---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 10:51 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Conflicts along the border To: Group <[email protected]>
1. Sudan oil state rebels claim to destroy tanks Sat Nov 5, 2011 6:48pm GMT * Sudan's army denies rebel claims, says area quiet * SPLA-N says fighting near South Kordofan's Kadugli * Border fighting has raised tensions between old civil war foes KHARTOUM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Rebels in Sudan's main oil-producing state claimed on Saturday to have destroyed four tanks during fighting near the state's capital, drawing a denial from the country's army. Fighting has raged across the South Kordofan border state since June, stoking tensions between Sudan and its old civil war foe South Sudan and complicating talks over the oil industry, the disputed Abyei territory and other unresolved issues. Qamar Dalman, spokesman for the insurgent Sudan People's Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) in South Kordofan, said rebel fighters engaged Sudan's army on Friday near the town of al-Hamra in an area about five kilometres (3 miles) from the state capital, Kadugli. "The SPLA (in South Kordofan) destroyed four modern tanks and a large number of military vehicles in fighting throughout the day yesterday in the area of al-Hamra," he said in an emailed statement. Al-Sawarmi Khalid, Sudan's army spokesman, denied the claim, saying the area was quiet. "There is not any fighting in the al-Hamra area," he said. Both sides claimed to have killed hundreds of their opponents in heavy fighting near the town of Taludi further to the south on Monday. Sudan's army said it repulsed the attack, while the rebels have claimed to continue to advance on Kadugli -- a potentially major prize for the insurgents if it is taken. Events in the state are difficult to verify independently because access for journalists is limited. STRAINED TIES Thousands of fighters in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile border states sided with the south during Sudan's decades-long civil war, but were left north of the border when South Sudan became independent in July. Both Khartoum and Juba have accused the other of backing rebels on their side of the border, and both have denied the others' claims. Sudan's army pushed rebels out of their Blue Nile stronghold of Kurmuk on Thursday, although insurgents there vowed to continue fighting. Dalman also accused Khartoum of arming tribes to fight rebels in South Kordofan, echoing accusations in other Sudan conflicts such as the western Darfur region that the government has denied. South Sudan seceded after voting overwhelmingly for independence in a January referendum promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended one of Africa's longest and deadliest civil wars. Border violence since then has worsened ties between Sudan and Western powers. U.S. President Barack Obama extended trade sanctions this week that have been in place since 1997. (Reporting by Khaled Abdelaziz and Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Sophie Hares) http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFL6E7M50HZ20111105?sp=true END1 2. Bashir to hold Eid prayer in Sudan’s seized border town November 5, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Al-Bashir is expected to appear Sunday morning in the country’s border town of Al-Kurmuk in celebration of its fall from the hand of rebels to that of his army three days ago. Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday announced that it wrestled control of the strategic town Al-Kurmuk in the country’s southeast state of Blue Nile after heavy battles with rebel fighters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N). The rebels, who held Al-Kurmuk since the conflict started since early August, acknowledged the capture of their mainstay but said their forces withdrew beforehand and that they were still present in many areas. The fall of Al-Kurmuk, which lies on the border with Ethiopia, was declared to be imminent by Al-Bashir while addressing a public rally last week. Nafe Ali Nafe, the presidential assistant and deputy chairman of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), told the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that he expects Al-Bashir along with top commanders of the military and security apparatus to perform Eid Al-Adha prayer in Al-Kurmuk on Sunday. Meanwhile, the commander in chief of SAF’s forces in Blue Nile, Lt-Gen Abdul Mon’im Sa’ad, asserted that all of Sudan’s border areas would soon be free of any rebellion. Addressing supporters who gathered in front of SAF’s headquarter in Khartoum, Sa’ad added that the good news heard from Blue Nile would “soon be heard from South Kordofan” where SAF is still battling SPLM-N forces. He further announced the formation of the new “Blue Nile Battalion”, inviting citizens to join its ranks. In a related vein, Sudan’s acting cabinet minister Ahmad Karmino revealed that all bars and alcohol-selling shops in Al-Kurmuk would be closed. The whereabouts of the SPLM-N’s chairman and former governor of Blue Nile, Malik Aggar, remains unknown. In the meantime, the SPLM-N’s secretary-general Yasir Arman played down the fall of Al-Kurmuk, saying it is the end of a battle not the war. Arman said that those who pray behind Al-Bashir in Kurmuk would be praying behind a “war criminal” and in front of a heap of corpses. He vowed that the SPLM-N army was experienced in guerilla war and had a strategy for dealing with such situations. