revealing that some are recruits.

“Our troops have captured 99 soldiers loyal to Salva Kiir's regime. Our gallant forces under the overall command of General Wesley Weleba captured them when they overran their military base of Kadibe in Mundri,” Dak said, adding that a huge quantity of weapons and ammunition were also captured and were carried away.

He added that 49 of the captured government's soldiers were new recruits in the area who were also undergoing training at a training center in Kadibe.

The opposition leader's spokesman further claimed that their forces also overran a police post in Yambio county and took with them all the ammunition in their store.

Officials in both Mundri and Yambio confirmed the clashes in Kadibe and in Yambio but could not confirm whether the soldiers and ammunition were captured by the opposition forces. Both Mundri and Yambio are located west of the national capital, Juba.

Fighting, he explained, also occurred around Lainya county, south of Juba, in Central Equatoria, as well as in Jerusalem area, east of Juba, in Eastern Equatoria, where the opposition reportedly overran the area.

SPLA-IO TO CAPTURE JUBA

Dak also said fighting has been ongoing in many locations in Upper Nile and Unity states between rival forces, saying it is a matter of time before their forces will capture both Malakal and Bentiu, the respective capitals of the oil producing states in the country.

He also claimed their forces may soon move on to Juba and capture it together with Bor, capital of Jonglei state, if no political solution is found to revive the peace deal in the country.

“If there will be no political solution to resuscitate the peace agreement in the next few weeks, then our forces are ready and will be directed by the leadership to capture Juba and Bor to restore law and order and usher in peace and stability in the country,” he said.

Fighting has been escalating across the country following the renewal of violence in the capital, Juba, on 8 July between rival forces loyal to President Kiir and his former deputy, Machar.

The opposition faction has called for “resuscitation” of the peace deal they signed with the government in August 2015, or opt for popular armed resistance if the government refuses peace and continues to attack the opposition's controlled territories across the country.

The government says it is comfortable with the new First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, saying he is cooperating with President Kiir.

Numerous clashes have occurred in Equatoria region which hosts the seat of the national government, with increasing reported ambushes on Juba-Yei, Juba-Nimule and Juba-Bor roads. Dozens have already been killed on the roads.

The two sides seem to be preparing for an all-out war in the coming weeks or months as they reportedly stockpile weapons and ammunition and reorganize forces, with movements of rival troops detected in the country.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 to end 21 months of civil war which erupted in December 2013 is threatening to collapse following the renewed upsurge of violence in the world's youngest nation.

(ST)

A rare nationwide opinion survey released this week found that three-quarters of those polled wanted President Joseph Kabila to step down at the end of his mandate on December 19.

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Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila arrives for a southern and central African leaders' meeting to discuss the political crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Luanda, Angola, October 26, 2016.

© 2016 Reuters

Since the findings were published, officials at the Congolese polling firm that helped conduct the study say their office has been visited and staked out by suspected intelligence agents, forcing them to temporarily close their office for security reasons.

The study was led by the New York University-based Congo Research Group and a Congolese polling institute, Bureau d’Etude de Recherche et de Consulting International (BERCI). Between May and September, their researchers conducted 7,545 face-to-face interviews in randomly selected areas across the country.

Intelligence agents arrested one of BERCI’s researchers, Rodrigue Bintene Mimbo, on June 26, after two weeks conducting research in Congo’s central Sankuru province. He was held at a national intelligence agency (ANR) detention center in Lodja, capital of Sankuru, until July 9, then transferred to an ANR detention center in Kinshasa. Mimbo remains in detention, without charge and without access to his family or lawyer. The authorities should immediately release Mimbo and end any harassment of those involved in the study.

Here are some of the poll’s noteworthy findings:
•    81.4% of respondents rejected changing the constitution to allow President Joseph Kabila to run for a third term. 
•    74.3% said that Kabila should leave office when his constitutional two-term limit ends on December 19, 2016. 
•    Most want elections to happen within the coming year. If elections have to be delayed, 41% said they should be held in 2017 while 13.7% said 2018 or later.
•    7.6% said they had participated in a protest march, strike, or demonstration over the past five years. 48.5% said they would participate in a demonstration if elections are either rigged or delayed or both. 
•    57% said that members of youth groups who’ve been arrested in Kinshasa and Goma for participating in or planning protests, demonstrations, or “villes mortes” against the government were “expressing their rights of freedom of expression and assembly.” 16% said this kind of activity should cease.
•    19.9% of respondents thought that Congo’s justice system is independent, and 27.2% of respondents said that they or a member of their family had been victims of an arbitrary arrest.
•    76.4% were in favor of the creation of a Congolese tribunal to judge war crimes. Of those, 71.4% approved of foreign judges sitting on the tribunal

October 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Two opposition leaders Sadiq al-Mahdi of the National Umma Party (NUP) and Ghanzi Salah al-Din al-Attabani of the Future Forces of Change (FFC) said the government has to commit itself to the African Union brokered Roadmap Agreement for peace and national national.

