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Africa Horn

Seven killed in Sudan clashes

2010-07-12

At least seven people have been killed in fighting in south Sudan's Upper Nile state when soldiers attacked a rival militia, a military spokesman said on Sunday. A southern army unit launched an attack on Friday on gunmen accused of membership in the military wing of a breakaway political party, said Major General Kuol Diem Kuol. "There were seven of these men killed, and 11 were captured as prisoners," said Kuol of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a former rebel group that now acts as the south's army. "On our side three were wounded, one seriously," he said. Kuol said the attack was launched on Friday morning against two bases in the oil-rich Upper Nile state. "The forces are militias of Lam Akol," he added, referring to the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement Democratic Change party (SPLM-DC), which split last year from the south's ruling SPLM. Akol, a former foreign minister, was the only challenger to the south Sudan President Salva Kiir in April's elections. He has repeatedly denied accusations that his party has a military wing.

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Africa Horn

Twenty-five killed in south Sudan fighting

2009-09-06

Twenty-five people have been killed and several more wounded in clashes in the tense oil-rich Upper Nile region of south Sudan, a military spokesman said on Saturday. Heavily armed fighters attacked an ethnic Dinka settlement in Bony-Thiang, north of the state capital Malakal, early on Friday, Major General Kuol Diem Kuol, of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), said. Angry Dinka groups then launched a retaliatory raid on the nearby Shilluk village of Bon, killing five people including a woman and two children, Kuol said. A southern army spokesman accused Sudan's former foreign minister Lam Akol, now the leader of a breakaway political party, of arming the attackers from his Shilluk tribe. Rival tribes from Sudan's underdeveloped south have clashed for years in disputes often caused by cattle rustling and long-running feuds, but violence has soared this year.

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Africa Horn

South Sudanese rejoin national government

2007-12-28

KHARTOUM - Former south Sudanese rebels rejoined the national government on Thursday, two months after walking out because of disputes over the implementation of a peace deal that ended two decades of war. The move came after Sudanese President Omar Al Beshir signed decrees giving cabinet posts to members of the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, an official said. Beshir has given 16 posts to the SPLM — seven ministers and six ministers of state and three presidential advisors who are due to be sworn in on Thursday. The SPLM led by First Vice President Salva Kiir quit the cabinet in October complaining that the north was failing to implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. The CPA provides for a six-year transition period in which the south would enjoy regional autonomy and participate in a national unity government ahead of a 2011 referendum on the region’s future status. Relations between Khartoum and the south had been increasingly unstable and a first round of talks aimed at resolving the crisis broke down on November 11. But the two sides announced on December 12 that an agreement had been reached that would pave the way for the return of the southerners to the cabinet. Among the new appointments is Deng Alor who replaces Lam Akol as foreign minister.

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Africa Horn

Kenya: Special envoy pleads for Sudan dialogue

2007-10-18

(SomaliNet) Kenyan special envoy to Sudan has pleaded with the country’s government and ex-southern rebels to start dialogue aimed at ending a crisis that threatens the landmark peace agreement. Kenyan former president Daniel arap Moi made the appeal days after the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew from the government of national unity, accusing the National Congress Party (NCP) of balking in implementing the accord. "All parties are encouraged to exercise restraint, respect past commitment (to the agreement) and adopt the route to dialogue," Moi said in a statement. "It is my genuine concern that failure to address the present crisis may lead to undesirable consequences in that country which will threaten peace and stability in the region and disrupt normal life," said the ex-president. Moi, who launched the Sudan peace talks in 1994, called on the feuding sides "to embrace dialogue and reconciliation" that would lead to "an amicable solution... in the interest of the people and nation of Sudan." "This is to remove all forms of suspicion that the spirit of equal partnership between the parties in the implementation of the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is not being honoured," said Moi, who was appointed in July to monitor its implementation. The SPLM recalled its ministers from the cabinet over what it called Khartoum’s failure to implement the 2005 peace deal that ended 21 years of fighting. At least 1.5 million people were killed and four million displaced. On Tuesday, Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir reshuffled his cabinet in a bid to ease tensions that have alarmed foreign nations already grappling with a separate conflict in the country’s western region of Darfur. Key in the reshuffle is the replacement of foreign minister, currently held by Lam Akol who is considered close to Beshir’s NCP, and giving the post to Deng Alor. But the SPLM has hinted rejoining the government if Beshir meets its demands, notably getting Khartoum’s troops out of the southern territory and resolving the status of disputed oil district of Abyei in central Sudan. In September, the south Sudan government urged Moi to salvage the accord from unravelling, warning that the deal was being threatened by hardliners in NCP. The peace deal also calls for 50-50 percent sharing of oil revenue and grants the south the right to vote in 2011 referendum whether it would secede or reunite with Khartoum.

