Africa

February 18, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese army chief of staff Thursday received the commander of the Sudan Liberation Army of Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM).

In line with the peace agreement signed on 3 October 2020, the armed groups have to joint cantonment sites and to be trained with the national army ahead of its gradual integration.

"Lt Gen Mohamed Osman al-Hussein received in his office on Thursday the field commander of the Sudan Liberation Army Juma Haggar," the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said in a statement released on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and the Head of Military Intelligence added the statement.

The Sudanese government recently called on the armed groups to bring their fighters to the assembly sites in order to start the training of the joint forces that will protect civilians in Darfur. Until now only the Sudanese government troops are deployed on the ground.

The SLA-MM which was based in Libya regained the country last November. UN experts say some of them are still in north African country but the group's leader says all of them now in Sudan.

In line with the peace agreement, the armed groups should not recruit new troops after the signing of the peace agreement. The fighters who are still outside the country will not be accepted in the cantonment sites after a certain delay.

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The United Nations Secretary-General has strongly condemned Wednesday’s attack on a boarding school in north-central Nigeria in which one student was killed and several students, as well as relatives and staff, abducted. 

February 17, 2021 (MOROBO) - The opposition National Salvation Front (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirillo Swaka has dismissed allegations that it was responsible for the death of General Saki James Palaoki, it's former area commander for Maridi area in South Sudan's Western Equatoria State.

Thomas Cirillo Swaka (Photo Reuters)

Gen. Palaoki was kiled in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on February 10.

"The allegations and propaganda against NAS is mere mudslinging and baseless lie devoid of evidence, but aimed to sow division and ethnic hatred", partly reads NAS's statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

The opposition group accused the Democratic Resistance Movement (DRM) of being behind allegations that it killed Gen. Palaoki.

"NAS urges it's members to ignore them and treat them with the contempt they deserve," added the statement signed by it's spokesperson, Suba Samuel Manase.

Meanwhile the hold-out opposition group urged the public to shun division along ethnic lines and focus of the struggle to achieve freedom, justice and the rule of law.

"NAS further urges its members to concentrate on their national revolutionary responsibilities and ignore the cheap propaganda of groups such as the DRM," stressed the statement.

NAS, which is not party to the September 2018 peace deal, signed a truce agreement with the government in Rome on January 12, 2020.

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February 17, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Saudi Arabia said intending to mediate between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to end the 9-year dispute over the filling and operating of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The negotiations over the GERD are stalled over how to fill the reservoir of the giant dam without affecting Egypt water supplies or threatening Sudan small dams.

The three countries also are divided on how to negotiate as Sudan propose to involve African mediators with the support of US and EU observers.

On Tuesday, the Saudi Minister of State for African Affairs Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Qattan arrived in Khartoum where he met with senior officials, including Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi.

"Saudi Arabia stands firmly with the water security of Arab countries, and my country seeks to end the issue of the Renaissance Dam in a manner that guarantees the rights of the three countries," Qattan told reporters, after his meeting with Hamdok on Wednesday.

He said he had met earlier with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, upon the directives of the King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

"We will continue the good offices to end this important and thorny file," he added.

For her part, Foreign Minister Maryam Al-Sadiq stressed that the filling and operating of the Ethiopian dam should be done is within the framework of a binding legal agreement, and confirmed her country's commitment to dialogue with the aim of reaching a solution that satisfies all parties.

In a related development, Hamdouk chaired a meeting of the Supreme Committee on the GERD to discuss Ethiopian statements about its intention to start the second filling of the dam next July even without reaching an agreement on exchanging information.

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February 17, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Fighters belonging to the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) arrived at cantonment sites in Khartoum state, as part of the security arrangements in the Juba peace agreement.

The former rebel forces under the command of Juma Haggar, the SLA-MM chief of staff was welcomed by a Sudanese army general at a gathering site outside Omdurman district.

The SLM-MM which posted a video about the arrival of their fighters to the Khartoum state did not give the location of the military site or from where they arrived.

Last November, the former rebel fighters arrived in El-Fasher, capital of North Darfur, from Libya after crossing Chad with the permission of the Chadian army.

In line with the peace agreement, the SLM-MM combatants will work jointly with the government forces to protect civilians in Darfur as they would be gradually merged into the national army by the end of the transitional period.

In a report to the UN Security Council last January, the panel of independent experts on Darfur said that the armed groups agreed with the army of General Hafar in Libya and the United Arabes Emirates to keep some of their forces in Libya.

Nonetheless, Minni Minnawi dismissed their participation in the civil war in Libya but he admitted the presence of his fighters there.

On 14 February, Minnawi met with Lt Gen Mohamed Osman Al-Hussein, Sudanese Army Chief of Staff, and discussed "ways to expedite the implementation of the security arrangements".

Following the meeting, he stressed his group's keenness to communicate with the Sudanese armed forces and to contribute to protecting peace and extending stability.