National Umma Party (NUP) leader Sadiq al-Mahdi (R) meets with chairman of Reform Now Movement(RNM) Ghazi Salah Eddin Attabani, in Cairo on Wednesday January 6, 2016 (Courtesy photo by NUP)

Al-Mahdi who is also a leading figure of the opposition Sudan Call alliance received a call Saturday from Attabani where they discussed the need to hold a national dialogue leading to "consensus and political reform".

Al-Mahdi and al-Attabani "stressed the need for the government's commitment to the signed Roadmap and not to end the dialogue as stipulated in the road map," says the joint statement.

"They renewed their call for an agreement addressing the root causes of war and achieve stability in accordance with a plan for a just and comprehensive peace and full democratic transformation," further read the statement.

The Sudanese government and its allied political forces concluded the National Dialogue Conference on 10 October 2016 by the adoption of the National Document.

The recommendations of the conference provides to open the door for the holdout opposition groups to sign the framework text and to join the transitional government and parliament that would work to implement the reforms agreed in the National Document.

But, the opposition armed and political groups criticize the move saying it breaches the Roadmap Agreement which provides to hold a preparatory meeting to create a conducive environment for an inclusive process.

The opposition also proposes to consider the National Document as representing the government's position and to discuss it in another dialogue conference with them.

Sadiq al-Mahdi plans to return to Sudan on 19 December as he intends to dedicates more time for the party's organizational issues after a two-year self imposed exile in Cairo. Also, he said there is a need to mobilize the street to bring the government make the needed reforms.

(ST)

October 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Ghandour, Saturday said China has renewed solidarity and support to Sudan in all fields.

During a meeting in Beijing with the visiting Sudanese foreign minister on Saturday, the Chinese Deputy President Li Yuanchao described Sudan as “a friend of iron,” that you can always count on, according to a statement by the foreign ministry in Khartoum.

Yuanchao accepted an invitation extended by the First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh to visit Sudan, says the statement seen by Sudan Tribune.

The office of Sudanese minister of foreign affairs noted that Yuanchao and Ghandour also discussed developments in Sudan and the East of Africa region.

On Friday, Ghandour met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and discussed issues of mutual interest and efforts to address obstacles hindering coordination between Sudan and China before international forums.

Yi has pledged to support Sudan in safeguarding the integrity of its territory and to enhance strategic partnership between the two countries, hailing the “mutual trust” between the China and Sudan.

China is willing to maintain strategic mutual trust with Sudan and expand cooperation in the areas of energy, production capacity, agriculture, renewable energy and people-to-people exchange, Wang said.

Ghandour has hailed China vital support to Sudan before international institutions and in achieving economic and social development.

He further said "Sudan adheres to the one-China policy and China's stance on the South China Sea," reported the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have similar claims to parts of it.

Beijing has invested more than $20 billion in Sudan mostly in the oil sector during the past two decades. Beijing provides low-interest loans and weapons transfers in return for oil.

During a visit by President Omer al-Bashir to China in 2015, Sudan and China signed “strategic partnership” that gave China the right to explore oil in new fields after Sudan lost 75% of its oil resources after South Sudan secession in 2011.

(ST)

October 28, 2016 (ROME) - The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Friday received several Christian religious leaders of war-hit South Sudan.

Pope Francis recieves the flag of South Sudan from Choul Laam (Vatican photo)

The delegation from South Sudan included, Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro of Juba, Rev. Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Archbishop of the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan & Sudan, and Rev. Peter Gai Lual Marrow, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.

The clerics, in the wake of the ethnic violence in the young nation, urged the Pope to acknowledge that good and fruitful collaboration exists among the Christian Churches.

South Sudan witnessed renewed violence in its capital in July when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied to his former deputy, Riek Machar clashed, leaving hundreds dead.

Waves of ethnic targeted killings have since hit the country, amid calls from authorities for an end to what could ignite a bigger conflict.

The religious leaders, during their meeting with the Pope, also demanded that they be allowed to makes contributions to promoting the common good, protecting the dignity of the person, protecting the helpless and implementing initiatives for dialogue and reconciliation.

However, in the light of the Year of Mercy in progress in the Catholic Church, it was underlined that the fundamental experience of forgiveness and acceptance of the other is the privileged path to building peace and to human and social development.

