Security Council Authorizes Six-Month Mandate Extension Of United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei
(All Africa, Sudan Tribune) Urging Sudan and South Sudan to activate recently agreed border security mechanisms, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations security mission in the disputed area of Abyei until 31 May 2013. Unanimously adopting resolution 2075 (2012), the Council decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) at current troop levels. It also expressed its intention to consider the possible reconfiguration of the Force in light of compliance by the two countries with previous agreements – the latest being that of 27 September 2012 – on redeploying all forces from the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone, achieving full operation of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism and completing the full demilitarization of Abyei. The Council demanded, in addition, that both Governments facilitate the deployment of the United Nations Mine Service to the Abyei area and the Border Zone, and that all parties ensure safe and unhindered access for humanitarian personnel to civilians in need of assistance. Renewing its call on Sudan and South Sudan to provide full cooperation to the United Nations, it welcomed Sudan’s signing of the status-of-forces agreement on 1 October, while anticipating similar action by South Sudan in response to the revised proposal presented to it on 5 October.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201211170014.html
Sudanese Islamists pledge support for Palestinians
(Reuters) A conference of influential Islamists in Sudan declared support for Palestinians in the conflict with Israel on Saturday, saying they were devoted to the cause regardless of the repercussions. In the closing statements of a conference, Sudan’s Islamic Movement said it was committed to returning Palestinian rights. The Islamic Movement is part of Sudan’s ruling establishment and counts many of the country’s most powerful politicians as members, including President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Its statements largely reflect the government’s position. “(The Movement) is committed to this, no matter how great the sacrifices for its principled position based on the return of the rights of Muslims in Jerusalem and in the usurped land of Palestine,” the group said in a statement. Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was given a hero’s welcome at the Thursday’s opening of the conference, where leaders of Islamist groups that have come to power through elections in Tunisia and Egypt after popular uprisings also condemned Israel. On Friday, Meshaal said Hamas would take revenge for Israel’s “aggression” against Sudan.
Further Reading: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/17/us-palestinians-israel-sudan-
Sudan’s Islamic Movement Wraps up Session, Issues Recommendations
(Sudan Vision) Sudan’s Islamic Movement’s (IM) 8th convention wrapped up its sessions yesterday and issued its final recommendations. The conference was attended by 4 thousand members as well as representatives of 30 countries. The participants approved the constitution of the Islamic Movement (IM) and took a decision on how the secretary general should be elected. In its recommendations, the IM declared its support for the rights of Palestinians and also backed the rights of the people of Syria to live in dignity and called for halt of the bloodbath. It affirmed its support for Islamists in Bangladesh, deplored the massacre in Myanmar and called for intensive dialogue between the Islamic movements and the west to defuse tension.
Further Reading: http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=216203
Sudan’s Turabi repudiates “Islamic Movement” conference
(Sudan Tribune) The leader of Sudan’s Islamist opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP), Hassan Al-Turabi, issued a letter on Thursday distancing his party from the Islamic Movement (IM) conference being held in Khartoum, and telling foreign Islamist participants that it is a charade designed by the country’s rulers to monopolize Islamism and exclude him. Al-Turabi’s letter, of which Sudan Tribune obtained a copy, accused the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of concocting the conference to monopolize the intellectual current of Islamism while genuine Islamists are excluded and languishing in prisons as political detainees. The veteran Islamist assigned the blame for the corrupt practices and repression that characterized the period before his divorce with the NCP on the military wing of Islamists and the rest of whom he described as the hypocritical politicians who sought their own personal gains. Al-Turabi declared that he is repudiating the “alleged” Islamic Project of the NCP saying “he knows of no intellectual, political or ethical connections [between the conference] and what can be truly ascribed to Islam”. The PCP leader said that the genesis of his disagreement with the NCP is that the latter’s military leaders were against certain freedoms including that of the press and political parties. He also added that their military ethos led them to crackdown on dissenters and become immersed in corruption. Local press reports suggested that the Tunisian Islamist is going to propose an initiative during the conference to reconcile the NCP and the PCP. In his speech, al-Ghannushi urged Sudan’s Islamists to be “united” in order to confront challenges.
Further Reading: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?iframe&page=imprimable&id_article=44552
SPLM-N urge UK to pressure government to end war
(Sudan Tribune) The secretary-general of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), Yasir Arman, urged UK officials on Thursday to exert pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the war with his group in the country’s border region of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Arman made his call during a meeting in London with the UK’s Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan, Robin Gwynn, and his aides. The meeting discussed the humanitarian situation in the two states and the current political situation in the country. The rebel official denied Sudan government’s accusations that his group was obstructing a deal signed in August with the UN, AU and the Arab League who make up the Tripartite Initiative to deliver aid in the two regions where the 16-month conflict has displaced and severely affected 908,000 people, according to UN figures. Arman also held two separate meetings on Thursday at The House of Lords and The House of Commons in London with a number of British parliamentarians and activists. He discussed the humanitarian issue and urged maximization of pressure on Khartoum to stop what he described as its crimes against civilians and allow humanitarian assistance to reach SPLM-N areas.
Further Reading: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article44556
Sudan Urges UNSC to Reconsider Abyei Draft Text While Criticizing AU
(All Africa, Sudan Tribune) The Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti criticized the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) for removing a paragraph that gives Khartoum and Juba six weeks to consider a proposal on the disputed border region of Abyei. Last month, the AUPSC endorsed the proposal drafted by the AU mediation team led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki which calls for holding a referendum in Abyei in October of next year. Only Dinka Ngok and Misseriya tribesmen residing in the area can participate in the exercise which will decide which country it will be part of. Khartoum insists that the Misseriya herdsmen who spend significant time outside of Abyei should be allowed to participate. Mbeki’s initiative excludes this class from taking part in the referendum. If the latter goes as planned it is widely expected that the Dinka Ngok majority in Abyei will vote in favor joining South Sudan. The minister went on to accuse the United States of pressing for having Mbeki’s proposal adopted by the AU and subsequently by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). He said that Sudan will address the AUPSC over the draft text alteration on the ground that it violates what the ministers agreed to. In New York the Sudan permanent mission sent a letter to the UNSC expressing “deepest worries” and “strong rejection” for part of the draft resolution circulated to renew the mandate of UN Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) for an additional six months.
Further Reading: http://allafrica.com/stories/201211140824.html