EUROPEAN UNION NEWS DIGEST
SPLM-N rebels say Khartoum not interested in comprehensive peace
(Sudan Tribune) Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) on Friday criticized the position paper presented by the Sudanese government during the first days of negotiations, saying Khartoum is only interested in partial solutions. In a three-hour meeting held on Friday, the Sudanese government and rebel delegations exchanged their negotiating position papers before to engage in talks brokered by African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) over the resolution of the armed conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Thursday, the chief mediator Thabo Mbeki called on the two parties to reach a peace deal to end the two and half year conflict based on a framework agreement signed on 28 June 2014.
Source: http://www.sudantribune.com/
Nuba bombings kill nine as Sudan peace talks start
(Radio Dabanga) Nine civilians were killed and 13 were injured in two separate attacks on Thursday in South Kordofan. The bombings occurred on the same day peace talks began between the Sudanese government and SPLM-N rebels. The talks in Addis Ababa, brokered by the AU, aim at ending the 2.5 year old conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Source: https://www.radiodabanga.org/
Manaseer groups mobilize against visit of Sudanese president
(Sudan Tribune) A group of youths from the Manaseer area, 350 km (220 miles) north of the capital Khartoum, threatened to thwart a planned visit by president Omer Hassan al-Bashir scheduled for next month. The group took to social networking sites to mobilize against Bashir’s visit to the region with a number of Manaseer elders warning against receiving the president and called for boycotting the visit. The construction of Merowe dam on the Fourth cataract of the River Nile, 350 kilometers north of Khartoum, has displaced more than 100,000 local persons belonging to three riverian communities, Al Hamdab, Amri and al-Manaseer. There have been several clashes between the villagers and Sudanese police over the last few years.
Source: http://www.sudantribune.com/
UN official assesses human rights conditions in South Kordofan
(Sudan Tribune) The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) independent expert and special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Sudan, Mashood Badrein, has held series of meetings in South Kordofan to assess the situation in the state. He met on Thursday with the cabinet of South Kordofan state chaired by governor, Adam al-Faki, to inquire about human rights conditions and freedoms granted to various groups according to international standards particularly groups working in humanitarian relief. The UN official also met with local leaders, tribal chiefs, legislative council, international aid groups, and the UN agencies operating in South Kordofan state as well as released women prisoners who the security authorities claim were detained for collaborating with rebel groups.
Read More: http://www.sudantribune.com/
3 million US dollars for North Kordofan’s Janjaweed
(Radio Dabanga) The central government in Khartoum has paid three million US dollars in return for the withdrawal of the government-backed militia elements, known as Janjaweed, from North Kordofan and dismantling their blockade on El Obeid. Their militias will regroup in Nyala, South Darfur. The independent El Taghyeer newspaper reported on Thursday that the total amount transferred from the Central Bank of Sudan for the benefit of the Janjaweed was $3,000,000. The Governor of North Kordofan , Ahmed Haroun, said in a statement to the citizens last Sunday that the militias accused of the killings, rapes, and looting in El Obeid after returning from the battlefields last January are called “rapid support troops”.
Source: https://www.radiodabanga.org/