Crisis Group Urges Comprehensive Talks to End Sudan Conflicts

February 17, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

kutum_IDPs_640-629x419

Residents of the Kassab Camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in North Darfur wait to be examined by doctors. Credit: UN Photo/Albert González Farran

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (IPS) – Amidst ongoing violence and continuing humanitarian emergencies in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, the International Crisis Group (ICG) called Thursday for a comprehensive solution to Sudan’s many regional conflicts.In the first of a series of reports on the subject, the Brussels-based think tank urged the long-ruling National Congress Party (NCP) to sit down with both its armed and unarmed opposition, as well as civil society groups, to forge a transition to a new governance system designed to resolve conflicts between the central government in Khartoum and its restive regions.

It also urged the international community, including the U.N. Security Council, the African Union, and the Arab League, to join the demand for a single, comprehensive solution to Sudan’s multiple conflicts lest the country fragment further 18 months after South Sudan gained its independence.[pullquote]3[/pullquote]

“Unless the government and the international community engage with both the armed and unarmed opposition and achieve a comprehensive solution to Sudan’s chronic problems, the conflicts will continue and multiply, threatening the stability of the entire country,” according to E.J. Hogendoorn, the ICG’s deputy Africa programme director.

The new 55-page report, which focuses primarily on the war between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North in South Kordofan, comes as aid groups are reporting growing humanitarian crises in North Darfur, as well as states bordering South Sudan.

Oxfam warned Thursday that tens of thousands of already-displaced people have fled inter-tribal fighting in several areas of a gold-producing region in North Darfur and now lack access to clean water and adequate shelter and sanitation.

It said at least 90,000 people had been displaced in the Jebel Amir area over the past month – more than the number who were displaced in Darfur during all of 2012. The group called on the government to open a key road into the area and permit relief organisations full access.

“This conflict in Darfur is now 10 years old, and we need to see a renewed effort to bring about stability and peace in this devastated area,” said El Fateh Osman, Oxfam’s Sudan country director. “We are struggling to meet already existing needs even as more are pushed into crisis.”

Oxfam’s statement followed an appeal last Friday by the U.S. State Department for the Sudanese government of President Omar Al-Bashir to halt aerial bombings in the region and to “urgently disarm militias” there.

Some of the Arab tribal militias taking part in the current fighting there were allied with the government 10 years ago as part of a scorched-earth counter-insurgency campaign that resulted in the deaths of at 300,000 people, most of them from black African farm communities.

But the ongoing economic crisis faced by the government resulting from the loss of oil revenue that followed South Sudan’s independence has weakened Khartoum’s influence over the militias, some of which have since turned on their former ally and patron not only in Darfur, but also in other regions, including South Kordofan and Blue Nile states where the Bashir government has used tribal militias to fight rebel movements.

Over the 18 months, more than 200,000 people have fled to South Sudan or Ethiopia from those two states, while another half million or more have been displaced internally in areas controlled either by the government or by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a rebel group with close ties to South Sudan’s government.

In its latest report, ICG said the conflict in South Kordofan, in particular, has reached the state of “strategic stalemate", exacting a “horrendous toll” on the civilian population.

The SPLM-N, according to the report, has as many as 30,000 soldiers and a large stockpile of weapons, compared to between 40,000 and 70,000 government troops. While the rebels are deeply entrenched in the Nuba mountains, the government controls much of the lowlands where most of the region’s food is grown.

“Government forces have fallen back on their familiar pattern of striking at communities suspected of supporting the rebels, so as to prevent the SPLM-N from living off the surrounding civilian population. Unable to farm, and with the government preventing humanitarian access to insurgency-controlled areas, many civilians have been forced to flee,” the report noted.

Adding to the SPLM-N’s strength, however, is its alliance with the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of rebel groups from around the country, and its increasing coordination with the official opposition parties

In its on-again off-again negotiations with the government, according to the report, the SPLM-N has increasingly pressed a national agenda, reflecting the concerns of its SRF partners, while the government has preferred to confine discussions to local issues.

In a major development last month, the SRF signed a “New Dawn Charter” with the National Consensus Forces (NCF), a coalition of all of Sudan’s opposition parties and some civil society groups. The result is a growing national coalition, including both armed and unarmed groups, in favour of a major reform in the way the country is governed.

The international community, according to the report, should engage with the SRF in order both to encourage its evolution “from a purely military alliance to a more representative and articulate political movement” and to facilitate negotiations with Khartoum for a comprehensive solution to Sudan’s regional conflicts.

“Piecemeal power-sharing arrangements, negotiated at different times with divided rebel factions, often encourage further rebellion with the sole aim of obtaining more advantageous concessions from Khartoum,” the report noted.

“If negotiations only partially address the political marginalisation of peripheries, calls for self-determination, still limited in Darfur and Blue Nile but vocal in South Kordofan, will increase.”

*Jim Lobe’s blog on U.S. foreign policy can be read at http://www.lobelog.com.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2013.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Conflict, Diplomacy, Featured, Peace Tagged With: , ,

Returning Sudanese Child Soldiers Their Childhood

April 16, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Andrew Green*

JUBA, Apr 15, 2012 (IPS) – As the process of reintegrating South Sudan’s child soldiers into their old lives begins soon, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army renewal of its lapsed commitment to release all child soldiers from its ranks in March could mean that within two years children will no longer constitute part of the country’s militia groups.

The SPLA, which is the military wing of the South Sudanese political party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, is one of the few remaining national militaries in the world on the United Nations’ list of parties to conflict who recruit and use child soldiers. The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates there are 2,000 child soldiers in South Sudan. Though none are within the official SPLA, they are affiliated with militia groups that have earned amnesties from the government and are being integrated into the national military.

If the SPLA follows the action plan it has drafted and signed – removing all child soldiers from the militias and working to get them education and training opportunities – the country could be off the list in as soon as two years.

For the child soldiers, though, the process of reintegration could take much longer, as they enter schools or learn skills that will provide other opportunities for making a living outside army barracks.

