---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 2:09 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] US plans possible Sudan aid operation in defiance of Khartoum To: Group <[email protected]>
1. US plans possible Sudan aid operation in defiance of Khartoum Jared Ferrie Tha National 20/01/12 JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN // The Obama administration is planning a possible humanitarian operation to prevent mass starvation in two Sudanese states in defiance of the Khartoum government, which has refused to allow aid groups access. "We are simply not going to sit back and watch while 100,000 people starve to death," a state department official, speaking on condition of anonymity told The National. "We are actively planning and Khartoum knows this." Humanitarian agencies pulled out of the two states when fighting between Khartoum and insurgents erupted in June in Southern Kordofan and spread to neighbouring Blue Nile in September. On Wednesday, the US' special envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, told reporters in South Africa that about half a million people could face "emergency conditions bordering on famine". "That's something that our government at the highest levels cannot let happen," said the state department official. He refused to divulge details of how aid would be moved into Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states, saying the plan is "obviously quite sensitive". Mr Lyman told reporters that as Khartoum continues to block international and UN agencies access to the area, pressure is mounting to "provide assistance across the border against the wishes of the government of Sudan", but added, "We have made no decision to do that." Zach Vertin, a Sudan analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, told Bloomberg News that the US faces a difficult decision. "Washington has given this a great deal of thought, as it and others have made clear that it will be difficult to ignore further catastrophe in Southern Kordofan. The challenge will be to minimise any broader costs in doing so," he said. Mr Vertin added that providing aid without Khartoum's consent could have negative consequences. "It's a very tough call, but with Khartoum providing no avenues for cooperation and an even greater humanitarian crisis looming, Washington feels pressed to act," he said. "Such a move could potentially prompt a negative response from Khartoum, cause further deterioration of US-Sudan relations, and generate consternation from those already made wary by international intervention in Libya." John Ashworth, an expert on the region who has spent 28 years in Sudan and South Sudan, said a US push to move aid into Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile could worsen Khartoum's already troubled relations with the US as well as South Sudan. "Khartoum will certainly try to portray it as South Sudanese assistance to a rebel group, rather than as a humanitarian response to Khartoum's own intransigence," said Mr Ashworth. The insurgents are former armed divisions of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement, which is now the ruling party in South Sudan. The movement fought a two-decade civil war that led to South Sudan's secession. When the south declared independence on July 9, the Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile divisions declared themselves a separate political party and added "North" to their name. Khartoum has accused Juba of backing the rebels - a charge South Sudanese officials including the president, Salva Kiir, have repeatedly denied. But in a November 21 statement, the White House noted that Mr Lyman had discussed with South Sudan "the need to respect the sovereignty of Sudan, including by ending support for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile." The nature of that support "is both material as well as command and control", said the state department official. He added that the UN Security Council "is basically paralysed" because it does not want to intervene in Sudan, even on humanitarian grounds, while South Sudan is backing the SPLM-N. "I imagine that a number of council members will for now be reluctant to sanction any move that further infringes Sudan's sovereignty," said Aly Verjee, an analyst with the Rift Valley Institute. "The situation will probably have to deteriorate further before any real action is contemplated." Meanwhile, Juba has accused Khartoum of arming militia groups in an attempt to destabilise South Sudan. Those allegations are backed up by organisations such as the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey. "We've gathered evidence that strongly links weapons used by southern militias to Khartoum," said Jonah Leff, a researcher with the group. "Weapons in rebel stocks seem to correlate closely with Sudan Armed Forces' small arms arsenal." Mr Ashworth said a US-backed humanitarian aid operation into Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile could hurt relations between Khartoum and Juba, but it would be better than Juba providing support itself. "If South Sudan were to unilaterally assist beleaguered civilians in Sudan, it would be easier for Khartoum to justify some form of retaliation," he said. "But if the USA is fronting an international humanitarian effort, that might prove more difficult." [email protected] http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/us-plans-to-defy-khartoum-with-aid-for-starving-sudan END1 2. U.S. mulling aid operation in Blue Nile and South Kordofan: report January 19, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The United States is considering taking a unilateral move that would aim at providing aid to hundreds of thousands of people who face the daunting prospect of famine in Sudan’s border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, according to a newspaper report. Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) is battling rebels from the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) in the two states since June 2011 in South Kordofan and September 2011 in Blue Nile. The United Nations humanitarian chief Valery Amos visited Khartoum earlier this month to discuss the humanitarian situation in the two states with the Sudanese officials and called on the government to allow UN and international aid workers to reach the rebel controlled areas. But Sudanese officials refused this request. The U.S. special envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman warned during his visit to South Africa this week of a humanitarian disaster according to statements carried by CNN. He said that half a million people will face an emergency bordering on famine by March if international humanitarian organizations are not allowed into these areas. "There is a looming humanitarian disaster in Sudan," Lyman warned in the South African capital Pretoria as part of his effort to rally support for African intervention in Sudan. "Africa needs to speak with one voice," Lyman said. "Africa needs to say, ’We cannot allow this to happen.’" Groups like the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF must be able to work in the border areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, he said. The U.S. official urged South Africa to press Sudan on allowing aid groups particularly as it is the rotating president of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) this month. "As chair of the United Nations Security Council this month, South Africa can play a role in preventing a colossal disaster," Lyman said. But the U.S. appears to also be preparing contingency plan in case Khartoum continues to resist. We are simply not going to sit back and watch while 100,000 people starve to death," a state department official, speaking on condition of anonymity told The National newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates. "We are actively planning and Khartoum knows this." the official added. But some Sudan experts warned about such a move. "Such a move could potentially prompt a negative response from Khartoum, cause further deterioration of US-Sudan relations, and generate consternation from those already made wary by international intervention in Libya” said Zach Vertin, a Sudan analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). "Khartoum will certainly try to portray it as South Sudanese assistance to a rebel group, rather than as a humanitarian response to Khartoum’s own intransigence," said John Ashworth, an expert on the region who has spent 28 years in Sudan and South Sudan. The Sudanese ambassador to South Africa, Ali Yusuf Alsharif, warned that the situation in his country could become worse than Somalia — but he said that outside pressure will further complicate the situation. "The world has looked at Somalia, not knowing what to do," he said at the conference. "But if you push everyone (in Sudan), you could have a situation worse than Somalia." In a related issue a delegation from SPLM-N in the United States met with UN Humanitarian Chief on Wednesday for discussions on the situation the ground in the two states. “The SPLMN affirmed its position that negotiations about the humanitarian assistance to the IDPs in South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile States, need to follow a tripartite approach that includes the United Nation, the SPLMN and the regime in Khartoum, since the majority of those IDPs are in the SPLMN controlled areas” said a statement by the SPLM-N. “The SPLMN requested the Office of the Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nation Security Council to address the humanitarian crisis in South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile States seriously given the fact that General Elbashir Government is deliberately using food as a weapon and denying access for humanitarian assistance which constitutes a war crime. The displacement of the civil population of South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile States came as direct result of the Khartoum government policies of targeting the civilian population”. Today the Sudanese army confirmed clashes with SPLM-N in the southern part of the Blue Nile state. "The army was clearing the areas of rebels," SAF spokesperson Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad said, denying that a helicopter had been shot down as SPLM-N claimed. Teh rebel group said it mnaged to destroy five military vehicles. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/U-S-mulling-aid-operation-in-Blue,41348 END2 3. SPLM-N calls for concrete steps to deliver humanitarian aid to South Kordofan and B. Nile Sudan people’s Liberation Movement - North The SPLM-N Calls on the African Union to Take Steps to Ensure and Guarantee Humanitarian Assistance Delivery to South Kordofan/ Nuba Mountain and Calls Upon Valerie Amos to Brief the Security Council on the Humanitarian Tragedy, and on the Refusal of the Khartoum Regime to Allow Access for Humanitarian Assistance and their Continued Non-Cooperation Policy. Yesterday, Monday 16th January, the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, Ali Osman M Taha and his lieutenants convened a meeting for the so-called High-Committee for Humanitarian Assistance. As expected, the meeting resulted in pursuing its non-cooperation line with the