"In this regard, it was confirmed that the various Christian Churches are committed, in a spirit of communion and unity, to service to the population, promoting the spread of a culture of encounter and sharing," reads a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

Meanwhile, during the meeting, all parties reiterated their willingness to journey together and to work with renewed hope and mutual trust, in the conviction that, drawing from the positive values inherent in their respective religious traditions, they may show the way to respond effectively to the deepest

(ST)

By Stephen Par Kuol

The birth of the Republic of South Sudan was a painstaking labor that had to involve so many friends and actors of good will. However, the United States of America was the most instrumental midwife during that toilsome delivery. Even welcoming the new baby (South Sudan) into the world clubs did not settle down well with some powerful adversaries in some diplomatic circles, but without any qualm, the United States recognized the independence of South Sudan on the same day it was declared (on July 9, 2011) upgrading the consulate opened in 2005 in Juba to the status of an embassy. That historical solidarity with the people of South Sudan has given Washington moral obligation to nurse the infant state into political and institutional maturity. Hence, despite the leadership deficit in Juba, the bilateral ties between the two capitals have progressed to all spheres, including, defense, security, institutional capacity building and the infrastructural development program that brought about Juba-Nimuli Road which is now the only lifeline of Juba's battered and collapsing economy. Pursuant to the framework of those ties, President Obama decided to provide military assistance and equipment to South Sudan in 2012. A team of five American officers to advise the SPLA soon followed this. A good number of South Sudanese military cadres were also sent to the US military schools for training.

To date, The United States remains the single biggest bilateral donor to South Sudan. In its budget request for 2017, the State Department asked for $30 million to help modernize the South Sudanese army so that it “respects human rights, is accountable to elected leadership, protects the people of South Sudan, and encourages stability in the Horn of Africa. Another $132 million was also requested for civil society and peace-building programs. The American people and their government have been doing all these to build the intuitional capacity of the nascent state to uphold the cardinal responsibilities of the sovereignty such as provision of public security for its citizens, respect for human rights and the rule of law. In another word, the American taxpayer's dollars have been ditched to Juba to ensure that Kiir's regime does not carry out the gross abuses it stands accused of. To the disbelief and dismay of South Sudanese and the world public, Salva Kiir betrayed all that well-meaning support and embarked on building a corrupt ethnocentric police state. The circumstantial president stooped low to betray every thing including his own noble historical legacy as the only surviving heir of the founding leadership of the revolution that made him the First President of the Republic. Without any shred of shame, President Salva Kiir Mayardit resigned to the cocoon of his kin and kith under the guidance of the infamous Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) and became one of the worst depots in world history.

Right from the Independence, the cowboy tyrant introduced what will go down in the History of South Sudan as the “ Era of Rule by Decrees” when President Kiir arbitrarily arrogated all the constitutional powers to himself and sacked elected political leaders including his own running mate, Dr. Riek Machar. President Kiir then closed the political space through his notorious hoodlums by lynching political opponents, civil society activists and journalists. As a ploy to physically eliminate all his political opponents in the country, Salva Kiir fabricated a coup narrative that has plunged the country into the ongoing crisis since December 2013. Kiir's fascist regime then unleashed its tribal militia( Mathing-Anyor) on the people of South Sudan and committed heinous war crimes in the process. South Sudan has thus become a slaughterhouse for humans, a hailing state on its deathbed, if you will!

To consolidate his reign of tyranny and terror, Salva Kiir adopted a very hostile foreign policy toward the United States for counseling him to govern democratically and inclusively. Having misperceived that wise counsel as a regime change policy, President Kiir shifted East (to China and Rusia) and started to maliciously work against all US and western interests in South Sudan. Thenceforth, from being the most indispensible friend it was during the liberation struggle, the United States has becomes the enemy number one to Kiir's regime. Through his public blusters, Kiir's police state institutions have internalized extreme hatred toward the Americans; be they diplomats, aid workers, development partners or expatriates. As a diplomatic vengeance, the Americans have been wrongfully accused of every thing from espionage to shunning the sovereignty of South Sudan, and grooming oppositional groups for regime change. Of late, the United States, EU and TROIKA have been bitterly blamed for imposing an agreement (ARCISS) with reform provisions that subject the despot to the will of the people through a democratic transition leading to a people driven constitution as well as free and fair elections in a leveled playing field. That institutionalized prejudice against American people has manifested itself in the most recent upsurge of violence targeting American citizens for killing, torture and rape. The Terrain Hotel savagery and the barbaric attack on the diplomatic vehicle (CD) carrying American diplomats by none other than Kiir's own bodyguard are the hallmarks of that diplomatic madness!! Unfortunately, the Washington's kingpins in the persons of Susan Rice, Donald Booth and John Kerry have continued to implement their treacherous foreign policy by rewarding Kiir's fascist regime with more financial and military aid. That is morally disturbing as the ethnocentric fascist regime is using American taxpayer's money to build a tribal army committing heinous atrocities against both the people of South Sudan and the American people. For worse, the military aid to South Sudan has also been implemented with a myriad of financial corruption involving some dubious contractors and self-appointed Washingtonians in Kiir's pay roll system.