The process will begin, according to Fatuma H. Ibrahim, the chief of UNICEF’s child protection unit in South Sudan, by identifying and securing the formal release of all child soldiers. On their way out, they will be given civilian clothing, because "what is military remains with the military," she said.

The youth, who can range in age from as young as 12 up to 18, will undergo some group therapy sessions with social workers to try to understand how they came to join the militias and to talk about any violence they may have encountered.

She said there will be about one percent who "really need some clinical management," though their options will be limited in a country with few psychiatric resources. "It’s a very big problem. Most receive tablets, but that’s it."

Family members will also meet with social workers to discuss reintegration and ensure that the children will be welcomed back and discouraged from re-joining.

"The parents have to be ready to receive them," Ibrahim said. In some communities in South Sudan that includes a symbolic transition ceremony.

In a country that has known war for more than two decades, the military is often one of the few viable economic opportunities for young men. Many of the children UNICEF and its partners remove from the ranks followed that pattern – looking to a position with a militia to provide some financial security for themselves and their families.

One of UNICEF’s big challenges is providing opportunities that deter the delisted child soldiers from going back. After the new release rounds take place, the youth will be given an opportunity to choose between going to school, which many of the younger ones will opt for, Ibrahim said, or learning a trade. The country’s limited job market means older youth are encouraged to learn skills like carpentry, which is in increasing demand in rapidly growing towns. In the future, they will be trained in two skills, in case the first one does not prove marketable.

UNICEF and other organisations are also working to provide incentives to keep the child soldiers from re-enlisting. Ibrahim pointed to a livestock-rearing project, where former child soldiers are given a goat to raise and breed.

If the programme is going to work, she said, the incentives have "to be meaningful."

South Sudan’s new action plan was officially signed on Mar. 16 by the country’s Ministry of Defence, the U.N. peacekeeping force in South Sudan – UNMISS, UNICEF and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy.

Since it achieved independence last year, South Sudan has seen sporadic violence flare up across the country. In the north, there are ongoing hostilities with Sudan. And various parts of the country – especially Jonglei state – have seen consistent intertribal conflict over land rights and cattle.

Coomaraswamy said most of the country’s child soldiers are found in the north, where violence has been most consistent.

South Sudan has been on the U.N. list long before its independence in July 2010. The earlier incarnation of the SPLA – the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement – was one of the original groups included when the list was drafted in 2002.

In 2006 a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed between north and south Sudan, which ended decades of fighting and paved the way for South Sudanese independence. At the time, the SPLA committed to an action plan to release its child soldiers, though it did not completely follow through.

By 2009, monitoring organisations had found no child soldiers within the main SPLA, though they still existed in the militia groups.

Coomaraswamy said the country’s renewed commitment comes from "the power of the list" and pressure from international partners.

And while the U.N. has never sanctioned South Sudan over its inclusion, she said there was always a possibility that would happen. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for instance, has suffered sanctions as a result of its inclusion.

Coomaraswamy said her office is currently in negotiations with the DRC, Myanmar, also known as Burma, and Somalia – the only government militaries who have not yet signed on to an action plan.

*Andrew Green is reporting from South Sudan on a fellowship from the International Reporting Project, an independent journalism programme based in Washington, D.C.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Conflict, Featured, Human Rights, Peace Tagged With: , ,

SOUTH SUDAN: Still Counting the Dead in Inter-Ethnic Conflict

January 24, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Jared Ferrie

PIBOR, South Sudan , Jan 24, 2012 (IPS) – In the ward of a partially destroyed clinic, Mangiro (who did not give his last name) sat on a bed next to his wounded nine-year-old daughter, Ngathin. The little girl is fortunate, she survived the recent inter-ethnic clashes in Pibor county that killed her mother and sisters.

There are still no official figures released on how many people were killed, but the United Nations says at least 120,000 people have been affected by the violence.

Three weeks ago, at least 6,000 armed members of the Lou Nuer tribe attacked Pibor county, which is home to the Murle who have launched similar attacks. They destroyed and damaged homes and buildings, including this clinic run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Villagers were massacred during the assault, including Mangiro’s wife and children. He said his family fled their village when it was attacked and he found Ngathin the following day.

"We found the mother and she was dead and the child was still alive and we carried her here," he said through a translator. "They attacked us as a family. The mother and the girl’s other sisters are dead."

He moved aside the sheet to reveal a bandaged wound on Ngathin’s leg where she was shot while fleeing members of a rival ethnic group.

The surviving members of Mangiro’s family are among the 120,000 people the U.N. says have lost their homes and their cattle, which are the key to their livelihoods.

The U.N. has launched a huge emergency operation to bring food to those people, many of whom have been living in the bush for weeks, surviving off wild fruits. The U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) is using helicopters to deliver food to communities that are inaccessible by road in this isolated region.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the U.N. first estimated that 60,000 people had been affected. On Friday, Lise Grande, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, told reporters in Juba that the estimated number of people in need of aid had doubled and may rise even higher. The U.N. has a contingency plan for 180,000 people, she said.

The number of people killed remains a mystery. Immediately after the attacks, the county commissioner estimated 3,000 dead, but the government quickly dismissed that figure. James Chacha, the Pibor county medical officer, told reporters that about 2,000 were killed.

Despite repeated requests from journalists, neither the government nor the U.N. has released figures of bodies counted so far by their investigators.

"We have also been doing recces (reconnaissance flights) over the areas to look at the numbers of tukuls (homes) burnt and so on but there is no credibility in the total figure here that would lead to a number that can give an indication," Hilde Johnson, the U.N. Secretary General’s representative to South Sudan, told reporters Thursday. "It is far too early."

The number of wounded is also unknown, according to MSF.

"We are very worried about the medical needs of the people who are still in the bush," said spokesman Karel Janssens. "We hear from patients and our staff that there are still many wounded in the bush, but as long as we don’t see their direct medical needs it is difficult to answer to that."

Judith McCallum, a former South Sudan country director of a non-governmental organisation who is writing her PhD thesis on the Murle, said the longer the investigation takes, the less likely the truth will ever be known. Wild animals have already eaten many bodies, she said in an interview.

