Africa Horn | |
Sudanese army chief denies meeting with Islamist leaders, despite report of their support | |
2023-10-02 | |
[SUDANTRIBUNE] Sudan![]() ’s Army Commander-in-Chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, refuted allegations of a recent meeting with Sudanese Army Secretary-General Ali Karti, emphasizing that he had only encountered Karti once in his lifetime. On Thursday, Sudan Tribune released a report claiming a gathering had taken place between al-Burhan and leaders from the Islamic Movement.
This report provoked a strong reaction from the Sovereign Council, which issued a vehement statement condemning the news outlet. The army’s leadership has been grappling with allegations of links to the Moslem Brüderbund. This Islamist organization is met with rejection both within Sudan and among the region’s countries. The release of this report coincided with Washington’s imposition of sanctions on Ali Karti, a move seen as confirmation of reports suggesting that Islamists were instigating and sustaining the conflict to obstruct Sudan’s transition to democracy and secure their return to power. Speaking to artillery soldiers in Atbara of the River Nile state on Saturday, al-Burhan vehemently denied any encounter with a delegation of Islamic leaders led by Ali Karti. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... he added that the army welcomed anyone willing to join its ranks in the battle against the RSF. "I met Karti once in my life in China, where I worked as a military attaché, and he visited in his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs," al-Burhan stated. "I have not met with any political organizations, be they Moslem Brüderbund, communist, or Baathist, nor have any army commanders engaged with or entertained them. We are all Sudanese, and anyone who wishes to fight alongside us is welcome as a soldier like any other. If they harbour ulterior motives, we will reject them without hesitation." Al-Burhan warned those attempting to incite against the military establishment, saying they would be branded as "deceivers and manipulators" and face consequences. Islamist leaders urge al-Burhan to continue fighting, pledge support [SUDANTRIBUNE] Islamist leaders, led by the Secretary-General of the Islamic Movement, Ali Karti, held a lengthy meeting with the Commander in Chief of the Sudan ![]() ese Army and Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in Port Sudan to discuss options for dealing with the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to sources who spoke to Sudan Tribune, the Islamist leaders urged al-Burhan to avoid any negotiated settlement to end the conflict. They pledged to supply the army with thousands of mobilized fighters, given that the organization has thrown all its weight into the war against the RSF. The Islamist leaders also reassured al-Burhan that Ahmed Haroun, the leader of the banned National Congress Party, who is indicted by the International Criminal Court, is working hard to mobilize young people to join the army in its battles in Khartoum. They urged al-Burhan to continue fighting, saying that patience was required. Dozens of camps have been opened to train volunteers in several states after al-Burhan’s earlier appeal. Video clips have shown leaders affiliated with the Islamic movement addressing the mobilized, urging them to join the fight. During the war, some figures of the former regime were released from prisons in Khartoum. Reports have indicated that this group has been active in the eastern Sudan states, inciting the continuation of the war. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the official authorities in several states in the east have denied that these activities were carried out with their knowledge. | |
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Africa Horn |
Fog o’War: Is Sudan's Omar al-Bashir free or in prison? |
2023-04-27 |
[Garowe] As the war in Sudan enters the fourth week, it is not clear if deposed leader Omar al-Bashir![]() ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. He was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it... is still held in prison or was freed, with one of the groups fighting claiming to have released him while another one insisting that he is still under custody within a "secure" location in Khartoum. In 2019, al-Bashir, who was in charge of Sudan for three decades, was ousted from power following a civilian uprising that was backed by the military. By the time he was tossed, he was being sought by the International Criminal Court [ICC] over war crimes in the fragile Darfur state. Ironically, the Rapid Support Forces [RSF] and the Sudan Armed Forces [SAF] who had jointly backed the civilian uprising, are now locked horns over the control of the country with both parties claiming victory. Over the weekend, the two groups battled near the base where al-Bashir is being held. Military officials told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that Bashir, as well as Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun — who both held senior security positions during the Darfur crisis — had been moved to a military-run medical facility in Khartoum under tight security for their own safety. Later on, the army accused RSF of wearing military uniforms before raiding the prison and freeing inmates. The RSF, led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! and claimed that the military "forcibly evacuated" the facility as part of a plan to restore al-Bashir to power. Haroun, a former official also wanted by the ICC, claimed that he had been freed from prison according to Sudan Television. According to him, they left prison because of fierce fighting and lack of food and water which are supposed to be provided by the government. Haroun also said he was ready to appear in front of the judiciary whenever it was functioning and would take responsibility for his own protection. It was not immediately clear if Bashir, who