May 17, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – African Union’s (AU) mediator for Sudan and South Sudan, Thabo Mbeki, is expected to touch ground in the capital Khartoum within 48 hours to discuss details of resuming negotiations between the two countries, a Sudanese official has announced.
- FILE PHOTO - AU mediator Thabo Mbeki speaks with media after his meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum on April 6, 2012 (GETTY)
The official spokesman of Sudan’s foreign ministry, Al-Obaid Adam Marawih, said in a press release on Tuesday that Khartoum was awaiting the arrival of Mbeki “today or tomorrow.”
He pointed out that the visit aims to discuss the date and detailed agendas of the next round of talks between Sudan and South Sudan.
Both countries are currently under pressure from the AU and the UN Security Council (UNSC) to abide by the latter’s 2 May resolution which dictated under the threat of sanctions that Khartoum and Juba return within a week to negotiations over oil, citizenship, border demarcation and the status of Abyei region.
The resolution also ordered Khartoum and Juba to conclude the talks within three months.
Mbeki and his AU High Level Panel (AUHIP) have mediated the negotiations since South Sudan split in July last year and until they floundered dangerously in early April, leading to the outbreak of military confrontations between the two countries along their poorly-defined border.
Khartoum has been insisting that the next round of negotiations accords priority to security issues in the hope of a deal that sees Juba severing its alleged ties to the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) and other Sudanese insurgents fighting the government in the country’s border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Although Khartoum has officially accepted the UNSC resolution, senior Sudanese officials continue to indicate that they will not discuss other issues unless the security question is addressed first.
Meanwhile in Juba, the Chinese presidential envoy Zong Jinghao said following a meeting with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Monday that his country is fully supporting what he described as a mutual desire on the part of Juba and Khartoum to end hostilities and return to negotiations.
Jinghao, whose country is the leading investor in the oil sector on both sides of the borders, also said that Beijing supports efforts by the AU and UNSC to bring peace between the two countries.
May 16, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The ordeal of Sudanese journalist Faisal Mohamed Salih continued on Tuesday when he was re-arrested and arraigned before the state security court on the charge of “disobeying law men.”
- FILE PHOTO - Sudanese journalist Faisal Mohamed Salih (Deutsche WelleK. Danetzk)
Salih has already been subjected to a ten-day period of harassments by the National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS) against the background of comments he made in an interview with the Qatari-based Al-Jazzera TV regarding the conflict in Sudan’s border region of South Kordofan.
He was detained briefly on Tuesday last week after he quit complying with NISS orders to report to their office on daily basis for an investigation that, according to him, happened only once while he spent the rest of the days sitting at the office’s reception.
The prominent columnist of the privately owned daily newspaper Al-Akhbar was arrested again on Tuesday’s morning.
Hours later, he appeared at the court of state security which charged him under article 94 of the Penal Criminal Code which pertains to “disobeying law men”
This particular charge may carry a sentence of one month in prison plus a fine.
Meanwhile, global rights group Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement demanding that the Sudanese authorities cease “relentless harassment” of journalists and media organizations.
AI’s Sudan researcher Baptiste Gallopin charged that the Sudanese authorities “are deploying a wide array of coercive measures against individuals and media organizations to discourage or prevent independent reporting and critical comment.”
Gallopin was further quoted as saying that “the re-arrest of Faisal Saleh is a smack in the face for free speech and the Sudanese authorities must ensure that the NISS ends these constant attempts to silence any form of dissent.”
AI’s statement also said that Al-Maydan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Sudanese Communist Party, has had its copies confiscated by NISS agents at the printing press for the fifth time in five weeks, adding that the move had put the publication’s financial future “in jeopardy.”
May 15, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese foreign minister, Ali Karti, raised eye brows on Monday when he directed a thinly veiled criticism against the country’s president Omer Al-Bashir over his inflammatory comments against the leaders of neighboring South Sudan.
- FILE PHOTO - Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti (GETTY)
Al-Bashir made a number of derogatory remarks against the leadership of South Sudan in mobilization rallies preceding the Sudanese army’s takeover on 20 July of Heglig oilfields from South Sudan which occupied the area for ten days.
He threatened to invade the south and topple the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) which he described as “an insect” that must be crushed and went as far as saying that its leaders need to be “disciplined by the stick.”