It goes without informing the records that those goons and gold diggers sharing the spoils of graft with Kiir's kleptocrats under the cover of war have succeeded in smearing the issues surrounding the ongoing crisis in South Sudan. Subsequently, the Obama's Administration has squandered all the opportunities it has had to hold the malignant regime accountable for all the crimes it has been committing against South Sudanese and American people since 2013. As the institutionalized treachery prevails both in Obama's White House and Kerry's State Department, even the death and rape of American citizens in South Sudan has not changed any thing in these treacherous bilateral relations between Washington and Juba. Being left to fend for themselves during the recent crisis, South Sudanese Americans in particular have born the brunt of that treachery in their sincere effort to give back to their native country.

With this piece of work, the point I am driving home is the cruel fact that Kiir's fascist regime has proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be imminent security threat to South Sudanese in South Sudan, South Sudanese diplomats in foreign countries and all foreign friends residing in South Sudan at the time of this writing. Otherwise, in the diplomatic security as we know it, exposing accredited diplomats in your country to danger means exposing your own diplomats in the other receiving country to danger. That is evidently beyond the capacity of the rogue rulers in the jungle laws city like Juba to fathom. That is why these Juba's nefarious loonies like Gordon Buay and Steve Paterno masquerading as diplomats are roaming Washington beer joins like nobody's business while American diplomats and aid workers are subjected to hostile security surveillance in Juba. Perhaps, that is the stark contrast between one city ruled by statesmen and competent professionals (Washington) and another one (Juba) ruled by hooligans and hoodlums.

By all conventional diplomatic standards, the latest events in Juba have exposed the chilly truth that Kiir's Police State represents nothing but organized violence, anarchy and miserable failure to observe the basic provisions of the international treaties it has signed and ratified such as the Vienna Treaty on Diplomatic Relations, 1961. Article 29(1) of that treaty stipulated that it is a responsibility of the receiving state to prevent attack on the accredited diplomatic agents of the sending state. This means that both the persons and the properties (automobile included) of the diplomatic agents are inviolable under the public international law. In any case, those documented incidents including the Terrain Hotel savagery speak volume of the ugly fact that the JCE regime in Juba is too deformed to reform (in the word of Dr. John Garang) referring to the then NIF regime in Khartoum. Thus, it has to be diplomatically isolated and removed since it has resisted to reform as per the provisions of the Agreement on the Conflict Resolution in South Sudan (ARCISS) it has just scrapped. Failure to do just that would be another telling tale of treachery to both South Sudanese and the American people!

The Author is a former diplomat of the Sudan and freelance writer on current affairs in South Sudan and the Horn of Africa. He can be reached via electronic mails at kuolpar@yahoo.com

October 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan and Ethiopia Saturday have signed in Addis Ababa a memorandum of understanding providing to enhance joint security and military cooperation between the two neighbouring countries to fight terrorism.

The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the meetings of the Joint Ethiopian Sudanese Higher Military Committee chaired by Sudan Defence Awad bin Auf and his Ethiopian counterpart Siraj Fegessa.

The agreement was signed by the head of the General Staff of the Sudanese army Lt. Gen. Imad al-Din Adawi and his Ethiopian counterpart, General Samora Mohamed Younis.

The Sudanese defence minister reiterated the importance of military and security cooperation between the two countries "to counter terrorism in all its forms".

"The signed memorandum of understanding provides to secure the borders, the exchange of criminals, and prevent any hostile activity to the two countries, especially from the anti-peace groups," he said in statements reported by the Ethiopian TV after the signing ceremony.

The terms "anti-peace" and "terrorism" are used in the two countries to describe rebel groups .

From his side, Minister Fegessa stressed the desire of the two countries to work together to combat terrorist activities on the common border.

"The two countries also stressed the need to develop the capacity of the joint defence forces," he said, adding that Khartoum and Addis Ababa were able to stop cross-border crimes through coordination and cooperation.

Last March during the 14th meeting of the joint Sudanese Ethiopian technical committee in Khartoum, Sudan proposed to deploy joint border units on the border between the two countries.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

October 29, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) - Ethiopia says its move to withdraw its troops from Somalia has nothing to do with the recently declared state of emergency.

Earlier this month, the Ethiopian government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of continued anti-government protests across its Oromia region.