has spent extended periods in a military hospital, was with him, Rooters reported. For the last two weeks, the two groups have been fighting over the control of the capital Khartoum but on Monday, they all agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian assistance within the country. The ceasefire is also meant to allow several foreign nationals to leave at their will without coercion. Kober prison held a number of screeching muppets detained after the coup. One of them who walked free, Ahmed al-Fatih, said he was willing to surrender at a cop shoppe but could not find any that were functioning amid the unrest, according to a statement released by his defense lawyers. Both screeching muppets said their lives were in danger at the prison as food and water ran low. Al-Bashir created the powerful RSF in 2013 years after the Darfur war in which the group, formerly known as Janjaweed, was accused of killing thousands of people. After he was removed from power, al-Bashir was charged with several crimes in the country and would be imprisoned and he was found guilty. Rapid Support Forces stormed five prisons, released inmates: Sudan's Interior Ministry [AlAhram] Sudan's Interior Ministry accused on Wednesday the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of storming five prisons and releasing inmates from 21 to 24 April. The ministry added in a statement that the RSF stormed Kober Prison, resulting in the deaths and injuries of several prison administration employees, and released all inmates from the prison. Late on Tuesday, Ahmed Harun, a top aide of former president Omar al-Bashir ![]() ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hee was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it... , claimed that together with other members of al-Bashir regime he had beat feet from Kober Prison. al-Bashir had also been held in the same prison, but the army confirmed on Wednesday that the 79-year-old had already been transferred to a hospital before the fighting erupted on 15 April. "Members of al-Bashir's regime, including al-Bashir himself, had been moved to military-run Aliyaa Hospital due to their health conditions... and remain in the hospital under the guard of the judicial police," the army said in a statement. Harun claimed in a recorded address to the Sudanese television that he and other tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! regime members had remained in detention at Kober for nine days, even after the jail was emptied of both guards and prisoners. He added that they had taken responsibility for their protection in another location. The escape of leading figures from the ousted regime of al-Bashir, at least one of whom is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, has raised fears the conflict may take a turn for the worse. Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... the Sudanese army confirmed that the RSF continue to violate the truce declared on 25 April by launching random artillery shelling on areas in the vicinity of the General Command building and the strategic facilities administration. "Snipers have also been reported to be shooting in areas surrounding Khartoum Airport, the residential airport neighbourhood, and areas in Bahri and Omdurman," the Sudanese army said in a statement. It also accused "the rebels" of stationing themselves inside residential areas to use residents as human shields. "The theft of a large number of food distribution vehicles is another violation of the ceasefire. This action endangers citizens' property and makes them military targets," the army added. |
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Press Sudan to surrender Haroun, Bensouda tells Security Council |
2021-06-11 |
In a very emotional briefing that took place a week after a visit to Darfur, she underscored that all the indicted former officials are now detained in Khartoum and there no legal impediment to their surrender to the ICC. Also, she pointed to "credible reports" about Haroun’s wish to be transferred to the war crimes courts. "I appeal to this Council to prevail upon Sudan to immediately honour Mr Harun’s wish and facilitate his transfer to the ICC without delay," the prosecutor said. "Additionally, Sudan has to fully cooperate with the Office’s investigations, including through providing unhindered access to its territory; access to relevant records, information and materials as well as protection of witnesses," she stressed. To explain her pressing request, Bensouda said that the former State Minister for Interior and the militia leader Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali "Kushayb" were jointly charged with the same crimes. "Their cases were separated because Mr Abd-Al-Rahman voluntarily surrendered himself to the ICC," she added. "Sudan is under a legal obligation to surrender the suspects pursuant to Resolution 1593. The Juba Peace Agreement is also clear that all suspects must appear before the ICC and that Sudan should fully cooperate with the Court in its investigation and prosecution of these suspects," she stressed. During her meetings in Khartoum with the head of the Sovereign Council and the prime minister, she requested Haroun’s handover. In an interview with The Asharq TV on Wednesday, al-Burhan seemed uncertain about the surrender of the former Sudanese officials to the ICC, despite his previous commitments made before Darfurian victims. There are "proposals from the International Criminal Court to try the wanted people at home," he said. Kushayb voluntary surrendered himself to the ICC on 9 June 2020 after fleeing from Darfur to the Centra African Republic following the collapse of the al-Bashir regime. Related: Fatou Bensouda: 2021-05-31 ICC chief prosecutor in landmark visit to Sudan's Darfur Fatou Bensouda: 2021-05-13 War crimes court concerned over Middle East violence, says prosecutor Fatou Bensouda: 2021-03-22 Israel cancels PA foreign minister’s travel documents after visit to ICC Related: International Criminal Court: 2021-06-08 Blinken: Most rockets fired in recent Gaza fighting were produced locally International Criminal Court: 2021-06-05 Afghan media worker killed by IED explosion in Kabul International Criminal Court: 2021-06-03 Sudan Says Plan for Russian Naval Base Is up for Review |