Whatever the figure of the dead, it will add to the already 1,100 people the U.N. says were killed over the past year in fighting between the Murle and Lou Nuer. After an August attack killed about 600 Lou Nuer, the Sudan Council of Churches launched a peace initiative that was meant to bring tribal leaders together in December to sign a peace agreement.

But the process broke down and by mid-December U.N. aerial patrols reported that at least 6,000 Lou Nuer youth were marching towards Pibor.

Representatives of the armed movement called it the White Army, in reference to the ash the fighters rub onto their bodies. The group issued statements publicising its planned attack on Pibor and vowing to "wipe out the entire Murle tribe on the face of the earth."

Johnson warned that such rhetoric is "in violation of both international law and South Sudan’s domestic laws."

"We have been informed that repetitive hate language continues to be used, calling for ethnic violence and inciting communities to take aggressive actions," she said.

The government has promised to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for inciting the violence. In the wake of the attacks it dispatched 3,000 security personnel to the conflict area and plans to use troops as a "buffer zone" between the tribes.

Johnson said the U.N. has deployed about half of its 2,100 combat-ready peacekeepers to Jonglei state, which is home to both the ethnic groups.

But security forces have so far been unable to prevent small-scale counter-attacks by Murle youth. On Jan. 16 at least 47 people were killed in an attack on Duk Padiet county, according to Philip Thon Leek Deng, a member of parliament from the area.

Standing in front of thousands of people who gathered in Pibor to receive food aid, WFP Country Director Chris Nikoi appealed for funding to sustain the operation.

"These people have lost everything," he said. "The international community needs to step in and provide humanitarian organisations the resources we need to help people."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Conflict, Human Rights, Report Tagged With: ,

SUDAN: Close to War As the South Prepares to Celebrate Independence

July 10, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Reem Abbas

KHARTOUM, Jul 8, 2011 (IPS) – Sudan is closest to civil war since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005.

Mariam Al Sadig, a leading figure in the Umma Party, one of Sudan’s main opposition parties, said that the conflict in Southern Kordofan shows that the CPA has failed tremendously and the events unfolding in Southern Kordofan are a huge security concern to the future of Sudan.

A report released by a coalition of Sudanese, African, Arab and Western non-governmental organsations warns that Sudan is closest to civil war since the signing of the CPA in 2005.

The report titled "Beyond the Pledge: International Engagement After Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement" views the ongoing conflict between the North and South as a predecessor to a full-blown civil war and urges the international community to adopt more targeted sanctions.

Abdel Moniem Al Gak, an activist and co-founder of the Sudan Democracy First Group was involved in the writing and production of the report. Through his organisation, he lobbies for human rights and democracy in Sudan.

He has been based in Juba since his arrest and subsequent detention after the Sudanese government cracked down on international and Sudanese organisations following an arrest warrant issued for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court in March 2009.

"Sudan is not on the brink of war, Sudan is at war. It is living a state of displacement, destruction, violation of rights and deterioration of human rights in all parts of the country," said Al Gak in a phone interview with IPS.

He added that citizens in different regions in Sudan, the East, Darfur, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan could suffer the same fate as South Sudan and call for their right to self-determination. He attributed this to peace agreements that do not affect the average citizen and development that contributes to more suffering and causes loss of heritage and displacement.

In May 2011, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) declared that they seized control of Abyei after three days of bloody clashes with Southern soldiers. The army attributed the reason behind the conflict as the ambush and subsequent killing of 22 soldiers of northern origin. Abyei was the site of aerial bombardment and most of its population fled.

International condemnation and campaigning pushed the United Nations to take action immediately and in June, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei was formed and it deployed 4,200 Ethiopian soldiers on Jun. 27 for six months.

Abyei, an area barely visible on a map, has witnessed a series of conflicts since the singing of the CPA between the government of Sudan led by the ruling party, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). In March 2008, at least 25,000 were displaced after soldiers from the SPLM clashed with Sudanese soldiers.

Currently, the coalition’s report estimates that 113,000 are displaced as a result of conflicts in Abyei. Abyei was supposed to hold a referendum simultaneously with the South Sudanese referendum to choose whether it wants to become part of the southern "Northern Bahr El Ghazal" state or the northern "South Kordofan" state. The referendum was postponed indefinitely after the two peace partners disagreed on the terms of eligibility to vote.

The report recommends that Abyei and Southern Kordofan need an immediate ceasefire for the displaced to return home and the volatile north-south border on which they are located needs to be a demilitarised zone.

Al Baqir Mukhtar Afifi, the director of Al-Khatim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment and Human Development, one of the organisations involved in the report, states that the report was inspired by all the pending issues between the two partners in the CPA that remain unresolved even though it expires in two days.

"In addition to the issues that may ignite war – citizenship, borders, oil, international debt and assets, Abyei is a real possibility of becoming the ignition of war between the two parts of the split country and the war in Darfur is still going on, and an additional war has erupted in Southern Kordofan. "Even the president who is beating the drums of war, has stated that he expects a war between the north and the south," he told IPS.

The report concludes that the unresolved issues between the north and south will not end on Jul. 9 and it invites the international community to examine its policies towards Sudan to prevent the birth of two states with more problems than prior to the CPA through continuing its engagement in negotiations between both states to ensure "peace, prosperity and stability in the region."

Meanwhile, South Sudan prepares for independence on Jul. 8. Hafiz Mohammed, Director of Justice Africa (Sudan) said he did not believe there would be security problems on the day of independence.

"There are threats but they are not based on real challenges. It is fair to say that it is not in anyone’s interest to ruin this day, especially the Southerners who see this as a big day, the day their nation is born," Mohammed said.

He added that South Sudan had the right to secession. "It is also a sad day, we are witnessing the separation of Sudan. We only hope to see a successful nation in the south," Mohammed said. He added that he hoped the north would benefit from lessons learned from the secession of the south.

"It should try to protect Sudan from further separations and unite the country."

