(Jerusalem Post) Sudanese opposition groups accused Khartoum this week of reaching a secret agreement with Tehran to establish an Iranian military base on the Red Sea. Anti-government newspaper Hurriyat Sudan cited an unnamed opposition source on Monday as saying that the Sudanese government had struck a deal with Iran for building a base on the Sudanese coast. Meanwhile, Sudanese rebel group The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said on Sunday that Sudan’s President Omar Bashir has reached a “very advanced” arrangement with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to establish a naval base either in Port Sudan or elsewhere on the Red Sea, according to the Sudanese anti-government news outlet Al Rakoba. The accusations came after two Iranian naval vessels, the 1,400-ton frigate Jamaran and the 4,700-ton support ship Bushehr, docked in Port Sudan on Saturday morning.
Further http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=295411
Student Protests in Khartoum Leave 60 Injured
(All Africa) Students continued their protests in Khartoum for the second consecutive day on Monday, 10 December. The protests started on Sunday after the bodies of four Darfuri students from GeziraUniversity were found in a canal in Wad Madani. The second day of protests started from NeelainUniversity where crowds of students gathered. Sources told Radio Dabanga that approximately four thousand students protested all over Khartoum. It was reported that the security and police forces used excessive violence against the peaceful protesters; beating them with batons, spraying them with teargas and using live ammunition and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds. According to eye-witnesses, at least 60 students were injured in Monday’s protests. A number of injured students were taken to Khartoum Teaching Hospital for treatment, while others were taken to the Teaching Hospital in Omdurman. Among the injured students are Abdel Aziz Abdel Rahman Adam and Omda Mohamed Suleiman from the faculty of commerce of NeelainUniversity and Arafa Adam from the faculty of law.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201212110095.html
Al-Bashir affirms government keenness to fulfill its commitments towards implementation of Doha Agreement
(Sudanese Radio) President of the Republic, Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir, has reiterated the government determination to fulfill all its commitments with regard to implementation of Doha Document for Peace in Darfur. He pledged during his meeting with Chairman of Darfur Regional Authority, Dr Al-Tigani Sessi, at the RepublicanPalace Sunday to solve the issue of licenses of travels for organizations operating in development projects in Darfur, besides helping convocation of Donors Conference in Doha and Conference of Internally Displaced Persons in Nyala.
Further Reading: http://www.sudanradio.info/english/modules/news/index.php?storytopic=1
Gezira University Problem Not Related to Tuition Fees
(All Africa) The Minister of Higher Education, Khamis Kajo Kunda, stressed that the problem of GeziraUniversity is not related to the exemption of tuition fees. He explained at a press conference on Monday, 10 December, in the SudaneseMediaCenter in Khartoum that the registration fee is obligatory for students in all levels of university education. The minister added that the term ‘tuition fees’ includes both registration and tuition fees. He stated that the registration fee is obligatory for all students, even those exempted from paying tuition fees. Additionally, Kajo Kunda said that the Doha Document concerns displaced and refugees and stressed that the Darfur Regional Authority should specify what is meant with ‘displaced and refugees’. He stated that the Ministry of Higher Education inquired about the details of the exemption of tuition fees with the authorities involved in the Doha Document. The minister commented that no explanation was given until the beginning of the academic year.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201212110102.html
U.S. envoy to Sudan, South Sudan stepping down
(Reuters) Veteran U.S/ diplomat Princeton Lyman is stepping down as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, the White House said on Monday. Lyman’s departure comes after a nearly two-year stint as Obama’s troubleshooter for the region, a tenure that saw South Sudan secede last year under a U.S.-backed peace deal that ended decades of civil war. “Princeton has done a tremendous job in helping to realize the promise of an independent South Sudan, and working toward the international vision of Sudan and South Sudan living side by side in peace,” Obama said in statement. The Obama administration did not provide any immediate explanation for the departure of Lyman, 77, who was named to the post in March 2011.
Further Reading: http://news.yahoo.com/u-envoy-sudan-south-sudan-stepping-down-221038473.html
Israeli Spy Captured in Sudan
(ABC) Sudanese authorities say they have captured an Israeli spy in the town of Kereinek, but Israeli authorities have cast doubt on the claim, noting that the alleged Mossad agent is covered in feathers and weighs less than 30 pounds. Officials in the North African country are calling a large bird captured late last week an “Israeli spy vulture,” according to Middle Eastern media reports. An ecologist from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority told the Israeli news site YNet that the bird was being tracked for the purpose of studying migration patterns. Vultures typically fly south in the winter. “This is a young vulture that was tagged, along with 100 others, in October. He has two wing bands and a German-made GPS chip,” said Ohad Hazofe. He denied that the device had any photographic capabilities.
Further Reading: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/israeli-spy-captured-sudan/story?id=17926788