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

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New fighting on Cambodian-Thai border brings death toll to 18

A Cambodian soldier sits near that Cambodia-Thailand border in late April

A Thai soldier was killed in renewed fighting with Cambodian troops on late Monday, 2nd May or early Tuesday, 3rd May, bringing the death toll from the border dispute of the two south Asian neighbours to 18.

The fighting began on 22nd April in the border region around two disputed temples, named Ta Kwai and Ta Muen in Thai and Ta Krabey and Ta Moan in Khmer. On 26th April, the fighting spread to spread to the highly controversial Preah Vihear temple, which lies about 150km to the east.

Much of the border between Thailand and Cambodia has never been demarcated, due to disputes and the prevalence of land mines, which makes demarcation difficult. Thailand says the 12th century Ta Kwai and Ta Muen temples are situated in its Surin province, according to a 1947 map. Cambodia argues that they are in its Oddar Meanchey province. Until hostilities broke out 12 days ago, the area was jointly patrolled, largely without incident.

Tension has been high between the countries since 2008, but it has been related to Preah Vihear temple. UNESCO awarded the temple World Heritage Status in 2008, under Cambodian jurisdiction. Thailand accepts that the temple itself is in Cambodian territory, as an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling dictated in 1962, but it claims much of the territory around the temple. As such, it wanted the temple to be jointly listed. In particular, there is a 4.6 square kilometer area that is disputed.

Clashes broke out in February between the two sides, which led to 10 deaths and to Preah Vihear being slightly damaged. Exactly what led to the violence at the two temples in April is not clear, although predictably both sides have blamed each other.

Many analysts see political manoeuvring as being behind the violence, and both governments in the past have resorted to stoking nationalist fervour to deflect attention away from domestic political problems.

Thailand, for example, is expected to hold an election in July, and the government is worried about looking weak in its relations with Cambodia. Some analysts have suggested that the clashes may be a pretext for Thai generals, allied with ultra-nationals, to stage a coup to prevent the elections from taking place.

International condemnation of the violence was quick to come. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a ceasefire and said the neighbours should undertake 'serious dialogue' to resolve the dispute. Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who is currently head of ASEAN and has been heavily involved in the Thailand-Cambodia dispute since the February clashes, also called for a ceasfire. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urged both sides to exercise restraint and to take immediate steps to defuse the tension.

Despite both sides agreeing to a cease-fire on Thursday, 28th April, clashes have yet to stop, although they have decreased from their early intensity. Both sides said the other first broke the ceasefire, and they have both considerably increased their military presence in the border region.

Cambodia has consistently appealed for international mediation for the border disputes, but Thailand maintains they can be solved through bilateral dialogue. On Friday, 29th April, Cambodia announced that it had asked the ICJ to clarify its 1962 ruling. It also requested provisional measures, including the removal of Thai forces from the temple area.

Indonesia has tried to facilitate talks and to send military observers to the border. Thailand has, however, delayed the Indonesian observers, and it seems likely that this is what prompted Cambodia's ICJ appeal.

Some 100,000 people were forced to flee the border areas due to the clash, however many have started to return. Eight Thai troops, one Thai civilian and nine Cambodian soldiers have been killed, and some homes have been damaged on both sides.

Thailand recently admitted to using internationally–banned cluster munitions in the fighting in February. Cambodia's Defence Ministry said that in the most recent clashes, Thailand has used shells 'loaded with poisonous gas', a claim Thailand has denied. Cambodia has also said that Thailand has fired artillery shells on civilian villages.

Sources: BBC News, Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times, RTE, AFP, Al Jazeera, Seattle Times

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

SPLA clash with rebels leaves 20 dead

According to Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA), at least 20 South Sudanese soldiers have been killed in a deadly clash with rebel fighters. A spokesman for SPLA said the soldiers were killed when the militants attacked a village in Unity State.

It is believed that the attack commenced when army trucks hit landmines set by the rebels, which later led to the deadly clashes. The rebel group, calling itself South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), said the attack was only the "start of the offensive." A spokesman for the group, Bol Gatkuoth Kol, explained its objective by stating: "The government has failed miserably. It must go."

 

The SSLA, lead by former SPLA commander Peter Gadet, has voiced disapproval of South Sudan's government, saying it was corrupt and incapable of enforcing law and order in the region.

Oil-rich South Sudan is due to separate from the north in July, following an overwhelming secession vote in a referendum in January under a US-backed 2005 peace treaty which ended decades of conflict.

