(Sudan Tribune) The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir has apparently cancelled his appearance at a conference taking place in the capital Khartoum on Tuesday morning after state media initially reported that he will address the event, amid renewed rumors about the health of the 68-year old ruler. Sudan’s official news agency (SUNA) carried a report on Monday morning saying that Bashir would appear to address the opening session of the 12th conference of the Arab ministers of minerals due to be held at the Friendship Hall in the capital Khartoum from the 27th through the 29th of November. Later in the day SUNA quietly withdrew the report from their website and published another one saying that the conference will be addressed instead by presidential assistant Gala Al-Digair “as representative of the president of the republic”. The inconsistency that characterized SUNA’s reporting about Bashir’s activities coincided with unconfirmed news reports that he was medivaced on Sunday to Saudi Arabia and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at KingFaisalSpecialistHospital in the capital Riyadh.
Further Reading: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?iframe&page
European Commission pledges support for yellow fever victims
(Sudan Tribune) The European Commission says it is ready to help the Sudanese government cope with the recent outbreak of yellow fever, which has reportedly killed at least 116 people in Darfur. Up to 459 yellow fever cases, officials says, have also been reported in the region as both Sudan, with support from World Health Organization (WHO), launched a massive vaccination campaign to immunise 2.4 million people. The Commission, as part of the campaign, has already deployed humanitarian experts on the ground to monitor the disease outbreak, now affecting the Central, South, West and the Northern parts of the war-torn region.
Further Reading: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php
South Sudan says Sudan putting new block on oil Sales
JUBA(Reuters) Sudan has put a fresh obstacle in the way of allowing its land-locked southern neighbor to pipe its oil to the Red Sea, South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir said on Monday, dashing plans to re-start production after 11 months and unsettling last year’s still fragile peace agreement. Kiir said Sudan had now demanded as a new condition for reopening the pipeline that South Sudan now disarm rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-North) which operate in two states bordering South Sudan. “It is an impossible mission which our brothers in the government in Khartoum would want us to undertake. Because of this Khartoum authorities have refused to accept passage of South Sudan oil through their territory to market,” he told a meeting of government officials in Juba which was attended by Reuters. “We are a different country, SPLM-North is in a different country. You cannot imagine that a foreign army can cross to another country to go and conduct disarmament. That can’t be. It will not happen,” he said.
Further Reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/26/us-southsudan-sudan-oil-
Opposition Lawyers to Defend Detainees of ‘Subversive Attempt’
(All Africa) A group of lawyers mostly associated with opposition parties in Sudan decided on Sunday to form a committee to defend the suspects detained in relation to what the authorities describe as a “subversive attempt” to seize power. A number of lawyers led by Nabil Adeeb, a prominent legal expert and outspoken critic of the government, offered to defend Gosh and held their first meeting at Gosh’s office in Khartoum 2 neighborhood, where they formed a defense committee and named Adeeb as chairman and each of Ali Al-Said, Al-Tayyib Abbas, Babikir Abdel Rahman, Adil Ghashum Al-Moos, Omer Hummaid, and Youssef Ahmad Mohammed Osman as members. In a related context, the head of the security and defense committee of the Sudanese parliament, Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Amin, announced on Sunday that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is going to consider dropping Gosh’s membership. He also revealed that the request to revoke his immunity was issued a day before his arrest.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201211260665.html
South Sudan: 900 Displaced By Sudan Air Attacks
(Sudan Tribune, All Africa) Bombing of South Sudan’s NorthernBahr El GhazalState, allegedly carried out by Sudanese warplanes over three days last week, has displaced more than 900 people in AweilNorthCounty, officials said on Sunday. Khartoum has denied bombing South Sudanese territory but admits it has bombed Sudanese rebel positions just 10 kilomters north of the disputed Mile 14 area. Khartoum accuses Juba of continuing to back the rebels, although this is denied by Juba. The SPLA accused the Sudanese army on Friday of amassing troops on the border and moving towards their positions in some areas. South Sudan’s, Minister of Information, Benjamin Marial, described the bombings as a “wanton and malicious” on Sunday. Some of the 900 people displaced from Kiir Adem in AweilNorthCounty, NorthernBahr El GhazalState, South Sudan, by alleged SAF bombings between 20-22 November.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201211260636.html