UN warns of war crimes in South Kordofan

A UN report has warned that war crimes may have been committed in Sudan's border state of South Kordofan, according to reports from 18th July.

The report said that both government and rebel forces were guilty of atrocities, but that the army's actions were “especially egregious”, according to the BBC.

The report called for an investigation into the conflict in South Kordofan, which has been ongoing since 5th June, and has displaced some 70,000 people.

The violence started when South Kordofan's newly elected governor, Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Darfur, order the disarmament of those fighters aligned with South Sudan's ruling party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The fighters, mostly from the Nuba Mountains, resisted and there has been fighting ever since, despite the signing of a peace deal in June.

There have been reports of aerial bombardments and specific targeting of the Nuba, which may amount to ethnic cleansing.

South Kordofan borders South Sudan, which became independent on 9th July, 2011.

Sudan was embroiled in a two-decade long civil war, which ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. While the CPA established the framework which led to the South's independence, little was specified for numerous groups of people in the north – including the Nuba – who fought alongside the SPLM.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has said he would work with Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir to ensure they achieve more rights, but with the number of challenges currently facing the new state of South Sudan, it seems unlikely that the fate of their northern neighbours will be a priority.

Sudan's President al-Bashir, who is also wanted by the ICC for actions in Darfur, has said South Sudan should not interfere with the north's affairs.

Khartoum has recently accused aid agencies of giving logistical support for the rebels in South Kordofan; similar accusations led to Sudan expelling 10 humanitarian organisations from Darfur in 2009.

Despite an African Union-mediated peace agreement being signed in Addis Ababa in June, it appears the ceasefire has not lasted long in South Kordofan, and by 11th July, reports were emerging that Sudan's military had restarted its bombing campaign in the region.

It also appears that rebels in the Nuba Mountains are unwilling to give up the fight, and the northern segment of the SPLA now claims to control much of South Kordofan.

The SPLA-N seized El-Hamra, a government garrison town southeast of the state capital Kadugli, on 1st July, seizing government vehicles and weapons.

It appears that troops from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a leading rebel group in Darfur, have been supporting the rebels in South Kordofan, and Khartoum claimed on Thursday 21st July to have captured JEM's military commander, Brigade-General Al-Toom Toto during clashes in Al-Tais on 17th July.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) had previously dismissed reports that JEM forces had participated in the Al-Tais attack.

Sudan's official news agency SUNA quoted Toto as saying he had received logistical support from the Government of South Sudan on his journey from Darfur to South Kordofan.

Sources: AFP, Al-Jazeera, BBC News, Sudan Tribune

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

South Sudan sells first oil, but still no agreement on transit fees

South Sudan's President Kiir is taking a hard line on oil revenues

South Sudan has sold its first oil as an independent country this week, despite the lack of an agreement on oil revenues with Sudan.

South Sudan, which declared independence from Khartoum on 9th July, sold 1 million barrels to Chinese buyer Chinaoil, a Petrochina subsidiary, on Monday 18th July. Reuters estimates the shipment to be worth US$110 million.

Director General for Energy in South Sudan, Arkangelo Okwang, said they would ship a further 600,000 barrels on 23rd July.

Okwang said he expected the north to bill the South for the use of its facilities, but that nothing had yet been decided.

Sudan fought a decades-long civil war, which ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. The CPA outlined a revenue-sharing agreement for oil, in which Sudan and the autonomous South Sudan each received 50 per cent.

Three-quarters of Sudan's 500,000 barrel-a-day output comes from the South, and is crucial to both countries economy. While much of the oil lies in South Sudan, the new nation lacks the infrastructure to exploit its reserves, and so the oil has to be moved to market through the north.

While South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said in June, 2010 that it would be possible for oil revenues to continue to be shared, he has taken an increasingly hard line in recent months.

On Wednesday 20th June, Kiir threatened to stop using the pipelines in Sudan if Khartoum insisted on sharing oil revenues as opposed to receiving transit fees.

“I am saying that we will rent the North's oil pipelines and we will give them money for our oil to be transported, and we will of course pay and there is no problem," Kiir said at a speech to a military base in South Sudan.

"However, this offer is unaccepted by the North. We have agreed on one thing that the oil issue should not be disrupted. They [Sudan] need oil. But we fought for 21 years without oil and we can still go for 3 years until we build our own oil infrastructure,” Kiir added.

Lead negotiator for South Sudan on oil issues, Pagan Amum, was reported in the Sudan Tribune as saying that the north had asked for “unfair and unreasonable” conditions of passage.