African Union, the international community and the United Nation’s efforts to reach agreement that will open access for humanitarian assistance to thousands of displaced people in South Kordofan /Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile who are estimated by the United Nations and relief agencies to be more than 417,000. In fields assessments conducted by the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Organisation, the humanitarian wing of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N), there are more than 300,000 affected people in Nuba Mountain/ South Kordofan; and 405,000 people in Blue Nile, in addition to more that 150, 000 refugees in the Republic of South Sudan, and 38,000 in neigbouring Ethiopia. Given this humanitarian tragedy and Khartoum’s denial since June 2011 of humanitarian access and the continuous bombardment and military offensive against the civilians, genocide and war crimes committed on ethnic and political grounds. Added to this the ban of SPLM-N and the removal of its elected governor in Blue Nile, and the campaign of arbitrary arrests of SPLM-N leaders all over Sudan, and the issuing deaths sentences against 19 of them, including the writer and poet Abdel-Monim Rahama and other activists associated with the SPLM-N- such as Dr. Gamar Hussain and 400 missing others: victims of extra-judicial killings. In the Light of this grave humanitarian situation, and the deliberate policy taken by the NCP government of the use of food as a weapon and the non-cooperation with the United Nations and the international Community, which is decided at the highest possible authority in the regime, the SPLM-N calls upon and appeal to African Union, in particular when meeting in Addis Ababa at the end of this month, to take the necessary steps to ensure that food will be delivered to the needy people of the Two Areas and that Khartoum dictatorial and racist government will not use the African Union inaction as an alibi to continue its policy. Likewise, we call upon Valeria Amos who was denied access to Khartoum when in Turkey on her way there, and again didn’t find the necessary and deserved cooperation in her last visit to Khartoum, to give a frank report to United Nations Security Council to enable it to fully assume its responsibility in ensuring the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the protection of the affected civilian population. It is worth noting that the delivery of humanitarian assistance would require a tripartite agreement between the de facto government in Khartoum, the SPLM-N and the United Nations, considering the fact that the affected people are in the areas controlled by the SPLM-N. Throughout the 22 years of this dictatorial regime of the NCP, whose leaders are wanted by international justice, it has never responded to niceties, but only responds to genuine pressure mounted by the Sudanese people, the region, the continent and the international community. Yasir Arman Secretary General Sudan People Liberation Movement- North 17th January 2012 (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/SPLM-N-calls-for-concrete-steps-to,41331 END3 4. New fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile border state Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:35am GMT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's army has clashed with rebels in Blue Nile state, which borders South Sudan and where fighting has been going on for five months, but the army denied on Thursday that rebels had shot down a helicopter. Clashes spread to Blue Nile in September after violence broke out in June in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan between the army and rebels from the northern wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which wants to topple the Khartoum government. Khartoum wants to explore oil in Blue Nile which is also rich in minerals. The fighting has already forced about 417,000 people to flee their homes, more than 80,000 of them to newly independent South Sudan, according to the United Nations. SPLM-North rebels said in a statement that clashes broke out in the area of But on Wednesday in southern Blue Nile during which 26 soldiers were killed. It said rebels had shot down an army helicopter and destroyed five military vehicles. Army spokesman Sawarmi Khalid Saad said seven rebels had been killed and six soldiers wounded during fighting in the area. "The army was clearing the areas of rebels," he said, denying that a helicopter had been shot down. Blue Nile and South Kordofan contain large groups who sided with the south in a decades-long civil war, and who say they continue to face persecution inside Sudan since South Sudan seceded in July. The SPLM is now the ruling party in the independent south and denies supporting SPLM-North rebels across the border. Events in South Kordofan and Blue Nile are difficult to verify because aid groups and foreign journalists are banned from areas where fighting takes place. SPLM-North is one of a number of rebel movements in underdeveloped border areas who say they are fighting to overthrow Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and end what they see as the dominance of the Khartoum political elite. Sudan and South Sudan, who still have to resolve a range of issues including the sharing of oil revenues, regularly trade accusations of supporting insurgencies on each other's territory. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE80J00B20120120?sp=true END4 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South 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. 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