Speaking at a parliament session devoted to discussing his last week’s report on the performance of the foreign ministry, Karti said without specifically mentioning Al-Bashir that the behavior of some politicians has had “disastrous effects” on Sudan’s foreign policy, citing examples of how the president’s remarks were understood.
“The talk that they [SPLM leaders] are a group that only understands the stick was interpreted to be referring to the poem of [Abu El-Tayib] El-Mutanabi that says “you shall not buy a slave without a stick” and the term insect was likened to the use of the term cockroaches by the Hutu [ethnic group] against the Tutsi during the Rwandan massacres.”
Karti cautioned that Africa was still reeling from “an inferiority complex” that makes its leaders prone to interpreting any statement within certain contexts even if it was well-intentioned.
Al-Bashir’s terms were spread and popularized by state and anti-South Sudan media, including the conservative newspaper Al-Intibaha. These comments are widely thought to have created an environment that allowed a mob of Islamist extremists to attack a church building in Khartoum and set it on fire.
Parliament accepts UNSC resolution amid reservations
Separately, the Sudanese parliament has announced accepting “with reservations” the UN Security Council’s resolution number 2046 on the situation between Sudan and South Sudan despite criticism raised by some MPs that the resolution contains elements targeting Sudan.
The resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the 15-member council on 2 May, ordered Sudan and South Sudan to cease hostilities and return to negotiations on oil, citizenship, border-demarcation and the status of Abyei region, threatening both sides with non-military actions should they fail to conclude talks within three months.
The resolution also dictated that Sudan “cooperates” with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) which is fighting the government in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in order to reach a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
In a statement issued on Monday, the parliament’s committee of external relations announced acceptance of the resolution but inserted reservations calling for prioritization of security issues during negotiations.
The parliament also rejected the resolution’s use of the word “disputed” in referring to areas contested between the two countries as well as any calls for dialogue with the SPLM-N since the situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was “an internal affair”
The parliament’s speaker, Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir, warned during Monday’s session that Sudan’s respect of the international community hinges on the latter’s respect of the country’s sovereignty.
“Any detraction of our sovereignty will render their resolutions unacceptable to us. We cannot afford to compromise our values.”
The head of the ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP) parliamentary bloc, Ghazi Salah Al-Din Al-Atabani, described the UNSC resolution as malicious and detractive of Sudan’s rights.
He however acknowledged that the government cannot reject the resolution since it also concerns South Sudan and that the latter’s acceptance of it would gain Juba international sympathy and direct the frustration of the international community towards Khartoum.
May 14, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan has received a "large" transfer of cash from unspecified source which would soon cause a 50% jump in the value of the local currency against the U.S. dollar, officials in Khartoum said.
- A Sudanese man shows freshly-minted notes of the new Sudanese pound in Khartoum on July 24, 2011 (Getty)
The deputy governor of Sudan’s central bank Badr al-Deen Suleiman said that the funds have already been received by his institution but declined to disclose the source or the amount.
Sources in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that the latest foreign cash infusion came from Libya.
Suleiman projected that it would have a big impact on stabilizing the Forex market in Sudan.
"The few coming days will witness significant decline in [U.S. dollar] exchange rate," Suleiman said.
The secession of the oil-rich south last July caused suffered a sharp drop in revenues and foreign currency influx for Khartoum.
The Sudanese pound has lost half of its value against other major currencies and particularly the U.S. dollar which has become scarce in the market.
Last month, U.S. dollar bought 6.1 pounds on the black market, a historic low since the Sudanese pound was introduced in 2007, the traders told Reuters. The official rate has remained about the same, at around 3 pounds to the dollar.
Sudanese officials have pleaded for help with Arab countries and China but so far only Qatar has come forward with a $2 billion investment announcement.
The finance minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool confirmed Suleiman’s announcement adding that he expects the black market rate to drop by 50%.
May 14, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government has conditioned withdrawal of its troops from Abyei on the formation of an administrative body as agreed with South Sudan last year, warning that otherwise a vacuum would be created in the hotly-contested region.