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February 17, 2021 (JUBA)- President Salva Kiir is in talks with South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) leaders in a move that could see its gubernatorial position relinquished for more positions in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), a source said.

South Sudan opposition alliance leaders meeting President Salva Kiir in Juba, November 6, 2019 (PPU)

Kiir, the presidential source told Sudan Tribune Wednesday, has been under pressure from some senior ruling party (SPLM) members to enter into an agreement with SSOA to trade off its position of Jonglei state governor for posts at the national and foreign service.

SSOA, a third party to the September 2018 peace deal, was allocated Jonglei and nominated Denay Jock Chagor as governor.

The opposition alliance also has Hussein Abdelbaggi as one of the five vice president, three cabinet ministers and a junior minister.

“There are bilateral talks between the parties. His excellency the president of the republic wants to see if SSOA will agree to let him appoint someone from the SPLM leadership (SPLM-Salva Kiir) to become the governor of Jonglei state so that this governor goes and address the issue of insecurity in the state and give them (SSOA) some positions at the national and foreign service levels,” the presidential aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

The opposition, according to the official, will get more positions to accommodate more of their members who failed to get assignments due to shortage of positions during the appointments.

“I would have taken this offer without hesitation if I were them. This is for their advantage. They will now have more positions than they have now”, he explained.

According to the official, the ongoing talks are now between a select figure within the office of the vice president for service clusters, minister of agriculture, minister of public services and the minister of higher education on one hand and officials from the president's office and the secretariat of the country's ruling party.

“If given, the position of the governor will return to a politician from a Lou Nuer who feel they have not been represented in either the cabinet or at the state level by a faction allied to president Kiir. Riek Gai Kok, a former minister of health is a potential candidate,” he said.

It, however, remains unclear whether the incumbent governor will accept the proposals from the SPLM and whether it would not amount to interference in affairs of another political organization.

According to the revitalised peace agreement, the responsibility sharing at state and county levels shall be 55% for President Kiir's side, armed opposition (SPLM-IO) 27%, SSOA 10% and Other Opposition Parties (OPP) 8%.

The positions that shall be shared as per the responsibility sharing formula are governors, speakers of state legislatures, state councils of ministers, state legislatures, county commissioners and county councils.

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February 17, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's ruling coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) has rejected a proportion by the military component to appoint military governors in the states facing security problems.

The military component of the Sovereignty Council proposed to give them the position of governor in some states where the security situation is volatile such as Kassala, Red Sea, Gadaref, West Kordofan, West Darfur, East Darfur and North Darfur.

However, Ahmed Hadra, a member of the FFC leadership council told the Sudan Tribune on Wednesday they do not support such a proposal because they do not believe that a military governor can control the situation more than a civilian, as he said.

"There is no agreement on this proposal, which cannot be accepted. Also, there are no justifications for the military to assume the rule of governors."

He said that the governors of the states are nominated by Freedom and Change and appointed by the Prime Minister, as provided in the constitutional document governing the transitional period.

The states with a volatile security situation witnessed tribal violence and inter-communal attacks even before the appointment of the civilian governors.

Hadra said that the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) groups, their peace partners, demand to allocate them states, adding the issue is still under consideration as the two parties consult on the matter.

On 22 July 2020, Hamdok appointed interim governors in the 18 states of Sudan awaiting the signing of a peace agreement for the final appointment which should be done in consultation with the armed groups.

At the time, the SRF movements said they want to administrate some troubled states during the transitional period saying it would help to implement the peace agreement. Therefore, appointing military governor obstruct their plans and deprive them of political gains among their people particularly in Darfur.

For his part, the spokesperson for the former rebel group the Sudanese Alliance, Huzaifa Muhi al-Din, stated that the demand of the military component to allocate the position of governor in some states is states against the "ABCs of democracy."

"The civilian rule does not accept the involvement of the military in power, and the military establishment has nothing to do with governance," stressed Muhi al-Din in a statement extended to the Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

He further said that the appointment of military commanders in some states is a breach of the terms of the Juba Peace Agreement, which stipulated the participation of the SRF organizations in the governance of Darfur states.

The partners of the transitional period agreed to appoint state governors on February 25, as part of a time matrix to complete the formation of the transitional authority structures.

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Poor rainfall, flooding and desert locusts are contributing to extreme food insecurity in Somalia, threating 2.6 million people, the UN agriculture agency said in a new analysis released on Wednesday.  

Butterfly farming along the Kenyan coast is a source of income and a way of conserving the local forest.

The United Nations Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission called on Somali leaders, on Tuesday, to resume dialogue to resolve outstanding differences concerning elections in the country. 

February 16, 2021 (JUBA) - A South Sudanese army general has warned that the young nation could disintegrate if president Salva Kiir and his five deputies in coalition government do not act to avert escalation and spiralling out of control of the current situation.