 

“They came with crazy ideas saying they are going to impose several transit fees – a usage fee, something called a normal transit fee, then something called a special fee – maybe $15 per barrel, even more – then maybe other charges, and they wanted revenue-sharing to continue,” Amum said.

Amum said the south was instead prepared to offer $3bn in “assistance” to the north and offered transit fees in line with international norms, citing 41 cents per barrel charged by the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, which is a similar-length.

Khartoum is keen to salvage as much from the south's oil supplies as possible, and Sudan's Finance Minister Ali Mahmood Hassanein said on 19th July that Khartoum was in the process of crafting laws which would set the fees they would expect the South to pay.

He said the fees would contain three levels based on the fact that oil passes through Sudan which requires the imposition of sovereign fees.

Khartoum has threatened to cut shipments of oil from the south along its piplines if the south refuses to pay transit fees or continuing sharing oil revenues. Likewise, Juba has said it will build its own oil infrastructure, moving the oil south, if Khartoum doesn't agree on transit fees.

A delegation from the South is expected to travel to the north to carry out talks soon.

Sources: Sudan Tribune, Reuters

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

South Sudan ready to declare independence

Musicians prepare for South Sudan's independence celebrations

South Sudan is getting ready to celebrate as it counts down the hours until it becomes Africa's newest nation on Saturday 9th July.

According to the BBC, the celebrations will begin after midnight local time around the countdown clock in the centre of South Sudan's capital, Juba.

At noon, Sudan's flag will be lowered in central Juba and replaced by a giant South Sudan flag, measuring six metres by four metres. It will be raised on a 32 metre flagpole, which is claimed to be the tallest on the continent

Independence has been a long time coming for residents of South Sudan, as the country has been embroiled in civil war for much of the last 50 years.

The second civil war ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which established the mechanism through which South Sudan has achieved independence.

Southerners voted overwhelmingly to split from the north in a January independence referendum.

Sudan has announced its official recognition of its new neighbour, the first country to do so.

"The Republic of Sudan announces that it recognises the Republic of South Sudan as an independent state, according to the borders existing on January 1, 1956," Minister of Presidential Affairs Bakri Hassan Saleh said in a statement broadcast on state television.

While violence has broken out in numerous parts of the Sudan-South Sudan border since the referendum, Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir pledged, earlier this week, to support South Sudan, saying he wanted the new country to be “secure and stable”.

“We will bless our brothers in the south over their country and we wish them success,” al-Bashir said.

Al-Bashir will attend the independence ceremonies in Juba on Saturday, which has caused considerable difficulties for the western diplomats attending.

Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, and Western officials generally try to avoid meeting him.

To get around the issue, while South Sudan's President Salva Kiir will sit next to al-Bashir, Western diplomats will be seated on Kiir's side to keep them away from al-Bashir. African Union delegates who are sympathetic to al-Bashir will be seated on his side, according to the Sudan Tribune.

The UK will be represented by Foreign Secretary William Hague. The French foreign minister Alain Juppe will also attend and he has specifically said that he will make no contact with al-Bashir. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also be in attendance.

South Sudan will face numerous difficulties once it has become a new country. It is one of the world's least developed countries, having suffered decades of marginalisation and war.

A strong government will likely to be crucial in fostering development, and the South Sudan parliament ratified an interim constitution on Thursday July 7th, which is an important first step. Analysts and opposition members, however, have expressed concern that it concentrates too much power in the president's hands.

South Sudan still has numerous disagreements with Sudan, including border demarcation, the ownership of the disputed border region of Abyei, and oil revenues.

Moreover, the Sudan Tribune reported that on Thursday 8th July, al-Bashir rejected the Addis Ababa agreement on Southern Kordofan state. Southern Kordofan has been experiencing widespread violence since 5th June, primarily between representatives of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and soldiers linked to the South's ruling party's northern counterpart, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N).

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and there have been reports of ethnic cleansing of the Nuba, an ethnic group that largely sided with the south during the civil war.

Sources: BBC, Guardian, Sudan Tribune

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

Sudanese troops mass near border as South Sudan prepares for independence

Salva Kiir will declare South Sudan an independent state on Saturday

With just days until Africa sees its newest state born, violence continues in Sudan's northern border state of Southern Kordofan.

 

The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has identified an apparent massing of northern troops in Southern Kordofan's capital, Kadugli. There appears to be a convoy with Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) vehicles and artillery stretching two kilometres in length, and manned by approximately 1,000 troops.