The country's information and communication minister, Getachew Reda told journalists that the withdrawal has nothing to do with the state decree, but was related with the "financial burden" and "lack of support" rather than the need for more troops at home.

"It has nothing to do with the state of emergency," said Getachew.

"We have been making a very conscious and responsible decision to evacuate our forces from many parts of Somalia. We cannot remain there indefinitely," he added.

The minister blamed the international community for the withdrawal of troops from Somalia.

"The international community also has a responsibility either to train or to support the Somali national army in whatever way they promised, and if they do not make good on that promise and [the] Somali national army fails to discharge their responsibilities then of course, as they say, nature – and al-Shabaab – abhors a vacuum, so they'll just move in”, said the minister.

He said the violence at home was not "enormous enough for us to shift our policy in Somalia".

Ethiopia, the official said, was only withdrawing troops from Somalia, but not the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

He underscored that Ethiopia was not withdrawing troops from the 4,400-strong Ethiopian contingent of the internationally-funded AU peace-enforcement mission.

Those being pulled out he said are those few thousands deployed in Somalia unilaterally for which his government is paying all the expenses.

"These troops are not under AMISOM and unfortunately are not being helped in their efforts to assist the Somali national army," said Getachew.

Ethiopia began withdrawing thousands of its forces from central Somalia and since Al-Shabaab militants have reportedly managed to recapture three towns.

Getachew, however, said AMISOM troops were not affected and neither were all non-AMISOM forces being withdrawn.

He added that Ethiopian troops under AMISOM are on their regular duties, and the country will continue to step up its effort to bring about peace and stability in Somalia.

The minister also said the state of emergency declared recently has enabled the government to control the violence; and stability has been restored in many parts of the country, adding that many investments are back in business.

Ethiopia's state emergency was imposed for first time after over quarter a century.

The rules within the state emergency include travel restrictions on diplomats.

Accordingly, diplomats are not permitted to travel beyond 40 kilometers of the radius outside the capital, Addis Ababa. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has also been imposed around areas where factories and major projects are based.

As per the directive, security personnel can search suspects, search homes or arrest anyone who violates the rules without court authorization.

The new directive also grants the police and all security forces a power to defend themselves from any threat or attack.

Publishing news and distributing documents or republishing reports of anti-peace elements or opposition movements branded as terrorist entities is prohibited.

The six-month state of emergency also bans terrorist-leaning groups such as the Ethiopian Satellite Radio and Television (ESAT) and Oromo Media Network.

Access to internet services and social media was still impossible in Ethiopia.

(ST)

In a telephone conversation with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regretted the country&#39s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court and expressed hope that it would reconsider the decision before the withdrawal takes effect.

October 29, 2016 (KAMPALA) - Students from South Sudan's greater Bhar-El-Gazal region in Uganda have expressed concerns over the continuous ethinic killings, and urged the population to desist from counter-revenge practices for the sake of peace.

South Sudanese students at their embassy in Kampala, Uganda (ST/File)

The call comes following after a letter from a group in Bhar-El-Gazal region warned Equatorians working in the region to quit their jobs or face revenge attacks.

James Mabor Ikau, the head of Bhar el Ghazal students in Uganda urged
South Sudanese community in both regions to desisted from violent attacks and called upon them to embrace peace and unity.

“We call and beg all our community members more especially our brothers (youths) back home or in the region to be in peace and swallow the pain of the lost of people and accept all other tribes to stay with them peacefully,” he told Sudan Tribune.

More than a dozen people were killed in several ambushes along the Yei-Juba and
Nimule-Juba roads by unidentified armed groups from Equatoria region.

Also, students from the Dinka tribe, particularly those from Bhar el Gazal described the targeting of Equatorians as unfortunate, calling on all South Sudanese to work for peace.

“Our people should not be dragged into this senseless thing, we need peace and unity in our country, no more war; its time has gone," said Mabor.

“We condemn in strongest terms these targeted killings and satanic behaviour and urged our government to devised mechanism of protecting innocent people to achieve peaceful co-existence soon,” he stressed.

(ST)

October 28, 2016 (NYALA) - South Darfur authorities has deployed large military force to protect harvesting season and to prevent the repeated clashes between farmers and pastoralists.

Displaced women commute between West Darfur's Dorti camp and their home village of Borta to farm their land during the rainy season, Aug 31, 2005. ©UNHCR/H. Caux

An official source told Sudan Tribune Friday that South Darfur State government has deployed military forces to end any clashes between farmers and pastoralists. The force is also tasked to maintain the prevailing security environment in the state after the recent tribal reconciliation conferences, he added.

“South Darfur State government has issued firm decisions on the demarcation of livestock migratory routes to organize the herders' movement and prevent attacks on farmed lands. Such measures would lead to reduce frictions,” stressed the official.

