Bashir accuses South of attacks
(The Daily Star Lebanon) Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Monday accused the South of involvement in recent attacks inside his country, but said Khartoum was nonetheless committed to talks. In a routine address to a new session of parliament, Bashir said South Sudan was “involved directly†in recent offensives against the oil center of Heglig, and Talodi town in South Kordofan state. “South Sudan has to stop supporting rebel groups,†Bashir said in his speech. “The main thing is to solve the security issues,†which are fundamental to resolving disputes over the border and economic matters, he added.
Sudan says US waging “stealth war†against it
(Sudan Tribune) The head of the Sudanese parliament, Ahmad Ibrahim al-Tahir, accused the United States (US) on Sunday of engaging in a “stealth war†against his country. Al-Tahir, who was speaking in a press conference at the parliament headquarters in the capital Khartoum, cited the postponement last week of the inauguration of a $1 billion sugar plant in the country’s White Nile State, saying it was caused by US economic sanctions. Al-Tahir said that the US is walling Sudan off from progress, and accused Washington of being engaged in a multi-front war against his country. Sudan’s top MP pointed out that his country’s issue with the US remains “political†and vowed that Washington will not break the will of his country. He added that Sudanese people could live without food or drink if it as a choice between that a loosing their dignity.
Airlines cancel S. Sudan flights after deadline
(AFP) Airlines cancelled flights from Sudan to the newly independent South on Monday, travelers said, after new rules treating the route as international took effect. The ending of domestic services to South Sudan came the day after a deadline for an estimated half a million ethnic Southerners to return South or formalize their status in the north. Abdelhafiz Abdelrahim, spokesman for the Sudan Aviation Authority, told AFP that beginning on Monday airlines operating to South Sudan had to comply with international procedures. Carriers serving Juba and other points in South Sudan would move from Khartoum’s domestic terminal to the international one, Abdelrahim added. The April 8 time limit ended a grace period after South Sudan separated last July in the wake of an overwhelming “yes” vote in an independence referendum that followed Africa’s longest civil war.
Al-Khidir Calls on Southerners to Settle their Situation
(Sudan Vision) Governor of Khartoum State, Dr. Abul Rahman Al-Khidir, said Monday that 9 April, 2012 is the first day for considering the citizens of South Sudan as foreigners, non-Sudanese and citizens of another state. This came in his address Monday to a ceremony for signing an agreement to rehabilitate and renovate Al-Sajana Market in Khartoum. The Governor urged the citizens of South Sudan to settle their status with regard to the immigration issues in a view that they are now non-Sudanese and foreigners. He explained that this does not mean any insult to them or to their country, because it is the law that should be binding to all foreign people of all countries. He said Law is to serve all – the Sudanese and the non-Sudanese.
Umma Party Sec Gen voted out of office
(Sudan Tribune) The Secretary General of the National Umma Party (NUP) Sideeg Ismail conceded defeat at a vote that took place over the weekend during a meeting of the party’s Central Commission (NUPCC). Under the NUP’s rules and the procedures, the Sec Gen would deliver a report before the NUPCC outlining accomplishments during his term in office as well as any other issues that need to be raised. The report is then subjected to a vote and should a majority stand against it then the Sec Gen, as a matter of tradition, is expected to hand down his resignation or in the alternative a confidence vote would take place. According to official results announced by the NUP, 284 voted against the report with 252 in favor and five votes considered faulty. More than 300 NUPCC members were not in attendance. The controversial Sec Gen was widely expected to lose his seat amid accusations by many in the party of him having strong links to the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) led by president Omer Hassan al-Bashir. NUP leader al-Mahdi hailed Ismail’s term though he acknowledged some mistakes on his part but justified it as part of “human effort”. Ismail was replaced by Ibrahim al-Amin who is considered to be an agreeable figure by most NUP members. Ironically, al-Amin was one of the main contenders against Ismail in the 2009 elections for SG.
South Sudanese stranded in Khartoum in legal row
(Reuters) Scared and confused, hundreds of South Sudanese were stranded at Khartoum airport on Monday after being denied permission to board their flights to the south in a dispute over their legal status. The unclear legal status for South Sudanese in the north is one of many unresolved issues between the former foes since the South gained independence in July under a peace agreement. Khartoum has ruled out dual citizenship for more than 500,000 southerners who have lived in the north for decades and started treating of them as foreigners on Monday after the end of a grace period. Until Sunday flights to the southern capital Juba had been conducted at the domestic terminal without passport controls. But many are now stuck in limbo, since South Sudan has failed to open an embassy in Khartoum that can issue passports. At the airport, hundreds of South Sudanese tried checking into their flights to Juba early on Monday but immigration officials denied them entry. With almost no passengers to check in, state-owned Sudan Airways and other local carriers suspended their Juba flights. Around 500 South Sudanese queued outside the embassy building but were unable to get passports or temporary travel documents since it is not yet fully functional. Khartoum has ruled out dual citizenship.
Al-Arabi Intends to Visit Darfur
(Sudan Vision) Sudan and the Arab League (AL) agreed to activate the mechanism between Khartoum and the AL, and to move the obligations aimed to support the humanitarian work in Darfur. State Minister at the Presidency said, after meeting with the AL Secretary-General, Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi yesterday in Cairo, that they agreed that the AL to play a central role with the State of Qatar in the preparation for the donor conference in the next stage, besides a mechanism to arrange for the preparation of the said conference, adding that a conference of Arab and other experts to be held to study the projects for development and investment in Darfur. “We have found an overwhelming response from the AL Secretary-General, who agreed to maintain communication and exchange more information in this aspect,” the Minister said. On the proposed date for the donors conference, the minister said they expected that the conference be held before the end of this year and possibly in the last quarter of it, pointing out that the State of Qatar pledged to host the said conference and to work with partners, led by the AL to prepare for the success of the conference.
NCP: No Political Measures will be Conducted with SS before Solving the Security File
(Sudanese Radio) The National Congress has ruled out the possibility of conducting any steps in the political frameworks at the level of the relations with South Sudan State or the rebels of the Northern Sector of the People’s Movement before solving the security file, which is topped by the issues of withdrawal of the 9th and 10th Divisions of the People’s Movement, demarcation of the joint border and ending of South Sudan State to its support to the Darfurian rebel movements and their leaders. The spokesman and Information Secretary of the National Congress, Dr. Badr-Eddin Ahmed Ibrahim, affirmed in a statement to the press after a meeting of the Political Sector of the National Congress, which was chaired the Vice – President of the Republic, Al-Haj Adam, that the party is adherent to implementation of the measures pertinent to considering the people of South Sudan State aliens as of April 9. Dr. Ibrahim has denied the claims on differences at the National Congress that led to postponement of the Shura Conference of the Islamic Movement.