Pagan Amum: South Sudan ready to withdraw from contested areas if UN intervene(video)

Speaking in Nairobi, Pagan Amum, South Sudan’s lead negotiator at talks to resolve the dispute with Sudan, said his country was ready to withdraw under a U.N.-mediated plan. “On the ground, we are ready to withdraw from Heglig as a contested area … provided that the United Nations deploy a U.N. force in these contested areas and the U.N. also establish a monitoring mechanism to monitor the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement,” he told reporters.

South Sudan ready to withdraw from contested areas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaaHmamTQHs&feature=share

South Sudan army in disputed oil town of Heglig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=udQSXta4eQg

Sudan, South Sudan’s contested border regions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1gX35XuDY

South Sudan accuses the North of fresh attacks as border row rages

ASHRAF SHAZLY |AFP A Sudanese soldier patrols Talodi area in South Kordofan on Thursday following clashes between the army and South Sudan’s forces in the region. Sudan has been angered by the occupation of oil-rich Heglig by the South Sudanese army since Tuesday and wants unconditional withdrawal of the troops.

By Machel Amos NATION Correspondent in Juba and Reem Abbas Nation Correspondent in Khartoum
Posted  Friday, April 13  2012 at  20:04

IN SUMMARY

• Minister claims North planes attacked village

 Sudan forces continued with deadly aerial bombardments in South Sudan on Friday despite a temporary ceasefire among the ground forces, officials said.

Two MIG planes Friday attacked a civilian village seven kilometres from Bentiu town, the capital of oil-rich Unity, the state’s Information Minister Gideon Gatpan Thoar said.

“We are yet to specify the casualties but of course there are casualties,” Mr Gatpan said.

“If they don’t stop the bombing we will continue with our ground forces in Heglig,” he said.

In Heglig, which is under control of South Sudan troops, no clashes were reported.

The fresh air attacks came in the wake of an appeal by the international outcry, urging both sides to end the hostilities.

The UN has asked South Sudan to withdraw from Heglig and Sudan to end aerial raids in the South.

South Sudan army spokesman, Col Philip Aguer Panyang, confirmed the escalation in air raids.

“They were targeting a bridge near Rubkona and the bombing is continuous,” Col Aguer said.

“They did not bomb our position today in Heglig …the SPLA forces are beyond Heglig,” he added.

Sudan has been angered by the occupation of Heglig by the South Sudanese army since Tuesday and called for unconditional withdrawal of the troops.

Exert pressure

In a statement carried by the Sudan official news agency, the Foreign Ministry urged the international community “to continue putting pressure on the aggressors and invaders and adopt all the necessary measures to enforce South Sudan to abide by the International Law and to respect the will of the international institutions.”

The Sudan News Agency also quoted President Bashir saying that his army “will repulse any aggression against the Sudan and hailed the steadfastness of the Armed Forces and their determination to defend the Sudanese soil, unity and gains.”

South Sudanese troops on Friday were still in control of the area and vowed to stay put.

“Let them come, we will meet in the middle,” Chief of General Staff James Hoth Mai told a local newspaper.

However, the Juba government said it was ready for dialogue to resolve the outstanding issues, including border demarcation, the status of the disputed Abyei region and oil transit fees.

Relations between the two countries have been marred by violence along the poorly defined borders since the independence of South Sudan in July.

At the same time, the Sudan government has said that the country had enough oil supplies to cover its needs for months to come.

Oil fields

The government noted that there were functioning oil fields in Sudan, other than South Sudan-controlled Heglig.

The statement comes after residents of Khartoum complained after waiting in long queues to refuel.

Khartoum faced a transportation crisis as less buses were available in the last two days.

The Ministry of Petroleum said that the country had 10,000 tonnes of gasoline in storage and was prepared for any eventualities.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/1386078/-/item/1/-/13ls3ah/-/index.html

Sudanese troops are marching towards Heglig – says Sudan military spoke person, Al-Sawarmi

Sudan Tribune: April 13, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese military spokesperson al-Sawarmi Khaled announced Friday that Khartoum troops are marching towards Heglig, which is under the control of South Sudanese army since three days ago.

Al-Sawarmi Khaled
Juba said they were forced to push the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) out of the border town area after repeated attack against its positions in Unity state. But President Salva Kiir said later the oil rich area is part of South Sudanese territory and refuses to pull his army out of it.

Speaking to the press, Al-Sawarmi said that SAf have started its counteroffensive in the outskirts of Heglig town stressing that they will cleanse it within hours of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

The Sudanese military spokesperson further accused Darfur rebel Justice and equality Movement (JEM) of taking part in the attack besides the South Sudanese army.

Yesterday, the Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid Al-Nur stated it was not participating in the SPLA attack on Heglig pointing out that they want to topple the regime while the South Sudan wants to defend its alleged rights on that land.

Al-Sawarmi also said they control now all the border of Darfur states with the South Sudan to prevent rebels from crossing to South Sudan adding they crushed a group of rebels belonging to Minni Minnawi.

Speaking to Reuters from Juba, the SPLA spokesperson Philip Aguer said he has no reports from the ground on the recent developments but stressed that their army is ready to ” to defend itself and its territories.”

Since yesterday several sources told the Sudan Tribune about the imminent riposte of the Sudanese army as SAF command was pressed to counter attack after their failure to explain the fall of the strategic town in the hands of South Sudanese army.

South Sudan has been under huge international pressure after the seizure of Heglig.

http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudanese-troops-are-marching,42235

Sudan army says advancing on occupied Heglig

By Abdelmoneim Abu Edris Ali | AFP 

Sudan’s army said on Friday it has launched a counter-attack towards Heglig town in its main oil-producing region, which South Sudanese forces seized earlier this week.

“Now we are moving towards Heglig town” and are “close,” army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad said in a statement.

“The situation in Heglig is going to end in coming hours,” he told reporters, adding that South Sudan had tried but failed to control “all of South Kordofan state.”

Malaak Ayuen, deputy spokesman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in the South, said his forces had expected a fight-back.

“Yes we know they are moving towards Heglig,” he said. “But there is no problem … Let them come”.

World powers have urged restraint after the latest round of heavy fighting that broke out on Tuesday with waves of aerial bombardment hitting the South, whose troops seized the Heglig region from Khartoum’s army.

Southern President Salva Kiir and his Khartoum counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, have accused each other of seeking war, prompting a UN Security Council call for an immediate ceasefire.

Sudan had vowed to react with “all means” against a three-pronged attack it said was launched by South Sudanese forces.

The clashes, the worst since South Sudan won independence in July after one of Africa’s longest civil wars, have brought the two former foes the closest yet to a return to outright war.

Neither army has provided casualty figures but one Southern soldier in Bentiu said earlier: “There are so many bodies at the front line, so many dead” that it is impossible to bury them or bring them back.

When the South separated, Khartoum lost about 75 percent of its oil production and billions of dollars in revenue, leaving the Heglig area as its main producer. Its output roughly fulfilled domestic requirements.

But Tuesday’s attack caused a total production shutdown in the area, said Ahmed Haroun, governor of South Kordofan state, in which Heglig is located.