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Africa Horn |
Omar al-Bashir ally would prefer ICC to Sudan court for Darfur trial |
2021-05-05 |
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] One of the key people accused of war crimes and genocide in Darfur in the early 2000s said on Tuesday he would prefer to be tried in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rather than what he said were biased Sudanese courts. Ousted President Omar al-Bashir ![]() ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hee was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it... has for years resisted the ICC warrants against him and four close allies over the conflict in Sudan's western region that killed an estimated 300,000 people and drove 2.5 million from their homes. They face charges at The Hague of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed by pro-government forces in Darfur beginning in 2002. "An authority with this kind of miserable performance will not be able or willing to carry out justice," one of the four allies, Ahmed Haroun, said in a statement verified by his family, referring to Sudanese courts. "... And so I state with full confidence that it is better for my case to be argued, if there is a case worth arguing, in front of the International Criminal Court." Another of Bashir's allies, Ali Kushayb, surrendered to the ICC in the Central African Republic in June. The ICC issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010 accusing him of criminal masterminding atrocities in his campaign to crush a revolt in Darfur region. Sudan's transitional government, formed after an uprising that removed Bashir and sent him, Haroun, and several others to jail in April 2019, has said it will cooperate with the ICC and ICC officials have visited Sudan. But it is not yet clear whether the defendants will be sent to The Hague or tried inside Sudan. |
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Africa Horn |
ICC prosecutor in Khartoum for talks on Darfur crimes |
2020-10-18 |
[SUDANTRIBUNE] Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to arrive in Khartoum on Saturday night for talks with the Sudanese officials on Darfur crimes. Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), briefs the Security Council at a meeting on the situation in Darfur (UN Photo)Bensouda will hold talks with the transitional government officials on ways to bring justice for the victims of crimes committed in Darfur by the former regime of Omer al-Bashir who is indicted with other officials of genocide crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Sudanese officials say they are willing to cooperate with the court but there was no contact with the ICC on the matter. This visit will be the first engagement. The first visit of ICC delegation under the new regime was announced in a short statement released by the office of the Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Saturday. "Today, Saturday, the seventeenth of October, a delegation from the International Criminal Court led by the Prosecutor General, Mrs Fatou Bensouda, will pay an official visit (to Sudan) until the twenty-first of this month, for talks with senior Sudanese officials". The visiting delegation will discuss cooperation between Sudan and the International Criminal Court regarding the former officials wanted by the court for Darfur war crimes, further said the statement without naming them. Last June, Bensoua told the Security Council that all ICC Darfur suspects must be brought to justice through genuine proceedings either in a courtroom in Sudan or at the Court in The Hague. To this end, pursuant to the principle of complementarity and my mandate as ICC Prosecutor, I reiterate that I welcome dialogue with the Government of Sudan, while reassuring victims of the atrocity crimes committed in Darfur of my steadfast commitment to ensuring that those responsible for atrocities in Darfur ultimately face justice," she said. The government and the gangs agreed that the suspects of Darfur war crimes should be tried by the ICC. The war crimes court has issued arrest warrants three officials al-Bashir, former interior minister Abdel Raheem Mohammed Hussein, and his deputy Ahmed Haroun. The three are in detention in Khartoum. The ICC recently requested the court to defer the trial of militia leader Ali Kushayb to June 2021 saying they need more time to conduct further investigations. The prosecutor office confessed that their investigation has been obstructed by the lack of cooperation of the former regime and now they count on the cooperation of the transitional government to investigate many cases. |
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Africa Horn |
ICC-wanted former Sudanese official tests positive for COVID-19 |
2020-05-05 |
[Sudan Tribune] A former Sudanese official wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crime charges has tested positive for coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)![]() , said the Sudanese government on Monday. South Kordofan's Governor Ahmed Haroun (Rooters)Ahmed Haroun, former head of the National Congress Party (NCP) of the ousted President Omer al-Bashir has been under arrest since the collapse of the former regime. Haroun is one of several former Sudanese officials including al-Bashir who are indicted by the ICC for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Interior said that his first on 21 April was negative, but the second and third tests were positive. The patient was isolated in the hospital and later on transferred to an isolation site where he receives healthcare He "will be returned to Copper Prison after the improvement of his health condition," further stressed the statement. Haroun has been transferred to Universal Hospital in Khartoum North as it is one of hospital prepared with a section for COVID-19 patients. |