Ibrahim Al Grefwi, co-founder of Sudan Unite, a coalition of artists who attempted to raise awareness about the secession and keep Sudan united, said it will be a historical day when South Sudan becomes independent.

"It is a historical day for Sudan and it is also a very sad day. I feel sad and I feel that we have failed to unite the country. We also lost important aspects of Sudan’s rich cultural diversity," Al Grefwi said.

"People in the north just realized that they lost a huge and an important part of Sudan. The political process marginalised the citizens and they just woke up to find that separation is a reality."

Simon Monoja from the Centre for Peace and Development at the University of Juba in South Sudan said he believed independence day would go smoothly.

"We have militias of concern s in Unity State and Jonglei but I believe that the event tomorrow ill be smooth because it is a day for all Southern Sudanese, they will all want to celebrate it and have it succeed."

But not everyone is happy. "I came from the north two days ago, I was there for 2 months. Most of the northerners are gloomy, they are so worried about the inability to predict what will happen after separation is declared tomorrow. I don’t expect celebrations in the north tomorrow."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Conflict, Featured, Politics, Unrest Tagged With: , ,

SOUTH SUDAN: Witnessing the Birth of a New Country

July 10, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Protus Onyango

JUBA, Jul 10, 2011 (IPS) – Macklina Kenyi, 33, ran away from South Sudan to avoid being raped and abducted by the rebels during the war. She has since been studying in Kenya but on Jul. 9 she returned to Juba to witness the birth of her country.

In December once she completes her Masters studies, she will return home to help rebuild her country.

South Sudan’s independence was, she said, a dream come true.

"I ran away from my country to Kenya to go to school and I am happy that we are now free and I urge the new government to respect women and develop a justice system that is fair to all," Kenyi said.

"I am now doing my Masters in Political Science, Women and Gender Studies and when I finish in December, I will come back home to help rebuild my country. I urge those of us in the diaspora to do the same. This country needs us," she said.

A power outage that lasted 30 minutes briefly interrupted the South Sudan independence celebrations held at the Dr. John Garang stadium. It was possibly a reminder to the new regime about the urgent work that lies ahead in providing basic services to its hopeful citizens.

It was ironic that power went off when it was Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir’s turn to address the gathering. Just as Al-Bashir was being introduced to the crowd, the power went off. But in the days running up to independence power cuts in Juba have been frequent and numerous.

But the darkness did not dampen the mood of South Sudanese who had turned up in their thousands to witness this historic moment. They sang patriotic songs until the power was restored and Al-Bashir addressed them.

While he did so, a man from the Darfur region waved a placard that read: "Al-Bashir Wanted Alive or Dead" but he was confronted by security and his poster was quickly confiscated.

Al-Bashir had sent a message to the South Sudan government saying he recognised the new country’s independence.

”I recognise that South Sudan is a free country now and I salute its President, Salva Kiir and its people. Lets us continue to work together and forge a common future because we have a lot in common," he said on Jul. 9.

The celebrations were marked by serious logistical and protocol setbacks, which included taking three days to accredit media. The celebrations only began three hours behind schedule, but from that point on went on smoothly.

The British Foreign Affairs Secretary, William Hague said his country would establish strong bilateral ties with South Sudan and help it build strong institutions to govern its people well.

Britain is the first country to establish an embassy and appoint an ambassador to head its mission there.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, recognised the new state and said the U.N. will soon hold a meeting to discuss South Sudan’s membership.

"We are happy that the independence of South Sudan has shown that conflicts can be solved amicably," he said. He urged the North and South Sudan to quickly embark on solving the remaining parts of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) concerning Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

His sentiments were echoed by the United States’ envoy to the U.N., Susan Rice. Rice is head of the U.S. delegation to South Sudan. She urged Al-Bashir and Kiir to speedily address the issues that surround human suffering in Abyei, Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

"These issues must be urgently addressed to establish lasting peace," she said and urged the South Sudanese to work ensure they embrace peace so that those who lost their lives in the civil war did not die in vain.

"The U.S. will continue supporting the new government so that is establishes a regime that respects human rights, is transparent and accountable and is able to provide other essential services to all its people," said Rice.

Mwai Kibaki, Kenya’s President urged the new state to work towards improving their lives rather than going to war again. Kenya has played a critical role in spearheading peace talks that resulted in the signing of the CPA. Kenya has also hosted many refugees from South Sudan.

South Sudan’s speaker of parliament, James Igga, read the declaration that parliament passed recently to declare independence.

He then swore in Kiir as the country’s new first president, who later signed the transitional constitution. Kiir said he was overjoyed that the country was now free and urged his people to work hard to rebuild the nation.

”We are now free. No one knows how we suffered along the way. We have been mistreated and called second-class citizens. We shall forgive but we shall not forget. We are inviting the private sector to play a leading role in reconstruction of our country. We have all that is needed to transform this country," he said.

Kiir promised that his government would treat all its citizens equally by providing its citizens with the most of the basic services.

"But the people should understand that where we fail because of our infancy, the citizens should join us and address the shortcomings rather than blame us," he said.

Kiir said that during the transitional period, he noted that there was corruption in parliament and promised to fight hard to eradicate the problem.

"We have to be fair to the people who lost their lives fighting for this freedom by providing for those they left behind. If we engage in corruption, we shall not have the money to do this," he said.

Kiir’s sentiments are echoed by Michael Modi Apollo, 73, who left his teaching job to join the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in the bush to fight for freedom.

"I am happy that I have lived to witness this historic event but we lost many lives along the way," said Apollo. He added that he didn’t agree with the current estimates that the country lost two million people in the war.

"I think the correct number should be 4.5 million. I lost 12 nieces and sons and 65 close friends. The government should provide for the widows who were left and educate the children of those who died in the war," he said.