- Sudanese Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Rahma Mohammed Osman speaks during a press conference in Khartoum on April 11, 2012 (GETTY)
South Sudan has already pulled out troops from Abyei last week, prompting the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to call on Khartoum to follow suit.
The move followed a UN Security Council’s resolution ordering the two countries to withdraw troops from disputed border regions and resume negotiations on post-secession issues with a three-month deadline to conclude them.
But the Sudanese minister of foreign affairs, Ali Karti, informed the special envoy of the UN’s secretary-general to Sudan, Haile Menkerios, in a meeting held on Sunday at the headquarters of the foreign ministry in Khartoum that withdrawal of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) without there being any administrative structures in the area would create a vacuum.
Sudan was supposed to withdraw troops from the area it took by force in May last year following an agreement signed a month later between Khartoum and Juba in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Addis Ababa deal, formally known as Temporary Arrangements for the Administration and Security of the Abyei Area, provided for the immediate withdrawal of troops from the region and the formation of a joint administrative body headed by a representative of South Sudan and a legislative body headed by a representative of Sudan.
The deal also stipulated the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force composed of 4,200 Ethiopian troops known as UNISFA to take charge of security in the volatile region until a final settlement can be reached.
As expected, however, both Khartoum and Juba failed to uphold their commitment and the area remained under SAF control and without an administration body.
For his part, Menkerios informed Karti that he intends to present his regular report on the situation between the two countries to the UNSC in mid-May.
Sudan’s top diplomat urged the UNSC and other regional bodies to address the root causes of the crisis between his country and South Sudan.
Karti pinned the blame firmly on Juba for the current situation in Abyei, saying that the latter had refused to form a joint administration.
Talks to form an administration body as stipulated under the deal collapsed in December last year after South Sudan insisted that SAF withdraws troops first.
More details on Khartoum’s conditions for withdrawal from Abyei came from the undersecretary of the Sudanese foreign ministry, Rahmt Allah Mohamed Osman, who insisted that Sudan will not withdraw unless UNISFA’s deployment is complete, an administration is formed and an investigation committee is established to verify the implementation of Addis Ababa deal.
The Sudanese diplomat charged that South Sudan withdrawal was merely an attempt to score political points against Khartoum. “This is a political maneuver. Juba wants to embarrass Khartoum in front of the international community,” Osman said.
Abyei status was meant to be determined through a referendum originally planned to take place at the same time as that of South Sudan on independence in January last year.
The vote however stalled after both sides failed to agree on who has the right to vote, with Juba refusing Khartoum’s demands that the the cattle-herding nomads of Al-Messiryah be allowed to vote alongside the area’s indigenous population of Dinka Ngok.
May 13, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir hit out at members of the his party’s Islamist base saying that power and politics corrupted them.
- Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir (Reuters)
Bashir made the remarks before the Shura [Consultative] council of the Islamist movement in Khartoum on Friday with the participation of 300 members.
It was notable the absence of Bashir’s assistant Nafie Ali Nafie and his adviser Ghazi Salah al-Deen, both of who are leading figures in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Islamist movement.
The meeting endorsed a new constitution for the Islamist movement which for the first time defined itself as an intellectual body with goals it seeks to achieve. It also stated that the movement has a party that works to further it aims and administer its performance without explicitly mentioning the NCP.
In rare criticism, Bashir said the movement deviated from its values and the fundamental goal of applying the Islamic Shar’ia law.
The conference witnessed intense deliberations that lasted for eight hours and agreed on close coordination between the NCP, government and Islamist movement through a body that brings representatives of all these organs together.
It was also agreed that the general convention would be held before the end of this year to select a new Secretary General to replace Ail Osman Taha who is also Bashir’s First Vice President who cannot exceed the two terms limit.
Last year cracks in the NCP appeared to emerge last year after members of the party and the Islamist movement reportedly submitted several memos to the party’s leadership calling for reforms.
The leaked memos underscored the urgency of addressing widespread corruption, establishing a citizenship-based state and banning the combination of party positions with constitutional positions.
But Bashir in an interview earlier this year dismissed the calls and suggested that those who stand behind it can be held accountable.
Bashir came to power through a bloodless coup that was masterminded by the National Islamic Front (NIF) led by Hassan al-Turabi.
