---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 14:12:25 +0300 Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: Blue Nile and South Kordofan fighting To: Group <[email protected]>
1. Sudanese Army, Rebels Clash in Southern Kordofan, Suna New Agency Reports By Salma El Wardany - Sep 3, 2011 7:43 AM GMT+0300 Bloomberg Seventeen people were killed and 14 others injured in clashes between the Sudanese Army and rebels in Southern Kordofan State, the state-run SUNA news agency reported today. Fighting broke out late yesterday in the country’s main oil-producing state, according to SUNA, one day after government forces and members of the northern branch of the ruling party in neighboring South Sudan clashed in the capital of Blue Nile state. The governor of Blue Nile state was fired yesterday as the Sudanese president Umar al-Bashir declared a state of emergency in the capital after fighting broke out, SUNA reported late yesterday. Sudan’s government has been trying to disarm members of the SPLM-N in the border states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan who fought with the forces of South Sudan during the two-decade civil war that ended in 2005. South Sudan gained independence on July 9. Sudanese government soldiers have clashed with SPLM-N fighters since June 5 in Southern Kordofan. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in an Aug. 30 statement that the government continued to bomb civilian areas in Southern Kordofan after the declaration of the cease- fire. “Now the real aim behind the cease-fire in Southern Kordofan was uncovered: just paving the political and military situation for attacks on Blue Nile,” Yasser Arman, the SPLM-N secretary-general, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Peace Accord Under a 2005 peace accord, the northern and southern armies were due to jointly patrol Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states on the northern side of the border and the disputed region of Abyei. Sudan’s army said on May 30 it may attack any remaining Southern Sudan troops in the northern border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, heightening tension before the south’s independence in July. Southern Sudan’s vice president, Riek Machar said on May 31 that his northern counterpart, Ali Osman Taha, and al-Bashir rejected a request by Southern Sudan’s government for United Nations peacekeepers to stay in Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei after the south’s independence “in case things get out of hand.” To contact the reporter on this story: Salma El Wardany in Johannesburg at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at [email protected] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-03/sudanese-army-rebels-clash-in-southern-kordofan-suna-new-agency-reports.html END1 2. South Sudan calls to contain fighting in Blue Nile September 2, 2011 (JUBA) — The Government of South Sudan on Friday expressed concern over the increasing military activity in the bordering states of North Sudan and called on Khartoum to contain the fighting which began in Blue Nile state on Friday. This call comes following reports about heavy fighting in involving the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) today. The Sudanese army and the SPLM troops traded accusations of starting the hostilities in a region where tensions between the two sides were increasing since the start of clashes in Southern Kordofan. Reacting to the event, the South Sudanese minister of information, Barnaba Marial, said his government and citizens were “concerned” about the current military activities in the three transitional areas of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile and that it would be wise for Sudan’s government to investigate and contain the incident promptly. He added that the conflicts were “attracting international concern” at the press conference on Friday. The Sudanese government accused the Juba government of supporting the rebel groups in South Kordofan and Darfur. The foreign ministry spokesperson said the SPLM-N is politically and militarily part of the ruling party and the official army in the newly independent Republic of South Sudan. In New York, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed his deep concern over the deterioration of the security situation in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. In a statement released he urged the Sudanese "parties to immediately cease all hostilities and allow access to the humanitarian agencies to all affected areas to provide vital assistance to the civilian population". (ST) END2 3. Sudan’s president declares emergency in Blue Nile, sacks governor September 2, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir has declared a state of emergency in the Blue Nile State and dismissed its governor Malik Agar amid reports of aerial bombardments and concomitant displacement in the unrest-hit region. Al-Bashir further decreed the appointment of the commander of Sudan’s army (SAF) base in the Blue Nile’s capital al-Damazin, Major General Yahya Mohamed Khair, as a military ruler of the state. The announcement follows the eruption on late Thursday of clashes in the Blue Nile between SAF and the armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) which is chaired by Agar who was elected governor of the state in the country’s elections of April 2011. The warring sides traded accusations over who started the fight. The SPLM-N’s secretary-general Yasir Arman, speaking to Sudan Tribune on Friday, said Sudan’s army instigated the clashes by attacking the SPLM-N’s Joint Integrated Units under the command of Jondi Suliyman as well as the residence of Agar. Speaking over the phone to Sudan Tribune from an undisclosed location on Friday, Malik Agar chided the Sudanese army for the attack it launched in his state, saying he was in a state of “self-defense.” In the meantime, Sudan’s army said that SPLM-N forces carried out attacks in Al-Damazin and more than four areas in the vicinity. According to the army official spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, SPLM-N was mobilizing its forces to launch coordinated attacks on a number of army units. He added that the army was able to vanquish the assailing