Despite international calls, Juba has refused to withdraw from Heglig unless certain conditions are met, including Khartoum’s pullout from the neighbouring Abyei region it holds and which, like Heglig, is claimed by both sides.

International arbitrators ruled three years ago that Heglig was not part of Abyei, a decision the South agreed with although it does not concede that Heglig is therefore northern.

Kiir, in a speech to parliament on Thursday, said Bashir had “announced a total war with the Republic of South Sudan.”

And Bashir said South Sudan had “chosen the path of war, implementing plans dictated by foreign parties who supported them during the civil war.”

Parliaments in the two nations have called on citizens to take up defences in case of war.

Journalists are not allowed to report independently in South Kordofan, but an AFP reporter on a government-run trip saw soldiers on Thursday lined up at the airport in the provincial capital Kadugli.

Several military trucks and three attack helicopters were seen along with a large transport aircraft.

The unrest has prompted Khartoum to pull out of African Union-led crisis talks aimed at resolving the protracted dispute with Juba over oil, border demarcation, contested areas and citizenship issues.

In January, the landlocked South shut crude production — which made up 98 percent of its income — after Khartoum began seizing Southern oil in lieu of compensation for use of its export terminal and other facilities.

This week’s clashes follow border fighting that erupted last month between the neighbours, and which each side has blamed the other for starting.

World powers, including the African Union, United Nations, United States and China, have called for restraint and voiced deep concern at the escalation of violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/un-ceasefire-call-sudan-sudan-trade-accusations-032111909.html

Sudan army says moving on oil town seized by South

By Ulf Laessing and Khalid Abdelaziz

JUBA/KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s army said it was advancing on the disputed town of Heglig on Friday in an attempt to oust South Sudanese forces from the oil-producing area after the south said it would withdraw only if the United Nations intervened.

Fighting between Sudan and South Sudan this week has brought the two closer to a resumption of full-blown conflict, nine months after the south seceded under a peace deal that ended decades of civil war.

South Sudan seized the Heglig oilfield near the border on Tuesday, sparking widespread condemnation. The African Union denounced the occupation as illegal and urged the two sides to avert a “disastrous” war.

Heglig, which the south claims as its own, is vital to Sudan’s economy because it has a field accounting for about half of its 115,000 barrel-a-day oil output. The fighting has stopped crude production there, officials say.

Sudan’s military, which has vowed to strike back if the South’s army (SPLA) did not withdraw, said its forces were on the outskirts of Heglig and pushing forward. “The armed forces are advancing toward Heglig town,” military spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad told reporters in Khartoum.

“The situation in Heglig will be resolved within hours.”

South Sudanese armed forces spokesman Philip Aguer said he had not received reports of fighting in Heglig on Friday, but that the situation there should become clearer on Saturday.

“If they are advancing, the SPLA is ready to defend itself and its territories,” he said by phone. “When they (Sudan’s army) were pushed out of the area, they were occupying it by force, so if they want to come back by force, they can try it.”

Speaking in Nairobi, Pagan Amum, South Sudan’s lead negotiator at talks to resolve the dispute with Sudan, said his country was ready to withdraw under a U.N.-mediated plan.

“On the ground, we are ready to withdraw from Heglig as a contested area … provided that the United Nations deploy a U.N. force in these contested areas and the U.N. also establish a monitoring mechanism to monitor the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement,” he told reporters.

Amum said there were seven disputed areas and called for international arbitration to end the dispute over these regions.

DAMAGED FACILITIES

The loss of Heglig’s oil output is another blow to Sudan’s economy, which was already struggling with rising food prices and a currency depreciating on the black market.

Amum said the Heglig facilities were “largely” damaged by fighting, but did not give details.

“Resumption of oil in that area will only come when the U.N. deploy their forces between the two countries and in the disputed areas and when the two countries reach agreement to resume oil production,” he said.

Landlocked South Sudan shut down its own 350,000 barrel-per-day oil output in January in a row over how much it should pay to export crude via pipelines and facilities in Sudan.

Oil accounted for about 98 percent of the new nation’s state revenues and officials have been scrambling for ways to make up for the loss.

In Juba, about 200 people demonstrated at a government-organised protest against Sudan and in support of the occupation of Heglig, holding banners which read: “The people want the army to be in Heglig” and “They bomb children and women”.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday added its voice to the chorus of demands that Sudan and South Sudan stop the clashes. Sudan’s U.N. ambassador said South Sudan must heed the call or Khartoum would “hit deep inside the south.

The African Union, which had been helping mediate talks between the two countries over oil payments and other disputed issues before Khartoum pulled out on Wednesday, also condemned the south’s occupation of Heglig.

“The Council is dismayed by the illegal and unacceptable occupation by the South Sudanese armed forces of Heglig, which lies north of the agreed border line of 1st January, 1956,” African Union Peace and Security Council Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters after a meeting late on Thursday.

The south seceded from Khartoum’s rule last year but the two sides have not agreed on issues including the position of the border, the division of the national debt and the status of citizens in each other’s territory.

Some 2 million people died in Sudan’s civil war, fought for decades over ideology, religion, ethnicity and oil.

(Additional reporting Yara Bayoumy in Nairobi and Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz and James Macharia; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Sudan_army_says_advancing_toward_Heglig_town.html?cid=32478718

Press Statement from South Sudanese Civil Society on UN’s response to Heglig’s Crisis

13th April 2012

To: 

The office of Secretary General 
United Nations Headquarters 
New York

Att:
Special Representative of Secretary General (SRSG)
South Sudan – Juba

Dear Sirs;

Re: The Current UN’s Position on War Escalation

We here under represent all civil societies and would like to outline the following concerns:

First: We quoted The President Salva Kiir’s speech delivered on 12th April 2012, to the joint sitting of (SSLA & SSSC), reiterating that UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon ordered him for (immediate withdrawal of South Sudan troops from Higlig). As a result we condemn strong words of interfering with South Sudan’s defense and control of its territorial boundaries.

Second: We strongly support our President Kiir’s order for the SPLA Forces not to withdraw from Pan- Thou known by others as (Higlig), because it is apart and parcel of the Republic of South Sudan.

Third: To be on records the area of Pan – Thou (Higlig) was annexed to Western Kordufan State in 2004 by Dr. Nafi Ali Nafi who was a minister for Local Government before the signing of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Fourth: We urge the UN Security Council, AU, USA, EU all friends and peace loving to intervene in order for the Sudanese Government to stop Sudanese Army Forces’ (SAF) unfounded aerial bombardment on South Sudan’s borders and towns, it must be dealt and should stop.

Fifth: We urge immediate withdrawal of SAF from all areas; Abyei, Hofra El Nehas, Kafia Kengi parts of Greater Bahr Al Ghazal, Magainis in Upper Nile as stipulated in the CPA (borders of 1956).

Seventh: Re-demarcation of boundaries between the South and the North according to AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

Eighth: We strongly condemn Ban Ki Moon’s bias statement accusing SPLA of occupying Pan – Thou as if it belongs to the Republic of Sudan.
Ninth: we urge UN Secretary General Ban Moon to apologize to the people and citizens of the Republic of South Sudan for undermining our sovereignty by ordering “immediate withdrawal” of our gallant forces (SPLA) from Pan – Thou (Higlig).