Earlier this year, the South's ruling party Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) accused Khartoum of funding rebel groups in order to destabilise the South before it achieves independence on 9th July, a charge both Khartoum and the rebels have denied.

Sources: BBC, RTT News, Miami Herald, Bloomberg, Sudan Tribute

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

Rebels take Libya-Tunisia border crossing

Qadhafi's troops have abandoned the Dhuheiba border crossing, Source: TAP

Libyan rebels have captured a post on the Tunisian border from pro-Qadhafi forces after three days of intense fighting.

Reports coming out of Tunisia have said that rebels captured the Dhuheiba border crossing, near the town of Wazin, after up to 100 loyalist soldiers fled to Tunisia on Thursday 20th April.

Rebel leader Shaban Abu Sitta said the border post was taken after three days of fighting outside the desert town of Nalut, which is about 140 miles south-west of Tripoli.

He said rebels had seized cars and weapons from the government troops and destroyed 30 trucks.

Nalut was in the hands of anti-government forces last month, but Libyan troops moved in and took it over.

The reports from Dhuheiba have not been independently verified as the government has severely restricted the movement of journalists in western Libya.

An unnamed witness on the Tunisian side of the border, however, told Reuters that government soldiers had surrendered. "We see rebels who control the border crossing," he told Reuters by phone.

TAP, the Tunisian official news agency, reported that 13 Libyan officers, including one major colonel and two commanders, handed themselves over to the Tunisian military at the border, apparently seeking refuge. They have been detained by Tunisian military authorities.

The taking of the Dhuheiba border crossing marks a rare advance for the rebels in the west of the country.

Sources: BBC News, The Independent, TAP, Reuters, MSNBC

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France blocks Italian train carrying Tunisian migrants

Tunisian migrants at Ventimiglia; Source: LA Times

French authorities temporarily blocked trains from Italy in an attempt to stop Tunisian migrants from entering. Trains departing from the Italian border town of Ventimiglia were stopped on Sunday 17th April.

Italy has seen more than 26,000 mainly Tunisian refugees land on its shores following the turmoil in North Africa. On 5th April, Italy granted temporary resident permits to the majority of the migrants, which allows them free travel within the Schengen zone.

France fears that the majority of the migrants will head to France, its former colonial ruler, which already has a large Tunisian population. It has said that it would grant entry only to those migrants able to support themselves financially. Italy has been angered by other EU countries refusal to help out, given the extraordinary nature of events in North Africa.

The French authorities announced that the trains on Sunday posed a public safety threat, as some 300 protesters had planned to join the migrants on the so-called "train of dignity".

Both sides have claimed they are acting within the confines of the law. Italian interior minister Roberto Maroni was quoted by the BBC, saying, "We have given the migrants travel documents, and we gave everything (else) that is needed, and the European Commission recognised that, it has said that Italy is following the Schengen rules."

Italy said that the blockade was “illegitimate and in clear violation of general European principles” of free movement, and have officially protested to France.

Speaking to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said "I realise that every country has its own domestic policy concerns, but the EU requires open borders, and if we start to put up walls the union will go nowhere." He called the closure "shocking".

But French interior minister Claude Gueant said that his government had applied EU law “to the letter”, citing the rule that asylum-seekers are supposed to remain in the country in which they first set foot, until they are accepted or expelled.

The EU has voiced its support for the French authorities' actions. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said that France had acted within its rights, given that they had cited "public order reasons" to stop and inspect the trains.

EU officials confirmed on Monday 18th April that resident permits are not visas or EU passports and thus do not allow the migrants to travel freely across the Schengen zone, according to Eurasia Review.

The President of the EU Council, Herman Van Rompuy, was quoted in The Independent, warning against the "exaggeration" of the "dangers of mass migration" from North Africa. While neither side had broken the rules of the treaty on the Schengen zone, he said they were both in danger of offending its spirit.

Train service was resumed on Sunday night.

Sources: BBC, Eurasia Review, The Independent, Los Angeles Times

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

Israeli tanks enter disputed area with Lebanon

Tension at the Israel-Lebanon border; Source: Daily Star

Two Israeli tanks crossed into a disputed area of land on the frontier with Lebanon on Thursday 14th April after several people were spotted in the border zone.

The alert was sounded after several people were seen in the area and it was later determined they were picking thyme and thistle.

Lebanon's Daily Star said the incident resulted in a two-hour standoff, which saw Israeli soldiers aim heavy artillery at Lebanese military and UN Personnel.

“At 7:50 am, two tanks belonging to the Israeli enemy went beyond the Technical Fence on the outskirts of Adaysseh border village in a disputed area before leaving at 9:30 a.m. toward the Occupied Territories,” a Lebanese army communiqué said.

