Renewed Aerial Bombings in East Jebel Marra
(Radio Dabanga) According to witnesses, the Sudanese air force carried out renewed aerial bombings in East Jebel Marra, North Darfur on Monday, 1 October. No reports of casualties have been confirmed yet. According to onlookers, the region of Kira, located about 15km west of Tabit, near East Jebel Marra, was hit by the recent shelling. They reported that two MiG airplanes bombed the area at about 5:30pm, and that three huts got burned. Although no casualties were reported, residents said the bombings provoked much fear amongst them, who fled to farms and valleys seeking shelter. Citizens from East Jebel Marra appealed to the international community to pressure the Sudanese government to stop bombing its own citizens.
Sudan dollar reserves fallen to 4-5 months of imports
(Reuters) Sudan’s central bank only has enough dollar reserves left to fund four to five months of imports but it expects the situation to improve after reaching an oil agreement with South Sudan, its central bank governor said. Last week, Sudan signed an agreement with landlocked South Sudan to resume exporting southern oil through the north, providing both economies with badly needed dollars. Sudan lost three quarters of its oil production when the South became independent in July 2011, depriving it of its main source of state revenues and the dollars it needs to fund imports. “It’s very difficult now, it is around four to five months of imports,” Sudan’s central bank Governor al-Kheir Zubeir told Reuters when asked about foreign currency reserves. “Four months is low but we hope that after this agreement (with South Sudan), the reserves will increase drastically,” he said on the sidelines of a conference in Kuwait. He declined to specify dollar reserve levels but said the central bank wanted to be able to fund imports for six to seven months.
Darfur Students Beat and Arrested for Strike
(Radio Dabanga) The Sudanese security services were accused of beating and arresting several Darfuri students from the Bakht Alrida university in Aldoam, White Nile, on Monday 1 October, Radio Dabanga was informed. The exact number of arrested and injured students is still unknown. Witnesses said these students were holding a strike against the payment of tuition fees. According to the Abuja and Doha agreements, Darfuri students enrolled in national universities are exempted from paying the tariffs. Sources added that the security services were backed by the Sudanese Central Reserve and by fellow university students affiliated with the ruling National Congress Party. During the attacks, weapons such as batons, sticks and tear gas were used against the Darfuri students, onlookers asserted. Sources speaking from the university told Radio Dabanga that until Monday night, troops had besieged the campus and were beating and arresting whoever left the area.
Sudan: Security Deal Means ‘Death’ of Rebels
(Sudan Tribune) Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) said on Sunday that the security arrangements deal the country signed last week with neighbouring rival South Sudan will effectively spell doom for the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N). The security arrangements deal provides for the establishment of a safe demilitarized zone along the unmarked 1800 km common borders to be monitored by the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission which consists of the two sides as well as independent monitors. It also stipulates that the two parties cease “harbouring of, or support to rebel groups against the other state” NCP’s spokesperson Badr Al-Din Ahmad Ibrahim told reporters in the capital Khartoum that if the security arrangements deal is implemented “it would effectively mean the death of the SPLM-N”. However, Badr Al-Din suggested that the talks with the SPLM-N would continue in view of the domestic nature of the conflict, saying that “it is possible to talk with SPLM-N leaders [Malik] Aggar, [Yasir] Arman and [Abdel Aziz] Al-Hilu in their capacity as northern [Sudanese] citizens.” He added that after the deal with Juba all issues had become “purely Sudanese”.
Government Instructs Ambassador to Expeditiously Assume Functions in Juba
(Sudan Vision) President Omer Al Bashir has directed Sudan’s ambassador to South Sudan Mutrif Siddiq to immediately travel to Juba and assume his functions as part of efforts by Khartoum to implement the cooperation agreement signed between the two countries. Ambassador Siddiq is awaiting an appointment to meet the President to seek his guidance on how to reenergize ties between Khartoum and Juba and to carry a letter from the President to his South Sudanese counterpart, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) ambassador Al-Ebeid Murawah told reporters. MOFA briefed yesterday diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited to Sudan on the agreement concluded between the two countries. Ambassador Siddiq told the diplomats that the Sudanese Government is serious to achieve sustainable peace and the agreements would be endorsed by state institutions.