Finally, we still have confidence in the UN’s charter and leadership that they can deliver fair solutions to resolve outstanding issues between the two states.

Signed by:

1. Nile Cultural Centre ………………………………………………

2. South Sudan Businessmen and Women ……………………….

3. South Sudan Workers Trade Union ……………………………

4. South Sudan Women Union ……………………………………

5. Juba University Students Union ………………………………..

6. South Sudan Lawyers Union ……………………………………

7. South Sudan Youth ……………………………………………..

8. South Sudan Universities Associations …………………………

9. South Sudan Peace Forum ………………………………………

10. South Sudan Youth for National Mobilization ………………….

CC:
– AU & IGAD – Juba
– The President Office
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Affair – Juba

Sudan vs. South Sudan: A war over ownership of resources and Recognition of national Sovereignty

By John Bith Aliap, Adelaide, South Australia

The people of the Republic of South Sudan fought a long-deadly war that has ever been recorded in the world’s history with the North Sudan just to escape the wraths of Islamic chauvinism, humiliation, social, political and economic marginalization and equitable distribution of national resources. This war has of course, accorded South Sudanese citizens with a ‘golden chance’ to raise their flag high, for the first time in Sudan’s history in Juba, the capital city of the Republic of South Sudan to symbolize the declaration of political, economical, social, religious and cultural independence from Jihadists’ state in the north.

However, this ascension to independence was seen locally, nationally, regionally and internationally as one more step in the peace process that is supposed to bring the peoples from both north and south of Sudans to co-exist in peace as good neighbors bond by trust and mutual understanding. Convincingly, the Khartoum regime, headed by the internationally wanted fugitive, Omer el Bashir has never allowed the aspirations and sentiments of peace to triumph between these two nations.

Following the independence celebration with reflection of mixed feelings in reference to the losses and gains of the two decades civil war, the people of South Sudan began to beat-up their chests, claiming that they are free citizens in their own country, but in contrary, the real sense of independence has in verity not been well understood in Khartoum, which has before and even after the independence of South Sudan been beating-up the drums of war as many people in the South referred to it. Thus, the independence of the Republic of South Sudan has yet to register in Khartoum’s hard-liners’ minds, and therefore, South Sudan according to their colonial mentality, should still be subjected to daily belligerence. As the history goes down, despite the international recognition of South Sudan as an independence country, Khartoum government continued its usual antagonism including; daily aerial bombardments and ground assaults against the state of South Sudan and the international community, which is now renting about the withdrawal of South Sudanese’s troops from Panthou, remained hush on this issue of regime’s aggression, expecting South Sudan to remains calm while being slapped on the face by the regime.

The creditability of the so-called international community; even the stupidest people in the world can now understand in the case of south-north sudans that the international community has lost its legitimacy and thus,  became a lame-duck organization composed of people with vast interests. The African Union (AU) the European Union (EU) the United States (US) United Nation Security Council (UNSC) and Arab League (AL) have unquestionably paid diminutive attention to crimes committed in Darfur, Blue Nile, South Kordufan and now the Republic of South Sudan by Khartoum’s regime. To waste no time, the above named organizations have become perpetrators of crimes due to their unrealistic support of Bashir’s regime which has brutally been butchering innocence civilians in the Republic of South Sudan and other parts of the region right in their eyes. Their calls on South Sudan to withdraw its troops in their ‘illegally occupied territories’ amount to rewarding a criminal ‘Khartoum regime’ and blaming the victim ‘South Sudan government and its people’. This move is upside-down. The people of South Sudan would like the international community to re-direct its call on the right sport-the ‘Khartoum regime’ which is responsible for the current skirmishes on the border.

The recent example of Khartoum’s aggressions towards the Republic of South Sudan is the Abyei’s issue, the South Sudanese’s region which is currently being occupied and administered illegally by Khartoum’s regime. On the May 20^th 2010, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), currently on the run, invaded Abyei which according to the history is indisputably a part of South Sudan. This intentionally planned attack on southern territory has resulted to many civilians casualties, lost of properties and massive displacements.  The international community in that time remained silence, and this had created a situation where Khartoum’s regime thinks that despite its aggression, the international community can make no condemnation for its attack against South Sudan.

As an attempt to avoid the return to war with Khartoum’s regime which is led by blood-thirst gangs, the Republic of South Sudan in its part  made a series of complaints to the international community about Khartoum’s aggressive behavior, but  surprisingly, all these series of complaints made by the government of South Sudan before and after the independence all fall on deaf ears from the peripheries of the  international community which is now ignorantly calling for withdrawal of South Sudanese troops from alleged northern territories.

The regime in Khartoum has an intention to control resources in the Republic of South Sudan, notably the oil, the cause of the current raging war along the border. A sensible person, whether a South Sudanese or not can truly ask a question that; where on this earth can an independence country akin to the Republic of South Sudan, which has its own, supreme, absolute and uncontrollable power like any other independence nations in the world, allows its national resources to be controlled by other state, as it’s what Khartoum presently wants? The Khartoum’s regime should know and acknowledge that the Republic of South Sudan is a sovereign state with its own right and power to regulates, controls and manages its resources, which you folks in Khartoum, have historically been longing for many decades. The regime’s control over South Sudan’s resources has formally as well as legally came to an end with conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which resulted to the birth of the Republic of South Sudan.

The governments of South Sudan together with its entire people from all walk of lives across the country are condemning the international calls which have nothing less other than brutal acts of ignorance and evil advocacy. The people of South Sudan are here to make it crystally clear to the international community that South Sudanese forces did not occupy or invade anybody’s land, but are in fact taking back the South Sudanese lands which had been illegally occupied by invaders from the north.

The recent occupation of (Panthou) Heglig oilfield by South Sudan Army (SPLA) should not be interpreted as an aggression against Sudan, as it is currently being interpreted by the so-called international community, but rather as an act of sovereign nation to control its borders from terrorist invaders like those Jihadists in Khartoum. The government of South Sudan deserves to pay no attention to these international voices that call for the withdrawal of South Sudanese forces from the alleged Sudanese territories, when in reality are historically South Sudanese’s territories.

The making of history has just started along the border! In the first and second South-North civil war for instance, South Sudanese youth had always tuned up in large numbers to put to an end marginalization, humiliation, aggression and other forms of disadvantages imposed on them by aliens invaders. It is not too late for South Sudanese youth to do the same national duty to teach the Khartoum regime and the world at large that South Sudan is a rare land that produces brave sons and daughters who cannot welcome aliens’ aggression.

The author of this work is a concerned South Sudanese citizen and can be corresponded at johnaliap2011@hotmail.com

http://www.southsudannewsagency.com/opinion/articles/sudan-vs-south-sudan-a-war-over-ownership-of-resources-and-recognition-of-national-sovereignty

Sudan is waging a wrong war against people of South Sudan

By Isaiah Abraham. JUBA

The Sudanese Parliament has declared general mobilization for war against the neighboring Republic of South Sudan. Yet they also target Northern rebels holding up along South-Northern border. Indirectly Khartoum is aiming at killing two sparrows using a single stone. It wanted to punish, fail and silence Juba and at the same time stop rebels fighting their government.