SSP has also released satellite imagery from Monday 4th July which shows SAF aircraft and helicopter gunships at the Kadugli airfield, which seems to support reports that SAF had used helicopters to hunt Nuba people in Southern Kordofan's Nuba Mountains region.

According to UN reports, over 70,000 people have fled the state since violence began in early June, many of whom have crossed into what will soon be South Sudan.

A UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report issued on 5th July confirmed violence in and around Kadugli every day from 30th June to 5th July, which suggests the situation is not getting any less volatile.

While there have been rumours that the agreement between Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the northern sector of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) that was signed in late June in Addis Ababa, had collapsed, the NCP has insisted it is holding.

A NCP spokesperson said that Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir had met with former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who has led the African Union mediation efforts, which showed that the agreement was still being upheld.

Mbeki told reporters that he met with Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir on 6th July to discuss Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The Addis Ababa agreement said the NCP would recognize the SPLM-N's right to continue "as a legal political party in Sudan." Al-Bashir said on 4th July that the SPLM-N had yet to conform to laws on creating political parties, and therefore could not yet be recognised.

While the agreement dedicated both sides to working on a ceasefire agreement, on Friday, 1st July, Al-Bashir instructed the SAF to continue military operations in Southern Kordofan, according to the Sudan Tribune.

It is alleged that northern forces have been targeting the Nuba people, many of whom fought on behalf of the SPLM/A during Sudan's two decade long civil war.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which brought the civil war to an end established the process by which South Sudan will now become independent. But very little, other than ill-defined popular consultations, was specified for those in the north who had fought against Khartoum.

In the run up to the South's independence, southerners in the northern army have been being dismissed. The final group will be dismissed in a 'dismissal ceremony' on 7th July.

According to SAF spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa'ad, all of the dismissed had received their full financial and pension entitelements.

Sa'ad was scathing in regards to the SPLA's actions in the north, and said that SPLA fighters from the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile were dismissed without financial entitlement or moral support.

“The SPLA left the northern Sudanese who fought alongside it to face an unknown future”, Sa'ad said.

South Sudan has planned considerable celebrations for Saturday 9th July, when they will declare their independence. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said he will attend.

Sudan's Al-Bashir announced on 7th July that he planned to attend.

The US has announced it will send a delegation that includes a number of high ranking diplomats and military figures and will be headed by US envoy to the UN, Susan Rice. There was originally speculation that US President Barack Obama would attend, but it does not appear this will happen.

While South Sudan will be an independent nation as on Saturday, it still has not resolved a number of issues with the north, including border demarcation, ownership of Abyei, and how to deal with oil revenues.

Sources: Egyptian Gazette, Satellite Sentinel Project, Sudan Tribune, Sudan Vision, Times of India, UN OCHA

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

Southern Kordofan fighting spreads into South Sudan's Unity State

South Sudan is due to separate on 9th July

South Sudan has accused the northern military of bombing its territory in Unity State on Monday 13th June, after fighting in the northern border state of Southern Kordofan spread across the border.

The northern army has been fighting southern-aligned troops in Southern Kordofan since 5th June, causing more than 50,000 people to flee the state, according to UN estimates.

Aerial bombardments and heavy artillery attacks were reported on Friday and Monday in Unity State, while fighting continues to rage in Kadugli, Southern Kordofan's state capital.

Ruling parties in north and south Sudan have blamed each other for the fighting in Southern Kordofan, the north's largest oil producing state.

The Southern Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) has said fighting began when the northern army tried to disarm fighters. The northern army has blamed southern-aligned armed groups for provoking the clashes. They also said Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) forces attacked a local police station and stole a number of weapons.

South Sudan voted to separate from the north in a January independence referendum, required by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which brought decades of civil war to an end.

But the situation is more complicated in a number of border states, such as Southern Kordofan, which is clearly in the north, but whose residents often sided with southern-based rebels during the war.

Another issue of tension is the oil-rich Abyei state, which is claimed by both sides. Abyei was due to have its own referendum in January on whether to join the north or the south, but it was postponed indefinitely, due to disagreements over voter eligibility.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) took over Abyei town on 21st May, after an ambush by SPLA forces, and has occupied it since.

According to the Sudan Tribune, an African Union-sponsored summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on June 12-13th has resulted Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir agreeing to withdraw his troops from Abyei, although this has not been confirmed.

An unnamed diplomat was quoted as saying, “President Bashir has agreed to pull his troops out before 9th July with Ethiopia sending two battalions as peacekeepers. They will be deployed under the UN flag.”