"We are in no peace and no war situation with 8.3 million South Sudanese facing famine, rampant insecurity across the country, soldiers have not been paid for 7 months, foreign missions have gone without salaries for 21 months, unified forces have been abandoned in the training camps with no plans to graduate them and they have threatened to decamp anytime, rampant corruption, inflation with prices of essential commodities increasing every day, the list is long," Major Gen. Peter Mabior Lual said Tuesday

Writing on his Facebook page, the army officer said Kiir and his deputies were sitting on a time bombard if they fail to stop the situation from spiralling of control.

“President Salva Kiir and his five Vice Presidents should know that they are sitting on a ticking time bomb. With this protracted delay of full formation of the government, things could spiral out of control and it will be too late to manage”, he wrote

The military officer's warning comes barely two weeks after the Catholic bishop of Yambio and Tambura diocese, Barani Edwardo Hiboro called on the government to prioritize care, maintenance, organization and the development of men and women in uniform.

He urged members of the organized forces to carry out well their role of protecting people, enforcing justice and order within our country.

“But leaving them in a chaotic way like it is now, is leaving the country at the mercy of disorganization, of confusion, of violence and lawlessness. When these elements are missing among the men and women in uniform, the reality is that they became part of those who are causing confusion. What kind of nation do we have then?” said Hiboro.

The top religious leader said he was aware no group has laid down weapons since the end of the conflict in 2018, expressing a delay could lead to disorder and lawlessness in the country at the expense of peace and unity.

"If they are disorganized, be sure the country is also disorganized because nobody oversees putting things in order. Can we, therefore, prioritize this? We need to prioritize the reorganization of our forces”, he stressed.

The Bishop was speaking at a social function held on February 10 in Yambio.

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February 16, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Iran was behind the recently foiled planned terror attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassies in Addis Ababa and Khartoum, the U.S. and Israeli officials told the New York Times this week.

On 3 February, Ethiopia's National Intelligence Service (NISS) said it had foiled a terrorist plot to attack the UAE embassies in Addis Ababa and Khartoum, adding they worked with the Sudanese intelligence agency to arrest the group's members.

The Ethiopian authorities, however, did not disclose the identity of instigators who was orchestrating the planned attacks. They only but said they had been monitoring the activities of these groups since November 2020 in collaboration with several foreign intelligence services in Europe, Asia and Africa.

On Monday, the New York Times, based on statements by the U.S. and Israeli security officials reported that Iran was behind the attacks.

"They say the Ethiopian operation was part of a wider drive to seek soft targets in African countries where Iran might avenge painful, high-profile losses such as the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's top nuclear scientist, said to have been killed by Israel in November, and Maj Gen Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian spymaster killed by the United States in Iraq just over one year ago," said the NYT.

Rear Adm Heidi K. Berg, director of intelligence at the Pentagon's Africa Command, said that Iran was behind the 15 people arrested in Ethiopia and that the "mastermind of this foiled plot," the paper further said.

In addition, the Swedish authorities arrested ringleader, Ahmed Ismail who is residing in Stockholm.

The Ethiopian security service earlier this month said that Sudanese General Intelligence Service (GIS) also arrested the suspects who were preparing for similar attacks in Sudan.

However, the Sudanese authorities did not comment on this report.

Nonetheless, the Iranian embassy in Addis Ababa rejected the allegations of the American and Israeli officials.

"These are baseless allegations only provoked by the Zionist regime's malicious media," said a spokeswoman for the Iranian Embassy in Addis Ababa.

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February 16, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council renewed his support for the Empowerment Removal Committee on Tuesday after a meeting to clarify the misunderstanding between the two sides.

On 31 January, the Committee spokesman Salah Manna accused al-Burhan of directing the Attorney General to release the ousted president's wife from imprisonment. A week later, al-Burhan filed a defamation case

For his part, the committee chairman Yasir al-Atta resigned from his position amid calls to dissolve it.

While the Attorney General said that the release of al-Bashir's wife took place by the Public Prosecution without any interference from al-Burhan but was decided in accordance with the law and after seizing her property and money and preventing her from travelling.

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, the Sovereignty Council said that al-Burhan held a meeting with the members of the committee to the removal of the former regime including its alternate president, Mohamed al-Faki, and committee members Salah Manna, Wajdi Saleh, Taha Osman and Ihab al-Tayeb.

"The meeting discussed the statements issued during the last period, and the wrong information was corrected," reads the statement.

For his part, "the Chairman of the Sovereign Council renewed his support for the Empowerment Removal Committee, and as the most important demand of the revolution," stressed the statement.

The meeting further emphasized that the committee chairman al-Atta should retract his resignation and resume his activities within the removal body.

The divergence between the removal committee and al-Burhan was seen in Khartoum as an example of the difficult cohabitation between the civilians and the military.