For now there seems to be no turning back from that thinking, the path chosen by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) to resolve their internal political problems as well as export troubles to others. The two countries are technically at full and all out war.

But I see Khartoum fighting shadows instead of concentrating on how to settle political differences with its internal opposition groups. The Northern Opposition forces are everywhere even in the South Sudan State, and this has worried Khartoum much not its differences over oil, border and land with Juba.

Juba is mistakenly drawn into Khartoum needless war, and the cost for that move will be felt so soon.

Peace Process

This is a way to go! It might be long, but majority of the Sudanese in the North and the South don’t see war as a solution to problems facing the two countries. Peace must be given a chance by any cost. Leaders from both South Sudan and North Sudan, especially those in the NCP are advice to return to the negotiating table for dialogue.

Nothing is so powerful than language of talking (dialogue) and reasoning. It is about time for Khartoum to drop expansion crusade and work for what that works. No return to war please!

Let’s resume talking, and somewhere we must critically check out causes of the current conflict. People talk of oil, border incursion and invasion, but we must not ignore Khartoum security fears after the two areas of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan unrest. They know rebels fighting against them are out to topple their government and South Sudan being so fold to help others in need, especially friends could be a spring board for that project.

The security element therefore ought to be given the urgency it deserves. It keeps on coming up during the past negotiations and mediators must find ways of accommodating security concerns by Khartoum.

In another word, once the military dust settles in few days or months to come, there is an urged need to look into this element of rebels fighting Khartoum within space of political rounds of talks currently in Addis Ababa. Perhaps that is where we must begin

There are accounts of accusations and counter accusations that South Sudan is supporting rebels and the opposite true about Sudan. To be exact, Sudan started it, and South Sudan followed suit (support Northern rebels), morally however.

There are no secrets about what is happening between the two countries and if healing and reconciliation are anything important to the two regions, there has to be openness and honesty. The two must cease from cheating one another for the sake of peace.

I still see window of opportunity for the two sides to stop the fighting and dialogue. The world must help the two nations in the form of peace keeping mission and buffer zones. Negotiation must start from cease fire arrangement immediately, followed by border demarcation exercise. Border current issue is really an issue. Countries must know their international borders otherwise it is possible for temptation to annex lucrative soils of others.

Though the atmosphere is just not conducing for talking at the moment, and the war is in the air, let us do what good men (NCP and the SPLM) did in Naivasha Kenya. To straighten out differences through violence is the last thing when other avenues are not workable. We must learn to seek peace through other means and not through war. Khartoum is wrong here 100%. They still live in the past.

If they continue in that orientation (belligerency), they will be shocked. They will never conquer South Sudan, mark my words! The SPLA has ability to discipline an intruder. They are wasting their time fighting the people of South Sudan for their own down fall. South Sudan has not bowed to anyone. We will withstand any threat!

Wait a minute, I read a lie that Panthou (now renamed Heglig) as part of Southern Kordofan, that is in correct. South Sudan territories of the 1956 are well documented; Panthou is well deep within Southern territory, let no one again mistaken it using the current corrupted so-called map of the two countries. We still have other areas we will bring back even beyond Panthou. When did Panthou become Northern territory? The people are joking! Panthou is many miles behind in the state of Western Upper Nile

SPLA must not leave Panthou whether Khartoum rains fire on our men or through any pressure from New York (UN) or Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (AU). AU in specific should look away. Khartoum has is invading and they will find men here. If to patch up their economy through Southern land is an issue, then they are wrong. Khartoum must forget it quickly and look for other sources of financing their crumbling economy.

Way forward

The thing we hear over again that South Sudan did this or that is just a divisionary. The fact is that there is a civil war in the Sudan, and South Sudan is paying the price for an imported war. Sudan at the moment doesn’t differentiate between South Sudan and her rebels fighting in that territory and this is a mistake.

Now that the Sudan has waged a wrong war against a wrong enemy, leaving Northern rebels behind, the people of South Sudan should stand up shoulder to shoulder, tie their belts and resist Sudan aggression against their territory and people, whether that is through talking or defending. Enough must be enough! If the price of peace is war, our people shouldn’t just sit by and allow their leaders to sing ‘peace’, ‘peace’ when actually there is no vocabulary called peace to the Sudanese.

Khartoum ought to stop aerial bombardment in the territory of South Sudan. They got to go away from areas along the borders, until demarcation exercise actually takes place. They must cease from supporting Southern dissidents and close down their activities, the same way they did to rebels then fighting Ndjamena Government.

If Khartoum fails to do the right thing to stop harassing us, we will stand up and say a resounding no.

There is no need for sovereignty if another country enters your own, curbs away territories, pillages it and destroys everything at will. Our people will not watch the North doing just that, at this point in time.

We have ‘rested’ and since the North has pushed us thus far, we must give it another lap. Our people fought for ages and this war is nothing. Let us prepare for the worse as this war has been enforced on us.

This message is to you my people (South Sudanese): Nehemiah 4:14

Isaiah Abraham lives in Juba; Isaiah_abraham@yahoo.co.uk

http://www.southsudannation.com/sudnwagewrongwaragsou%20isaiahabram78.htm

Sudan & South Sudan on the Brink of Catastrophic War

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The Price of International Expediency and Disingenuous Moral Equivalence

By Eric Reeves

April 12, 2012 — The price of a year’s worth of international diplomatic failure and facile moral and diplomatic equivocation will soon be paid in blood and suffering by many hundreds of thousands of civilians in Sudan and South Sudan. Hundreds of thousands have already been brought to the brink of starvation because there is no will to confront the Khartoum regime over its intransigent refusal to allow humanitarian access to Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Additionally, more than 100,000 Dinka Ngok civilians—forced militarily from Abyei by Khartoum’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in May 2011—remain displaced and in poor conditions as refugees in South Sudan. Refugees from Blue Nile have found only tenuous relief in the camps of Upper Nile (South Sudan), and the impending rainy season threatens to increase a population of almost 100,000, even as the transport of relief supplies and equipment, especially that needed for provision of clean water, will rapidly become impossible…….

Read the entire article here.

http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-South-Sudan-on-the-Brink-of,42228

Press Release from Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora Condemns Sudan Armed Forces

Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora Condemns Biemnom (Abiemnom) Air Strike by Sudan Armed Forces; Brands it a ‘Bloodthirsty Army’

Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora calls the government of South Sudan, the United Nations, and the International Community to protect South Sudanese civilians from Sudan air strike. We congratulate the Sudan peoples’ Liberation Army/Movement for defending South Sudanese civilians and territories. We are indebted to our martyrs and veterans for their sacrifice to bring freedom and justice to the people of South Sudan. On April 10, 2012, Sudan military aircraft bombed civilians in Abiemnom County in Unity State. The air strike targeted civilians and most victims are children and women. The Sudanes president Omar Al- Bashir has been violating the comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between North and South in 2005. However, the government of the Republic of South Sudan remained unresponsive to countless military aggressions perpetrated by the blood-thirsty SAF. South Sudan prefers peaceful resolution to outstanding issues of border demarcation, Abyei referendum and popular consultation for Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains.