But the two men fell out together in a bitter power struggle that started in 1999. Since then Turabi has been in and out of jail but was released along with all other political prisoners after a north-south peace deal in 2005.
Turabi is now one of the fiercest critics of the NCP-led government. He is been accused by Khartoum of being the figure behind the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) that has been fighting the central government since 2003.
May 12, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Ugandan government has admitted for the first time that it fully supported South Sudan’s army, SPLA, during the years of north-south civil wars in the former united Sudan.
- Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni
"We supported the SPLA activities as government of Uganda and we don’t regret since our efforts were not put to waste because south Sudan is now an independent state from Sudan” Uganda’s state minister of Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem, said, as reported by the Kampala-based newspaper Red Pepper on Wednesday.
Then guerrilla army SPLA fought for more than two decades against northern governments in Khartoum until the war ended in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which paved the way for South Sudan’s independence in July last year.
The Ugandan minister said that his country was “proud” of its contribution to the creation of a South Sudanese state.
Khartoum has long accused Uganda of supporting SPLA, a charge Kampala was hitherto unwilling to confess to.
Similarly, Kampala recently renewed its long-standing accusations that Khartoum was supporting the notorious Ugandan rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA).
However, Oryem said that the current dispute between Sudan and South Sudan over oil-producing region of Heglig should be resolved through negotiations.
Rankling between Khartoum and Kampala has recently flared up due to the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan around disputed border regions.
Last month, the Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs summoned the Ugandan ambassador in Khartoum against the background of statements in which the chief of the Ugandan army, Aronda Nyakairima, warned that they will intervene militarily if fighting around Heglig develops into a full-fledged war.
May 11, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir vowed on Thursday that threats and resolutions by the UN Security Council (UNSC) and its African Union counterpart (AUPSC) will not force his country to alter its policy towards South Sudan.
- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir addresses celebrating troops during his visit to Sudan’s main petroleum centre of Heglig on April 23, 2012
Addressing a mobilisation rally held at the Oil House in the capital Khartoum, Al-Bashir asserted that the UN cannot impose on Sudan “something it does not want.”
The Sudanese president was referring to a UNSC resolution issued on 3 May on the conflict between his country and neighbouring South Sudan.
Based on a roadmap referred by the AUPSC, the UNSC resolution ordered immediate cessation of hostilities between the two neighbours and threatened them with non-military sanctions if they don’t return to negotiations on oil exports, disputed borders, security and citizenship with a three-month deadline to conclude them.
The resolution, which followed the worst fighting in mid-April between the two countries around the disputed oil region of Helig, also directed Khartoum to cooperate with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), which Khartoum accuses Juba of backing.
SPLM-N has been fighting Sudanese government forces in the border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile since last year.
Hope for a negotiated settlement to the conflict was dashed when Al-Bashir disavowed a deal signed by his negotiators in Addis Ababa in June last year.
The deal was meant to stop the fighting and recognise the SPLM-N as a legal political party in Sudan.
“We only do the things we want to do. And no security council or the whole world for the matter can force us to act otherwise” Al-Bashir told the crowd.
Al-Bashir accused the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Juba of plotting to change the regime in Khartoum, and vowed that his country will always respond in kind.
“If they want to change the regime in Khartoum, we will work to change the regime in Juba. If they want to attrite us, we will attrite them. And if they want to support our rebels, we will support theirs.”
He further conditioned his country’s return to negotiations on resolving all security problems, adding that Khartoum will not negotiate on any of the outstanding issues unless it guarantees no further aggression on Sudan’s territories.
Khartoum says it officially accepts the UNSC resolution but stresses that security issues must be accorded priority in the talks.
The Sudanese government is keen to secure a deal that ensures Juba’s cessation of alleged support to Sudanese rebels in the hope that it will then be able to crush them militarily.
Al-Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) already announced on Wednesday its total rejection of the UNSC’s imposition of cooperation with the SPLM-N.
This rejection was all but expected due to pressure from extremist elements within the NCP and its far-right cousin, the Just Peace Forum (JPF), led by Al-Bashir’s uncle Al-Tayeb Mustafa.
South Sudan, which denies Khartoum’s accusations of supporting rebels, says it accepts the UNSC resolution.
Al-Bashir also threatened to tighten closure of borders with South Sudan if no security deal is reached.
