Ethiopia, Sudan agree to deploy joint border force - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan: "April 27, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese and Ethiopian senior military officials discussed in Addis Ababa a bilateral defence protocol signed between the two countries and agreed to activate the joint border forces.
A road leading to Ethiopia-Sudan border (Photo Jamminglobal.com)
The agreement was announced in Khartoum on Friday following the end of a two-day meeting in Addis Ababa between the military delegations chaired by the army chiefs of staff of the two neighbouring countries.
The two armies reaffirmed their readiness for full solidarity to ensure border security, exchange of information and curb uncontrolled groups, combating smuggling, human trafficking, arms and drugs trade, and transnational crimes, said a statement released by the official news agency SUNA.
"The two sides, also, agreed to activate and re-energize the joint border forces to maintain security and stability, as well as cooperation in the fields of joint training and exchange of experiences," said the statement.
"The military chiefs of staff of two countries signed the minutes of the meetings and recommendations ahead of its enforcement," it further stressed.
Last January following the deployment of Sudanese troops on the border with Eritrea, there were reports about the deployment of Ethiopian troops along the border with Eritrea from the Sudanese and Ethiopian sides.
Also, since several years Ethiopia and Sudan boosted security cooperation between the two countries. Khartoum handed over rebels and opposition activists to Ethiopia and Addis Ababa banned any rebel activity from the border area with Blue Nile state.
Last January, The Nile State and Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region agreed to deploy a joint border force to secure the border area and prevent goods and arms smuggling.
(ST)"
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The New Independent state after half century in war and still in crisis..
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Machar-led rebels invited for IGAD high-level revitalization forum - Sudan Tribune
(KAMPALA) - South Sudan’s armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) has been invited to attend the high-level peace revitalization forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 17-22 December.
- Machar speaks on a mobile phone after an interview with Reuters in Kenya’s capital Nairobi July 8, 2015
“You may recall that the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] assembly of heads of state and government at its 31st extra-ordinary summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 12 June, 2017, decided to urgently convene a High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) of the parties to the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS), including estranged groups,” the letter signed by Ethiopia’s prime minister partly reads.
In the 8 December letter addressed to Riek Machar, organizers of the meeting said they consider as key measures to restore a permanent ceasefire, full and inclusive implementation of the peace agreement and revise realistic timelines and implementation schedules towards democratic election at the end of the transitional period.
The High-Level revitalization forum will kick off in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 18-22 December after the extraordinary session of the IGAD council of ministers due to take place from15-16 December.
“Your Excellency, all participants to the HLRF will be representing their respective parties. Hence, I wish to kindly request you to delegate three (03) duly- authorized representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in opposition (SPLM-IO) who will participate in the forum. In this regard, I recommend that at least one of the delegates could be a woman”, further states the letter.
“I strongly believe your Excellency that your wise leadership in this important initiative to revitalize the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) is very critical,” it adds.
The Ethiopian prime minister said in the letter that he was optimistic the armed opposition group will seize this historic opportunity to engage earnestly to revitalize the ARCSS, cease all forms of hostilities, end the conflicts and re-establish a firm foundation to building sustainable peace, stability and democracy in the war-torn nation.
The Troika countries earlier called a conducive environment for the peace revitalization process and warned that sanctions would be imposed on those who violate the ceasefire and obstruct humanitarian assistance ahead of the IGAD-brokered peace forum.
In June, a summit of IGAD heads of state and government decided to convene a meeting of the signatories of the South Sudan peace agreement to discuss ways to revitalize the peace implementation. During the June summit, it was agreed that all groups be included in the discussion aimed at restoring a permanent ceasefire.
The South Sudanese government earlier warned that the revitalization forum by the regional bloc, which mediated the 2015 peace deal, should not be another platform for negotiations of the peace accord between the two factions to the conflict.
Over a million people have fled South Sudan since conflict erupted in December 2013 when President Kiir sacked Machar from the vice-presidency. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million displaced in South Sudan’s worst violence since it seceded from Sudan in July 2011.
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Monday, October 9, 2017
South Sudan Armed Opposition Group Denies Recruiting Ethiopians | Ethiopian news
October 8, 2017 - South Sudanese armed opposition dismissed reports that it was recruiting Ethiopian citizens from the Gambella region to engage in the armed conflict.“We would like to emphasize that we do not, under no circumstance, recruit anyone, even South Sudanese citizens to participate in the ongoing armed conflicts in South Sudanese. They do, however, join voluntarily,” Puok Buluang, the armed opposition’s director of information and public relations said in a statement.
“Consequent upon this, how can we recruit foreigners if we do not enlist our own countrymen and women as Thoth Pal alleged,” he said.
