Africa

The number of Tunisian militants flocking to join the hostilities in Syria and Iraq is one of the highest among those traveling to fight alongside extremists in the Middle East&#39s two most dogged conflicts, the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries confirmed today.

Provides an overview of Liberia, including key events and facts about this West African country

Decrying Burundi’s “blatant failures” to respect freedom of expression and assembly and the fact that open issues from the past are ensnaring the upcoming elections process, a United Nations rights expert today issued a strong call for greater global efforts to ensure independent monitoring and reporting and for all Burundian parties to safeguard fair elections and keep protests peaceful.

June 19, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The Suez and Red Sea Fishermen Association (SRFA) on Friday has asked president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi to interfere to secure the release of 101 Egyptian fisherman detained by the Sudanese authorities since April.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir (L) farewells Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) as he departs Khartoum on 27 June 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Earlier in April, 108 Egyptian fishermen who were bound to Eritrea aboard three ships but were arrested near the port city of Port Sudan over the allegation of encroaching into Sudanese waters. Seven of those, six minors and an elderly, were later released.

A Sudanese court fined twenty-nine of the men 5,000 pound SDG each and sentenced them to two years in jail in case of failure to pay.

Fifty-Nine other fishermen remain in Sudanese custody and their fate is not yet clear.

In September 2012, the Sudanese army said it released dozens of Egyptian fishermen in exchange for 112 Sudanese miners apprehended by the Egyptian authorities for crossing the borders while they were searching for gold.

Ali al-Gunaidi, the chairman of the board of the SRFA, said that time has come for the intervention of the president away from the diplomatic efforts.

Meanwhile, 24 Sudanese traditional miners who unknowingly crossed the borders in search for gold are still in custody in Almenia Al-Gadida, Aswan and Al-Wadi Al-Jadid.

Their families say they went astray while searching for their colleagues who died in the desert.

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June 19, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government on Friday said it did not get a proper and satisfying explanation giving reason for which the United Nations (UN) sought the approval to bring attack helicopters into the country.

UN peacekeeping chief, Hervé Ladsous speaks to reporters after a meeting with Jonglei state governor Kuol Manyang Juuk (left behind) who discusses with his aides in Bor on 7 July 2013 (ST)

South Sudanese deputy minister of foreign affairs said the government did not reject the request as alleged on Wednesday but did not get proper explanation, describing report of the under-secretary for peace keeping operations to the UN Security Council as “unfortunate and not reflective of facts [of] views.”

“As the government, we did not reject the request of the United Nations but we asked for explanations. The reasons which were given were not satisfactory,” said deputy foreign affairs minister, Peter Bashir Gbandi.

The reasons which the United Nations gave the government to warrant approval of the attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles was allegedly grounded on the necessity to provide protection to civilians coming under direct and targeted attacks from belligerent warring parties in the country.

“South Sudan is a sovereign state with full sovereign responsibilities. It is a country with capable army to provide adequate protection to her citizens and their properties within its territorial jurisdiction. Any support, whether technical or in any form must be supplementary,” Gbandi told Sudan Tribune.

The official was reacting to a report by the UN slamming president Salva Kiir on Wednesday for hindering efforts to protect civilians by blocking UN attack helicopters and surveillance drones and declaring that UN personnel caught taking photos will be deemed spies.

Ladsous told the United Nations Security Council that the world body wanted to do a better job protecting civilians amid the country's civil war.

Some 136,000 civilians are presently sheltering at seven UN sites around the country.

“We needed attack helicopters, request denied; we needed UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), request denied by the president to me, personally, three times last year,” Ladsous told a UN Security Council meeting on peacekeeping operations.

“Juba did declare some of our senior personnel persona non grata, if you look at the fact that yesterday it was announced that UN personnel taking pictures will be considered a spy, I think this raises a number of concerns,” he said. .

Ladsous said the movements of peacekeepers had also been restricted during the 18-month conflict in the world's newest state, which seceded from Sudan in 2011. There are some 12,000 UN troops and police in South Sudan.

But the deputy foreign minister denied the mission in the country was facing any difficulty in movement.

