---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 6:51 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fwd: Khartoum rejects... To: Group <[email protected]>
"[SPLM-North chairman Malik] Agar urged the NCP to tone down their aggressive positions to preserve the unity of Sudan and pursue consensus with other powers on how the country should be governed without endorsing supremacy of Arab and Islamic culture. He said that other ethnicities need to know where they stand and their position with regard to beliefs, unity and peace, economy, power and wealth sharing and building a state of citizenship." (#4 below) 1. Sudan officially rejects extension of UN-AU mandate in Darfur Excerpt from report by state-owned Sudanese radio on 4 August During its meeting which finished in the early hours of this morning, chaired by the president of the republic and chairman of the National Congress Party [NCP], FM Umar al-Bashir, the NCP Leadership Bureau, declared its categorical rejection to the recent [UN] Security Council resolution extending the mandate of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur [UNAMID] for another year. According to NCP's media secretary and official spokesman, Prof Ibrahim Ghandur, the bureau considered the resolution as a breach to all that had been agreed upon and that it came at a time when the security situation was improving and peace being achieved in Darfur, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was being implementated and the South Sudan state has been established with the help and recognition of the government [of Sudan]. [Passage omitted: Reports by a number of committees on political, economic, information, constitutional programmes] Source: Republic of Sudan Radio, Omdurman, in Arabic 0900 gmt 4 Aug 11 BBC Monitoring Alert END1 2. Sudan’s ruling party rejects Security Council’s resolution on UNAMID mandate August 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) today has rejected a UN Security Council resolution extending the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) for one year. Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Karti on Tuesday slammed the resolution saying it reproduces false information and tarnishing the image of the country. He also accused the 15 member body of seeking to change the mandate of the hybrid peacekeeping mission from Darfur region to include all the Sudan . Voted on Friday 29 July, the resolution 10349 echoed reports about continued violence and recent waves of displacement in Darfur, it also urged Sudan to cooperate with the mission in matters related to the provision of visa to UNAMID personnel and to facilitate the access to the different areas in the restive region. The Council further did not supports Khartoum’s plans to launch a parallel process prepared by the African Union panel for Sudan, called Darfur-based Political Process (DPP) and in turn asked the Sudanese government to lift the state of emergency and grant more freedoms as well as to stop violation of human rights and intimidations. The UN largest peacekeeping operation in Darfur was also requested by the Security Council to cooperate with UN similar missions in Abyei and South Sudan, a matter that angered Khartoum. "The (UNSC) resolution goes beyond what is agreed" said the NCP’s media secretary and spokesperson Ibrahim Gandoor on Wednesday evening. "It also comes at time where the security situation is improving and peace has been achieved in Darfur," he stressed. Karti, yesterday, warned that Sudan is only committed to the resolution 1796 establishing the UNAMID adopted in January 2008 and the Status of Forces Agreement signed with the UNAMID. He further warned that his government might end the mandate of the joint mission if the Security Council insists on these decisions. The NCP official also regretted the resolution of the international body pointing out that his government implemented the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and recognized the independence of South Sudan. The UNSC resolution on the UNAMID mandate said only a negotiated solution can end the eight year conflict in Darfur and pressed the Sudanese parties including all the armed groups to join the peace process and engage talks without preconditions. (ST) END2 3. Sudan not to accept UNMIS personnel in Abyei peacekeeping mission August 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan has reaffirmed rejection to the appointment of any employee of the outgoing UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). The spokesman of the country’s foreign ministry, Al-Ubayd Muruah, told reporters in Khartoum on Thursday that his ministry had sent a written letter to the UN expressing refusal to the inclusion of any former UNMIS employee in UNISFA. Sudan has decided to terminate the mandate of UNMIS, which was established to monitor the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which culminated in the secession of South Sudan last month. However, the mission is currently relocating to South Sudan where it is allowed to operate and will be referred to as the UN Mission in South Sudan UNMISS. UNISFA, composed of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeepers set to be deployed in the north-south’s hotly-contested region of Abyei, had its mandate approved last month by the UN Security Council. The mission was agreed in June between Sudan and South Sudan pending determination of Abyei’s status. “It must be clear to the international community that UNMIS’s role is finished,” Muruah said, warning against any attempt to “hijack or manipulate” UNISFA’s role. According to the ministry’s spokesman, the decision to prohibit the employment of UNMIS is “a precautionary measure,” citing the example of the UNSC’s “attempt to circumvent” the mandate of the joint UN-AU Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). “Therefore we had to be cautious,” he added. Sudan on Tuesday