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/Bashir-to-hold-Eid-prayer-in-Sudan,40636 END2 3. Sudan Captures Rebel Stronghold in Blue Nile VOA Posted Friday, November 4th, 2011 at 9:25 pm Sudanese government forces have captured a rebel stronghold in the restive border state of Blue Nile. Sudanese officials say the army has succeeded in pushing the rebels out of Kurmuk, a town located close to South Sudan, which broke away from Sudan in July. Officials said the town has been “totally liberated and secured” from forces loyal to the southern neighbor. Yasir Arman, whose party has ties to South Sudan's ruling party, confirmed Kurmuk's takeover Friday. In an interview with VOA , he said there is a “massive displacement” of civilians from the area, and he accused Sudan of committing atrocities. Arman said Sudan's army seized the city with the help of “janjaweed” militia brought in from the Darfur region, and the South Sudan militia of George Athor that has fought the South Sudan government. There was no word on casualties. Fighting in Blue Nile broke out a little more than two months ago. Sudanese forces are also fighting rebels in the state of Southern Kordofan and clashed with southern forces earlier this year in the oil-rich Abyei region. In another development Friday, the U.N. Security Council called on the Sudanese army and South Sudan's forces to immediately withdraw from the disputed Abyei region. The council said it deplored the failure of both governments to pull back their forces. Sudan recognized South Sudan when the new nation declared independence in July, but the countries have yet to settle disputes over borders and oil revenue. South Sudan took most of the oil-producing areas in the split but cannot export the oil without Sudan's Red Sea facilities. Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan were battlegrounds during Sudan's 21-year north-south civil war. During the war, fighters in both states sided with the south. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/04/sudan-captures-rebel-stronghold-in-blue-nile-3/ END3 4. Armed Forces Destroys Remnants of SPLA and Liberates Al-Kurmok 3 November 2011 allAfrica.com Khartoum — The Armed Forces Thursday evening destroyed the forces of evil and aggression or the so-called Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and fully liberated and secured Al-Kurmok town, the Blue Nile State, said a statement issued by the Armed Forces Thursday. The statement issued by the spokesman of the Armed Forces, Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad, said that the forces of the enemy, led by the outlaw Malik Aggar, have fled leaving behind them their weapons and ammunition. The statement indicated that a number of the Armed Forces and the People's Defence forces men have sacrificed their lives for defending the homeland and fulfilled the pledge of their Supreme Commander for performing of Eid Al-Adha Prayer in Al-Kurmok town. The statement pointed out that Al-Kurmok has returned to embrace the homeland after battles that remained continuing since the decision of the outlaw Malik Aggar to resort to betrayal and treachery. The statement stressed that this great victory is a gift of the Armed Forces to the Sudanese people who firmly stood alongside their Armed Forces in all its battles. The statement stressed that the Armed Forces is committed to pledge to continue the march and to destroy remnants of the so-called People's Liberation Movement. http://allafrica.com/stories/201111040465.html END4 5. Sudan lodges second UNSC complaint against the South this year November 5, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government on Saturday announced that it has lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against its southern neighbor on allegations its supporting rebel groups. The ministry of foreign affairs said that its ambassador at the UN Dafalla Al-Haj Ali Osman outlined in his letter the violations by South Sudan of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) through aiding rebel groups in the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Among the accusations detailed in the complaint is sending the rebels anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles, ammunition, mines and guns. Furthermore, South Sudan allegedly sent its army field commanders to assist the rebels to improve their performance as well as allowing Darfur rebels to transit through its territories inside to Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Sudan goes on to claim South Sudan sent military flights to drop off artillery crews and also dispatched an infantry battalion to strengthen the insurgency in Kurmuk and Baraka in the Blue Nile state. This