The Khartoum’s bombing of civilians infringes the Geneva Convention, which reveres the protection of civilians from inhumane treatment. Sudan’s continuing aggressions against South Sudan are portrayed by the recently aerial bombardment on the oil facilities and civilians in Panrieng County, and the invasion of Abyei which resulted in massive civilian casualties in 2011.Sudan must stop air strike against civilians in South Sudan. Therefore, on behave of the Ruweng people in Biemnom (Abiemnom) County of the Unity State, we the Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora; applaud the government of South Sudan for its military triumph: the capturing of Heglig town from the infamous Sudan Arm Forces (SAF). We urge the government of South Sudan to maintain its military presence in the town of Heglig as well as in other border-towns, since these territories are significant to recognizing the sovereignty of the Republic of South Sudan.

The Khartoum regime under the leadership of President Al-Bashir in particular proved to Africa and the world that it is incapable of meeting the expectations of its citizenry in the North: president Al-Bashir is a wanted-war criminal. Since he ascended to throne through military coup in 1989, President Al-bashir, like his predecessors, incessantly wages war on the Sudanese citizens, who demand social, economic, and political change. As a result, the southern region of the country, through referendum with nearly 99% turnout, seceded and became an autonomous state known today as the Republic of South Sudan. The rest of the country continues to resist the regime, particularly in Darfur, Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile. Bashir must end his aggravated attack against South Sudan, and must withdraw in South Sudan territories. For more details, see the Unity State’s (Biemnom) Abiemnom County map below to prove South Sudan’s territories which have been annexed to Northern Sudan’s Southern Kordofan:

President Al-Bashir confirms his criminal status by intervening militarily into the sovereign state of the Republic of South Sudan. Sudan air force bombed Biemnom County, injured and killed children and women. Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora condemned this criminal act against our civilians in South Sudan. The UN Security Council should order President Omar Al-Bashir to withdraw their troops immediately in South Sudan territories to 1956 border.  Apparently, Al-Bashir becomes the enemy of two states, Sudan and South Sudan.

Concluding remarks, we urge the United Nations’ Security Council, IGAD and all the CPA partners to advise Sudan government to implement the following:

1. Acceptance of peaceful resolutions of border demarcation between North and South.

2. Complete withdrawal of Sudan arm forces in South Sudan’s territories of Parudeng, Karassana, Ding Thon, Rubajuch, Aniin, Thuba, Bar, Puth, Ajach, Kol lek (kellek), Abangwuot, Manajonga Payam, Tor Aliny, Ror Lou and Boak Alei and must not claim Hegilig, otherwise South Sudan would protect her boundary with the North.

1. Abyei referendum.

2. Popular consultations for the following areas:

• Nuba Mountains
• Southern Blue Nile

The International community should refrain from blaming the Government of South Sudan for current fighting in Hegilig because the government of South Sudan has the right to protect her citizens and territories. International community witnessed the bombing of Biemnom County which resulted in the deaths of children and women in Unity State, South Sudan.

We wish speedy recovery not only to the victims of Abiemnom air attack, but to all victims of SAF both in Sudan and South Sudan. Ruweng Biemnom Community encourages the government of South Sudan to protect its citizenry and sovereignty. SAF has led numerous military interventions in South Sudanese territories, and it is likely going to provoke more attacks in the unforeseeable future. Thus, the government of South Sudan should deploy more troops on the border areas to protect South Sudanese’s civilians.

Signed by: The Chairman of Ruweng Biemnom Community in North America, Canada and USA:

Lal Mabil Achuil, Chairman

Email: lalmabil@hotmail.com

Shangath Miaker Ador, Secretary

Biem Gook Nuan, Treasure

South Sudan Reinforces Positions Around Disputed Oil Town of Heglig

South Sudan Reinforces Positions Around Disputed Oil Town

Gabe Joselow | Nairobi

Photo: AFP

A Sudanese soldier patrols following clashes between the army and South Sudan’s forces in the town of Talodi in South Kordofan, about 50 kms (30 miles) from the disputed frontier with South Sudan, on April 12, 2012.

South Sudan says it is consolidating forces around a contested oil-producing town that it seized from Sudan earlier this week.  The United Nations and the African Union have called for South Sudan to withdraw from the town of Heglig, but Juba insists it has a claim to the territory.  Sudan has threatened to reatliate.

The conflict is the closest the two countries have come to full-scale war since the south seceded from the north last year.

Deputy Defense Minister Majak D’Agoot told VOA that both countries are deploying more forces to the frontline.

“Both sides are raising strengths, they are building up, they are sending reinforcements to the front line.  We know that Khartoum is mutually mobilizing; we are also consolidating our defenses,” he said. “And so far, lines are static since the seizure of Heglig.”

Oil fields in Heglig produce about half of Sudan’s total oil output.  That output was sharply curtailed last year when the newly-independent south took over about three-fourths of Sudan’s former oil production.

D’Agoot says the territory at Heglig has always belonged to South Sudan, and says Khartoum has used it to launch attacks on the south.

“Besides the fact that we wholly claim Heglig as part of South Sudan, the fact that it has been used as a launching pad, as a military base for launching operations against our troops in Unity State makes it a legitimate military target,” he explained.

Juba says Sudanese warplanes dropped at least five bombs Thursday on Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, killing one soldier.

D’Agoot says South Sudan would prefer a peaceful solution to the standoff, but said Khartoum had sabotaged AU-mediated negotiations by bombing southern territory.

The AU is calling for leadership from both President Omar al-Bashir and his South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir, and says both countries are to blame for a dangerous level of tensions.

A hoped-for summit between the presidents has been called off.  The situation is likely to take center stage at an African security summit in Lake Tana, Ethiopia this weekend.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/South-Sudan-Reinforces-Positions-Around-Disputed-Oil-Town-147297855.html

South Sudan oilfield seizure in Sudan row “illegal”: AU Reuters ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The African Union denounced South Sudan’s occupation of a vital oil field in a disputed border region with Sudan as illegal, and urged the two former civil war foes to work to avert a “disastrous” war. Fighting between Sudan and …

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Sudan: UN Clash Over Beijing Bullets Claim AllAfrica.com The row exposes fresh divisions on Sudan at the UN Security Council and disarray in Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s office. It may also unpick Beijing’s careful diplomacy as it seeks to realign its relations between Sudan and South Sudan.

South Sudan Reinforces Positions Around Disputed Oil Town Voice of America April 13, 2012 South Sudan Reinforces Positions Around Disputed Oil Town Gabe Joselow | NairobiSouth Sudan says it is consolidating forces around a contested oil-producing town that it seized from Sudan earlier this week. The United Nations and the …

S.Sudan: Japan firm completes Kenya pipeline study Reuters Africa NAIROBI, April 13 (Reuters) – South Sudan said Toyota Tsusho would soon make a financial proposal on the construction of a pipeline to transport the country’s oil to a port in Kenya for export, after the Japanese firm completed a feasibility study.