Sudan already declared a state of emergency in border areas with South Sudan and announced a policy of “shoot to kill” against any elements involved in cross-border trade.
May 10, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The leadership council of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) chaired by president Omer Hassan al-Bashir announced late Wednesday that it does not agree to elements of a recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution regarding negotiations with the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N).
Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) is battling SPLM-N in the border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan since last year with each side blaming the other for initiating the fighting.
Prior to the outbreak of clashes in Blue Nile state in Septmeber 2011, the head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP) brokered a framework agreement in June 2011 between SPLM-N and Khartoum to end fighting in the oil-producing state of Southern Kordofan.
The accord was signed by SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar and Bashir’s top assistant Nafie Ali Nafie. But a few days later Bashir declared his rejection of the deal and berated his aide for signing it. He ordered the army to crush the rebellion in South Kordofan signaling his preference for a military solution to end the conflict.
But the Sudanese army has yet to bring down the SPLM-N in either state and particularly in South Kordofan where rebels have managed to threaten strategic towns several times.
This month the UNSC adopted a resolution under Chapter VII dealing with negotiations between Khartoum and Juba but also instructing the Sudanese government and SPLM-N to cooperate with AUHIP in seeking a solution on the basis of the June 2011 agreement.
Sudan’s foreign minister Ali Karti said following NCP’s meeting that this clause was "totally rejected" and that they will discuss the matter with the mediation and friends in the UNSC.
It remains to be seen whether this refusal will fall under non-compliance sanctions threat contained in the UNSC resolution.
The Russian ambassador at the UN Vitaly Churkin had said at the time that sanctions threat does not apply to conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. But the U.S. ambassador Susan Rice disagreed with this interpretation.
"The entire operative part is under Chapter VII, and there are four "decides" paragraphs, including one-paragraph three-which relates to resolving the political issues that are at the root of the conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile" Rice said.
The SPLM-N issued a statement this week saying it welcomes the UNSC resolution while stressing that a "comprehensive peaceful settlement is the best choice for the Sudanese people and the parties to the conflict".
"The entry point for the comprehensive peaceful settlement in Sudan is for the parties to address urgently and seriously the humanitarian crisis in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile immediately and to put into effect the tripartite agreement of the United Nations, African Union and the Arab League, which was signed by the SPLM-N long ago and avoided by Khartoum using different tricks to buy time. And in this regard, the SPLM-N is ready for a humanitarian cessation of hostilities that will enable the UN, African Union and Arab League to implement their proposal," said the statement signed by SPLM-N Secretary General Yasser Arman.
The U.S. and United Nations agencies have been pressing the Sudanese government to agree on a joint AU-UN-AL plan to deliver aid to affected conflict areas in the two states. Some US and UN officials have expressed concern about the possibility that famine could be imminent.
Sudan is resisting allowing external aid groups citing security issues and also fearing that food would be used to aid SPLM-N rebels.
The UNSC resolution does not mandate acceptance of the AU-UN-AL aid plan.
May 8, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese minister of finance and national economy Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool today promised the national assembly that next week he will outline possible steps that can be taken to make the 2012 budget sustainable.
- Sudan’s Finance and National Economy Minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool (AFP)
The government in Khartoum has already made it clear that the current budget needs to be amended due to the fact that revenue fell well short of what was projected when it was prepared last year.
Most notably, Sudan disagreement with landlocked South Sudan on how much should be paid for using the oil pipelines took away around $2.4 billion of revenue.
South Sudan decided to suspend oil production altogether this year when Sudan started taking some of the oil as payment in kind for outstanding transportation fees.
"Our losses from not reaching an agreement with South Sudan for using the pipeline are 6.5 billion Sudanese pounds, ($2.4 billion)" the minister told lawmakers.
Khartoum wanted the South to pay $36 a barrel including a "transit fee" and charges for using its marine terminal, transportation and processing, but the South proposed 70 US cents a barrel.
Abdel-Rasool said that his proposed plan would not include lifting fuel subsidies and boasted that there has not been any shortage in basic goods such as wheat, sugar and petroleum products.
Nonetheless he acknowledged the impact of political developments on the country and particularly the military clashes with South Sudan as well as battling rebels in the border state states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan which prompted a 13% increase in spending.