forces. “What happened was expected and what Agar is doing was nothing but a desperate attempt,” Sa’ad said. The spokesman further said that SAF had asserted control over the situation and all parts of the state, calling on the state’s youth to hunt down the “rebel” forces of Agar. In contrast, Agar told Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese army was the one who instigated the fighting by attacking the positions of SPLM-N’s troops and three vehicles carrying a number of SPLM-N military commanders who were leaving Al-Damazin en route to Al-Kurmuk town in the state. He said that the fighting had lasted for a quarter of an hour before SPLM-N forces withdrew. Agar said that the state in the past period had been under growing tension due to the intensive military deployment of Sudan’s army. The governor went on to accuse Sudan’s army of carrying out aerial bombardments in an area within Al-Kurmuk town. Agar pointed out that the SPLM-N had vacated all the positions it held outside the town, adding that they were currently counting the number of lives lost in the attacks. “If they resort to peace, then welcome, but I am currently defending myself,” he nevertheless said. Meanwhile, the clashes had caused waves of displacements in the areas of Sinnar, Wad Alneel and Abu Hajar, according to Sudan Tribune’s sources. The sources said that the eastern parts of Blue Nile were also affected as a great number of citizens fled the clashes and aerial bombardment. Sudan’s foreign ministry announced that it intends to include the violent events in Al-Damazin to the complaint it lodged to the UN Security Council (UNSC) against the newly established state of South Sudan. The ministry said it was arranging contact with foreign diplomats and representatives of regional bodies in Khartoum in order to brief them on the situation in the Blue Nile. The Sudanese government this week sent a letter to the UNSC accusing South Sudan of supporting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan State which neighbors the Blue Nile. Both states are part of north Sudan but their population sided largely with the South during the second Sudanese civil wars 1983-2005. The SPLM-N, which Khartoum refuses to recognize as a legal political party, was affiliated to the party that rules South Sudan. Under the 2005’s peace deal that ended the north-south war, the two states were supposed to hold a vote dubbed “popular consultations” to determine the level of local satisfaction with the implementation of the agreement. But the vote stalled in both states as South Kordofan descended into violence since early June. The genesis of the ongoing clashes in the two states can be traced back to May’s warning by SAF to SPLM-N to either disarm their forces or deploy to what is now the new country of South Sudan The SPLA, which is the official army of South Sudan, responded by saying that the units are composed of northern soldiers, therefore withdrawing to the South is not an option. The Blue Nile’s governor told the New York Times (NYT) at the time that SAF has moved “dangerously close” to the bases of SPLA fighters and that he did not think the southern-allied forces would surrender. (ST) END3 4. Al Basher relieved Malik Aggar, state of emergency announced in Blue Nile State Khartoum, Sep 2 (SUNA) The President of the Republic Field Marshal Omer Al Basher, Friday, issued an emergency Republican Decree in which he relieved Malik Aggar from the post as Wali (governor) of the Blue Nile State. Meanwhile, another republican decree no (24) has announced the state of emergency across the blue Nile state. http://www.sunanews.net/english-latest-news/21752-al-basher-relieved-malik-aggar-state-of-emergency-announced-in-blue-nile-state-.html END4 5. Forces of Sudan People's Liberation Army Attack Armed Forces in the Blue Nile Damazin, Sept. 2 (SUNA)- The spokesman of the Armed Forces, Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad, said in a statement to SUNA that the Armed Forces was attacked by Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), indicating that the Armed Forces was expecting this from Malik Aggar depending on the developments in the past period. He said that the Wali of the Blue Nile State, Malik Aggar, has been leading political and military mobilization drive for his men, therefore the hostile acts he is doing currently represent a desperate attempt to lift the pressure being put on the forces of Abdul-Aziz Al-Hillo in South Kordofan. Colonel Al-Sawarmi affirmed the Armed Forces readiness to repulse any attack on it.The Wali (governor) of the Blue Nile State, Malik Aggar, announced that at 12:00 p.m. and when the commander of the joint forces at the main gate of Damazin town, fire was exchanged between the troops accompanying him (forces on three vehicles) and forces of the Sudanese Armed Forces situated there, and that the clashes expanded to all areas of the SPLM in the state. In a phone call with Sudan News Agency (SUNA), Wali said that he had no information on losses in lives or properties inflicted up to now. In another development, an informed source in Damazin town, who called for anonymity, said forces of the SPLA have begun by staging isochronized attacks on the Armed Forces at three axes, explaining that the SPLA forces have attacked the Armed Forces Garrison in Damazin town and they were repulsed, in addition to other aggressions on Um-Daraga area southern of Rossaires Locality and the entry of the street of Kurmok town. He said that the attacking SPLA forces used heavy weapons in their attacks. It is to be recalled that the so-called Kawda agreement, signed on August 7 by the rebel movement of Meni Arko Menawi, the movement of Abdul-Wahid Mohamed Nour, and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) represented by Malik Aggar, Al-Hillo and Yasser Arman stipulated overthrowing the government by all means including weapons force. Observers stated in a statement to SUNA that the acts being done by Malik Aggar come in application of Kawda agreement. http://www.sunanews.net/english-latest-news/21750-forces-of-sudan-peoples-liberation-army-attack-armed-forces-in-the-blue-nile-.html END5 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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