South Sudan to release oilfield if UN intervenes Egyptian Gazette NAIROBI – South Sudan said on Friday it could withdraw its troops from the Heglig oilfield, which it seized on Tuesday over its border dispute with Sudan, if the United Nations deployed neutral forces in the area. “Such withdrawal would happen if the …

South Sudan Outlines Terms For Withdrawal From Northern Town Voice of America April 13, 2012 South Sudan Outlines Terms For Withdrawal From Northern Town VOA News South Sudan has laid out conditions for withdrawing its forces from a town in the north it occupied earlier this week. The office of President Salva Kiir says the …

In war-weary Sudan, dams stop floods and rebels Reuters Fighting between Sudan and South Sudan this week has brought the two closer to a resumption of full-blown conflict after the south seceded last year under a peace deal that ended decades of civil war between north and south.

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DR. JOHN GARANG – KHARTOUM PRESS CONFERENCE BY TELEPHONE

KHARTOUM PRESS CONFERENCE BY TELEPHONE

By Dr John Garang de Mabior: 17/11/1999

1. Greetings in the name of the New Sudan and our martyrs. I salute the heroic struggle of the Sudanese people. I salute our youth, students, workers, farmers, professionals, trade unionists, and NDA activists. These are the forces of the Intifadha that overthrew the Aboud dictatorship in October 1964 and brought down Numeiri in April 1985. I greet all the marginalized Sudanese everywhere in the countryside from Nimule to Halfa, from Genneina to Kassala, in the streets of our Capital and in camps for displaced people around the capital. Special greetings to our women, who are the “marginalized of the marginalized”. I greet you all in the name of the New Sudan. I wish you all a peaceful beginning of the New Millenium without Turabi and the NIF.

2. Our country has never witnessed peace and stability, as it has been at war within itself for 33 of its 43 years of independence. Sudan is a microcosm of Africa, characterized by religious, cultural and ethnic diversity. Yet all Khartoum governments have emphasized only two parameters of our reality, Arabism and Islamism, as the basis for the unity of the Sudan. In 1983 Numeiri decreed Sharia as the supreme law of the land, while in 1989 the NIF took over power in a military coup and declared their objective as establishment of an “Arab-Islamic state”. In May 1998 the NIF passed into law an Islamic constitution and the Sudan formally became a theocratic state.

3. This is the fundamental problem of the Sudan, the failure to manage our rich diversity, and instead to impose one religion, one culture and now one minority political party (the NIF) on a large and heterogeneous country. As a result the majority of the Sudanese people became marginalized. With the rise of the NIF to power, all Sudanese became marginalized, whether Arab or African, rich or poor, Muslim or Christian. The Rashaida, for example, are marginalized and have taken up arms against the NIF. Except for less than 5% of the population that are members of the NIF, I would say that more than 95% of the Sudanese people are marginalized.

4. The SPLM/SPLA was formed in 1983 to address the fundamental problem of the Sudan, to abolish the Old Sudan and establish a New Sudan; a new political dispensation; a Sudanese socio-political entity; a transformed Sudan in which all Sudanese are equal stack-holders regardless of their race, tribe, religion, or gender; a democratic Sudan where religion is constitutionally separated from the state; a Sudan in which governance is based on popular will, the rule of law and respect for universal human rights.

5. This means that there must be fundamental change that addresses the root causes of the Sudanese problem, for otherwise there can never be peace and stability in our country. In order to achieve fundamental change, the NIF must be removed. We will use a combination of all forms of struggle including the Intifadha, armed struggle, and negotiations leading to peaceful dismantling of the regime. The SPLM/SPLA advocates the convergence of the two principal forms of struggle, the armed struggle and Intifadha, as the most effective way of removing the NIF regime.6. Recently there has been talk about the NDA negotiating and reconciling with the NIF in a national conference. I would like to clarify SPLM/A position on this issue. The SPLM/A is committed to negotiations and peaceful resolution of the conflict. However, such negotiations must lead to the dismantling of the NIF regime. In South African the contribution of armed struggle was marginal. Apartheid was negotiated out of power. Hence, from the point of view of the SPLM/A, NDA negotiations with the NIF must lead to “peaceful dismantling of the NIF regime”. We cannot reconcile with the fascist NIF regime. The NIF regime cannot be reformed or improved, it must be removed.

7. Furthermore, the struggle of the people must not be compromised in the pretext of peaceful settlement. There must only be one peace initiative and this is IGAD. However, a modality must be worked out whereby other initiatives, such as the Egyptian-Libyan initiative could find expression in the IGAD process. The NDA is also an interested party in the Sudanese conflict, and their interest must find expression in IGAD.

8. In 1995 we rejuvenated the NDA and issued the Asmara Declaration. The Asmara Declaration is a minimum programme of the NDA to remove the NIF regime and transit to the New Sudan. The NDA is a suitable organizational form for achieving the objectives of the Sudanese people. The unity of NDA is therefore very important and it has become synonymous with the unity of Sudan. I urge all forces that advocate fundamental change to organize under the umbrella of the NDA, and transform it into a viable weapon of struggle against the NIF regime and for achieving the New Sudan.

9. Yesterday, Beshir talked of a foreign invasion and called for mobilization to counter this imaginary threat. There is no foreign invasion from America or from anywhere else. Moreover, the SPLM/SPLA would not support any invasion of our country. This lie is a clear indication of the crisis within the NIF. The NIF has failed. It is divided within itself. They are fighting against each other for power, not for the interest of the people. The Situation in the Sudan is ripe for fundamental change. The NIF must go and will go.

10. Another clear indicator of the crisis in the NIF is that Turabi sent me a letter recently. He asked me to make a dramatic move. What dramatic move can I make? It is Turabi that must make a dramatic move. I call on Turabi to relinquish power, to hand power back to the Sudanese people. The NIF has also talked of handing over confiscated property. I call on Beshir and Turabi to hand over the confiscated rights of the Sudanese people.

11.  Finally, I would like to assure all the Sudanese that the SPLM/A is fully committed to democracy, justice for all, and to the unity of our country on the basis of New Sudan. The struggle must and will continue until the NIF regime is removed and the New Sudan established. The struggle and revolution of the New Sudan is spearheaded by a coalition of the forces of the Intifadha in our cities and the marginalized peoples in the countryside. I want to assure them all that the NIF regime has reached a crisis point of no return. The NIF must and will be removed. This is the decisive historical moment for the forces of the Intifadha and the armed struggle to converge. And this time the victory of the Sudanese people will not be hijacked. The removal of the NIF regime must end in the birth of a united and strong New Sudan.  John Garang.