The meeting was between al-Bashir and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir. It was mediated by former South African president Thabo Mbeki and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Human rights groups have warned that southerners are being targeted by pro-northern forces in Southern Kordofan state. Amnesty International's Tawanda Hondora was quoted by the BBC as saying “We think this is the start of what might be ethnic cleansing of South Kordofan, Unity State and Abyei, with the precise purpose of ensuring that, come independence, the areas will not have people who are perceived to be sympathetic to the south.”

South Sudan is due to separate from the north on 9th July.

Sources: African Union, BBC News, Reuters, Sudan Tribune

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

North threatens to withhold recognition of South Sudan over border issues

Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) considerably upped the tension in the country on Thursday, 26th May, when it announced that it would not recognise the independence of South Sudan in July unless the new state's borders were demarcated.

The head of the NCP's political mobilisation bureau Al-Haj Magid Siwar said “How can we approve and recognise a state separate from us that we don't know where their borders begin or end?”

There are currently six problematic border points, as well the border region of Abyei, which is claimed by both sides. Both sides blame the other for delays in demarcation efforts.

South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to split from the north in a January independence referendum, which was part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the decades-long civil war.

Abyei was due to have its own referendum in January to decide whether to join the north or the south, but the vote was postponed indefinitely due to disagreements over voter eligibility.

Tensions have been high in Abyei since and clashes between the Juba-supported Dinka Ngok, permanent residents of the region, and the Arab, nomadic Misseriya tribes, supported by Khartoum, have resulted in dozens of deaths.

On 22nd May, northern Sudanese forces took over Abyei in retaliation for attacks on their troops in the area by troops from the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

Speaking on Tuesday 24th May, Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir said he would not withdraw his troops from the region and stressed that Abyei belongs to the north.

"Abyei is Sudanese land, Northern land [and] we will not withdraw from it,” he was quoted in the Sudan Tribune as saying.

Al-Bashir also announced that he had given northern troops the 'green light' to attack southern forces if provoked.

Despite this, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said the south remained committed to the CPA.

“South Sudan will not go back to war. It will never happen under my leadership,” he said at a press conference in Juba on Thursday, 26th May.

“The Government of South Sudan remains committed to peace. But let some people not interpret this as acts of cowardice,” he said.

“We are not new to this kind of provocation from the NCP. Their invasion of Abyei should not be viewed as an isolated incident, but part of their plan to cause havoc in the region ahead of independence,” he argued.

Experts fear the continued dispute over Abyei could return the country to civil war.

Sources: AP, BBC News, Sudan Tribune, Sudan Vision

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

Al-Bashir threatens South Sudan over Abyei

Sudan's President Al-Bashir reiterated Khartoum's claims to Abyei

Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir has threatened not to recognise the new country of South Sudan if it tries to claim the disputed border region of Abyei.

 

The South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly to separate from the north in a January referendum, and will become independent on 9th July, 2011.

The referendum was part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in 2005 to end the decades-long civil war.

Abyei is a border region claimed by both sides. It was due to have its own referendum in January to decide whether to stay with the north or join the south, but it was delayed due to disagreements over who should be eligible to vote.

Both sides have increased their military presence in the border regions since and there have been numerous clashes, causing dozens of deaths.

The Dinka Ngok, a southern ethnic group, are permanent residents in Abyei, but the Arab, and Khartoum-backed, Misseriya population spends part of every year in Abyei as they move with their cattle, searching for pastures.

Al-Bashir accepted the results of the January referendum and had previously said he would be the first to recognize the new state. But in a speech on 26th April, he threatened to withhold recognition if the South continues to claim Abyei.

"I say it and repeat it for the millionth time, Abyei is northern and will remain northern," he declared during a speech in Southern Kordofan state, which sits close to Abyei and has a large Misseriya population.

The issue has arisen because South Sudan has recently released a new draft constitution, which lays claim to Abyei. The constitution was accepted at a constitutional endorsement meeting chaired by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir on 2nd May. It now needs to be passed by the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, which is dominated by the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Many within South Sudan have voiced opposition to the new constitution, which grants a new four year term to Kiir, arguing that they had not been adequately consulted.

The South Sudan government is also facing more violent opposition, and there are at least seven rebel militas fighting to overthrow the government, which they say serves only its own interests, ignoring minority tribes and rural communities.