The source who is not authorized to talk to the media went to say that “Nomadic People and Routes Committee” has urged farmers to immediately report any attacks by pastoralists to avoid any clashes between the two parties.

On his part, a local leader Ahmed Saleh Eisa told Sudan Tribune that there are no clashes between farmers and pastoralists during the current cultivation season due to the security measures imposed by the South Darfur state security committee.

“Farmers need to finish harvest and open their farms for herdsmen by the end of December,” said Eisa, pointing that the given period is sufficient for farmers to harvest their crops.

In previous agricultural seasons there were violent clashes between farmers and pastoralists triggered by herdsmen attempts to graze their animals on agricultural fields. The clashes between farmers and pastoralists led to furious tribal clashes and dozens of people were killed and massive displacement occurred after burning down villages.

(ST)

October 28, 2016 (JUBA) - leaders of Ethiopia and South Sudan have signed a series of cooperation agreements on Friday, including a security arrangement to stop hosting armed opposition groups in their respective countries.

The deal per a communiqué signed at the presidential palace in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, on Friday between President Salva Kiir and his visiting Ethiopian counter-part, Hailemariam Desalegn, calls on Ethiopia not to support armed groups, probably targeting members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of the controversially ousted former First Vice President, Riek Machar.

Ethiopia hosted and led the mediation of the the peace process between Kiir and Machar which was signed in August last year to end 21 months of civil war, but which implementation has been disrupted by the recent renewal of violent conflict between the two factions in July in Juba, resuming the war.

In his statement, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, has reiterated the commitment of his administration and the people of his country to help in the implementation of the peace agreement, saying he would want to see a peaceful and prosperous South Sudan.

“We are very keen to see South Sudan be a peaceful country and a prosperous country... because we believe that the South Sudanese people have suffered enough for half a century and peace should prevail in South Sudan,” Prime Minister Desalegn said.

“We will not support an armed struggling group or anyone who opts for path of war and therefore we will not allow any armed movement which is detracting from peace in our region both in Ethiopia and South Sudan and will cooperate in a strong army-to-army cooperation where the president has agreed to send his chief of staff quickly to Addis Ababa and they will agree on the common cooperation of making our borders and also inland secure,” he said, while speaking to the media in Juba alongside South Sudanese President Kiir.

During the one day visit to Juba, Ethiopian Prime Minister, Deselagn, also addressed the Transitional National Legislative Assembly and reiterated his country's support to peace in South Sudan in addition to a few economic and infrastructural agreements the two nations want to jointly implement.

Other agreements signed include five roads construction project - with Ethiopia funding two highways through a loan to South Sudan. Oil agreement and trading was another area of agreements signed by respective ministers of both countries.

President Kiir on his part said he was happy with the agreement with Ethiopia on security and development projects, saying he was hoping to see change coming.

"We will be vigilant always to review all the agreements for the benefit of the two countries and we are hopeful that things will change," said Kiir.

The agreement would deny hosting or support of Machar and his faction, implying that the Ethiopian government would recognize the current setup in Juba after the 8 July violence which kicked out Machar from the capital.

SPLM-IO DOWNPLAYS DEAL

Machar's spokesperson James Gatdet Dak, said the SPLM-IO and its army, the SPLA-IO, are both intact inside South Sudan and will use all means necessary, including peaceful dialogue and revival of the peace deal and the right to self-defence through popular armed resistance, to save the country from the “failed anti-peace regime” of President Kiir.

He further dismissed claims that their armed opposition and its leadership has been isolated in the region, saying what is happening is a temporary misunderstanding by some leaders which will be sorted out in time through engagement.

Some IGAD leaders who have not yet met Machar after he escaped the assassination in Juba, he said, may still want to hear from him in a face-to-face engagement before they could have a better picture of the situation.

Dak, said there seemed to be misunderstanding among some leaders of IGAD, saying some of them were reneging on their communiqué of last August which called for reinstatement of Machar as First Vice President and the implementation of the agreement once a regional force is deployed.

However, he said Machar will be consulting with such leaders in order to clear the air by telling his side of the story of what transpired in Juba and to undo the “lies” told by the regime in Juba.

(ST)

October 28, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir, has dismissed reports that he has sent a military convoy to his controversially created Yei state to help in the relocation of members of his ethnic Dinka purportedly living in a constant fear that they could become a target.

President Salva Kiir addresses the nation at the South Sudan National Parliament in Juba, November 18, 2015. (Photo Reuters/Jok Solomon)

Presidential advisor on military affairs, Daniel Awet Akot, has denied the reports, describing them as untrue.