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Africa Horn |
ICC wanted Kushayb fled to Central African Republic |
2020-02-24 |
According to Darfur 24, Kushayb crossed the border to the CAR Africa, adding he and dozens of armed rustics travelled in two four-wheel vehicles, and cars loaded with fuel. The official expressed fears that the runaway who is from al-Taisha tribe launch a new rebellion in Darfur. An activist from Um Dafouk said that Kushayb had been during the past weeks in Badia area, northwest of the city, and used to come Um Dafouk market but he disappeared last week. Um Dafouk is located on the border area between Sudan and the CAR in the state of South Darfur, at 370 km west of Nyala. Kushayb is charged with war crimes against civilians in Darfur during 2003 and 2004. He is accused of ordering killings, rapes, and looting. An ICC arrest warrant was issued for him on April 27, 2007. The ICC calls on the Sudanese transitional to hand over the deposed president Omer al-Bashir, his former interior state-minister Ahmed Haroun, his former defence minister Abdel Rahim Hussein and militia leaders Ali Kushayb and Abdallah Banda. Sudanese government still has to launch the handover procedures to the ICC. Information minister Faisal Mohammed Saleh denied last Tuesday the arrival of an ICC delegation to discuss their handover. Related: Ali Kushayb: 2013-07-11 Elite Troops Deployed In Sudan's Second-Largest City Ali Kushayb: 2013-03-07 ICC Sets Date for Trial of Darfur Rebels over Peacekeeper Deaths Ali Kushayb: 2008-07-19 Arab League to discuss charges facing Sudan leader Related: International Criminal Court: 2020-02-21 ICC judges okay trial for alleged Islamic extremist from Mali International Criminal Court: 2020-02-14 Nigeria's army burns villages in fight against Islamist forces - report International Criminal Court: 2020-02-12 Sudan will hand over Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court |
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Sudan Transfers Governor Wanted on War Crimes Charges |
2013-07-13 |
[An Nahar] The governor of Sudan's war-torn South Kordofan state, who is wanted on war crimes charges, has been transferred to a neighboring region where fighting spread this year, the presidency said on Friday. Ahmed Haroun's move to North Kordofan, where he will be acting governor, comes as part of changes which establish a new state of West Kordofan, presidential press secretary Emad Sayed Ahmed said in a statement. Haroun was elected governor of South Kordofan in a May 2011 election disputed by his opponent from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). Khartoum tried to disarm the Movement's military wing, leading to war the following month. Fighting then spread to Blue Nile state in September 2011. Later that year the ethnic minority SPLM-N joined rebels from Sudan's far-west Darfur region to form the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) to topple the 24-year Islamist regime of President Omar al-Bashir ![]() Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. The SRF in April this year staged its first joint operation, sweeping through a previously peaceful part of North Kordofan as part of coordinated attacks in the region. Analysts said the rebel strike humiliated the authorities, who took a month to retake one of the seized areas, Abu Kershola in the far-north of South Kordofan. Haroun is sought by The Hague-based ![]() ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... on 22 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur several years ago. |
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Sudan Rebels: They Are Provoking Us |
2012-10-10 |
[An Nahar] ![]() "They are provoking us," Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, front man for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), told AFP. He said Monday's attack followed government shelling and aerial bombardment of rebel positions, which was continuing Tuesday. Sudan's army front man could not be immediately reached to comment. "The current military activities for the SPLM-N are a mere action of self-defense in front of the huge NCP government dry season offensive preparations," Lodi said, referring to the ruling National Congress Party. The United Nations ...Parkinson's Law on an international scale... , which condemned what it called an indiscriminate and reprehensible attack, said one shell landed in the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) compound but failed to explode. South Kordofan Governor Ahmed Haroun, quoted by the official SUNA news agency, said six women and kiddies were killed and 22 people were maimed. The U.N. said it was unclear if civilians had been hurt. |
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Nearly 60 killed in Darfur tribal fighting: state media |
2012-07-20 |
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Nearly 60 people have been killed this week in fighting between Arab tribes in Sudan's conflict-plagued Darfur region, the official SUNA news agency said on Thursday. Fierce festivities along the border between East Darfur state and South Kordofan killed 35 Misseriya rustics and 23 from the rival Rezeigat tribe, South Kordofan governor Ahmed Haroun was quoted as saying by SUNA, citing a preliminary assessment. Another 24 rustics from both sides were maimed, he said, after officials from the two states met in the East Darfur town of Ed Daein. "We agreed to take some measures to control the situation in the area, and the local leaders are discussing procedures" to prevent a recurrence, Haroun said. The African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... -United Nations ...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the sound of artillery... peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID), said it understood "that the fighting has subsided" at the moment. "And of course if this is the case then we hope that the peace will hold," said Christopher Cycmanick, a UNAMID front man. In June 2010 more than 100 people were killed in two weeks of festivities between the groups. Non-Arabs in Darfur rebelled in 2003 against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government to secure a greater share of resources and power. |