Numerous talks over Abyei in recent years have amounted to little and both sides appear unwilling to compromise over ownership. Analysts say it could return the country to civil war, which has plagued it for the majority of its post-colonial period.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Sudan Tribune

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

South Sudan pulls out of talks with North

Thabo Mbeki with South Sudan President Salva Kiir (R)

South Sudan's governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) announced on Saturday 12th March that it was suspending all talks with the north's National Congress Party (NCP). Pagan Amum, secretary general of the SPLM made the announcement at a press conference, and accused the north of working to destabilise the emerging independent state of South Sudan.

"The SPLM has decided to suspend the dialogue with the NCP because of its policies and its support of the armed militia in south Sudan," Amum said.

Amum said his government had detailed information of a plan by the NCP to topple to the South Sudan government before it declares independence on 9th July, 2011. He also said there was evidence that the NCP has been supporting various militia groups in the south with the intention of carrying out a genocide in the region.

He added that the NCP was trying to push the Arab Misseriya tribes into confrontation with the South Sudan government and to cripple the Abyei protocol.

Dozens of people have been killed in recent clashes between the SPLA and a rebel militia in South Sudan's Upper Nile State and between the SPLA and the Misseriya in the Abyei area.

The SPLM released confidential documents detailing the NCP's alleged plot to overthrow the southern government by supporting, arming, training and financing militias opposed to the South.

The documents, dating from 2008-2010, include information involving the northern military high command, the army's logistical deparment and intelligence units, as well as the defence ministry, according to the Sudan Tribune.

The NCP has denied the SPLM's accusations, and in a statement issued on Monday 14th March, NCP political secretary Ibrahim Gandoor said that the SPLM was seeking a scapegoat for its problems now that it was being confronted by a large armed opposition.

The NCP issued a further statement on Tuesday 15th Mach denouncing what it called 'fabricated documents' aimed at igniting hatred between the two sides and provoking a return to war.

The international community has responded quickly, appealing to the leaders of South Sudan to resume negotiations on post-referendum arrangements. Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president and chairman of the African Union (AU) High-Level Panel on Sudan told reporters at a press conference in Juba, South Sudan's capital, that he remains optimistic that the two parties will get back to the negotiating table.

Mbeki met with South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar on Tuesday in Juba to stress the importance of resuming negotiations to prevent any deterioration of the situation.

The Sudan Troika – the US, UK and Norway – issued a joint statemnet on Tuesday, expressing 'serious concern' over the south's decision to freeze talks with the north. The Troika, which played a major role in establishing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which brought the civil war to an end, said it was 'critical' that talks resumed.

The Troika's statement, posted on the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website, said “we urge President Bashir and President Kiir to take steps against alleged actions that destabilize each other's governments and territories, and to lay the ground for mutual cooperation with the goal of the creation of two viable states in July.”

The statement also reminded both parties of their obligation to permit the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) full access to the Abyei area. The UN Secretary-General's office released a statement on Monday complaining that the mission had been refused access to areas of conflict in Abyei and restricted in its movement.

South Sudan voted in a January referendum to seceded from the North and form a new country. A number of issues remain unresolved between the two countries, including oil revenues, border demarcation and the ownership of the border-straddling Abyei region.

Violence has plagued the border region and the south since the referendum. Renegade Southern army general Gorge Athor's forces attacked Malakal town in the Upper Nile State on Saturday, the latest in a series of bloody clashes. The SPLM accuses the north of funding Athor's militia.

Sources: Sudan Tribune, FCO, Eastday

For more information on Sudan, see the Menas Borders website, here.

Al-Bashir accepts Southern Sudan independence

Khalil presenting the referendum results to al-Bashir

Official referendum results have been announced in Sudan and President Omar Al-Bashir has said he accepts the South's secession.

The final result was formally submitted on Monday 7th February to al-Bashir by Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) head, Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, who said that a total of 98.83 per cent of people had voted for independence in the week long referendum which took place last month.

Khalil said that no legal challenges had been lodged against the result and that the referendum was conducted in "a fair and transparent" manner.

Khalil presented the results to al-Bashir at Khartoum's presidential palace, with south Sudan leader Salva Kiir present.

Al-Bashir said he accepted the result: "We are with the choice of the southern citizen and sustaining peace in the north and the south." Al-Bashir immediately issued a Republican Decree accepting the final result, which said, "We declare our acceptance of the southern Sudan people's choice and we pledge to work for resolving the outstanding issues and build constructive relations between north and south Sudan."

Kiir welcomed al-Bashir's reaction, saying that it would pave the way for other countries to follow suit.

"If the north does not recognize the south no other state will," Kiir said.