“That is very unfortunate report. It does not reflect facts. Everyone in this country knows, even small children that UNMISS moves throughout. They are out 24 hours and no one has ever stopped them from carrying out their activities except in areas which are not under the control of the government,” Gbandi said.

He also said the UN should instead blame the rebels led by former vice president, Riek Machar, for allegedly restricting non-governmental personnel in their controlled areas.

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June 19, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Differences have escalated in an unprecedented manner between the Darfurian Arab Mahameed clan chief, Musa Hilal, and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, aka Hametti.

SRF field commander Mohamed Hamdan (Hametti) speaks in a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday May 14, 2014 (ST)

A hand written statement showing the heading, logo and stamp of the Sudanese Revolutionary Awakening Council (SRAC) led by Hilal has widely circulated in the social media rejecting statements made by Hametti in which he criticized leniency of authorities towards outlaws.

The statement, which was issued Thursday, stressed that the responsibility of punishing criminals falls in the hands of the judiciary and the police not the RSF, saying that Hametti's statements contain hidden messages and signals against specific tribes.

Last Monday, in an audio recording during the welcoming ceremony of the new governor of South Darfur state, Hemetti called for putting criminals to expeditious trials and sentence them to death.

He expressed displeasure with the police who usually release the outlaws under the pretext of lack of evidence or proof, saying police actions make efforts of the RSF useless.

The SRAC emphasized that it stands by applying the principle of accountability according to the Sudan penal code against anyone who perpetrates a crime or a violation in his personal not tribal capacity, denouncing Hemetti's directives to execute people unlawfully.

The statement demanded the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to bring such actions which destabilize security in region to an end.

It said that Hemetti's statements confirm accusations against the government that it provokes tribal conflicts, noting that tribes are social and civil institutions and part of the system of governance in the country.

The RSF militia, which is widely known as the Janjaweed militias, were originally mobilized by the Sudanese government to quell the insurgency that broke out in Sudan's western region of Darfur in 2003.

The militia was activated and restructured again in August 2013 under the command of National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to fight rebel groups in Darfur region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states following joint attacks by Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels in North and South Kordofan in April 2013.

It should be recalled that both Hilal and Hemetti belong to the Arab Rezeigat tribe. While the latter belongs to the Mahri branch of the Rezeigat who mainly reside in South and East Darfur states, Hilal belongs to the Aballa (camel herders) Rezeigat of North Darfur.

Both men were recruited by Khartoum to help crush the rebellion which erupted in Darfur in 2003 when an ethnic minority rose up against the Arab-dominated government.

However, both men showed that their ambition go beyond the roles assigned to them by the government and because they had acquired a major following and political standing, Khartoum was left with no option but to provide them with more rewards in terms of high political and military positions.

(ST)

June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Saudi embassy in Khartoum informed their government that they have received information on a joint plot by the Egyptian and Sudanese intelligence to assassinate South Sudan president Salva Kiir.

Wikileaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

According to one of the cables, the embassy was made aware of three Egyptian intelligence officers who were dispatched by Cairo and are staying in Garden City neighbourhood.

The goal is to formulate a plan with Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to assassinate Kiir and an unidentified number of his aides, the undated cable said.

The leaked cable about Kiir's assassination was issued by the foreign ministry in Riyadh and addressed to the royal palace mentioning the conspiracy against the South Sudanese president.

No other details were given in the cable signed by former Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal.

(ST)

June 18, 2015 (NEW YORK) – United Nations (UN) has accused president Salva Kiir's government in South Sudan of refusing to cooperate with the world body and continuing to harass UN personnel in the young war-ravaged country.

This came in strong worded statements on report presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday by Herve Ladsous, head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in South Sudan.

He explained the frustration to the world body, saying president Kiir's government has been defying repeated requests to cooperate in the task of carrying out the UN mandate in the country where 12,000 peacekeeping troops, police and civilian personnel are involved.

The UN's peacekeeping chief expressed his frustration with South Sudan's leaders on Wednesday, explaining that president Kiir and his government have denied repeated requests for the UN mission there to use equipment needed to protect civilians.