is the second time since August that Khartoum goes files a complaint against South Sudan with the UNSC. South Sudan became an independent state last July after a largely peaceful referendum conducted last January. However, tensions between the two states have continued to grow. Sudan is battling Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) in Blue Nile and South Kordofan in conflicts that erupted this year. SPLM-N used to be the northern sector of the South Sudan dominant party when the country was united. For its part, South Sudan has repeatedly accused Sudan of supporting rebels operating in the area south of the border. Sudan denies the charges. The feud between the two countries is exacerbated by unresolved post-secession issues such as borders, Abyei, national debt, oil sharing and water. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/UN-Security-Council-urges-swift,40631 END5 6. Sudan lodges Juba 'border war' protest at UN By Simon Martelli (AFP) – 05/11/11 KHARTOUM — Sudan has lodged a fresh complaint with the UN Security Council detailing South Sudan's alleged support for rebels in its war-torn border states, just four months after partition, state media said on Saturday. Sudan's UN ambassador, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, provided "detailed, confirmed information explaining the support of the government of the south for the rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile" states, the SUNA news agency reported. It is the second time Khartoum has addressed such complaints to the Security Council since southern independence in July, reflecting the fragile relations between the former civil war enemies. The letter accused Juba of supplying the rebels in Blue Nile state with "anti-aircraft missiles, tanks, mines, guns and ammunition," as well as "an infantry battalion to strengthen the insurgency in Kurmuk." The Blue Nile rebel stronghold, which straddles the border with Ethiopia and is also close to South Sudan, was overrun by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday, after two months of conflict in the politically divided state. The letter, delivered to the president of the Security Council, also claimed that South Sudan was sheltering a large number of rebels who fled from Blue Nile south of the border to the town of Renk. Blue Nile and nearby South Kordofan both have strong historic ties to the south and were key battlegrounds in the devastating 1983-2005 conflict between Khartoum and the SPLA, the former southern rebels turned regular army of South Sudan. A spokesman for the rebels in South Korodofan said there were heavy clashes throughout the day on Friday in El-Hamra region, just five kilometres south of the state capital Kadugli. "The SPLA (North) destroyed four new tanks and a large number of military vehicles," Galman Delmar said in a statement, adding that the army was bombing villages across the state. Observers have warned that the border conflict risks dragging the two countries into an all-out proxy war and torpedoing bilateral talks on key outstanding issues, including border demarcation and management of the oil sector. But rebel leader Yasser Arman on Saturday rejected Khartoum's allegations of southern support for the SPLA-North, saying they were part of a "fear campaign" aimed at deflecting attention from the atrocities it had committed. "The war in Blue Nile is more than 20 years old. The Republic of South Sudan is just four months old... South Sudan is not involved," he told AFP by phone. "Kurmuk was a battle (that we lost). But Khartoum will never win the war. We are an experienced guerrilla movement. This is just the beginning," he added. South Sudan's army also denied any involvement in the fighting north of the border, despite the historic connections to the south of the rebels fighting there. "(They) don't need anyone to help them, they did it themselves. These people were fighting for 21 years in the bush. They were fighting over socio-economic and political grievances against Khartoum," said SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer. He insisted that, since southern independence, the SPLA and the SPLA-North were completely separate organisations. Fighting in Sudan's volatile border region erupted in June when the army moved to disarm indigenous Nuba troops in South Kordofan, as Khartoum sought to assert its authority within its new borders. The conflict spilled into Blue Nile three months later, prompting fears of a mounting humanitarian crisis, due to the large numbers of people displaced and the government's expulsion of international aid agencies from the two states. It also appears to have aggravated the security situation south of the border, with clashes last week between the SPLA and a rebel militia in oil-rich Unity state, just across the border from South Kordofan, killing around 80 people, according to state officials. "The commanders of these rebels in Unity state are stationed in Khartoum," and Sudan is not only transporting them across the border but supplying them with guns and landmines, Aguer claimed on Saturday. Juba has repeatedly accused Khartoum of wanting to destabilise the new country by arming rebel groups, as it did during the civil war, claims rejected by the north. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j3f9XU-ifWV13fLL1AZnu4vfztdQ?docId=CNG.a831caea8844cce92095d0b22f0d4c3d.941 END6 7. Security Council deplores failure by Sudan and South Sudan to withdraw forces from Abyei UN News Centre 4 November 2011 – The Security Council today deplored the failure by the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to redeploy their troops from the disputed Abyei area and urged the two countries to do so immediately and without preconditions. “The Members of the Security Council underscore that there were no preconditions for the implementations of the agreements signed by the parties including the withdrawal of forces,” the Council said in a press statement read out by Ambassador José Filipe Moraes Cabral of Portugal, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month. The Council urged both Sudan and South Sudan to implement agreements on Abyei “in spirit and letter.” It welcomed the rapid deployment of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and the assistance provided by Government of Ethiopia, which has enabled regular patrols to be carried out since 23 August. The 15-member UN body encouraged UNISFA to increase its patrols and enhance its air mobility. The press statement followed the briefing to the Council on the situation in Abyei on 6 and 11 October by Hervé Ladsous, the Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, including on recommendations for the expansion of UNISFA’s mandate. Both the Government of Sudan and the Government of South Sudan must extend their full cooperation to UNISFA, the Council stressed, and urged Khartoum to facilitate the mission’s deployment and to expedite the issuance of visas to personnel and grant flight permission in a timely manner. The Council stressed the need for both countries to facilitate the safe return of internally displaced persons to their villages in Abyei and to provide unfettered humanitarian access to the area. It expressed it readiness to consider additional mandated tasks for UNISFA in support of the 30 July Agreement on the Border Monitoring Support Mission between the Government of Sudan and the Government of South Sudan, and in that regard reiterated the importance of all parties fulfilling the commitments already undertaken in agreements. The members of the Council also called upon both parties to finalize the establishment of the Abyei Area Administration and the Abyei Police Service, and to continue regular meetings of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40317&Cr=abyei&Cr1= END7 8. UN Security Council urges swift withdrawal of N. & S. Sudan armies from Abyei November 4, 2011 (NEW YORK) — United Nations Security Council urged Sudan and South Sudan to redeploy their respective troops from the disputed Abyei area stressing that this withdrawal is not linked to any pre-existing condition. Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, before his trip to Khartoum and Juba last October briefed twice the Security Council on the situation in Abyei. He regretted that both Sudan and South Sudan maintain their forces despite commitments taken in June September 2011 to withdraw troops. During the two meetings of 6 and 11 October at the UN Security Council, Sudan’s ambassador, Daffa-Allah Elhaj Ali Osman, raised fears of "security vacuum" in Abyei and said the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) would redeploy after the full deployment of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) composed mainly of Ethiopian soldiers. South Sudanese ambassador, David Buom Choat, denied any presence of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and disputed reports of UN officials. However Ladsous reiterated his statements on 11 October adding that SPLA troops were spotted two days earlier in Agok, south of Abyei town. In a statement released on Friday, the 15-member body ’deplored the failure’ of the two parties to withdraw their forces from Abyei. The Security Council further emphasised that ’there were no pre-conditions for the implementation of the agreements signed by the parties, including the withdrawal of forces.’ The Council’s members ’underscored that both parties shall implement the (June and September 2011) agreements in spirit and letter, and called upon both parties to redeploy any remaining forces from the Abyei Area immediately and without pre-condition,’ said a statement released by issued today by Council President José Filipe Moraes Cabral of Portugal. Composed of 4200 members to protect civilians and aid workers, the UNISFA has now 2700 Ethiopian soldiers deployed on the ground. The two parties of the 2005 peace agreement asked the UN to deploy this peacekeeping force after the seizure of the disputed region by the Sudanese army last May. Authorised currently for six months, the Council recently discussed the possible transformation of the force into a peacekeeping mission and to extend its mandate to include the monitoring of the Sudan/South Sudan border. The