Thursday, July 31, 2014

South Sudan rebels and government to discuss transitional government

Monday, July 28, 2014

Ethiopia downplays alleged support for S. Sudanese rebels - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

The Ethiopian government on Sunday dismissed allegations that it was providing support to opposition forces led by South Sudanese former vice-president Riek Machar.
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South Sudan’s rebel leader, Riek Machar, gestures as he talks to his men in Jonglei state on 31 January 2014 (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic)
Last week, Gordon Buay, an unofficial South Sudan army (SPLA) spokesperson claimed Addis Ababa was allegedly providing medical treatment to wounded opposition fighters in its Gambela region.
He specifically cited the recent clashes between government forces over control of Upper Nile’s key town of Nasir, alleging that rebels wounded in the battle found their way to Gambella town for medical aid.
“More than 54 wounded rebels are being treated in Gambella right now”, claimed Buay in a statement.
He urged the Ethiopian government to respect the border security agreement signed with Juba in 2010, and keep wounded rebels out of their territory.
“Therefore, the Ethiopian government must implement the agreement by preventing wounded rebels to have access to hospitals in Ethiopia, particularly in Gambella region,” further noted the statement.
Officials from Gambela could not easily be reached for reactions on the matter.
A senior Ethiopian government official, however, dismissed Buay’s claims that South Sudanese rebels were allegedly receiving support from the East African country or using its territory to distabilise the new nation.
Addis Ababa has never been partisan to any of the conflicting parties in South Sudan, Dina Mufti, Ethiopia’s foreign affairs spokesperson told Sudan Tribune o Sunday.
He however said Ethiopia was only providing the necessary assistance to any South Sudanese refugees crossing into its borders irrespective of their political position on humanitarian grounds.
Mufti reiterated that Ethiopia would continue to extend support aimed at finding political solution to the seven month-old conflict in South Sudan.
“As a chair of IGAD [Inter-governmental Authority on Development] and as a closest friend of people of South Sudan, Ethiopia is doing its level best to bring lasting peace in south Sudan,” said Mufti.
Ethiopia, which is considered as neutral country by South Sudan’s warring factions, has been hosting the peace negotiations since January this year.
REBELS DISMISS ALLEGATIONS
Meanwhile, members of the SPLM in Opposition in Addis Ababa described as “fabricated” accusations that Ethiopia supported their military struggle.
The IGAD-led South Sudan Peace negotiations are due to resume on July 30 in Addis Ababa following its suspension for nearly a month.
According to the East African regional bloc, the agenda of the next session will be to finalise and sign the cessation of hostilities matrix and negotiation on details of the transitional government of national unity.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

South Sudan rebels launch new offensive despite truce


Juba: South Sudanese rebels launched an offensive to retake a key town near the border with Ethiopia today in what the United Nations said was a clear violation of a truce agreement. 

"This attack represents the most serious resumption of hostilities" since President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, rebel leader Riek Machar, met in May and recommitted to a January ceasefire, the UN mission said in a statement.

The fighters loyal to Machar struck Nasir, their former headquarters, located 500 kilometres north of Juba and close to Ethiopia, which was retaken by government forces in May. 

UNMISS, the UN mission, laid the blame squarely for the renewed fighting with Machar's forces. "The attack is a clear violation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement," it said. 

But a spokesman for Machar's forces, Lul Kuang, defended their moves as an act of "self-defence" after what he described as several government attempts to arrest their military commander. 

"The fall of Nasir now paves the way for military resources to be refocused on Poloich Oil Fields, Maban and Malakal", Kuang said in a statement, referring to the main remaining oil field still in activity. 

South Sudanese army spokesman Philip Aguer denied Nasir had fallen, describing fighting as "still ongoing". Aguer said army forces had staged nine offensives on Nasir on Sunday. 

Only days earlier mediators had pressed the rival sides to resume peace talks being held in Ethiopia, or face increased sanctions. 

Those talks, moderated by the East African bloc IGAD, are designed to lead to a transitional government but have yielded little progress so far. 

"It is deplorable that this major attack comes at a time when intensive efforts are under way by mediators of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to convince all parties to resume the suspended peace talks in Addis Ababa," UNMISS acting head Raisedon Zenenga said in the statement. 

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, marked only the third anniversary of its independence this month under the shroud of a war which has enflamed ethnic hatred and brought its people to the brink of famine. 

The conflict has raged since mid-December when presidential guards loyal to Kiir clashed with troops supporting Machar, who fled to the bush and rallied a huge rebel army. 

An estimated 1.5 million people have been displaced and thousands killed, including civilians massacred indiscriminately in hospitals and churches and dumped in mass graves. 

The last UN head lambasted both sides in the South Sudanese conflict on her way out of the country earlier this month, saying they were causing a "man-made famine". 

Analysts say both sides believe the war is still winnable by force. 

Fighting had abated since May in part due to heavy rains and poor roads that hampered troop and equipment movements.