“I see a country — and I can be very candid, that country is South Sudan — a country where we felt that we needed to do a better job to protect civilians," he said.

"We needed attack helicopters — request denied. We needed UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] — request denied by the president to me, personally, three times last year,” he told the Security Council.

He said Juba has continued to harass its personnel in the country in flagrant violation of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which the UN signed with the government.

“Juba did declare some of our senior personnel persona non grata," he said.

"If you look at the fact that yesterday it was announced that from now on UN personnel who are taking pictures will be considered as spies, well, I think this raises a number of concerns.”

Juba recently dismissed from the country Toby Lanzer, the deputy head of mission and the UN's humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, accusing him of being outspoken about the economic and humanitarian situation in the country, where 4.6 million people face severe food insecurity and more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes.

Since the eruption of the conflict in December 2013, the UN has been sheltering and protecting more than 100,000 civilians at hastily set up camps inside UN bases across the country.

Ladous said the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was therefore dealing with a government that did not want to talk things out nor cooperate with requests aimed to facilitate the mission.

For the first time, the UN has publicly revealed that president Kiir did not attend a high-level meeting held by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, in New York in September last year despite Kiir's travel and presence in New York at the time when he left Juba for such meetings in the US.

UN passed a resolution last month calling for sanctions to be imposed on individuals that are seen to be perpetuating the war and suffering of the populations in South Sudan. It has sent a team to South Sudan to designate individuals that should face the expected measures.

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June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese government agreed in principle to establish an Iranian military base, according to a cable released by Wikileaks today.

An Iranian navy special forces known as Takavaran wearing a similar uniform worn by the US military and holding an Israeli made Uzi sub-machine gun stands guard at the Iranian Corvette Admiral Naghdi as it docks in the Red Sea Sudanese town of Port Sudan on October 31, 2012 (Getty Images)

WikiLeaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

A cable classified as ‘Secret' with the letterhead ‘Saudi Arabia – Directorate of General Intelligence' discussed information they received on a request to this effect by the Iranian government.

Saudi intelligence said that the head of Iran parliamentary security subcommittee Ala al-Din Boroujerdi sent a letter to the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta Abbas asking for approval to establish this base.

To discuss this, members of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) met on May 18, 2012 at the residence of Sudan 2nd VP al-Haj Adam Youssef with the presence presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie, NISS director Mohamed Atta Abbas, defense minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein, presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail and minerals minister Kamal Abdel-Latif described incorrectly as the justice minister.

The participants agreed to temporarily close this dossier, the cable says, and not to discuss it and not to present it to other NCP members due to the “sensitivity of the issue”.

Ismail was tasked with conveying that they cannot agree to this request at present and “clarifying Sudan's critical situation” but at the same time expressing their “preliminary approval of this project and postponing talks on this regard until the right time”.

In December 2012, Sudan denied reports that it has given the go-ahead to Iran for establishing a Red Sea naval base saying it conflicts with government policy.

Since 2012, Port Sudan has become a regular stop for Iranian warships drawing concern by the US and its allies in the Gulf. Khartoum insisted that its relations with Iran are based on common interests and not intended to threaten the interests of the Arab Gulf states.
Iran says that In line with international efforts to combat piracy its Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard the vessels involved in maritime trade, especially the ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Tehran.

Israel also accuses Sudan of serving as a hub for weapons coming from Iran that are sent to Palestinian militants. It is believed to have conducted several airstrikes inside Sudan including one in October 2012 that targeted the Al-Yarmouk arms factory in Khartoum.

(ST)

June 19, 2015 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir was upset by what appeared to be a cool reception by late king Abdullah during a 2012 visit to Riyadh prompting one of his aides to write to Riyadh expressing this displeasure, according to a cable released by Wikileaks.

Saudi King Abdullah (R) meets Sudan's president, Omer Hassan al-Bashir, in Riyadh on 9 March 2012 (Photo: Reuters/Saudi Press Agency)

WikiLeaks published on Friday more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.

The letter addressed to then Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal from Bashir's adviser Mustafa Ismail dated April 10 2012 showed Khartoum struggling since late 2011 to establish contacts between Riyadh and Khartoum.