Security Council reaffirmed its readiness to ’consider additional mandated tasks for UNISFA in support of the July 30 Agreement on the Border Monitoring Support Mission between the Government of Sudan and the Government of South Sudan,’ said the statement. The international community believes such role can also allow to contain the movement of rebels groups across the border and prevent the extension of the current conflicts in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur to the newly independent South Sudan. The two countries trade regular accusation of supporting rebels from both sides. The population of the disputed area have to vote in a referendum to determine the future of Abyei: whether it rejoins the Republic of South Sudan or remains in the Sudan. However the parties diverge over who is eligible to participate in this referendum of self-determination. Presidents Bashir and Salva Kiir agreed earlier last month to finalise talks on Abyei the other outstanding issues. The head of the African Union panel which mediate the talks on the remaining issues submitted recently a series of proposals to the two sides and talks are expected to resume soon in the Ethiopian capital. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/UN-Security-Council-urges-swift,40631 END8 9. Violence on new South Sudan-Sudan border catches U.N. in the middle BY ALAN BOSWELL Posted on Friday, 11.04.11 MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS NAIROBI, Kenya — The new nation of South Sudan faced another armed challenge on Friday as a rebel group aligned with rival Sudan to the north threatened United Nations peacekeepers, accusing them of assisting the South Sudanese army in combat against them. The U.N. mission denied that it had provided air and ground logistical support to soldiers in their fight against the rebels. It said it had only evacuated 60 civilians by helicopter who'd been wounded in clashes between the rebels and the South Sudanese army, known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The U.N. mission said its mandate to protect civilians required it to do so and that it would do so again in the future, if necessary. "UNMISS has a clear legal mandate from the U.N. Security Council to support government efforts to protect the civilian population," U.N. spokesman Aleem Siddique said in an email, referring to the United Nations mission in South Sudan by an acronym. "UNMISS remains committed to supporting the authorities with their efforts to protect the civilian population as mandated." The South Sudanese also denied that the U.N. had taken a part in the fighting. "There is no U.N. (role) in these conflicts between the SPLA and these militias," Philip Aguer, the South Sudanese army spokesman, said in a phone interview from Juba, the South Sudanese capital. The rebel group, which calls itself the South Sudan Liberation Army, is one of several militias that are battling the government of South Sudan, which became independent from Sudan in July. Despite hopes that South Sudan's independence would end decades of civil war, the months since have been marked by continued fighting between partisans of the South Sudanese government in Juba and the Sudanese government in Khartoum. In a statement Thursday, the rebel South Sudan Liberation Army said it would consider U.N. peacekeepers "a legitimate target" if the U.N. troops "continue transporting the SPLA army to fight." Taking sides in an internal conflict has numerous U.N. precedents: the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, assists the Congolese army in its campaign against a Hutu rebel group tied to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. But the mandate of the U.N. mission in South Sudan only gives it license to protect civilians. The militia activity along new border between Sudan and South Sudan is part of what observers and diplomats fear could burgeon into a widening war between the two nations, whose historic enmity runs much deeper than the expected benefits they might reap from cooperating on oil production and border disputes. One of the South Sudan Liberation Army's founders, Bapiny Minutuel, was a general in the Sudanese armed forces and lives in a house on the outskirts of Khartoum, where he met with a reporter from McClatchy in March. In that interview, he vowed to fight against the government of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. South Sudanese army spokesman Aguer said that the rebels had entered South Sudan from Sudan with support and arms from the Sudanese armed forces. They attacked Mayom village a week ago and were repulsed. A small splinter group attacked a police post in the town of Nhialdu on Monday, killing two policemen before being pushed back, Aguer said. The rebels claimed in a press statement that they had captured Nhialdu on Thursday after a three-day battle. Aguer said the rebels are based in Sudanese territory. "They have no base in Unity state," he said, a reference to the state where the fighting is taking place. For its part, the government in Khartoum accuses South Sudan of supporting rebellions on its side of the new