SECRET

FROM:  EBONY

TO      :  TIGER AND ALL THE FOLLOWING:

1. All Members of the SPLM Leadership Council
2. All SPLM Regional Secretaries
3. All Commissioners of SPLM Secretariats
4. The Chief Justice and all Members of the Court of Appeal
5. All Deputy SPLM Regional Secretaries
6. All members of the SPLA General Military Council (GMC)
7. All SPLA Deputy Chiefs of Staff and GHQ Directors
8. All Front Commanders and All Front Chiefs of Staff
9. All Commanders and D/Commanders of other Organized Forces (Police, Prisons, Wildlife)

10.  All SPLM County Secretaries

11.  SRRC Executive Director, Deputy and the five Regional Directors

12.  All members of various SPLM Delegations to IGAD talks since 2002

ATTN: Attention of the Following Comrades who shall constitute the Meeting Organizing Committee

1. Cdr. James Wani Igga (Political Affairs Commission)
2. Cdr. Nhial Deng Nhial (Foreign Affairs Commission)
3. Cdr. Deng Alor Kuol (Bahr El Ghazal Regional Authority)
4. Cdr. Elijah Malok Aleng (SRRC)
5. Cdr. James Kok Ruea (Peace and Reconciliation Commission)

INFO: ALL UNITS

04/11/2004

1. Reference my 001/11/2004, dated 14/11/2004, to all units concerning rumours emanating mostly from Nairobi and elsewhere, and reference Message 013/11/2004, dated 19/11/2004, from the Deputy Chairman and COGS, Cdr. Salva Kiir Mayardit, concerning the same issue and in response to my above message and in which it is stated that the problem is not over.    The Chairman here expresses appreciation for the efforts of officers and various community leaders in Yei or who went to Yei to contain the situation. Cdr. Salva Kiir’s willingness to listen to these officers and community groups is also likewise appreciated.  The problem needs to be resolved urgently and in a wider meeting more than the SPLM Leadership Council, so that we enter the new era of peace united and strong to face the challenges of the coming peace period.

1. Also Further to my 002/11/2004 concerning the Memorandum of Understanding entitled “Declaration on the Conclusion of IGAD Negotiations on Peace in the Sudan” signed by the SPLM/A and GOS on Friday, 19/11/2004, in front of the UN Security Council in Nairobi, and which I sent to all units for information.  This is a serious commitment by both the SPLM and GOS in front of the UN Security Council and we must fulfill this obligation to conclude and sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement by 31/12/2004, and this needs to be discussed in a wider meeting.

1. Also reference my 003/11/2004 concerning UN Security Council Resolution No. 1574 on Sudan passed unanimously by all 15 members of the Security Council, in which they demanded that the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement must be completed and signed no later than 31/12/2004. As came in my message this is a serious demand by the UN Security Council that the Parties must conclude and sign the Peace Agreement no later than 31/12/2004.  This is another important development that the various structures of the Movement will need to review in a wider meeting.

1. In view of the developments and their important and urgency, I am here in this message calling for a combined meeting of various structures of the SPLM/A involving all those addressed above.  The meeting shall have two main objectives as follows:

(a)   To address and resolve the problem in Para (1), above, so that the SPLM enters into the coming period of peace united and strong, and with its historical leadership intact, united and confident to face the many challenges of peace as we continue the struggle by other means (peaceful means)

(b)   To brief and consult on this last phase of the peace process and to give guidance to the SPLM negotiating team as we complete the IGAD negotiations. As you will recall at the beginning of the negotiations after signing of the Machakos Protocol and subsequent agreements, I called for several consultative meetings similar to the one I am calling now, which were held at various times in New Site and Rumbek. As the peace process comes to an end, and it must be ended by 31/12/2004, it is necessary to end as we started after signature of the Machakos Protocol with this major Consultative Conference.

1.  The Technical Committees negotiating the Comprehensive Ceasefire and Implementation Modalities Annexes will sit from 26/11/2004 and members of these committees are required to be in Nairobi one day earlier.  The principals, Ali Osman Taha and I will arrive in Nairobi on December 5th to complete whatever issues the Technical Committees will be unable to resolve, and by December 20th the final Draft Agreement should be ready awaiting signature by 31/12/2004 at the latest.

1. In view of the situation in Para. (1), above, and in view of the timetable for negotiations in Para. (5), the above combined meeting of our structures must be held urgently, and so it will take place from 28/11/2004 to 30/11/2004. The venue of the meeting will be Rumbek, and Bahr el Ghazal Regional authorities are here directed to prepare to host this conference in terms of accommodation, security, etc.

1. In addition to efforts of the Regional authorities, the following SPLM structures are to mobilize resources for this event:  (a) Foreign Affairs Commission, (b) Peace and Reconciliation Commission and (c) SRRC.  These structures are to make the necessary coordination with Regional authorities and among themselves to make the meeting organizationally and substantively successful

1. The meeting will be Organized and managed by the following SPLM structures: (a) Political Affairs Commission, (b) Regional Authorities, (b) Foreign Affairs Commission, (c) SRRC and (d) Peace and Reconciliation Commission, and any other members that may be co-opted and designated by the Organizing Committee, which shall be composed of the above five members and others co-opted.

1. All the above mentioned categories of those who will attend the combined meeting are to be ready for airlift, and the pick-up points for air transport will be designated and coordinated by the above Organizing Committee. The return trips after the meeting will also be organized to the same pick-up points.

10.  The above is for your information and necessary action. Because of the importance of the meeting and despite the unavoidable short notice, all those designated are urged to try their best to reach the nearest pick-up point in time. Any questions concerning travel and other arrangements for the meeting are to be referred to the above Organizing Committee.

11.  Finally, I want to alert members of the NLC to be on standby for an emergency meeting of the NLC.  They are not part of the present meeting, but after we sign the final Comprehensive Peace Agreement an NLC meeting will be mandatory, because according to the Power Sharing Agreement of 26/5/2004, members of the NLC will ratify the Peace Agreement and will become members of the Interim National Assembly. Meanwhile members of the NLC are to send their names and any other relevant particulars to administration of the NLC so that membership of the NLC is updated, as there are members who have died or defected.

12.  The above is for your information and necessary action.

Message from Dr. John to Comrade Salva

Signed: Cdr/Dr John Garang de Mabior

SECRET

FROM:  EBONY

TO      :  TIGER AND ALL THE FOLLOWING:

13.  All Members of the SPLM Leadership Council

14.  All SPLM Regional Secretaries

15.  All Commissioners of SPLM Secretariats

16.  The Chief Justice and all Members of the Court of Appeal

17.  All Deputy SPLM Regional Secretaries

18.  All members of the SPLA General Military Council (GMC)

19.  All SPLA Deputy Chiefs of Staff and GHQ Directors

20.  All Front Commanders and All Front Chiefs of Staff

21.  All Commanders and D/Commanders of other Organized Forces (Police, Prisons, Wildlife)

22.  All SPLM County Secretaries

23.  SRRC Executive Director, Deputy and the five Regional Directors

24.  All members of various SPLM Delegations to IGAD talks since 2002

ATTN: Attention of the Following Comrades who shall constitute the Meeting Organizing Committee

1. Cdr. James Wani Igga (Political Affairs Commission)
2. Cdr. Nhial Deng Nhial (Foreign Affairs Commission)
3. Cdr. Deng Alor Kuol (Bahr El Ghazal Regional Authority)
4. Cdr. Elijah Malok Aleng (SRRC)

10.  Cdr. James Kok Ruea (Peace and Reconciliation Commission)

INFO: ALL UNITS

05/11/2004

1. Further to my 004/11/2004, dated 23/11/2004, to all units concerning a combined meeting of various structures of the SPLM/A, involving all those addressed above and which is scheduled to take place from 28/11/2004 to 30/11/2004 in Rumbek. The pick-up points for the airlift of those to attend the meeting shall be as follows: –

1. A.    Bahr el Ghazal

1. All Aweil and All Gogrial Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following three pick-up points: (a) Malual-Kon, (b) Marial Baai, and (c) Akon.