“I just spoke to the president of the republic to ask him about these reports and he told me that he is not aware of such reports. He said he did not send any of the institutions concerning security like the ministry of interior, national security and defence to send a military convoy to Yei. What for? There is nothing like that. The President did not send,” Akot told Sudan Tribune on Friday.

Akot was responding to reports claiming that 10 military trucks loaded with government soldiers have been dispatched to the area to help in the relocation of the members of the ethnic Dinka fearing they could be targeted by other non-Dinka tribes in the area.

The top presidential aide argued that Yei, located southwest of the capital, Juba, is part of the country and was therefore odd for the government to facilitate relocation of the citizens living there without general security threat.

Earlier reports suggested that 10 military trucks were dispatched on directive of President Kiir asking his chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, to relocate members of his ethnic Dinka living in Yei.

While Akot denied the reports, several government officials and private citizens have told Sudan Tribune that many of the people from the Dinka ethnic group who were living in Yei have been leaving the area in a military organized escort.

It is not clear whether this mass exodus out the town is sanctioned by the government or individual basis. Observers say the move could be both voluntary relocation and informal approval by individual officials and officers in the government and army.

“What I know is that there is no formal directive from either the office of the president or chief of general staff but I know some senior government officials and military officers who [have] relocated their family members to towns at the border from neigbouring Uganda due to the current economic crisis were forced by the developing security situation to relocate their family members once again. Because of their positions in the government and in the army, some people interpreted their involvement to mean decision of the government,” a presidential aide told Sudan Tribune Friday.

Crtics have argued that the move to relocate ethnic Dinka from Yei was to allow the army predominately members of ethplnic Dinka to target civilians in the name of hunting armed dissident groups.

(ST)

October 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Nearly nice months since its inception, the opposition alliance Future Forces For Changes (FFC) has split over the relation with the armed groups.

FFC leaders at the launch ceremony held in Khartoum on 23 February 2016 (ST Photo)

Last Tuesday, the FFC led by Ghazi Salah al-Din Al-Attabani issued a statement dismissing al-Tayed Mustafa and his party, Just Peace Forum (JPF), from the alliance for breaching the objectives and commitments of the coalition and harming its interests and unity.

In turn, the leader of the far-right JPF, on Wednesday, released a statement announcing Attabani's eviction from the FFC leadership and appointed Mustafa a new chairman of the heterogeneous coalition which includes Islamist and liberal groups.

Publicly the participation of Mustafa's faction in the National Dialogue Conference earlier this October triggered his dismissal from the FFC. Attabani and his faction believe that nothing has changed and the government should implement the confidence building measures provided in the African Union Roadmap Agreement before to join the internal process.

Also, Attabani's faction considers that striking a deal over the humanitarian cessation of hostilities and organization of an inclusive preparatory meeting, remain necessary steps towards an inclusive process to end war and achieve democratic reforms in Sudan.

But the JPF leader who campaigned for the separation of South Sudan, had kept his hostility unaltered towards the armed groups, particularly the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

Reached by Sudan Tribune to comment on the split, FFC Media Official Ussama Tawfiq said Mustafa's presence among the FFC components was a hindrance to the establishment of relations with the armed groups.

Tawfiq further said that now the FFC groups led by Attabani will develop its relations with the armed groups, pointing to the good relations between him and the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) which mediates the negotiations.

"The issue of al-Tayeb Mustafa is over now. The purpose of the statement that we issued was to drop his membership alone but the door remains open for the others (who followed him)," he stressed.

On the other hand Nagi al-Karbashi, from the FFC Mustafa-faction, admitted that the Sudan Call forces remained unwilling to develop its relations with the FFC because of the presence of JPF in the coalition.

"Attabani and his faction are seeking to please the Sudan Call alliance unlike Mustafa who seeks to resolve Sudan problems regardless the satisfaction or rejection of the armed movements," Karbashi said.

He further said that JFP's hostile position to the "New Sudan" project makes it difficult for the Sudan Call to accept to accept the FFP; confirming that the FFC more than once tried in vain to establish a channel of coordination with the alliance of the armed groups and main opposition parties.

On Saturday 8 October, Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid and FFC Deputy Chairman Abdel Gadir Ibrahim Ali signed a framework agreement titled "Areas for an agreement on cooperation and solidarity'' providing the two sides will discuss "joint political initiatives to promote the dialogue, especially those relating to the participation of any other political force".

Further, the National Dialogue Secretariat announced that the FFC would take part in the National Dialogue Conference.

Following these developments, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Mayada Soar al-Dahab, announced 24 hours later its withdrawal from the FFC coalition to protest this rapprochement with the NCP led process.