He highlighted that secession is not the end of the road, saying that the borders between north and south would only be 'on paper' and that there would be freedom of movement of trade and citizens.

"We will not become enemies of each other and will make sure our relationship remains strong," he said.

The announcement of official results was met with jubilation in the south, and thousands of people gathered at the John Garang mausoleum in Juba to hear the results being announced. Some expressed dissatisfaction that the results were being announced in Khartoum, rather than Juba, but that did not stop the celebrations taking place throughout the soon-to-be separate country.

The result was quickly welcomed by the international community. US President Barack Obama said he was pleased “to announce the intention of the United States to formally recognize Southern Sudan as a sovereign, independent state in July 2011." The US has said they will remove Sudan from the list of State's sponsoring terrorism if they accept the result.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron also welcomed the announcement of the results and the postive reaction of the government in Khartoum. He pledged the UK will continue to support the settlement of the remaining issues.

The UN Secretary-General's Panel of the Referenda in the Sudan, which was established to monitor the process, gave the referendum the seal of approval and welcomed the result, saying it reflected the free will of the people of Southern Sudan.

Some in the north also celebrated the separation of the south. The separatist northern Sudanese Forum of Just Peace (FJP) slaughtered a bull outside the SPLM headquarters in Khartoum, chanting slogans such as "goodbye to unity of tears and blood" or "secession is the true independence". Many of them wore t-shirts with a new map of North Sudan.

The FJP was founded by Al-Tayeb Mustafa, an uncle of President al-Bashir. He has been accused on inciting hatred and racism through his writing, especially in the journal 'Al-Intibaha' (The Alert), which is the mouthpiece of the forum.

Southern Sudan will become a new country on 9th July 2011, with the end of the six-year interim period, as dictated by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which brought the twenty-year civil war to an end. There are still many outstanding issues between the north and the south that must be resolved by July, including how to deal with oil revenues, ownership of the Abyei region, and completion of the north-south border.

Sources: Sudan Tribune, BBC News

For more information on Sudan, see the Menas Borders website, here.

Juba celebrates as first full referendum results are released

Salva Kiir at the celebrations in Juba

The party has started in south Sudan as the first official announcement of the independence referendum results was made on Sunday 30th January and confirmed what most had suspected: the voters had overwhelmingly endorsed secession.

Priminary results had already secured the vote for secession, but full results show the scale of the victory; according to the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), 99.57 per cent of voters in the ten states of south Sudan opted to leave the north.

In the north, 57.65 per cent of voters chose separation, with 42 per cent voting for unity. There was a relatively low turnout in the north, with only 69,597 of the 116,857 registered voting.

Southern Sudanese voters in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Australia, Canada, the US and the UK mirrored the vote in the south, with 98.55 per cent choosing separation.

These numbers together produce a figure of 98.83 per cent voting for separation, with over 3.8 million votes for separation compared with only 44,888 for unity.

Juba Celebrations

Hundreds of officials and diplomats gathered in Juba at the grave of rebel leader John Garang for the first official announcement of the results.

John Garang was the main Southern leader during the civil war, and he oversaw the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which brought the civil war to an end and set the country on the path towards the referendum just witnessed. He died in a plane clash not long after signing the CPA.

South Sudan leader Salva Kiir presided over the events held at the John Garang mausoleum. Reacting to the preliminary figures announced, Kiir remarked “the inhumane treatment southerners were subjected to by the northern regime during the long years of war has clearly manifested itself in this overwhelming vote for separation.”

He extended his gratitude to the SSRC for their tireless work under 'difficult circumstances' to deliver the referendum and results on schedule. He also thanked the people of southern Sudan for keeping their promise to vote for the independence of their own country.

"No one has forced anybody to vote but today we are witnessing a historic moment that has never happened since the creation of South Sudan, with the results today, I congratulate all of you sons and daughters of this region," he said.

He emphasised that an independent south would maintain cordial relations with the north, as well as with its neighbours like Uganda and Kenya.

Kiir said attention should now be focused on the Abyei referendum, popular consultations in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile regions, as well as reolving the conflict in Darfur.

The announcement was met with thousands of southern Sudanese taking to the streets in Juba, the capital of the South, to cheer and dance. The jubilant mood is likely to continue, although Kiir warned people not to remove Sudanese national flags until 9th July, when the flag will be officially lowered in the presence of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. Al-Bashir would then ceremoniously take the flag back to Khartoum.

The new country has already choosen its flag and its anthem, but its official name has not yet been determined.