He also revealed that China Exports Bank stopped financing 11 ongoing developmental projects because of the absence of oil collateral which he said amounted to 120,000 barrels per day. None of that was paid to the Chinese since the oil-rich south became an independent state.
South Sudan’s oil represented more than a third of Khartoum’s revenues and its largest source of hard currency, leaving the government struggling for alternatives since independence.
A number of lawmakers fiercely criticized the government including former spy chief Salah Gosh who said that the only way out for the economy is encouraging and opening up the country for foreign investments.
But Gosh said that this approach will hit the wall of ruling party’s principles of seeking mobilization against being targeted by the outside world.
"If Sudan chooses this route then they have to walk it," Gosh said.
Sudan has been subject to comprehensive economic sanctions since 1997 in response to in response to the Sudanese government’s alleged support for terrorism, destabilizing of neighbor governments and human rights violations.
Gosh also criticized the Merowe dam’s performance saying it has not produced the anticipated benefits.
The MP said the $2 billion Chinese-built Merowe dam failed to provide power to the nearby agricultural projects in the area and did not reduce industrial spending on electricity. He also wondered how many graduates were employed in the dam related projects.
The 1,250 megawatt project was completed in 2009 with the goal of doubling Sudan’s electricity supply.
Suad al-Fatih, another MP dismissed proposals to lift subsidies and said that finance ministry policies increased poverty levels among Sudanese which she claimed reached epidemic levels.
Abdullah Ali Massar, former information minister, accused some government ministries and namely the electricity ministry of keeping their revenues and are not transferring to the finance ministry.
Along with a weakening currency, Sudan has been struggling with soaring inflation, which jumped again in April to 22.6%, up from 22.4% the previous month, the central statistics bureau said on Monday.
Furthermore, the Heglig oil facilities in South Kordofan were badly dominated during the brief occupation by South Sudan forces.
But Sudan said the fields in Heglig, which produce half the country’s oil output, have resumed working though it is not clear at what capacity.
May 7, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party rejected a new map of the republic of South Sudan that includes a disputed area in South Kordofan stressing that it remains part of the Sudanese territory.
- New official map of the Republic of South Sudan in front of the Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, Juba, May 4, 2012 (ST)
Last Friday the South Sudanese cabinet for the first time since the independence of the new nation adopted an official map of the new state where Heglig or Panthou is considered as part of the Republic of South Sudan.
On 10 April South Sudanese army occupied the oil area for ten days before to withdraw its troops under the international pressures but also after a week of fighting with the Sudanese army.
The adoption of a new map that considers Heglig as South Sudanese territory is a "blatant transgression against Sudan and the will of the international community who confirmed that Heglig is 100% Sudanese territory," said Ibrahim Gandoor, foreign relation official in the ruling NCP on Sunday.
The NCP official said that this move will affect any future negotiation with Juba. However, he added that the adoption of the map might be one of the means of pressures used by Juba before to resume talks on the outstanding issues.
He further reaffirmed that " Heglig is a Sudanese area and Juba knows well before the others."
The African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) issued last month a road map to settle the disputes between the two countries since the independence of South Sudan over many issues including the border demarcation.
The UN Security Council endorsed the African road map which gives the parties two week to resume talks brokered by the AU high level mechanism led by Tahbo Mbeki. If they fail to reach an agreement, the latter has to submit proposals on the different issues to the Peace and Security Council to adopt it.
May 5, 2012 (JUBA) – The Republic of South Sudan has adopted its official map for the first time since it became independence in July 2011 including various areas, including Heglig/Panthou, that are also claimed by Sudan.
- New official map of the Republic of South Sudan in front of the Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, Juba, May 4, 2012 (ST)
The map includes territories which officials of South Sudan said were claimed and illegally annexed to Sudan by successive Khartoum regimes.
In a Council of Ministers meeting on Friday chaired by the Vice President, Riek Machar Teny, the cabinet approved the official map of the new state after thorough deliberations.
The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Service, Madut Biar Yel, told the press after the cabinet meeting that six areas that were contested and occupied by Khartoum including Heglig/Panthou were included as part of South Sudan as per the new map presented to the cabinet by the Vice President.