Tawfiq explained to Sudan Tribune that Mustafa who is the uncle of President Omer al-Bashir expressed his "sweeping desire" to join a national dialogue. He said that this move was supported by FFC members who were part of the regime adding it would "allow them to return to the power from the gate of the national dialogue".

He added that Mustafa threw the eight-point agreement with the dialogue mechanism ahead of the dialogue conference on October 10, and took part on behalf of the FFC at the dialogue meetings without negotiating the implementation of the eight points related to African Union Roadmap.

However, Karbashi defended the position of his faction, claiming that the mechanism "7 +7" agreed to all the terms of the eight-point memorandum of understanding, including the inclusion of the FCC in the dialogue process.

"So the FFC has no option except to participate in the national dialogue to address the issues of Sudan : ending war and achieve peace," he said.

Attabani and Mustafa pulled out of the national dialogue process last year, calling for the implementation of a road map the African Union endorsed in September 2014 for peace and constitutional dialogue.

Following what, they launched the FFC in Khartoum on 23 February 2016.

(ST)

Denouncing recent violence and increasing tensions in parts of the Central African Republic (CAR), in particular the town of Bambari, resulting in the deaths of 25 individuals, the United Nations mission in the country has called for an end to the attacks and reprisals as well as appealed for dialogue to resolve the situation.

October 28, 2016 (JUBA) - The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) has called for an end to military hostilities between South Sudan's two main rival forces.

Arms and light weapons have been used by both warring parties in South Sudan to commit abuses (Photo courtesy of SSANSA)

JMEC's deputy chairman Augostino Njoroge told the African Union Peace and Security Council in the South Sudanese capital, Juba that fighting will harm the peace process.

"The peace agreement is wounded, but it is still alive and remains our best hope for sustainable peace in South Sudan," Njoroge said in a statement issued Friday.

“Every diplomatic effort must be made to stop all hostilities and restore the ceasefire with immediate effect so that implementation of the Agreement can resume properly," he added.

Fihting resumed in Juba on the eve of South Sudan forcing the country's first vice president and armed opposition leader, Riek Machar to flee the young nation, capital.

Both the government and the rebels deny there is fighting, but JMEC dismisses their claims.

“Insecurity around the country is having a profound impact on the lives of ordinary South Sudanese. Human Rights are being compromised, livelihoods are destabilized, the economy is weakened and people are left scared and anxious," said Njoroge.

A delegation from the African Union Security Council is in Juba to get first hand account of the security situation in the country. Their visit concided with the Ethiopian Prime Minister's trip to Juba.

(ST)

October 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Minister of Electricity and Water Resources, Mutaz Musa, Friday said that Sudan intends to build a 3000 megawatt power transmission line from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to link Ethiopia and Sudan electricity networks.

The planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project (AP)

The Sudanese minister pointed that Sudan would increase imported electricity from Ethiopia to 300 megawatts instead of the current 200 megawatts in the coming summer season.

“The cooperation with Ethiopia is a model for regional integration in East Africa,” said Mutaz.

Sudan suffers power shortage especially in summer season as of late April to the end of July. During this period every year there is power cut for nearly eight hour on daily basis.

Sudanese government acknowledges the gap in electricity production and attributes that to the impossibility to import new power generation units due the economic sanctions on the country.

There are two main power generation equipment companies which are not dealing with Sudan due the economic sanctions imposed on the country, according to Sudanese officials.

The Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam is being built in Benishangul Gumuz region's Guba locality, a vast, and arid land some 40 kilometres away from the Sudanese border. This dam and others are built in Ethiopia to generate power covering not only the needs of land locked country but the whole region.

In a press statement to Anadolu Agency in Addis Ababa where he attends the meetings of the joint Ethiopian Sudanese Advisory Technical Committee, Mutaz pointed that Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt are committed to cooperate on GERD.

Mutaz stressed that the three countries have officially agreed to continue negotiations on the GERD.

“We are not concerned by what is reported in the media on GERD,” stressed Mutaz.

On his part, Ethiopia's Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Motuma Mekasa pointed that Sudan's strong position from the GERD is driven by the desire to achieve the mutual interest of Nile Basin countries.

Mekasa noted during meeting his Sudanese counterpart that GERD is 54% complete and pledged to accelerate construction process to complete the project within the set timeframe.

In September, Technical teams of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have signed the additional studies agreement of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The technical studies aimed at safeguarding the water quotas of the three riparian states.

The multi-billion dollar dam is being constructed on the Blue Nile, about 20 kilometres from the Sudanese border, and has a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate electrical power of up to 6,000 megawatts.

Egypt is concerned that the dam could reduce its quota of 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile water, while the Ethiopian side maintains that the dam is primarily built to produce electricity and will not harm Sudan and Egypt.

(ST)