The armed opposition official also appealed to regional leaders, the African Union, and the international communities at large not believe the reports.
Early this year, the Ethiopian government rubbished reports by some social media outlets that diplomatic relations between South Sudan and Ethiopia were worsening following a recent visit by South Sudanese president Salva Kiir to Egypt.
Ethiopia currently hosts close to 300,000 South Sudanese refugees, most of whom fled after the conflict broke out in the world’s newest nation in December 2013, according to U.N estimates.
Source: Sudan Tribune
Monday, August 14, 2017
South Sudan rebels say have retaken town near border with Ethiopia
NAIROBI (Reuters) - South Sudan's rebels on Saturday said they had wrested control of Pagak, their stronghold town near the country's border with Ethiopia, from government forces, a day after launching an offensive to drive them out.
Formerly controlled by the rebels, the town was captured by South Sudan's military five days ago but heavy fighting erupted on Friday with rebels vowing to retake it.
"We took control of Pagak...government forces are not in Pagak, we have pushed them out," rebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel told Reuters.
Dickson Gatluak Jock, spokesman for South Sudan's Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, denied the military had lost Pagak but said they had lost three soldiers in the fighting while four were wounded.
Gai is a former rebel but last year he defected to the government side and was handed the vice presidency job. His former rebel forces, who are now part of the government military, are the ones on the frontline in Pagak.
"We clashed with them (rebels) yesterday in Pagak but we are in full control of the area," he said.
Fighting had died down on Saturday, he said, but acknowledged the rebels "are not very far from our area."
Pagak is a major town on a road connecting South Sudan to Ethiopia. Rebel control of the town allows them easy cross-border movement and smuggling of weapons and other supplies from Ethiopia. The government is also eager to control it so that it can block rebel access to resources.
South Sudan descended into civil war in 2013, only two years after it won independence, when President Salva Kiir fired his deputy, Riek Machar, unleashing a conflict that has since splintered along multiple ethnic lines.
Machar has been under house arrest in South Africa since December as regional leaders try to bring about an end to the conflict. The rebels fighting government forces in South Sudan remain loyal to him.
Jock said the military had killed five rebels during Friday's fighting but the insurgents denied the claim.
Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Stephen Powell
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
South Sudan army capture rebel headquarters near Ethiopia - StarTribune.com
ZANZIBAR, Tanzania — South Sudan's government forces have overtaken the rebel-held stronghold and opposition headquarters of Pagak, along the Ethiopian border, William Gatjiath Deng, spokesman for the opposition IO, told The Associated Press.
"They took the main town and our forces are now regrouping," said Deng, reached by phone.
Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang did not confirm the reports saying that he's "not aware" of Pagak's takeover.
The rebels burned their military barracks before fleeing, to prevent government forces from being able to use the ammunition, according to residents.
"While this is a significant symbolic setback for the IO it remains to be seen whether the government can secure the position so deep in IO territory," said an aid worker familiar with the situation in Pagak, who insisted on anonymity for security reasons.
Earlier this year the government declared a unilateral ceasefire, however there have been continued reports of government-led offensives into Maiwut and toward Pagak, including killings of civilians and burnings of houses.
In July, the United Nations reported that 25 aid workers were evacuated from Pagak due to attacks.
Since South Sudan spiraled into civil war almost four years ago, Pagak has been the headquarters of the opposition rebels, led by former Vice President Riek Machar, who is in exile in South Africa. The IO rebels still hold territory in Panyijiar County in Unity state as well rural areas of Jonglei state and Akobo state, traditionally areas where South Sudan's Nuer people live.
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Tensions with Sudan continue as Egypt’s foreign minister visits Khartoum | MadaMasr
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry commenced his official visit to Sudan on Wednesday, following a delay to the trip amid ongoing tensions.
The visit was set to take place on July 22, but was delayed as a result of “emergency engagements” in Shoukry’s schedule, according to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid.
The agenda is to include discussions around the issues that have led to heightened tensions between the two countries, including questions of sovereignty over the Halayeb Triangle, which Egypt currently controls, and official stances on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The Renaissance Dam
Egypt’s tensions with Sudan over Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam were evident recently when Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Belal expressed solidarity with Egyptian demands regarding its share of the Nile water share during an Arab information ministers’ meeting in Cairo on July 10.
Khartoum reprimanded Belal for his statements, which departed from Sudan’s official position on the matter and have been more congruent with the Ethiopian stance and that of other Nile Basin countries — who advocate for contracting Egypt’s historical share of the water. Attempts to censor Belal angered Egypt, according to a local Foreign Ministry source who spoke with Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.
The source adds that Shoukry’s visit is an attempt to distance Sudan from the spat between Cairo and Addis Ababa, and to relieve the former from the pressures being applied by Ethiopia and most other Nile Basin countries.