1. Twic, Abyei, Wau and All Tonj Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following two pick-up points:  (a) Turalei and (b) Tonj Town.

1. All three Yirol Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from Yirol Town.

1. Cueibet, Mvolo and All Rumbek Counties are near the venue of the meeting and will move there using local land transport.

1. Equatoria

1. 1.     All East Bank of Equatoria Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following two pick-up points: (a) Ikotos and (b) Kapoeta plus one flight for the C-in-C. 

1. All Central Equatoria Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from Yei Town plus one flight for the COGS.

1. All Western Equatoria Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following two pick-up points: (a) Yambio and (b) Tambura.
2. C.   Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile

1. All Nuba Mountains Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following two pick-up points: (a) Kauda and (b) Julud.

1. All Southern Blue Nile Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following two pick-up points: (a) Kurmuk and (b) Bugaya

1. D.    Upper Nile

1. All Northern Upper Nile Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following three pick-up points: (a) Urienyo, (b) Liet and (c) Payuer.

1. All Eastern Upper Nile Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following four pick-up points: (a) Pagak, (b) Mading, (c) Pochalla and (d) Boma.

1. All Central Upper Nile Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following six pick-up points: (a) Padak, (b) Mabior, (c) Akobo, (d) Waat, (e) Fangak  and (f) Ayod.

1. All Western Upper Nile Counties shall have one flight that will collect delegates from the following three pick-up points: (a) Leer, (b) Leel and (c) Pariang.

1. E.     Nairobi.  All those in Nairobi will have one flight.

1. T he flights will begin on 26/11/2004.  In the meantime those attending the meeting are to move to the pick-up point nearest or convenient to them. The date of the flight and any other details will be communicated to you by the meeting organizing committee.  Any questions are to be directed to the organizing committee – Ask Cdr. James Kok Ruea who will coordinate the flights.

1. The above is for your information and necessary action.

SPLM/A STATEMENT AFTER 1999 SPLIT IN THE NIF

SPLM/SPLA POSISITION ON THE BESHIR COUP OF 12/12/1999

It has been five days since General Beshir dissolved his parliament and declared a state of emergency.  The SPLM/SPLA has closely monitored and studied the situation since then, and on the basis of a concrete analysis of the bizarre situation in Khartoum, and taking fully into account the suffering and interests of the Sudanese people and aware of our historic responsibility, the SPLM/SPLA makes the following statement.

The events of 12/12/1999 are an affirmation that the crisis in the ruling Congress Party have reached a point of no return, maturity and mark the beginning of the end and demise of the NIF and its regime. The SPLM/SPLA therefore welcomes these events as they put the struggle of the Sudanese people on a new and positive threshold.  In this regard, theSPLM/SPLA appeals to the Sudanese people to remain vigilant and to use this crisis within the NIF to effect fundamental and full change in our country.  The SPLM/SPLA asks the forces of the Intifadha in Khartoum and other cities to remain alert and on standby, and to be prepared to converge with the SPLA and NDA forces and with patriotic forces in the national army, so as to effect fundamental change and establish a transitional government of the New Sudan.

The struggle that erupted within the NIF on 12/12/99 is essentially a struggle for power between Hassen al-Turabi and Ali Osman Taha. What has happened so far is the tip of the ice burg.  The struggle within the NIF will deepen.  There is a stalemate, and as long as Hassen al-Turabi remains at large the stalemate and paralysis within the NIF and Government will continue. The situation obviously requires decisive resolution, in favour of Turabi, or in favour of Beshir, or in favour of the Sudanese people.

The situation in the Sudanese (Government) army will be critical in the resolution of the crisis in Khartoum.  There are at least three factions in the Sudanese army, these are:

(a)   There is a Beshir/Ali Osman faction, which stage the coup of 12/12/99 and which is now in control of the Government.

(b)  There is a Hassen al-Turabi faction, which is in control of the NIF National Congress party, and which may stage a counter coup against the Beshir/Ali Osman faction.

(c)   There is a non-NIF faction, by far the largest group within the Sudanese army.  This group may also stage a coup against the two NIF factions.  The appetite for a coup by this group has been wetted by the events of 12/12/99, as what was not possible before is now possible.

The SPLM/SPLA will closely monitor these three factions in the Sudanese (Government) army, and will act in the interests of the NDA, in the interest of the New Sudan, and in the interests of the Sudanese people.

Africa Union (AU): South Sudan’s Capture of Heglig Oil Field ‘Illegal’

AU: South Sudan’s Capture of Heglig Oil Field ‘Illegal’

Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa

The African Union said Thursday that South Sudan acted illegally when it sent troops across the border into Sudan to capture a strategic oil field and demanded the force’s immediate withdrawal. Diplomats are urging the presidents of both countries to show leadership as war seems imminent.

The AU Peace and Security Council condemned Sudan as well as South Sudan for hostile actions that appear to signal a resumption of the war that ended seven years ago.  Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra warned that the south’s military incursion into the northern oil field at Heglig and the north’s aerial bombing campaign had raised tensions to a new level.

“It cannot be reduced to yet just another incident like the ones we have seen before.  Therefore, it is the feeling in the Peace and Security Council that it is the time now for the two leaders — Presidents Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir — to display the required leadership, so that the two countries would avoid a disastrous war which the two people do not need to fall in again,” Lamamra said.

But the south’s capture of Heglig appears to have dashed all hopes for a Bashir-Kiir summit.  The Khartoum government said it was pulling out of AU-mediated talks.  And a hoped-for meeting on the sidelines of a security summit in Ethiopia on Saturday and Sunday evaporated when it was announced that President Bashir would not attend.

AU diplomats say South Sudan’s move to capture and close the Heglig oil fields has cut Sudan’s oil production in half.  That has raised calls in Khartoum for swift military action to reclaim the fields.

As border clashes escalated on Thursday, South Sudan President Kiir told parliament he would not order a withdrawal from Heglig.  He said the south has a rightful claim to the area.

The AU Peace and Security Council rejected that claim, in a statement read by Commissioner Lamamra.

“The council is dismayed by the illegal and unacceptable occupation by the South Sudanese armed forces of Heglig, which lies north of the agreed border line of the first of January 1956 border line.  The Council demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the army of the Republic of South Sudan from the area,” Lamamra said.

African Union officials expressed concern about deteriorating conditions on several fronts.  The Khartoum government is said to be delaying efforts to provide humanitarian aid to South Kordofan and Blue Nile states along the border.  More than 400,000 people there fled their homes last year after violence broke out, and reports suggest that troops are massing for more fighting.

AU diplomats also noted reports of irregular militias forming to support regular Sudanese army forces in Blue Nile and Kordofan states.  Those officials say that previously, military activity in the region had been exclusively by regular military units.

The appearance of militia units is raising fears of a return to the village burnings and other brutal tactics attributed to the Janjaweed militias that ravaged Darfur during the early days of that region’s civil war nearly a decade ago.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/AU-South-Sudans-Capture-of-Heglig-Oil-Field-Illegal-147256225.html

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