The new government will adopt a democracy, headed by the president, the vice president, parliament and 10 county governors. The president has appointed 32 ministers.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Featured, Politics Tagged With: , ,

SUDAN: Starting from Scratch

July 8, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Danielle Batist*

JUBA, Jul 7, 2011 (IPS/Street News Service) – In their hundreds of thousands they have crossed the border, arriving by boat, bus or on foot. After decades of civil war with the north, South Sudanese have come back home to witness the birth of their new nation on Jul. 9. The fight for independence has come to an end, but for many returnees, the struggle is far from over.

On the western outskirts of the South Sudanese capital of Juba some two dozen people have gathered in the local chief’s compound. It is a very hot day, the sun is unforgiving and people crowd around the one big tree in the yard to get some shade. Plastic chairs are brought in for the men, while most of the women and children sit down on a large, woven mat on the floor.

They come together regularly, to support each other and discuss their future. Some came back months ago, others have just arrived. Wherever they have come from, one thing is the same for all of them: they have to rebuild their lives.

Even before the referendum in January, in which 99.7 percent of Christian and animist southerners voted for separation from the Islamic north, hundreds of families came back to the south each day. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 by the Khartoum government and the southern forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) had convinced many that freedom was near.

Decades of bloody civil war cost two million lives and left millions more displaced. With the signing of the CPA, the desire to go back to the land they fled became too strong to ignore for many.

Recognising the huge logistical task ahead, the U.N. refugee agency set up a support system for South Sudanese wishing to return home. Registration offices were opened and ships, trucks and buses put in place to move people and luggage.

At the receiving end, in Juba and other towns across the south, a massive emergency programme was rolled out by the World Food Programme and other non-government organisations to supply returnees with basic items like food, cooking utensils and soap.

Many of the early returnees belonged to families who had been away for decades. Like Richard Luka, 32, who came back in 2006. His father had left Juba in the 1970s as a bachelor, to find work in the northern capital Khartoum. He got married and had children, whom he managed to send to school with money he earned as a tailor. When the second civil war broke out in 1983 he lost hope that his offspring would ever be able to see their homeland.

For young Richard, life in the north was marked by the desire for a place he had never seen. Growing up in Khartoum, he lived between two worlds. In school, he spoke Arabic like the other children and tried to blend in. At home, the family spoke their mother tongue, Bari, to keep their southern spirit alive.

"My parents used to tell us all about Juba," says Luka. "Whenever they saw it on television, they would call us over. It looked so beautiful to me. My dream was always to go back there. I knew it was my home."

In 1995, there was intense fighting in the area around Juba. Images of soldiers in battle were shown on the military programme the family always watched on TV. Seeing his home town being attacked sparked a form of patriotism inside Luka that he had not felt so strongly before. "Me and my brother said to my father: Dad, can we go fight? But he refused to let us go. He said: Finish school first. Then you can go and fight for your country."

When SPLM leader John Garang died in a helicopter crash in 2005 – just months after the peace agreement – the mood in the Luka household became tense. "We were worried. We had a chief who looked after us, but who would protect the south now that he was dead?"

In the following months, Luka’s father prepared his family to return to their home land. After a three-week wait in the harbour town of Kosti, they were allowed to board a U.N.-chartered steamship that would take them to Juba. Luka remembers the departure vividly: "As soon as we got on board and left the harbour, all of us went on deck and waved. We sang: ‘Bye, bye, Arabs, we leave you now’. We were so happy it was finally happening."

The journey took one month. The ship was crowded and mosquitoes pestered the passengers on board. The U.N. had put people from different tribes together, which caused unrest at first. But soon, they started to interact. "We all had the same experiences, so we shared them," Luka recalls. "By the time we arrived in Juba, we were like a big family."

Life back in the south has not been easy for the Lukas. After three decades away, the family has had to start all over again and help to pick up the pieces of their destroyed country. Luka’s father struggles to make ends meet as a tailor and Luka’s work as a small farmer barely brings in enough to feed his family. He met his wife Nora Joan in Juba and married her soon after. She is nine months pregnant and about to deliver the couple’s first child.

"It gives me sleepless nights thinking about how we will cope when the baby is born. How will I feed three if I already struggle to feed two? It worries me a lot." Luka’s dream is to finish his university degree, which he started in Khartoum but abandoned because of financial constraints. He knows he is capable of doing it, but the costs and the responsibility for his new family hold him back.

With independence now around the corner, Luka’s views on the future of his country are clear. "Our politicians need to make their promises a reality. We need quick development on all fronts- education, food supply and jobs for the poor, so that my child won’t have to struggle like I have struggled."

Luka’s baby will be one of the first children of the new Republic of South Sudan. When asked how he feels about the fact that his first child will be born on South Sudanese ground, his eyes light up: "It is very special. I will be the proudest father in the world." He has already decided on the baby’s name. He or she will be called Hora – the Juba-Arabic for Freedom.

Following the ‘yes’ vote for independence in January, the government of Southern Sudan called upon its remaining exiled citizens to come home and help rebuild their nation. As an incentive, it promised each returning family a piece of land.

Although plans are being put in place to deal with the assignment of allotments, most returnees are still officially homeless. Some have tried to get back to their family farms, but after years or even decades away, most land is now occupied by others and claiming ancestry without paperwork often proves difficult, if not impossible.

The number of returnees continues to grow, with many more expected to come back after Jul. 9, the date set for South Sudan to become an independent state.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), over 300,000 people have returned to the south in the past seven months alone. From November 2010 to June 2011, just over 140,000 returnees came back with support from the southern government and the U.N. The other half made the journey back themselves.

Despite support from the international community, the influx of returnees is putting enormous pressure on the nation-to-be. In a country where nine out of 10 people live on less than a dollar a day, according to U.N. statistics, shortages of food, drinking water, sanitation and health care are already huge.

The infrastructure to meet the increasing demands is fragile. The new Republic of South Sudan covers 650,000 square kilometres – bigger than the United Kingdom and Germany combined – yet there are only 30 miles of paved roads.

In Western Juba, Agnes Wosuk from the Catholic international aid collective Caritas updates her list of new arrivals. Together with local charities Sudanaid and Catholic Relief Services, she works to provide humanitarian assistance to 100,000 people in most urgent need of shelter, food and sanitation.