chided the UNSC over its decision to extend the mandate of UNAMID for one year in the country’s war-battered region of Darfur. The country’s foreign minister Ali Karti threatened to terminate UNAMID’s mandate against the background of what he termed attempts to include in the mission’s mandate the issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which seeks the arrest of Sudan President Omer Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide allegedly committed in the western region. Karti accused the UNSC of meddling in his country’s internal affairs and tarnishing its image. He further expressed Sudan’s rejection to the UNSC’s resolution demand for coordination between UNISFA and UNMIS. Similarly, the undersecretary of Sudan’s foreign ministry, Ambassador Rahmah Mohamed Osman, on Thursday held a meeting with the UK ambassador in Khartoum Nickolas Kay and discussed the UNSC’s resolution to extend UNMID mandate. Rahmah said that the new UNSC resolution contains provisions breaching the clear agreement between Sudan, the UN and the AU on establishing UNAMID in accordance with strictly defined jurisdictions (ST) END3 4. Sudan’s Blue Nile governor scraps meeting with Bashir August 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A planned meeting between the Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and Blue Nile state governor Malik Agar on Wednesday has been cancelled. The summit was quietly arranged to discuss on ways to end the ongoing clashes in South Kordofan state between Sudan people Liberation Army (SPLA) units and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). Agar is the chairman of SPLM in Sudan (SPLM-North) which is the offshoot of the party that now controls the newly independent state of South Sudan. Fighting flared in South Kordofan, which borders South Sudan and Darfur, in June after Khartoum claimed that SPLA units led by former deputy governor Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu attacked police station in the state’s capital of Kadugli. But al-Hilu blamed SAF for attempting to disarm the SPLA soldiers in South Kordofan by force triggering the clashes. A month prior to that, al-Hilu accused the Sudanese government of fraud in the gubernatorial elections in favor of incumbent governor Ahmed Haroun who was the candidate of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP). Haroun is a war crime suspect wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in atrocities allegedly committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. An internal UN report said the army’s systematic attacks, targeting the state’s indigenous Nuba peoples, could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Khartoum initially appeared to be seeking a military solution to quell the rebellion and unleashed its might during the fighting including the utilization of its air force. The Sudanese leader urged the army to continue the campaign and bring al-Hilu to justice. He also effectively voided an agreement signed by one of his powerful aides with Agar in Ethiopia that set the groundwork for cessation of hostilities in South Kordofan. However, Sudanese officials in recent weeks softened their stance and expressed willingness to engage in negotiations with al-Hilu. Nafie Ali Nafie, who is also NCP deputy chairman and Bashir’s assistant, said this week that his party recognizes the SPLM as “an entity” in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. He, however, stopped short of saying that the former guerrilla movement is recognized as a countrywide political party. This was contrary to earlier positions by NCP which stated that SPLM will not be allowed to operate in North Sudan after the South breaks away. Al-Hilu said in an interview last month that talks with Khartoum will be only be acceptable if it takes place through a third party and outside Sudan. Addressing a conference today comprised of political parties and local leaders in the state’s capital of Damazin, Agar said that the war in South Kordofan led to growing tensions in his state. He warned that this situation will be defused only through the implementation of the Addis Ababa agreement that was brokered by the African Union (AU). He said that he refused to meet with Bashir as SPLM-North chairman after he insisted that the Sudanese leader meet with him in his capacity as governor. "Bashir as the NCP Chairman may not recognize me as SPLM-North chairman," Aggar said before adding that he prefers that Sudanese VP Taha or Nafie be dispatched to kick off negotiations and later report to their boss. "The failure of negotiations at the level of the two leaders [Agar & Bashir] will lead to war in the absence of a party to bridge views" he said. The NCP political Secretary General Al-Haj Adam Youssef in press statements said that the issue of South Kordofan was not even on the agenda of the meeting adding that the two men were to discuss only the affairs of the Blue Nile state. The SPLM-North head warned against provocative actions by some military bodies in his state and called on the security services to return to their positions and leave the task of maintaining law to the police force. "Anyone now has his own army and palace [so] if you cry out loud in your palace I can also cry out loud in my own palace" Agar said. "If the governor’s chair will make me accept insults to my people I will abandon it" he added. Agar urged the NCP to tone down their aggressive positions to preserve the unity of Sudan and pursue consensus with other powers on how the country should be governed without endorsing supremacy of Arab and Islamic culture. He said that other ethnicities need to know where they stand and their position with regard to beliefs, unity and peace, economy, power and wealth sharing and building a state of citizenship. (ST) END4 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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