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Africa Horn

Sudan accepts resolution on Darfur force

2007-08-02

Sudan ended months of stonewalling on Wednesday by accepting a UN resolution approving a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur where more than 200,000 people have died in four years. “We announce our acceptance of the resolution,” Foreign Minister Lam Akol told journalists the day after the council unanimously approved the 26,000-strong force. After months of diplomatic wrangling aimed at replacing an under-equipped AU force of 7,000, the resolution authorised the world’s largest peacekeeping force for what the UN has called the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophe. In addition to the huge death toll, more than one third of Darfur’s six-million population has been displaced because of what the United States has branded a genocidal campaign by Khartoum against rebels. The new force, which could begin deploying in October, will take over from the current AU mission to patrol a vast and mostly arid area in western Sudan roughly the size of France. Akol also announced “our engagement in applying the part that concerns us” in Resolution 1769, after Khartoum finally agreed to the hybrid force on July 12 on condition that it be comprised essentially of African troops. Besides requiring acceptance of the deployment, the resolution urges Khartoum and rebel groups to commit themselves to a permanent ceasefire and to join peace talks under AU-UN mediation. The United States ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad had warned of “the swift adoption of unilateral and multilateral measures” against Khartoum if it failed to comply with the resolution. Akol said the resolution “responded to several of Sudan’s reserves and concerns” and “only permits the use of force in self-defence” and to “protect civilians in conflict zones without damaging Sudan’s sovereignty.”

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Africa Horn

Sudan ready for Darfur peace talks, says minister

2007-06-19

Sudan is ready to attend Darfur peace talks under joint United Nations-African Union mediation to resolve a conflict that has driven 2,5-million people from their homes, its foreign minister said on Monday. The rebels have split into more than a dozen groups since a peace deal last year signed by only one of three rebel negotiating factions. Many leaders have lost control of their commanders on the ground, creating a chaotic and dangerous environment for aid workers and peacekeepers. "Any time they want the peace talks to start, we have always been ready," Foreign Minister Lam Akol told reporters. "The problem is with the other side." The AU-UN initiative hopes to have all factions lined up to begin talks by about August. The former UN humanitarian chief in Sudan, Manuel Aranda da Silva, has said the rebels do not have to unite, but should have a unified position before talks. Aid workers involved in the world's largest humanitarian operation say an agreement is a priority to create an effective ceasefire. Some have worried about slow progress to bring all factions to the table. One aid official, who declined to be named, said international mediators should be based in Khartoum to be most effective, not just jetting in and out on short missions. UN special envoy Jan Eliasson, a Swede, appointed Finn Pekka Haavisto to assist him. But Haavisto, like Eliasson, has decided to be based outside Sudan. "They need to be based here to fully engage in this process and to understand all the stakeholders," said the aid worker. Peacekeeping plan International experts estimate 200 000 have died in more than four years of conflict in Darfur, violence Washington calls genocide. Khartoum rejects the term and puts the death toll at 9 000. The conflict flared when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing the central government of neglecting the remote, arid Western region. Khartoum mobilised militias to quell the revolt. The UN Security Council visited Khartoum on Sunday and said it was satisfied that Sudan had unconditionally accepted a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force of at least 20 000 troops and police and would recommend to the general assembly to fund the mission. Foreign Minister Akol said the meeting was constructive and that all sides were in agreement, even over command and control of the force, which had been unclear. "The commander is African," Akol said. "The [command and control] structures that are followed by the UN are the ones that we have agreed would be adopted by the AU." "So we say the command and control structures are the UN," he added. Diplomats said China, India and Pakistan had indicated interest in contributing to the force. Akol said those nations were friends of Sudan, but that the final decision would be up to the UN and AU. "They have expressed interest within the hybrid operation," said Akol. "All of them are friends to Sudan -- I don't think we have anything against them." He added the UN contingents of the joint force would wear blue helmets and the Africans, green. But all the troops would wear green AU badges.