FFC voice support to removal committee

Before the meeting between the committee and al-Burhan, the Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) issued a statement expressing its support and praising the performance of the removal body.

The council reiterated "its unlimited support for the committee", describing it as "the revolution's first line of defence", and that any attempt to damage it means prejudice to the revolution and its gains."

FFC called on the Public Prosecution to arrest the remnants of the ousted regime involved in sabotage and collect evidence that would allow to bring them to fair trials.

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February 16, 2021 (JUBA) – China has donated over 14,056 boxes of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to fight child malnutrition in South Sudan.

A South Sudanese boy has a MUAC test, designed to detect malnutrition (Photo: ACF-South Sudan/T. Frank)

"We are very proud to be in association with UNICEF to deliver the nutrition food to the children who are in dire need of food," the Chinese ambassador to South Sudan, Hua Ning said on Monday.

He said China is committed to improve bilateral relations with Juba.

"We hope that the donation from China will help to ease the nutrition situation here in South Sudan and we also hope that continued progress of South Sudan's peace talks will help to ease and finally eliminate the root (cause) of the humanitarian crisis," said Hua

"We hope that every child in South Sudan will enjoy a better future," he added.

For his part, the UNICEF South Sudan Representative, Andrea Suley, said the Chinese aid will help treat over 14,000 children with severe acute malnutrition.

"This RUTF from China will save lives and give children a second chance," he said.

According to UNICEF, an estimated 313,000 children in the world's youngest nation currently suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

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Behind each case brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC), lie countless personal stories of horror, trauma and, sometimes, hope. “Life after conflict”, a photo-led series published by the ICC, shows the devastating impact that war crimes have on people’s lives.

An urgent appeal for $222.6 million was made on Tuesday by the UN refugee agency and partners to assist more than 315,000 Burundian refugees this year. 

Atrocities committed by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have become part of a systematic pattern to disrupt lives, instill fear and create havoc, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday, expressing alarm over the ongoing situation. 

The UN Secretary-General has underlined his concern for Africa’s Sahel region, where deteriorating security and violence are aggravating an already difficult humanitarian situation that is unfolding amid the COVID-19 pandemic and climate emergency. 

Pregnant women are amongst the tens of thousands of people in need of assistance in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where fighting between the Government and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been ongoing since November 2020. Hiwot* is one of them.

February 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - European Union diplomats in Khartoum urged the Sudanese government to take bold reforms to halt the deteriorating economic situation in the country.

Hamdok government had failed to stop the collapse of the Sudanese pound as one dollar is sold for over 400 pounds; while in January it was sold for over 250 pounds. However, the official exchange rate is 55 pounds for one dollar.

Also, the inflation rate in Sudan for the month of January jumped to 304.33% compared to 269.33% in December 2020, which represents n increase of 35 points.

On Monday, the head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan received a number of EU diplomats to Sudan including ambassadors of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

Following the end of the meeting, Robert van den, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Sudan told the media they discussed with al-Burhan a range of issues related to the recent political developments and the formation of the new transitional cabinet, tensions with Ethiopia, and the economic situation.

Dool said they briefed al-Burhan about the current size of the EU support to the democratic transition process and the humanitarian assistance to Sudan.

"We noted that the pressure on the Sudanese people is palpable, but we also noted that the government has to take bold and fast solutions to reform the economy," he stressed.

The government has implemented a number of economic reforms and ended the fuel subsidy but it is reluctant to liberalize the currency and to end administrative controls over foreign exchange.

A week ago, a Western diplomat told Reuters that donors countries are frustrated by the government delay to float the pound would not trigger more pressure on the pound or inflation since almost all transactions are already carried out at black market rates.

The message from donors to Sudanese authorities was: “This will unlock huge amounts of financing, grants, assistance, development, investment, and the situation is just becoming worse and worse day by day,” the diplomat told Reuters.

The delay of the pound liberalization in exchange rate reform is holding up the launch of a family support programme to pay a monthly $5 cash subsidy to 80% of Sudan's population.

"Some $400 million in aid and World Bank pre-arrears clearance grants for the first phase of the programme has been withheld because the money would be worth much less if converted at the official exchange rate," further said Reuters.

Recently, a series of protests denounced the government's failure to redress the economic situation, as Prime Minister appeared under pressure from the left groups.

Now, with his recently-formed all parties government, it is not clear if he would keep on reforms and meets the IMF requirements for debit removal and get the needed economic support from the international financial institutions.

EU Ambassador Dool said they also discussed the situation of the eastern Sudan border with Ethiopia, as the two sides are massing troops, creating conditions for a conflict that would destabilize the whole region.

He said they expressed "concern about the troubled period the Horn of Africa is currently traversing".

"We commended the constructive role played by Sudan as the Chair of IGAD and declared our support for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia," he further stressed.

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