Sources: BBC News, Sudan Tribune

For more information on Sudan, see the Menas Borders website, here.

Incoming South Sudan referendum results suggests secession

An SSRC official showing a vote for secession in north Darfur

Southern Sudan's independence referendum came to a close on the evening of 15th January, and early results already coming in suggest the vast majority have voted for independence from Sudan.

The chairman of the Southern Sudanese Referendum Commission (SSRC), Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil said that more than 80per cent of eligible voters in the south had participated, along with 53per cent in the north and 91per cent of voters living in the eight other countries hosting polling stations. 60per cent of registered voters had to cast their votes in order for the poll to be considered valid.

He said the referendum would be considered "a good result by any international standard."

Full results of the poll are not due until next month, but preliminary results are already trickling in from around the 3000 polling stations in Sudan. The Sudan Tribune has reported that at the Ngor voting centre in Torit, in south Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state only seven votes were cast in favour of unity, while 1718 voted for secession.

Results in Juba appear to be similarly one-sided: early results show that of stations already reporting 20,012 people voted for secession, while 270 voted for unity.

Not all results have been so clear, however. In north Sudan's Greater Omdorman area, for example, where 35 polling stations were located, 4838 people voted for secession while 4420 voted for unity.

Polling also took place in eight countries outside of Sudan: Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the UK and the US. Voters in Australia have been given extra time to cast their votes in areas where flooding has hampered the process.

Voters in the UK, the only site in Europe, have reportedly voted 97per cent in favour of secession. Federico Vuni, the SSRC official in charge in London, announced on 16th January that 626 votes were cast in favour of secession, with only 13 for unity.

Similar results were obtained in Canada, where voting took place in Toronto and Calgary, and in Egypt.

US President Barack Obama has welcomed the vote, saying "The sight of so many Sudanese casting their votes in a peaceful and orderly fashion was an inspiration to the world and a tribute to the determination of the people and leaders of south Sudan to forge a better future."

"We urge all parties to continue to urge calm and show restraint as the parties work to complete implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” he added.

Washington has promised to remove Sudan from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism by July if it recognises the result of the vote. The US special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration met with foreign minister Ali Karti in Khartoum to discuss with him the future of bilateral relations following the referendum's conclusion.

Karti told reporters after that he hoped for more dialogue on normalising ties and said that more meetings would be held in mid-February to continue discussions. He cautioned, however, that putting new conditions on normalising ties, including Darfur conflict resolution, would not be accepted.

Meanwhile Southern Sudan leader Salva Kiir made his first public address since the vote on Sunday, 16th January, speaking in a Catholic Cathedral in Juba. He urged people to forgive the north for the killings that happened during the civil war that lasted for more than 20 years.

"For our deceased brothers and sisters, particularly those who have fallen during the time of struggle, may God bless them with eternal peace," Kiir said.

"And may we, like Jesus Christ on the cross, forgive those who have forcefully caused their deaths."

An estimated two million people died in the war between Khartoum and rebel groups, most prominently in the south, and millions more were displaced. The independence referendum is the culmination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in 2005, which ended the civil war.

For more information on the Southern Sudan independence referendum, please see Menas Borders, here.

High voter turnout in Southern Sudan, but violence continues in border region

A policeman in Southern Sudan shows the ink on his finger from voting

Sudan is only half way through the week-long voting period for the Southern Sudan independence referendum, but they are already nearing the 60per cent participation rate necessary for the vote to be considered valid, according to Khartoum's Al Sahafa newspaper.

It is thought that voter turnout in the nouth has reached 60per cent, while voter turnout in the north is at 30per cent and in the eight overseas countries where voting is taking place, turnout has been 63per cent.

As a result, it is almost certain that enough votes will be cast for the referendum result to be accepted. That not enough people would be able to vote was a major concern before voting started on Sunday, 9th January.

While fears of widespread return to violence have proved incorrect, there have been numerous clashes on the north-south border on recent days, and at least 33 people have been killed in the disputed Abyei region alone.

Khartoum has said that the clashes were between rival nomadic and farming tribes over grazing lands, but Juba believes that the Arab Misseriya tribesman, bankrolled by Khartoum, are behind the violence.

"There is always someone behind these things, it is not just a local thing like people are saying," said one senior Southern officer, who refused to be named.

In related news, the UN has acknowledged that it gave helicopter transport to a man wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Southern Kordofan governor Ahmad Mohammad Harun is wanted by the court on 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and rape in the Darfur conflict.