Heglig was the scene of heavy fighting between the South Sudanese army (SPLA) and the Sudan Armed Forces in April. The SPLA occupied the oil-rich region for ten days but withdrew - it claims - due to international pressure. Khartoum, however, say SAF forced the SPLA out of the area, which has produced around half of their 115,000 barrels per day of crude since South Sudan seceded taking with it 75% of production.
Juba claims that the area was annexed by Khartoum after oil was discovered there in 1970s.
The areas disputed by Khartoum are located in the four bordering states of Upper Nile, Unity, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Western Bahr el Ghazal states. Khartoum has a different rival map which has also incorporated the same disputed territories.
Madut accused Khartoum of occupying territories which historically belong to South Sudan and claiming them because they have resources.
The two countries have not demarcated the nearly 1,800 kilometre border during the six year peace process (2005-2011) and post-independence negotiations have made little progress on the issue.
South Sudan wants the issue of all border demarcation to be referred to arbitration. Khartoum has resisted this but its ambassador to the UK said on Tuesday that is was happy to go for arbitration over Heglig and other border areas.
However, when questioned on this apparent new development he told Sudan that this would be conditional on security issues being resolved including the SPLA admitting that it backs its former comrades the SPLA-North, which have been fighting the government in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was incomplete in these areas, meaning that the SPLA-N refused to disarm or move south of the border when South Sudan seceded.
South Sudan has been urged by the international community not to interfere in the two areas, which were given special status under the CPA, although Juba denies this.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon described South Sudan’s brief occupation of Heglig - triggered, Juba says, by repeated bombing and ground attacks - as "illegal".
However British historian Douglas H. Johnson, who has worked extensively on border issues, including as part of the Abyei Border Commission (ABC), established by the CPA, said in a short note on published on 4 May that declaring Heglig/Panthou as part of Sudan is “premature at best and prejudicial to a final resolution at worst.” He also recommended that the issues be resolved through arbitration.
Madut further explained that South Sudan has not demarcated its borders with its other neighbouring countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo and Central African Republic.
However, he expressed hope that, unlike the present border conflict with Sudan, these borders will be demarcated amicably.
May 5, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The governor of Gedaref state Karamallah Abbas has submitted his resignation to president Omer Hassan al-Bashir who accepted it, Sudan state media reported.
- Gedaref state governor Karamallah Abbas
Because Abbas disbanded his cabinet Bashir appointed Al-Saw Mohamed al-Mahi as an acting governor until new elections can be held, the report said.
Abbas could not be immediately reached for comment.
This week, the governor dissolved his state government upon returning from Khartoum where he reportedly clashed with federal finance minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool over financial disbursements in arrears not paid to the state government.
Abbas lashed out at the finance minister saying the latter has more powers than the presidency. He warned that that the central government is now on the verge of collapse because it now became a one-man show.
He vowed not to resign and said Bashir can’t force him out because he is an elected official. It is not clear what prompted the change of heart.
The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) dispatched a delegation to meet the governor and it was reported that he was given the choices of either to resign, be sacked or for him to reverse his decision to dissolve the state cabinet.
The delegation returned to Khartoum and immediately convened a meeting with NCP organisational bureau which continued late into the night.
May 4, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) dispatched a delegation to Gedaref state to meet governor Karamallah Abbas in order to avert a crisis caused by his decision to dissolve the state cabinet.
- Gedaref state governor Karamallah Abbas (Al-Shorooq)
The move was made upon Abbas’s return to his state early on Thursday from Khartoum where he sought a meeting with the finance and national economy minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool.
Sources told Sudan that Abdel-Rasool refused to meet Abbas prompting the latter to force his way into the minister’s office. The two men entered into a sharp argument.
The controversial Gedaref governor stepped up his complaints in recent months that the central government refuses to release funds outstanding to his state since 2006. In April, he threatened to resign if his demands are not met.
Upon his return from Khartoum, Abbas immediately headed to the local radio station and announced his decision to disband his government and called his ministers for an emergency meeting.
He described the Sudanese state as being racist, regional and tribal adding that it eroded the religion and Islamic Shar’ia aspects.
The governor lashed out at the finance minister saying the latter has more powers than the presidency. He warned that that the central government is now on the verge of collapse because it now became a one-man show.