“Army units deployed in the area took suitable field measures and the issue is being followed up in coordination with [the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon].”

AFP reports have said that one Israeli Merkava tanks entered four metres into the disputed area along the UN-drawn Blue Line before withdrawing. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) observed that one Israeli Defense Force (IDF) tank had crossed the Israel-erected Techical Fence and moved towards the Blue Line pillar marked BP36.

Another Israeli tank and other military vehicles were deployed in the area south of the Technical Fence. This prompted the Lebanese Army to mobilize with heavy artillery, and UNIFIL confirmed that a number of Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) personnel were deployed on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line.

According to the Daily Star, UNIFIL also sent reinforcements to the scene, and an Indonesian patrol with the international peacekeeping force was forced to wave the UN flag – an agreed gesture of pacification – when an Israeli patrol targeted them with heavy machine guns.

According to UNIFIL, no Blue Line violation was recorded.

The Blue Line is a UN-drawn border between the two countries, established in 2000. It is not an official international border, rather it marks the point Israel was required to withdraw from. There have been numerous incidents along the border in the decade since hostilities ceased and both sides have challenged the accuracy of the Blue Line in several locations.

Thursday's incident took place near the village of Adaysseh, which was the scene of a deadly border clash last August. Adaysseh sits a few meters from the Blue Line and Israel's Technical Fence. Last year's incident took place after Israeli troops cut down several trees in an area claimed by Lebanon. The clash resulted in the deaths of two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist, as well as a senior Israeli officer.

Lebanon routinely submits complaints to the UN Security Council over alleged Israeli violations of Resolution 1701, which stipulates that Lebanon's borders must not be breached. In addition to the presence of the tanks in disputed land, Lebanese media sources have also reported that 13 Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace on Thursday, flying over the southern villages of Alma Shaab and Rmeish.

“The warplanes [12 of them] performed circular maneuvers in the skies over many Lebanese areas before leaving [the airspace] at 9:55 am over the village of Rmeish,” the guidance directorate of the Lebanese Army said in the statement, adding that another warplane had violated Lebanon's airspace earlier in the day over Rmeish and circled over the south, Ryak, Baalbeck and Hermel before leaving.

UNIFIL commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas has been in contact with the command of both sides, stressing the importance of ensuring full respect for the Blue Line, reiterating the sensitivity of the Line and urging utmost caution in any actions that could be seen as provocative. He called on the parties to utilize the liaison and coordination mechanism through UNIFIL, particularly on matters relating to the Blue Line in order to minimize the scope for any misunderstandings or apprehensions that may increase tension and lead to escalation.

Sources: AFP, Daily Star, UNIFIL

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

China and India agree to restore defence ties, despite border dispute

Indian PM Singh (L) and Chinese PM Wen in 2008

India and China have agreed to restore defence ties after meetings between Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao on Monday 11th April.

Defence ties were suspended last year after China refused a visa to a Kashmir-based general. In July 2010, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal was prevented from joining a delegation to Beijing because he served in Jammu and Kashmir.

China and India have a number of long running border disputes, but both sides agreed to work together to resolve tensions along their 3,500km long shared border.

Two areas are disputed. Aksai Chin is administered by China as part of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, however India claims it as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Arunachal Pradesh, a state in the far northeast of India is also disputed, and China claims that it is a part of South Tibet.

The two sides fought a brief border war in 1962, and several rounds of talks over the border in the past few years have made little real progress. India remains suspicious of China's ties to Pakistan, and both sides seem largely unwilling to compromise on territorial questions. Despite this, ties have been relatively strong in recent years, and China is now India's largest trading partner.

Speaking on Wednesday 14th April, India's National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon said the two sides would set up a consultation mechanism for the border dispute.

"This will handle important border affairs relating to maintaining peace and tranquility," Menon said, though he added that "in practice it is one of the most peaceful borders that we have."

Menon said that a multi-command Indian Army delegation would visit China later in the year, likely in June, and suggested joint exercises could be held at some point in the future.

The two countries have also agreed to boost economic ties, and address the currently assymetrical trade relationship. Menon said of Singh, "The PM spoke of taking our relationship to a higher level, focusing more on cross-investment, and also spoke of China providing better market access for Indian exports, particularly in IT, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and in the engineering sectors."

Singh is in China as part of a formal summit of the “BRICS” countries, which along with China and India includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa. The summit is being held in Sanya, southern China on 14th April.

Sources: BBC News, Xinhua, Economic Times, International Business Times

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