But a UN spokesperson said that Harun was crucial to negotiations between the Misseriya tribes people and Ngok Dinka people of Abyei, and that was why he was given transport.

"Governor Harun was critical to bringing the Misseriya tribal leaders in southern Kordofan to a peace meeting in Abyei to stop further clashes and killings,” according to UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

Along with the violence in the Abyei region, there has also been 10 deaths in the border area between the north’s Southern Kordofan state and the south’s Bahr al-Ghazal state. Southern internal affairs minister Gier Chuang said the attack in the border region came as a convoy of returnees moving from the north to the south in order to vote was ambushed on Monday, 10th January.

Chuang said that with the exception of these isolated incidents, the vote was progressing peacefully. "Otherwise, the security in all of the states of the south remains normal and the south is on track to achieve the objective it has fought for for so many years," he said.

Violence in Abyei is the most worrying, as the fate of this disputed state is perhaps the issue that is most likely to cause war between the north and what we can expect will be a newly independence south. Abyei was meant to have its own referendum on which country to join, but it has been postponed as crucial sticking points - including the exact border demarcation and how to divide oil revenues - remain unsolved.

Southern Sudan’s leader, Salva Kiir said on Saturday 8th January that returning to war was not an option, and Northern leader Omar Al-Bashir has said he will accept the result of the vote, but there are many issues to be resolved between the two sides before Southern Sudan becomes a new country in July.

In a gesture of goodwill, al-Bashir has proposed to take on all of Sudan’s $38 billion (£24.5 billion) debt if the south declared independence, according to AFP.

Sources: the Telegraph, AFP, the Ghanaian Journal, Menas Associates

For more news and analysis on Sudan, see the Menas Borders website, here.

Khartoum will respect South Sudan referendum outcome: al-Bashir

South Sudan has welcomed assurances made by Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir on 3rd January that he will respect the outcome of Sunday's independence referendum.

South Sudan's information minister Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin was quoted by the BBC on 5th January saying he was pleased by al-Bashir's comments. Benjamin said the vote will allow the people of South Sudan to decide their own future for the first time since 1898.

Al-Bashir made what is being seen to be his 'fairwell visit' visit to South Sudan, and in a speech to southern officials in Juba he said, “The preferred choice for us is unity, but in the end we will respect the choice of the southern citizens.”

Al-Bashir said he remains committed to lasting peace with the semi-autonomous region, and said that even if a new state was born, Khartoum would offer any technical or logistical support and training needed.

"The benefit we get from unity, we can also get it from two separate states."

Al-Bashir's talk was seen by analysts as a sign that the leader had finally accepted what the likely outcome of the referendum would be. He warned against people trying to disorganise the vote, and said they would face the full force of the country's laws, if implicated.

The South Sudan leader Salva Kiir announced, as a sign of reciprocation, that he would expel all Darfur rebels present in the south's territory. The issue of Darfur rebels has been a major sticking point between the north and the south, with Khartoum repeatedly accusing Juba of housing rebels that have been fighting against the central government since 2003.

“No opposition in the north shall take Juba as a base,” Kiir was quoted as saying in the Sudan Tribune.

There are still many issues pending between the two sides, such as border demarcation, oil revenue sharing, citizenship and the fate of the oil-rich Abyei region. At a press conference with Kiir, al-Bashir said both sides were agreed to continue dialogue on these issues and that they would be resolved before the end of the interim period.

If Southern Sudan votes for independence, which they are widely anticipated to do, Africa's newest country will come into being on 9th July 2011, exactly six years after the peace deal took effect.

The voter registration process went relatively smoothly, and nearly four million southerners – as only southerners are eligible to vote – registered. Tens of thousands of southerners living in the north have returned to the south to cast their vote, although their return has caused numerous problems in terms of housing and other resources.

The voting process will start on 9th January and will last for a week. At least sixty per cent of registered voters must take part for the referendum to be valid. This is seen by some sources as the most potentially tricky part of the referendum, as low literacy levels, little history of voting, and poor infrastructure means getting everyone to the polls may be more difficult that achieving the simple majority needed for a verdict either way.

Both sides have agreed to let all Sudanese, but particularly the many southerners living in Khartoum, choose which nationality to take. But al-Bashir's recent announcement that he will enforce a stricter version of Sharia law in the north if the south secedes may prompt even more southerners to leave the north. The returnees will provide an even greater challenge for the new Southern Sudan government.

Sources: BBC News, Sudan Tribune

For more information on Sudan, please see the menas borders website, here.