“I addressed your highness on December 8, 2011 to set a time to meet your highness in accordance with directions of president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and after the wait went on for so long [to meet Saudi FM] despite repeated phone calls to your chief of staff brother Sultan, brother president [Bashir] decided to visit the Kingdom himself to meet King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz may god preserve him,” Ismail wrote.

“But to be honest your highness, I wish the visit did not take place as the president came back frustrated with a different impression than the one he got after every visit [in the past] he made to the kingdom (he was really distressed)”.

Ismail then asks for a meeting with al-Faisal to discuss this matter further.

The letter by Bashir's adviser offers a rare glimpse into the strained relationship that existed between the two countries during the reign of late King Abdullah which was attributed to Khartoum's close ties with Tehran.

The Sudanese leader has been unable to meet directly with King Abdullah since this 2012 trip despite repeated visits for pilgrimage or regional events.

Bashir has reportedly pushed for financial help from the oil-rich country at that meeting to plug the growing budget hole caused by secession of oil-rich south the year before.

To make matters worse, Saudi Arabia closed its airspace in August 2013 to the plane carrying Bashir on his way to Iran where he was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of then president-elect Hassan Rouhani thus forcing him and his delegation to return home.

But Khartoum may have decided to appease the Arab Gulf state by abruptly shutting down the Iranian cultural center late last year under the pretext of spreading Shiite doctrine.

Sudan also joined the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen after meeting with King Salman in Riyadh last March.

(ST)

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has welcomed the announcement made last night by the armed groups of the so-called “Platform” to withdraw from the town of Menaka, in accordance with the arrangements for a cessation of hostilities.

June 18, 2015 (MARIDI) – A spokesperson for the Revolutionary Movement for National Salvation (REMNASA) claimed their forces successfully raided Maridi town, rescuing the county commissioner and locals from “well armed government allied Dinka tribal militia”.

The map of Western Equatoria in red

The incident, Col. Sunday John Martin alleged, caused heavy losses on both government forces (SPLA) and the allied tribal militia groups.

“The incident happened after the community of Maridi issued a press-statement on 11 June 2015 condemning the evil acts of the Dinka cattle keepers with backing of the government forces (SPLA), whereas they burnt houses, killed innocent civilians and looted people's properties between 7-9 June 2015,” he said in a statement.

He added, “Our brilliant forces intervened and destroyed the SPLA's production unit as per our press release dated 9th June 2015”.

The Maridi community, in their press statement, called for full implementation of the 8 April presidential decree, which demanded that all cattle Greater Equatoria deployed in Maridi be evacuated.The South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir issued the order.

It further called for respect of the constitution and that civilians be protected, without discrimination and bias toward some ethnicity.

Col. Martin claimed the armed militia group invaded the residence of the Maridi county commissioner with “intention to assassinate him and his family as well to massacre the population of Maridi town, allegations which Sudan Tribune could not easily verify.

“Our revolutionary forces killed at least 20 SPLA and their allied tribal forces and injured several others and were in control of Maridi town for five hours before it tactical retreated,” he further claimed.

The REMNASA spokesperson appealed to the civilian population in Maridi to refrain from using military mobility as well to remain in demilitarised zones for safety reasons.

(ST)

June 18, 2015 (NEW YORK) – United Nations (UN) has accused president Salva Kiir's government in South Sudan of refusing to cooperate with the world body and continuing to harass UN personnel in the young war-ravaged country.

UN peacekeepers in South Sudan with one of their helicopters (UNMISS)

This came in strong worded statements on report presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday by Herve Ladsous, head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in South Sudan.

He explained the frustration to the world body, saying president Kiir's government has been defying repeated requests to cooperate in the task of carrying out the UN mandate in the country where 12,000 peacekeeping troops, police and civilian personnel are involved.

The UN's peacekeeping chief expressed his frustration with South Sudan's leaders on Wednesday, explaining that president Kiir and his government have denied repeated requests for the UN mission there to use equipment needed to protect civilians.