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Sudan parliament brands South's government 'enemy' |
2012-04-17 |
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Sudan's parliament voted unanimously on Monday to brand the government of South Sudan an enemy, after southern troops invaded the north's main oilfield. "The government of South Sudan is an enemy and all Sudanese state agencies have to treat her accordingly," the parliament's resolution said. After the vote, parliamentary speaker Ahmed Ibrahim El-Tahir called in the legislature for the overthrow of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) which rules the South. "We announce that we will clash with SPLM until we end her government of South Sudan. We collect all our resources to reach this goal," he said. World powers have urged restraint after fighting began with waves of aerial bombardment hitting the South, whose troops last Tuesday seized Khartoum's main Heglig oil region from Khartoum's army. It is the most serious clash since July 2011 when South Sudan separated after an overwhelming "yes" vote under a peace deal that ended 22 years of civil war. When the South became independent, Khartoum lost about 75 percent of its oil production and billions of dollars in revenue, leaving the Heglig area as its main oil centre. Tuesday's attack caused a total production shutdown, Ahmed Haroun, the South Kordofan governor, said last week. Legislators said those responsible for the loss of a region which accounted for about half the country's oil output should be held accountable. "How did we lose Heglig in a matter of hours?" Samia Habani, a Khartoum MP, asked in the chamber. "This is something unacceptable." Alfa Hashim, an MP from Darfur in the country's west, said the seizure of Heglig was "something rare in the history of Sudan's army" and someone must be found responsible. Some have called for the resignation of Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein, who is wanted by the ![]() ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for alleged crimes against civilians in Sudan's western region of Darfur. A number of MPs sought a suspension of the constitution and elected government in South Kordofan state, which includes Heglig, to give the military a free hand to fight the South. The latest unrest follows festivities around Heglig that broke out on March 26. Although South Sudan disputes that Heglig belongs to Sudan, the area is not included in the roughly 20 percent of the border officially contested. |
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Africa Horn |
South Sudan Army Says Still in Control of Disputed Oil Hub |
2012-04-15 |
The South Sudan army claimed Saturday to still be in control of Heglig after Khartoum said it had launched an offensive to recapture the disputed oil hub. "The SPLA is controlling Heglig," front man Philip Aguer told AFP. He said that the Southern army had repelled soldiers of the Sudanese Armed Forces in the village of Kelet some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Heglig on Friday, the fourth day of the worst festivities since South Sudan's independence last year. "Yesterday, there were festivities between their patrols and SPLA. ... SPLA has destroyed two tanks belonging to the SAF," Colonel Aguer said. Aguer said the SAF bombed the border areas of Jau and Panakuach, in northern South Sudan's Unity State, on Saturday, as well as Heglig, the main producer of Khartoum's oil. No information was available early Saturday on the positions of the two armies. A Unity State government front man, reached by telephone in the state capital Bentiu, confirmed the aerial bombings near the border. "The areas in the north of Unity State are still subject to Antonovs (planes)," said the front man, Gideon Gatfan. "We don't have the updates yet between Heglig and Kelet. But all those areas they are subjected to bombing," he added. On Friday, the SAF said it had launched a counter-attack towards Heglig and were close to the town. Khartoum had vowed to react with "all means" against a three-pronged attack it said was launched by South Sudanese forces. The festivities have brought the two former foes the closest yet to a return to outright war. Some two million people died in Sudan's 22-year civil war, one of Africa's longest, which ended with a peace deal in 2005. Neither army has provided casualty figures but one Southern soldier in Bentiu said earlier: "There are so many bodies at the front line, so many dead" that it is impossible to bury them or bring them back. Juba has refused to withdraw from Heglig unless certain conditions are met, including Khartoum's pullout from the neighboring Abyei region it holds and which, like Heglig, is claimed by both sides. When the South separated last July, Khartoum lost about 75 percent of its oil production and billions of dollars in revenue, leaving the Heglig area as its main producer. Its output roughly fulfilled domestic requirements. But Tuesday's attack caused a total production shutdown in the area, said Ahmed Haroun, governor of South Kordofan state, where Heglig is located. World powers including the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... , United Nations ...Parkinson's Law on an international scale... , United States and China have called for restraint and voiced deep concern at the escalation of violence. |
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