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Africa Horn

Plans ready for UN Darfur force but not deployment

2007-06-08

The United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) were close to a deal on Wednesday on fielding 23 000 peacekeepers in Sudan's violent Darfur region, but full deployment is not expected until next year at the earliest. The so-called "hybrid" UN-AU force is the culmination of two earlier stages allowing the United Nations to bolster 7 000 beleaguered African Union troops. Sudan has still to agree to the large force, after it refused to have an operation controlled solely by the United Nations. Top UN and AU officials approved a revised plan, which the AU's Peace and Security Committee and the UN Security Council are expected to endorse. Should Sudan delay approval, the United States and Britain want to push for sanctions, including a no-fly zone over Darfur to help put an end to fighting that has uprooted more than two million people. Experts estimate 200 000 people have died. In Heligendamm, Germany, United States President George Bush said the United States "would consider" helping to enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur should the UN Security Council impose one. "I want to see people helping Darfur by joining us and sending clearer and stronger messages to President [Omar al-]Bashir" of Sudan, Bush told reporters on the first day of a summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations. But a majority of the 15-nation Security Council question expanding current mild sanctions against Khartoum, which the United States and Britain have been pushing for. No resolution has been distributed and it is doubtful that would happen before council members visit Sudan on June 17. Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lam Akol, told reporters in Washington via video conference that "we reject the imposition of sanctions". He said sanctions would harm the peace process as well as the Darfur people.

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Africa Horn

Arab League bemoans members’ unpaid pledges

2007-02-20

KHARTOUM - Arab League countries were urged to fulfil their pledges to bolster the ailing peacekeeping force in Darfur during a meeting held Monday in Khartoum to review last year’s Arab summit. ‘Arab countries are urged to stand by their commitments in favour of an African force,’ the summit’s follow-up committee said in a statement issued after a brief meeting in the Sudanese capital. So far, only 10 percent of the 150 million dollars pledged in Khartoum last year for the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur has been paid up. Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol also said at the opening of the meeting that he banked on ‘better Arab financial effort to support the African force.’ So far, only 10 percent of the 150 million dollars pledged in Khartoum last year for the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur has been paid up. Wotta surprise. Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa conceded on Sunday that commitments -- notably to assist the Palestinians, Somalis and people of Sudan’s Darfur region -- had not been met. ‘We did what we could in the present circumstances,’ the secretary general told reporters upon arrival. Mussa however insisted he remained confident that more funding was in the pipeline. ‘We have many pledges and we are monitoring this very closely with the African Union.’ Oh yes, the check's in the mail!

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Africa Horn

Rice Warns Sudan of Relations With U.S.

2006-09-13

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she told Sudan on Monday there is no chance of improved relations with the United States if it flouts the world's demand for U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur. Rice gave reporters a brief account of her morning meeting in Washington with Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol. She was visiting Canada to thank that ally for its generosity in helping stranded American air passengers during the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. "I won't say that we made progress, but I will say that I delivered the strongest possible message in the strongest possible terms to the Sudanese government that any hope for bettering relations between the United States and Sudan rests on Sudan's cooperation with the United Nations Security Council resolution," she said. Rice said Akol carried a letter to President Bush, which she had not seen. He also "brought hope for better relations between the United States and Sudan, and I told him in no uncertain terms that wasn't on the agenda unless Sudan acted responsibly," she said. Also pressuring the Sudanese government, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced legislation Monday calling for targeted sanctions against those responsible for atrocities in Darfur. The bill by Indiana Republican Richard Lugar calls for sanctions against people determined by the president to be "complicit in, or responsible for, acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity in Darfur."