Monday, July 21, 2014

South Sudanese rebels launch offensive to retake key town - Middle East Online:::.


Fighters loyal to Machar strike Nasir, their former headquarters, located 500 kilometres north of Juba and close to Ethiopia.
Middle East Online
Clear violation of truce
JUBA - South Sudanese rebels launched an offensive to retake a key town near the border with Ethiopia on Sunday in what the United Nations said was a clear violation of a truce agreement.
"This attack represents the most serious resumption of hostilities" since President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, rebel leader Riek Machar, met in May and recommitted to a January ceasefire, the UN mission said in a statement.
The fighters loyal to Machar struck Nasir, their former headquarters, located 500 kilometres north of Juba and close to Ethiopia, which was retaken by government forces in May.
UNMISS, the UN mission, laid the blame squarely for the truce violation with Machar's forces. "The attack is a clear violation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement," it said.
But a spokesman for Machar's forces, Lul Kuang, defended their moves as an act of "self-defence" after what he described as several government attempts to arrest their military commander.
"The fall of Nasir now paves the way for military resources to be refocused on Poloich Oil Fields, Maban and Malakal", Kuang said in a statement, referring to the main remaining oil field still in activity.
South Sudanese army spokesman Philip Aguer denied Nasir had fallen, describing fighting as "still ongoing".
Aguer said army forces had staged nine offensives on Nasir on Sunday.
Only days earlier mediators had pressed the rival sides to resume peace talks being held in Ethiopia, or face increased sanctions.
Those talks, moderated by East African leaders, are

Monday, July 7, 2014

South Sudan headache for Museveni as Ethiopia army enters Juba - World News Report


Ethiopian soldiers in Barentu, Eritrea in this photo taken in 2000. Ninety have been deployed in South Sudan. Photo/FILE



Ethiopian soldiers in Barentu, Eritrea in this photo taken in 2000. Ninety have been deployed in South Sudan. Photo/FILE 
By BARBARA AMONG The EastAfrican



Posted  Saturday, July 5  2014 at  15:07
IN SUMMARY
  • Experts still see the deployment as a potential game changer as it places Ethiopia squarely at the centre of efforts to return peace to South Sudan.
  • Kenya and Rwanda are supposed to contribute troops for the mission but are yet to do so. The so-called Troika countries — the US, Norway and UK — who had promised to finance the force are yet to commit funding to the mission.
  • Ethiopia needs to play a neutral force and not be seen to side with Dr Machar, since Uganda has declared support for President Kiir and its troops are fighting alongside the South Sudanese army.
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The first group of 90 Ethiopian peacekeepers have arrived in the South Sudan capital Juba, as the elements of Igad’s regional Protection and Deterrent Force begin to fall into place.
Their arrival a fortnight ago, however, does not pave the way for the near-term withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the conflict as the numbers are far below the required 2,500 boots on the ground.
But experts still see the deployment as a potential game changer as it places Ethiopia squarely at the centre of efforts to return peace to South Sudan.
It also raises questions on how the Ugandan and Ethiopian militaries will relate in the volatile country. The two countries are said to have held a couple of high-level meetings in the past four months.
Commenting on the impact of this on Uganda’s tenure in Juba, Uganda People’s Defence Force deputy spokesperson Maj Henry Obbo said: “The force that has arrived is very small and they are here just to prepare the ground for the regional force. When the other units are fully on the ground, we shall withdraw.”
The Riek Machar side in the conflict has demanded the withdrawal of Ugandan troops as a precondition for further progress in the peace negotiation.
Igad confirmed the Ethiopian deployment. “The information that is publicly available on the force at the moment is scanty. What I can tell you certainly is that the Igad Monitoring and Verification Mechanism now forms part of UNMISS under the mission’s reinvigorated mandate — and a first detachment of Ethiopian troops within the Igad MVM PF arrangement arrived in Juba towards the third week of last month,” said Igad spokesperson Tigist Hailu.
Kenya and Rwanda are supposed to contribute troops for the mission but are yet to do so. The so-called Troika countries — the US, Norway and UK — who had promised to finance the force are yet to commit funding to the mission.
The regional force is expected to provide protection for the Igad monitors investigating human-rights abuses and protect key installation in addition to performing UNMISS tasks.
It will also replace the estimated 4,000 Ugandan troops that have been standing between former vice president Riek Machar’s rebels and the government in Juba.

The 2,500 Igad troops are supposed to form part of the 12,500 strong United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
Currently, UNMISS has 7,000 troops on the ground, a number it is supposed to top up by 3,000.
However, a key challenge is the pace of deployment of the additional forces as well as the disposition of these forces in fulfilling the mandate to protect civilians.
Though the UNMISS troops are supposed to deploy in August, it remains unclear what the deployment schedule will be for the approximately 2,500 troops expected to serve in the Igad Protection Force under the UNMISS chain of command.