Abbas said that he is only asking for what is rightly due to his state since six years ago which the federal government has been dragging its feet in paying.
Addressing his supporters later, Abbas warned the presidency that "you are responsible for all of us and god will question you on the sick and poor people in Gedaref and kala-azar patients".
"Isn’t it time for the finance minister to leave?" Abbas posed the question to president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.
"Do you want us to rebel....if you want us to we are capable of doing it and I can lead Gedaref and its people," he said.
Abbas stressed that he will not resign so that the corrupt people don’t achieve their goals and underscored that Bashir cannot sack him since he is an elected official.
The NCP held an emergency meeting headed by Vice President Al-Haj Adam Youssef to discuss the situation after which they criticized Abbas for his decision to dissolve his cabinet describing it as unjustified because it was done prior to meeting with the local government components.
The NCP spokesman Badr al-Deen Ibrahim said that a delegation is headed for a meeting with Abbas after which it will file a report that will be discussed in an another meeting.
He denied that Abbas’s dispute with the finance minister caused his decision and vowed that the NCP will review the move from legal aspects. Any decision on his fate will be taken through the state’s legislative assembly.
The state’s assembly can remove Abbas if they vote for that by a two-thirds majority. In the alternative Bashir can declare emergency in Gedaref state which will constitutionally allow him to fire Abbas.
The Sudanese president has blasted Abbas last February for making complaints in the media rather than through the formal channels.
May 3, 2012 (KHARTOUM)- Sudan announced Wednesday the resumption of the production of oil fields in Heglig which were stopped after its occupation by the South Sudanese army for ten days last April.
- Minister of Petroleum Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz opens an oil valve during a ceremony as oil operations at Heglig oilfield resume in Heglig May 2, 2012. (Reuters)
South Sudan army, SPLA, captured Higleg from 10 to 20 April, before to pull out after fierce fighting with the Sudanese army. Khartoum accused Juba of deliberately sabotaging oil facilities but the later said it was destroyed by the bombing of Sudanese warplanes.
The resumption of oil production was announced in Khartoum by the Sudanese petroleum minister, Awad Ahmed al-Jaz, after his return from the oil fields; dressed in full military regalia and flanked by dozens of staff from his ministry.
"We have resumed oil pumping from Higleg oil fields, and I have opened the valves myself after we have completed all the work within one week," al-Jaz told reporters proudly in Khartoum.
"Many have challenged us that at least it needs six months before production returns, but we worked 24 hours a day and we have succeeded in repairing the power stations, pipelines, and the central processing units," he further said.
The minister said the oil fields started pumping oil at 10 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday.
Sudan and South Sudan have failed to reach an agreement over post-independence issues. Their dispute over oil transportation fees led the South to shut down its production after accusing Khartoum of stealing oil.
Sudan have since opened a tender for oil companies to start exploration in 6 new sites in Sudan. According to the minister over 70 international companies have expressed their desire to invest in Sudan.
Heglig’s oil is operated by a consortium of Chinese, Malaysia, Indian and Sudanese companies called Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co (GNPOC). The Chinese operator applied for many of these new fields.
Heglig produces some 55.000 barrels per day, about the half of Sudan’s oil production since the independence of South Sudan in July 2011.
The minister said his country plans to augment output of Heglig’s oil but he did not disclose what the damaged oil installations are producing now.
Jaz said they have only managed to fix what was necessary to resume oil pumping. But experts say that Sudan at least needs four to six months before oil production returns to normal.
"We have fixed what was necessary for the resumption of oil production. But at the same time the work is still going on," the minister said. Adding, "now if you ask the engineers here they will tell you that Higleg’s oil has reached Khartoum refinery," he stressed.
Sudanese army last Saturday detained, a Briton, a Norwegian, South African and a South Sudanese in Higleg. All they are accused of helping South Sudan to destroy the oilfields during the ten days of occupation.
At his press conference today, al-Jaz stressed that the four men have admitted during the interrogation that they helped the SPLA to set a blaze on the oil fields.
Jaz accused also vowed to sue South Sudan for compensation, saying they are assessing the loses now.
He pledged to provide the details of the damages caused by the South Sudanese army to the international and regional institutions.
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