Sudan, South Sudan Security Committee to Meet in a Week
(Sudan Vision) Sudan’s chief negotiator, Idriss Mohamed Abdul Gadir said the joint security committee headed by Defense ministers in the two countries and the joint technical committees between the two countries will meet within the week to start planning to implement the cooperation agreement. In his briefing yesterday to the Council of States on the agreement, Idris said the security arrangements deal between the two countries provided for a 10 km wide buffer zone. The agreement would restore normal relations between the two countries, he said. Abdel Gadir said the agreements would be referred to the parliaments in both countries within forty days for approval; he stressed the need to create a favorable atmosphere to implement the agreements for the peoples’ benefit.
29 Darfuri University Students Arrested
(Radio Dabanga) The secretary-general of the Darfur student association said that 29 students were arrested by security forces following the strike they held recently in Bakht Alrida university in Aldoam, White Nile, Radio Dabanga has learned. El-Nazir Ismail Haroun, the secretary-general, also said that 18 students who were striking against the payment of tuition fees got injured following the events of Monday, 1 October. He said several of them were transferred to Khartoum for treatment. Haroun told Radio Dabanga that the detained students were subjected to physical and psychological torture by the security services, which include humiliation, insults and racist slurs. He added that six of the arrested prisoners are being held in security services’ detention, at the office of the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). Besides, the other 23 students are held in Aldoam police station. A student who was released from NISS detention on Monday, described to Radio Dabanga the different types of torture him and the other six prisoners, still in detention, were subjected to. These include insults and humiliation, beating, kicking, spitting in the face, racist scolding and he said they were also threatened to be raped.
Low Level Representation for Sudan At South America-Arab Summit
(Sudan Tribune) The Sudanese government is represented by its ambassador to Brazil at the third summit of South American and Arab countries (ASPA) that started in the Peruvian capital today. The low level representation by Khartoum at the conference comes in sharp contrast with assertions made by Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti this year that his country is working on enhancing ties with Latin American nations. The two-day meeting has brought together leaders of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Arab League, with more than 30 nations represented in all. As for Sudan Peruvian government officials refused to comment on the record about whether president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir was invited to attend. The latter has an outstanding warrant for him issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which makes the court’s member states including Peru obligated to apprehend him should he sets foot on its territories. The Sudanese head of state encountered embarrassing moments at the second ASPA summit that took place in Doha three years ago when the presidents of Brazil and Argentina refused to sit down or appear with Bashir in the group photo.
Sudanese Security Storm South Sudanese Rebels
(All Africa, Sudan Tribune) Sudanese security raided on Sunday a house of South Sudanese rebel leader in the capital Khartoum where they arrested some members of his militia and seized weapons. The security forces assaulted the house of James Gai, leader of South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SSLM/A) in Al-Fitaihab suburb, where it arrested five officers and 70 individuals and seized 5 heavy guns, after an exchange of fire. The raid comes after the signing of a series of agreements last Thursday between Sudan and South Sudan in the Ethiopian capitals. The two countries, in accordance with security arrangements deal, committed themselves to not harbour or support rebel groups. Security sources in Khartoum say the rebel SSLM/A is opposed to the recent security deal and vowed to continue their fight against Juba. They further say the raid comes within a plan aiming to control all the South Sudanese groups in Sudan.
Sudan’s central bank contradicts IMF figures on Forex reserves
(Sudan Tribune) The IMF reported in its annual review of the Sudanese economy that Khartoum’s Forex reserves will drop from $1.3 billion in 2011 to $1.1 billion in 2012 before rising slightly to $1.2 billion in 2013. The IMF estimated that Sudan’s external debt have grown by 27% since 2008 from $32.6 billion to $41.4 billion in 2011. The IMF projected debt levels to reach $43.7 billion in 2012 and $45.6 billion in 2013. The latter represents 83% of Sudan’s 2011 GDP number of $55.1 billion. Sudan’s foreign minister Ali Karti in his speech before the UN General Assembly accused the international community of reneging on pledges of cancelling debt made following the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between north and south Sudan. North and South Sudan agreed last month to work jointly on seeking debt relief from international creditors. If these efforts are unsuccessful the ex-foes will sit down again to decide on how to split the debt.