Not all people she speaks to today are returnees from the north. Many have also fled to Juba as a result of the ongoing tribal conflicts within the south. IOM estimates that from January 2007 to July 2010, more than half of four million people displaced from or within Sudan have returned to their places of origin. Despite this, Sudan is still the country with the highest number of internally displaced people in the world.

Sabia Leot, 21, is one of these people. Orphaned at age seven, she grew up with an aunt in a small village near the southern town of Yei. The family arranged her marriage to an SPLA soldier when she was fourteen years old. He was based in Juba, where Leot gave birth to their first baby, a boy, in 2005. Two years later she had her second child, this time a girl, followed by another girl in 2008.

Soon after that, Leot’s husband was transferred to an army base in the town of Bantu and the family moved with him. Life was peaceful for a while, until violence broke out at the end of last year. An ongoing dispute between two local tribes had escalated and armed conflict caused chaos in the area. Leot was three months pregnant with her fourth child.

On Dec. 18 Leot’s husband decided that it was time for his wife and children to flee the area. By now, the army was involved in the conflict and fighting had intensified. He gave her some money and a cell phone and told her to take the children to Juba.

"As soon as I rented a small room for me and the children to live in, I rang him," recalls Leot. "He said not to worry and that he would send us money every month, until it was safe for us to come back. He told me to look after the children and phone him if there were any problems. I thought we were going to be fine."

Trouble started after the first month, when Leot did not receive any money. She tried to phone her husband, but the phone number she had used earlier did not work any more. She asked her landlord to be patient, as she believed the money would arrive any day. After two weeks, the house owner had had enough and told the family to leave.

Pregnant and with three small children, Leot was sent onto the streets, carrying nothing but the few belongings she brought. With no family to go back to and no money to feed her children, she has been wondering around the plots of land in Western Juba ever since.

She has found a few old relatives, who sometimes offer her shelter and food for a few nights. When she feels like she has outstayed her welcome, she takes the children by the hand and moves on. "The eldest ones keep asking me why we can’t go back to our rented room. I tell them: ‘That room is not our home. Our home is with Daddy.’ It is hard for them to understand."

Leot has been homeless for five months now, and the situation is getting more pressing each day. The start of the rainy season has made matters worse.

"When it is dry, we sleep under a tree. But when the rains come, we have to run and hope someone will give us shelter for the night. During the day, I go around to people’s houses and ask if I can do small jobs for them. It is getting harder because my belly has grown so much. Sometimes they give me some food or a few (Sudanese) pounds. But often, we go hungry. I say to the little ones: ‘Don’t worry, let us sleep. Tomorrow, we will eat."

Since that one phone call upon her arrival in Juba, Leot has not heard from her husband. She says it is unlike him not to contact her. "I pray every day that no one will come and bring me bad news."

Some nights, when the children are asleep, Leot thinks about taking her own life. With the pregnancy coming to an end, she worries about the health of her family and unborn baby. In a country were one in seven pregnant women die of complications, the dangers are horribly real.

She holds her baby bump as she speaks: "I can’t think about what is happening to me. I don’t know where I will deliver my child and how we will cope. I try not to think at all. Every night, I thank God that another day has passed."

* Published under an agreement with Street News Service.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Development, Featured, Politics Tagged With: , , , , ,

SUDAN: Feeling the Economic Impact Before Secession

June 23, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Reem Abbas

KHARTOUM, Jun 23, 2011 (IPS) – Amira Amer* becomes very picky the minute she reaches the bus station. One by one she lets the new air-conditioned busses pass her by. She is waiting for a cheaper bus. They are limited in the expensive city of Khartoum and are constantly packed to the point of overflowing.

"When the new air-conditioned buses came out, we were happy and felt that the government was finally genuine about our comfort, but sadly, they are not subsidised. They cost two Sudanese pounds (60 cents), I can’t afford to pay four pounds for a round trip," Amer said in an interview with IPS.

Amer’s job requires her to spend a great amount of time and money traveling to meet the needs of her clients. She buys imported goods and sells them to her clients who expect her to deliver the products to them.

"Many of my clients can’t afford to pay on the spot so I have to travel back and forth to collect the weekly or monthly instalments," she told IPS.

Things weren’t always so bad for Amer. She inherited 60,000 dollars in 2006 when the family’s house was sold. The single mother of three was able to buy a nice house for her small family and even save some money for her children.

At the time, one Sudanese pound was equal to 2.30 dollars and life was considerably cheaper. The Sudanese economy was booming due to high oil prices and increasing foreign investment.

In the years following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, new jobs were created, cafes were bustling with customers and young professionals were able to buy cars in instalments and travel to Cairo or Dubai or Kuala Lumpur for holidays.

"No one is traveling now, people are trying to save their money for worse days. Tickets were much cheaper a few months ago, but now the prices are up 25 percent," said Maha Ali*, an employee at a travel agency in downtown Khartoum.

Ali used to make a lot of money from commissions when she brought customers to the agency. Now it is a struggle to convince people to travel, especially when some airlines only accept dollars and reject the constantly fluctuating Sudanese pound.

The economy changed in November 2010. The North Sudan government claimed that Sudan lacked foreign currency and the Sudanese minister of finance and national economy, Mahmoud Hassanein, was quoted saying that the country’s people consumed more than the country produced and this caused the rise in prices.

In early January 2011, southern Sudanese voted in a referendum in favour of secession from the north and this set in motion the beginnings of an economic crisis in Sudan. Currently North and South Sudan equally share the profits of the oil found in the south. But this will change when South Sudan becomes independent.

But North Sudan began to feel the impact of the secession even before the referendum. Prices skyrocketed as a result of inflation and salaries remained the same or even decreased.

"My salary has actually decreased, I used to get a lot of benefits and commissions on projects, but they were taken away or cut in half. Life is getting more expensive and I make less money," said a staff member at the University of Khartoum.