“I see a country — and I can be very candid, that country is South Sudan — a country where we felt that we needed to do a better job to protect civilians," he said.

"We needed attack helicopters — request denied. We needed UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] — request denied by the president to me, personally, three times last year,” he told the Security Council.

He said Juba has continued to harass its personnel in the country in flagrant violation of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which the UN signed with the government.

“Juba did declare some of our senior personnel persona non grata," he said.

"If you look at the fact that yesterday it was announced that from now on UN personnel who are taking pictures will be considered as spies, well, I think this raises a number of concerns.”

Juba recently dismissed from the country Toby Lanzer, the deputy head of mission and the UN's humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, accusing him of being outspoken about the economic and humanitarian situation in the country, where 4.6 million people face severe food insecurity and more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes.

Since the eruption of the conflict in December 2013, the UN has been sheltering and protecting more than 100,000 civilians at hastily set up camps inside UN bases across the country.

Ladous said the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was therefore dealing with a government that did not want to talk things out nor cooperate with requests aimed to facilitate the mission.

For the first time, the UN has publicly revealed that president Kiir did not attend a high-level meeting held by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, in New York in September last year despite Kiir's travel and presence in New York at the time when he left Juba for such meetings in the US.

UN passed a resolution last month calling for sanctions to be imposed on individuals that are seen to be perpetuating the war and suffering of the populations in South Sudan. It has sent a team to South Sudan to designate individuals that should face the expected measures.

(ST)

June 18, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese foreign ministry Thursday summoned the British ambassador to Khartoum, Peter Topper, to express its concern over a draft resolution submitted to the UN Security Council by the United Kingdom about the renewal of the African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

UNAMID peacekeepers provide protection to WFP trucks during a 100km road trip from El Fasher to Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur (Photo: UNAMID/Albert González Farran),

"During the meeting, the undersecretary at the foreign ministry Abdel Gani al-Naeim described the draft resolution as unjust and "inconsistent with the positive developments in Darfur, said the foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al Sadiq on Thursday .

Al-Sadiq further said the draft resolution ignored the work conducted by the tripartite committee of the Sudanese government, African Union and the United Nations on a exit strategy of the hybrid peacekeeping mission from Darfur.

In his written statement, the Sudanese diplomat said the draft resolution was based on a recent progress report by secretary-general where he says that attacks by government militias displaced nearly 80,000 civilians in Darfur.

The Sudanese government strongly condemned the "misleading" report and accused the international organization attributing recent displacement of civilians which is triggered by tribal fighting to the government militiamen.

The Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations Hassan Hamid Hassan said the report " inverted the facts and misled the members of the UN Security Council". He further said that "some of the information provided therein is not accurate at all. "

Sudanese government officials say the regular army and its militias cleared the region from rebel groups, adding that the "Decisive Summer" military campaign restored security particularly after the defeat of the fighters of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in South Darfur state last April.

According to the spokesperson, al-Naeim also regretted that the draft resolution authored by United Kingdom linked between Darfur and the situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states where the Sudanese army fights the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North.

He further stressed on the need to respect the work of the tripartite mechanism saying it demonstrated its ability to solve all the problems related to exit strategy from Darfur.

The UN Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution extending the UNAMID mandate for another year on 24 June 2015.

(ST)

June 18, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The son of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) chief Mohammed Osman al-Mirghani was sworn in as senior presidential assistant, almost two weeks after missing the oath ceremony for cabinet members before president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.

Mohamed al-Hassan al-Mirghani

Al-Hassan has attributed his absence to pressing family obligations in the city of Sinkat in eastern Sudan.

Mohmed al-Hassan was sworn in with the presence of Chief Justice Haidar Dafalla and the Minister of the Presidency Salahuddin Wansi.

In dismissing that he was unhappy about the posts offered to the DUP, al-Hassan said that he had received news of his appointment from Bashir personally.

In a press statements after the oath, al-Hassan underscored his party's support for the national dialogue to achieve political stability.

The April general elections brought the DUP in second place to the ruling party with 25 seats in parliament.

They were awarded three federal ministries and 2 ministers of state along with the post of senior assistant to the president.

(ST)