border, in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. There, the recently renamed Sudan People's Liberation Army-North — former members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army who found themselves on the Sudan side of the new border in July — are battling Sudan government troops. The South Sudanese army says it has cut off ties to those groups, but SPLA-North officials use Juba as a base, and SPLA-North officials privately admit that they receive assistance from sympathetic elements in the South Sudan government and military. On Thursday, the Sudanese armed forces captured the rebel headquarters of Kurmuk in Blue Nile state. In South Kordofan, the rebels control much of the Nuba Mountains. Perhaps not surprisingly, the rebel groups north of the new border complain that the U.N. is working with Sudanese government forces. Last month, the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North accused the U.N. of flying the governor of South Kordofan state to Taludi, a town besieged by the SPLA-North forces. (Boswell is a McClatchy special correspondent.) http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/04/v-fullstory/2487506/violence-on-new-south-sudan-sudan.html END9 10. Kiir and Ladsous discuss security in South Sudan and peace with Sudan November 5, 2011 (JUBA) — President Salva Kiir Mayadrit discussed human rights, peace and security in South Sudan with the new UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous who dedicated his first trip to Khartoum and Juba where the UN has three operations. Before to start his visit to the two east African countries, Ladsous briefed the Security Council twice about the UN peacekeeping force in Abyei and reported that Khartoum and Juba did not redeploy their forces from the disputed region. In a meeting he held with the vice-president Riek Machar on Thursday, the French diplomat discussed the situation in Blue Nile, South Kordofan and the rebel movements in the newly established country. Ladsous who met Kiir on Saturday in Akon Warrap state, reaffirmed UN readiness to support the recently established country of South Sudan in its efforts for security, human rights, peace and democracy. "I wanted to have an exchange with the President about the general situation to confirm to him that the United Nations are ready, always in all circumstances, to help in building the State, in developing human rights and democracy, and also to help in the relationship between the south and the north," he said after the meeting. The UN official who described his meeting with Kiir as constructive said he was keen to hear a first-hand assessment of the challenges facing the UNMISS, UNISFA and UNAMID of Darfur region. "We have to make progress on the protection of the civilians who find themselves in regions of conflict and violence. We have to push the peace process in Darfur. We have to watch very carefully and encourage Khartoum and Juba to further work on the relationship between the two countries." The top United Nations official for peacekeeping operations has visited South Sudan to discuss with the leadership the general security situation in the newly founded independent state and Abyei. Herve Ladsous discussed on Juba on Thursday met with South Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar Teny, and discussed the situations in South Sudan, Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. In his meeting with South Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar Teny, Ladsous discussed the ongoing disarmament process in South Sudan as well as challenges the government faces in the wake of armed rebellions in the region. According to the Press Secretary in the Office of the Vice President, James Gatdet Dak, the meeting also reiterated the need to fully deploy the 4,200 Ethiopian United Nations peacekeeping forces in Abyei. This is to provide security and stability which would make it possible for the Abyei refugees to return back to their villages. Only 2700 UN troops are deployed in the areas of Agok, Defra and Abyei town. On the situation in the two areas of Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains, the Vice President dismissed Khartoum’s allegations that South Sudan supports the rebellions in the two areas, arguing that the SPLM-North and the SPLM in South Sudan were officially disengaged after the referendum for secession this year. He told the UN official that Khartoum is instead the one creating and supporting militia groups against the government in South Sudan. Machar however stressed the importance of building good relations with the Republic of Sudan and maintaining security in order to promote free movement and trade along the 2000km common border between the two countries. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the UN mandate for peace keeping mission in South Sudan and the importance of sensitizing the people about it. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/Kiir-and-Ladsous-discuss-security,40637 END10 ______________________ 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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