Prices are going up at an alarming rate. Sesame oil, a regularly consumed product, jumped from 110 to 126 Sudanese pounds and the bread price increased by 25 percent. In supermarkets people buy what they consider to be basics, such as sugar, milk, and flour. Luxury products are neatly stacked in rows gathering dust.

"I usually shop for my household on a weekly basis. I used to spend 250 Sudanese pounds on groceries, fruits, veggies and meat. Now I pay 350 Sudanese pounds," a University of Khartoum professor told IPS.

Ahmed*, who sometimes works as a currency dealer on the black market, thinks that the problem lies with the value of the Sudanese pound.

"For the longest time in 2010, the government maintained that the dollar equals 2.50 Sudanese pounds. The value of the Sudanese pound kept plummeting and as much as the government heavily invested in trying to stop the black market, people felt ripped off," Ahmed said.

He added that restrictions on the amount of dollars you can take when you are traveling abroad pushed many to the black market. "You were able to exchange the equivalent of 1,000 dollars only at the airport. You can get up to 1,500 Euros now, but it is still not enough," he told IPS.

Najm El Deen Ibrahim, a senior official from the Central Bank of Sudan, the bank responsible for managing the country’s accounting and setting an exchange rate for the Sudanese pound, believes that the national currency is not going to depreciate further.

"We have injected foreign currency into the market to major importers, exchange bureaus and commercial banks. The bank will make sure that the currency is stable and will act immediately to stop any massive fluctuations,"

He added that there is no direct link between prices and exchange rates. The increase in prices is due to an increase in the prices of commodities all over the world.

*Names have been changed

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Economy, Featured, Politics Tagged With: ,

North and South Sudan Sign Pact over Abyei

June 21, 2011 by

Global Political Economy Net / IPS

By Correspondents*

DOHA, Qatar, Jun 20, 2011 (IPS/Al Jazeera) – North and south Sudan have signed an agreement to demilitarise the disputed Abyei region and allow in Ethiopian peacekeeping forces, former South African president Thabo Mbeki said on Monday.

South Sudan is due to break off into an independent country in less than three weeks and the question of who should control the fertile, oil-producing region has been one of the most contentious unresolved issues ahead of the split.

Khartoum seized Abyei’s main town on May 21, causing tens of thousands of people to flee the area, triggering an international outcry and raising fears the two sides could return to open conflict.

Representatives of the south’s dominant party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), and the Sudanese government have been meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa for more than a week in an attempt to hammer out a deal.

"The SPLM and the Sudanese government have signed an agreement on Abyei," Mbeki, who has been helping guide talks between the two sides, told reporters in Addis Ababa.

"It provides for the demilitarisation of Abyei so that the Sudanese armed forces would withdraw and for the deployment of Ethiopian forces."

He said the northern Sudanese military, the south’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and Ethiopian officials would now meet to settle on a mandate for Ethiopian peacekeeping forces who will be deployed in the region.

Calls for implementation

The U.S. envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice has called for swift implementation of an agreement between north and south Sudan to demilitarise the disputed Abyei region.

In remarks to the U.N. Security Council, she also called for the immediate deployment of Ethiopian troops to the Abyei region, which straddles north and south Sudan.

Rice added that the United States would now begin drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorise their deployment.

The peacekeepers would go to Abyei as soon as they are authorised by the United Nations and would replace all military forces in the area, he said.

A police service would be established for the region, with the size and composition determined by a joint committee co-chaired by northern and southern officials, Mbeki added.

Southerners voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north in a January referendum that was the culmination of a 2005 peace deal ending decades of civil war.

Some two million people died in the conflict, fought over religion, ideology, ethnicity and oil.

*Published under an agreement with Al-Jazeera.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Conflict, Featured, Peace Tagged With:

Violence Threatening South Sudan Independence

May 25, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By David Elkins

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2011 (IPS) – Escalating violence in Abyei, the largest of several towns in the disputed borders between North and South Sudan, has displaced thousands of people and, according to U.S. officials, is threatening the viability of both the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the soon-to-be independence of Southern Sudan, set for Jul. 9, as the potential for civil war between the two sides grows.

After soldiers from the South’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) ambushed a U.N. convoy traveling through Abyei on May 19, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), under orders from the Northern capital of Khartoum, attacked and occupied towns throughout the territory in an apparent response to the SPLA assault.

"We feel that the attack on the U.N. convoy was deplorable and wrong, but we feel that the response of the [Khartoum] government was disproportionate and irresponsible. We think [SAF] forces should be withdrawn," Princeton Lyman, the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, said Monday.

Oxfam, a human rights group, reports that more people have been killed in Sudan in the first months of 2011 than in all of 2010.

According to official estimates from the Sudanese government, 70 SAF soldiers have been killed, a number the U.N. has contested.

As the official date approaches for Southern Sudan’s independence, which was decided in a January referendum, a number of issues, including the distribution of oil revenues, and the demarcation of a remaining 20 percent of the 2,100-kilometre border between the North and South, remain unresolved.

Lyman emphasised that the continued "occupation" of Abyei is a violation of the CPA, and thus poses a risk to the plan for full normalisation of Sudanese relations with the U.S., an arrangement that would include inducements – such as removing Sudan from the U.S.’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list, and a debt relief of up to 38 billion dollars – for a peaceful transition of the largest country on the African continent into two independent nations.

"If there is no cost to the Khartoum regime’s commission of atrocities and to the dishonoring of agreements, then why would anything change in Sudan?" John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, an advocacy group, asked in a statement on Monday.

"Darfur is deteriorating, Abyei is a war zone, and pockets of the South have been set aflame by Khartoum-supported militias. It is time to impose serious consequences for the Khartoum regime’s use of overwhelming military force to deal with every challenge it faces," Prendergast added.

In a possible sign of Southern government officials’ willingness to negotiate a peace deal over Abyei, Luka Biong Deng, a senior Southern minister in Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s national unity cabinet, resigned Tuesday after characterising the violence in Abyei as "war crimes" that have resulted in 15,000 displaced persons, according to the U.N.