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Africa Horn

Sudan Delays Approval of U.N. Peacekeepers

2006-06-07

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - The Sudanese government told a high-level Security Council delegation Tuesday that it would not give immediate approval for a U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur, but was willing to keep talking about the takeover from African Union troops. Senior representatives of the 15 Security Council nations met Tuesday with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Foreign Minister Lam Akol and members of Parliament on a visit to the capital Khartoum. During closed door meetings, they discussed at length the transfer of peacekeeping responsibilities from a 7,000-strong African Union mission that has been unable to quell fighting in Darfur to a more muscular U.N. force. "There has been no agreement and discussions continue," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, who is leading the U.N. mission, said of a U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur which the U.S. is strongly in favor of.

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Africa Horn

Annan regrets top UN envoy denied entry to Darfur

2006-04-05

UNITED NATIONS - UN chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday deplored Sudan’s decision to bar UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland from visiting its strife-torn Darfur region. “The Secretary General regrets that .... Jan Egeland was not permitted by the Government of Sudan to visit Darfur,” Annan’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. I'm confused, does he deplore it or regret it? Makes a difference, ya know ... “The pressing and urgent humanitarian requirements of Darfur are a priority for the United Nations and coordination efforts to sustain this large program were at the centre of Mr. Egeland’s visit,” he added. Dujarric said Annan would try to raise the issue with Sudanese President Omar Al Beshir. Just ask Omar to cut you a little slack, Kofi ... Meanwhile Egeland, the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, on Tuesday canceled plans to visit Darfur refugees in Chad after Sudan denied him overflight rights. A day after protesting Khartoum’s refusal to allow him to visit Darfur itself, Egeland said Sudan had now quashed his plans to see the refugees by denying him permission to use Sudanese airspace to travel to neighboring Chad. “I have been denied rights to fly over Darfur to visit refugees in Chad,” Egeland told AFP by phone from Rumbek, a town in southern Sudan where he met with Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol on Tuesday. “We have now called off the visit to Chad because the foreign minister told me the government could not allow me overflight rights,” Egeland said, adding that he would fly to the Kenyan capital Nairobi to consider next steps. Over lunch. He blasted the Sudanese government, which he said was deliberately “obstructing” his efforts to raise international attention to the worsening situation in Darfur and deteriorating conditions for the refugees in Chad. “The president of Sudan is responsible for all of this ... denying me access to those two regions,” he said. Perhaps Omar has concluded that you guys are a bunch of powerless bozos whom he can safely ignore? Egeland pointed out that his Norwegian nationality had been raised as an issue by the authorities since the global crisis that flared up in January between Europe and the Muslim world over cartoons deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed and first carried by Scandinavian newspapers. Well sure, ya can't trust a herring-eater as far as you can throw him ...

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Africa Horn

Sudan Govt Rejects UN Troops for Darfur

2006-02-23

Sudan rejects US-backed efforts to have UN peacekeeping troops take over from African Union troops in the country’s troubled Darfur region, Foreign Minister Lam Akol said yesterday. The United States has said genocide is continuing in Darfur with rape, looting and killing by Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, and has urged the African Union to accept a hand over to UN peacekeepers. “The government has rejected this ... We did not hear anybody saying they (the AU) are not doing enough to stop the violence. What we are hearing is that they’re short of funds,” Akol told Reuters. Sudanese officials had previously shown a softer position toward the deployment of UN troops in Darfur, which the AU says it supports “in principle.” The United Nations has already begun contingency planning for any takeover. African foreign ministers will make a final decision in early March on any handover. In a statement issued yesterday the head of the AU mission in Sudan, Baba Gana Kingibe, said the transition was “inevitable” in the long run. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million herded into camps during more than three years of fighting in Sudan’s remote western Darfur region. Non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglect.

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