“Cairo can’t get over what happened during the Nile Basin countries’ last meeting in Uganda in June, when Sudan agreed with them to reject Egypt’s proposal to host the next meeting,” the source says.
“The issue culminated in Sudan leveling accusations Cairo does not want to achieve a technical resolution, and only wants to express its complete rejection of the dam,” he adds.
Commenting on Egypt’s reaction, a Sudanese diplomat working in Cairo, speaking on condition of anonymity, says: “Our brothers in Egypt accuse us of failing to support them and their water concerns, but they do not give much attention to the water, economic or strategic interests that tie Sudan to the Nile Basin countries.”
The border dispute
Shoukry intends to deliver a “decisive message” to his Sudanese counterpart regarding the Halayeb Triangle, asserting that Egypt will stand firmly against any efforts to internationalize the dispute over the area, which lies on Egypt’s southern border between the towns of Halayeb, Shalateen and Abu Ramad.
In July, the Egyptian government announced its intention to prove the triangle is Egyptian, either through developmental interventions to expand the population, or through increasing its security presence by deploying more patrols.
According to a second source in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, also speaking on condition of anonymity, Cairo needs to send a clear message to Khartoum regarding the need to stop “breaches of sovereignty” by Sudanese forces in the region. The source asserted that Egypt would actively respond to any diplomatic measures taken by Sudan, including recent attempts to take the issue to the United Nations and the African Union. “We will not stand as spectators and we are very aware about what Sudan is doing,” he says.
The Sudanese diplomat tells Mada Masr Sudan does not want to create problems with Egypt over the Halayeb triangle. “We have evidence that proves this area is Sudanese, and if you ask the residents themselves, they will say they are Sudanese. In any case, we are prepared to resort to international arbitration and accept the rulings, but Egypt is the one refusing this option in its efforts to enforce de facto control over the area.”
A third Egyptian Foreign Ministry source closely following the Sudan issue tells Mada Masr that Sudan is escalating the matter, citing a message sent by the Sudanese government to the United Nations asking Cairo to agree to initiating international arbitration procedures. This step by Sudan, he says, followed a slew of others, such as an official complaint lodged at the United Nations, and the deployment of Sudanese police forces to conduct searches inside the triangle.
The Sudanese diplomat believes that Sudan can achieve sovereignty over the triangle through international arbitration, even if it takes a long time. He says there is a wide consensus over the Halayeb issue in Sudan, even between the government and the opposition.
Meanwhile, the third Foreign Ministry source asserts that the issue will be discussed but not negotiated during Shoukry’s visit, in response to a request from Sudan.
This means Shoukry will hear comments from the Sudanese side on the matter, but not make any decisions regarding the triangle.
There is the possibility of bilateral cooperation through the framework of the unactivated Four Freedoms Agreement, signed by Egypt and Sudan in 2004. Sudan ultimately rejected the agreement, which would have permitted free movement, residence, work and ownership in both countries.
Shoukry is expected to raise other contentious issues, including better border control between Egypt, Sudan and Libya to prevent the inflow of Libyan militants to Egypt through Sudan, according to the first Egyptian Foreign Ministry source.
Sudanese accusations
Shoukry was aware ahead of the visit that Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ghandour would likely touch on several reasons why Sudan is displeased, according to the Sudanese diplomat, and is expecting to hear complaints about Egypt’s intervention in Sudan’s domestic affairs.
Sudan has repeatedly accused Egypt of meddling in its affairs, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi disputed at the end of May. In early June, Ghandour met with Sisi in Cairo to discuss this and other points of contention.
Sudan has also highlighted the treatment of Sudanese diplomats within some Arab organizations in which Egypt plays a leading role, including the General Secretariat of the Arab League and the Arab Women Organization, according to an Egyptian diplomat working in the Arab League.
The Arab League diplomat adds that Sudanese officials know Egypt has used its presence at the United Nations Security Council against Sudan, and has always moved to block the lifting of sanctions on Sudan, and accused the country of harboring terrorists.
“Egypt doesn’t take into consideration the impact of its actions on public sentiment,” the Sudanese diplomat says. “Social media makes it obvious that Sudanese youth are angry at Egypt, an anger that should not be underestimated,” he adds. It is time, he says, to “reformulate the basis of the historical relationship between Egypt and Sudan, and to consider Sudanese views on bilateral and regional relationships more than before.”
Actions Sudan has taken against Cairo are not due to influence from Qatar and Turkey as Cairo believes, he says, highlighting that Sudan’s strongest ally is Saudi Arabia, which is also one of Cairo’s most important allies.
None of the sources Mada Masr spoke to expect any major changes to follow Shoukry’s visit to Sudan.
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