Since the CPA’s inception, control over Abyei has been a bitter point of contention between the North and South mainly due to its importance as a critical water source – the Kiir River provides priceless sustenance for crops during the dry season – and its once- vast oil reserves in areas bordering the town.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling in 2009 on Abyei’s borders reaffirmed the Ngok Dinka’s (an ethnic group loyal to the South) claim over the majority of the town, essentially guaranteeing that any referendum held on the determination of Abeyi’s allegiance would be in favour of South Sudan.

A referendum, originally planned to coincide with the national referendum in January, on the self-determination of Abyei has yet to be held, while the terms of the court’s ruling – which were widely accepted at the time by all parties involved – left the Misseriya, an ethnic group of Arab descent loyal to the Khartoum government, and the North to defend their own claims to the disputed territory.

But some analysts argue that Northern control over Abyei serves more as a point for the Khartoum government’s political leverage in the South’s secession, particularly given remaining U.S. sanctions on Khartoum’s government, and the already decrepit state of the North’s economy as it prepares to take even larger losses in oil revenues once the South secedes.

"Abyei itself has become the defining issue in north-south relations and the defining issue in answering the question of whether Khartoum will allow for the peaceful secession of the south or not," Dr. Eric Reeves, a regional specialist, told IPS. "Khartoum is now obviously making it look as if the SPLA is the provocateur."

Since the national referendum in January, numerous reports have documented the North’s buildup of an offensive military capability on their southern border, making discussions over not insignificant issues such as who should be counted as residents of Abyei seemingly irrelevant in the face of what amounted to premature preparation for armed conflict.

Whether Southern officials will approach the SAF’s occupation of Abyei with a measured political response as they have in past conflicts, or with calls for an armed response in kind, remains to be seen.

"One pole would argue that as goes Abyei so go we, we will fight if Khartoum attacks Abyei, now we’re still waiting to see what the SPLA military response will be…[T]hey have so far understood that restraint will be the best response," Reeves added.

Since President Obama took office in 2009, U.S. policy has officially centred around three pillars – the genocide in Darfur, implementation of the CPA, and the mitigation of the threat from terrorist organisations operating in Sudan.

But the violence in Abyei is testing the resolve of U.S. diplomats in securing peaceful negotiations before the Jul. 9 deadline and whether the advantages of normalisation will be enough incentive, or if measures that penalise the aggressive behaviour are necessary.

"The U.S. has been excessively cautious. We should be creating a timeline in Khartoum’s mind for a withdrawal…and say if this is going to be a negotiated issue, that every day Khartoum stays in Abyei there will be a further postponement in removing them from the list of state sponsors of terrorism," Reeves told IPS.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Featured, Geopolitics, Politics Tagged With: , , ,

Sudan’s Abyei ‘Ablaze’ After Capture by North

May 23, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Correspondents*

DOHA, Qatar, May 23, 2011 (IPS/Al Jazeera) – Sudan’s disputed border town of Abyei is ablaze, with gunmen looting properties days after troops from the government in Khartoum entered the area, U.N. peacekeepers say.

The peacekeepers belonging to UNMIS, the U.N. mission in Sudan, said on Monday that the burning and looting was perpetrated "by armed elements" but it was not clear whether they were from the north or the south.

"UNMIS strongly condemns the burning and looting currently being perpetrated by armed elements in Abyei town," the peacekeepers said in a statement.

"The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) are responsible for maintaining law and order in the areas they control.

"UNMIS calls upon the government of Sudan to urgently ensure that the Sudan Armed Forces fulfil their responsibility and intervene to stop these criminal acts."

Sudanese government officials in the north say their troops moved into Abyei – inhabited by two tribes backed by the south and north respectively – to drive the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) out, who they said had been occupying Abyei since last December.

The SPLA is the armed force of South Sudan, which held a referendum for independence in January and is due to become an independent state in July.

Thousands of civilians are reported to have fled southwards after northern SAF troops and tanks took control of the town on Saturday.

South Sudan also claims Abyei district, which has special status under a 2005 peace deal that ended 22 years of south-north civil war, and has called the occupation "illegal".

‘War zone’

Barnaba Benjamin, the minister of information in South Sudan, told Al Jazeera that north Sudanese troops had "illegally and unconstitutionally invaded Abyei".

"What the Sudanese forces are doing now [is] they are looting the place; they are burning the place," he said.

"They have made thousands of people – children, women and the elderly – a humanitarian disaster. This is what they have been doing. They didn’t find any SPLA troops in Abyei.

"Their claim that there are SPLA troops in Abyei is not true … They entered the town without any confrontation … So why are they there?

"Why are they bombing the civilian targets; the villages around? They are airlifting Misseriya Arab tribes into the territory to occupy the areas of Dinka Ng’ok."

The nomadic Arab Misseriya tribe, which is backed by the north, grazes its cattle in Abyei. The Dinka Ng’ok tribe, backed by the south, lives in Abyei year round.

A senior official from the ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum, the capital of the north, denied the reports of looting but called Abyei "a war zone".

"They [troops] are not looting the place," Didiry Mohammad Ahmed told Al Jazeera.

"We know that this place, right now, is a war zone. The army is struggling very hard to see to it that no looting happens, but nonetheless some isolated incidents had happened.

"We are doing our very best right now – working in tandem with the U.N. mission in the region – to ensure no looting takes place. Nothing can be traced back to our forces."

U.N. call

Abyei’s seizure, coming in the run-up to international recognition of southern independence in July, has been condemned by world powers as a threat to peace between north and south.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called the escalation of the situation in Abyei "quite dangerous" as she visited the country with U.N. and British envoys.

Tanks from northern Sudan rolled into the town of Abyei on Saturday night, scattering southern troops that were there as part of a joint security unit.

Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general, called for an immediate end to military action after a U.N. compound was also hit with mortar fire.

The seizure of Abyei followed an attack on a convoy of northern soldiers by southern forces on Thursday and two days of aerial bombardment of the area by the north.

*Published under an agreement with Al-Jazeera.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Conflict, Featured, Human Rights Tagged With:
«Older Posts