Rebels in Sudan’s Blue Nile say tanks seized
(AFP) Rebels in Sudan’s Blue Nile state said on Monday they had destroyed a Sudanese tank and captured two others but the army dismissed the report as propaganda while acknowledging fighting in another border region. The ethnic and religious-minority Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) said it captured the tanks and other weapons during a three-day battle that ended Sunday with their seizure of Surkum, 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Kurmuk town in Blue Nile. The village was a military outpost from which government forces planned to launch attacks, SPLM-N spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told AFP. But Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad denied the incident. “They didn’t attack any of our positions in Blue Nile. They only want fabrication and media propaganda,” he told AFP. “Yesterday they tried to attack one of our positions near Kologi and we responded, killing 15 of them,” Saad said. Both sides at times have an interest in inflating casualty figures, a Sudan analyst says.
Top Darfur peacekeeper sees ‘alarming’ rise in violence
(Daily Times) Parts of Sudan’s Darfur region have seen an alarming rise in violence with high civilian casualties, the acting head of Darfur’s peacekeeping mission said on Monday, as efforts to implement a peace deal between the government and some rebels hit deadlock. “We are witnessing an increasing number of security-related incidents in North Darfur, including armed clashes between members of different communities with high civilian casualties,” Aichatou Mindaoudou said. She was speaking at the second meeting of the international Joint Commission, set up under a peace deal between the government and an alliance of rebel splinter factions, the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM). She called the violent trend in the vast western region an “alarming development.” Mindaoudou did not refer to specific incidents, but the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on Sunday said it plans further “assessment” of reported violence in North Darfur state’s Hashaba. The United States says 70 civilians died there between September 25 and 27 in fighting and aerial bombardments between rebels and Sudanese government forces. The Joint Commission membership includes LJM, the government, UNAMID, Qatar, the European Union and the Arab League. Canada, China and Norway are observers.
Ambassadors of European Union to visit NorthDarfurState Wednesday
(SUNA) A delegation of Ambassadors of the European Union to Sudan will visit El-Fashir, North Darfur State, in order to have a closer look at the general situation in the state and the efforts being carried out by the United Nations, the African Union Mission for Darfur (UNAMID) for the realization of peace and implementing the early recovery programme in the region. The visit will begin on 17 October and will last for two days during which the delegation will meet the leadership of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) and the Government of North Darfur State in order to get acquainted with the general situations in the State and the efforts to maintain peace, stability and security. The European Ambassadors will also meet the Leadership of UNAMID in order to get informed about its Mandate and efforts to maintain peace in Darfur besides the long and short terms projects implemented by the UNAMID. The delegation will also pay field visits to some areas in North Darfur in order to inspect projects. The Delegation will also visit some national figures and Heads of cultural and educational institutions in the city in order to get informed about their contributions in the realization of peace.
Darfur peace deal faces “huge challenges”: peacekeepers
(Reuters) Efforts to implement a peace deal between Sudan’s government and a Darfur rebel group face “huge challenges” while violence is rising in parts of the western region, the acting head of the regional peacekeeping force said on Monday. Insurgents took up arms against government forces in Darfur in 2003, complaining authorities had neglected the region and excluded their ethnic minorities from economic and political power structures. Implementing the deal has been slow since then, acting UNAMID head Aichatou Mindaoudou said. “Today, we have to note that the process has been very slow and, in the case of the work of the Ceasefire Commission, can even be described as stagnant,” she told reporters in Khartoum. A process to verify the LJM forces and strength was conducted in March but has not produced conclusive outcomes, she said, adding that the deadlock meant there had been no progress on major provisions of the deal. A spike in clashes between groups in northern Darfur has led to high civilian casualties recently, Mindaoudou said. “This alarming development calls for urgent and speedy implementation of this plan,” she added.
Joint Mechanism between Sudan, South Sudan to Defuse Border Tensions
(Sudan Vision) The Sudanese government reiterated its commitment to implementing the cooperation agreements concluded with South Sudan but pointed out that it will reserve the right to secure and protect its borders against security threats. In his report to the Council of States yesterday, Sudan’s lead negotiator Idriss Abdul Gadir revealed the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the border between the two countries. The mechanism is tasked to defuse tension and build trust between the two countries, he said. Abdul Gadir said the cooperation agreements might encounter some difficulties given past experiences but pointed out that several mechanisms have been set up to facilitate their implementation. Contacts will also continue between the two countries to facilitate implementation. Concerning borders, he said negotiation will continue on the five contentious areas and the Sudanese government will not consider new territorial claims by the other party. He said the two parties agreed to seek the help of African experts to present unbinding views.