Following South Sudan's referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact joel@insightonconflict.org or complete the form below.
News Round-up
- Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, has issued a decree to begin the process of a holding a referendum on the administrative status of Darfur. The referendum will ask whether to split Darfur into five states instead of three. Rebel groups have rejected the move, calling it a strategy of ‘divide and rule’. The US has also expressed disapproval.
- An advisor to President Bashir has accused the South of training Darfur rebel groups. The Southern ruling party, the SPLM, labelled the accusations as “nonsense”.
- The commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has claimed that both North and South Sudan are deploying forces with heavy weapons in Abyei. In Doha last week, President Bashir reiterated his demand that there can be no decision on the future status of Abyei that excludes the Misseriya tribe.
- The Carter Center has expressed concern over the South Kordofan elections due in May, pointing to a lack of voter education and problems with voter registration. The elections were meant to be held last April, but disputes over the results of an earlier census led to a postponement.
- Major General Peter Gatdet of the Southern Army (SPLA) has defected to begin a rebellion against the government.
- South Sudan has said it has discovered a plot preparing to assassinate senior members of the Southern government on 09 July 2011, the day the South is due to become independent. No suspects were named.
- Security services in South Sudan have allegedly ‘seized’ copies of South Sudanese newspaper, the Juba Post, after it quoted Southern rebels as saying they would attack the Southern capital, Juba.
- The Sudanese presidency has issued a decree to allow Southern MPs to return to the Sudanese parliament. In February the parliament passed a motion removing the right Southern MPs to take their seats when parliament resumes this month. The presidential decree would allow them to sit in parliament until the end of the interim period in July, but the speaker is resisting the move.
- 300 doctors protested over pay outside Khartoum’s main hospital last week. Youth Activists have begun radio transmissions to try and reach Sudan’s rural population in an attempt to mobilise people to take part in anti-government protests.
News in detail
South Sudan
Business Week: Southern Sudan to issue new currency when independence declared 30 Mar: Southern Sudan plans to release its own currency when it declares independence in July as the region establishes a financial system to manage its oil wealth. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-30/Southern-sudan-to-issue-new-currency-when-independence-declared.html
Sudan Tribune: Unity state condemns ‘defection’ of SPLA Maj. General Peter Gatdet 30 Mar: Unity state’s spokesman for state government Gideon Gatpan Thaor confirmed to state citizens on Wednesday that Maj.General Peter Gatdet has left South Sudan’s official Army (SPLA) in an apparent rebellion against the Southern government. http://www.sudantribune.com/Unity-state-condemns-defection-of,38441
Sudan Tribune: South Sudan presidential advisor reveals alleged plot to assassinate VP Machar 31 Mar: A senior adviser to South Sudan President, Salva Kiir has disclosed what he claimed to be a plot to assassinate Riek Machar, the vice president of the semi-autonomous region, as well as five other senior army officers after the country’s July independence declaration. http://www.sudantribune.com/S-Sudan-presidential-advisor,38448
AFP: South Sudan security 'seize newspapers' 03 Apr: South Sudan security forces seized copies of a newspaper to quash a story quoting rebel claims that they would attack the Southern capital, the editor-in-chief said on Saturday. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hDxu2ZIlbMrOJuY7WBxMoRNpdXpg?docId=CNG.1a0d3c9292326e1ddada23d652671adf.101
Abyei
Reuters: Sudan's North, South militarise disputed Abyei – UN 30 Mar: Sudan's North and South have deployed forces with heavy weapons to disputed Abyei, militarising the tinderbox oil-producing region, the U.N. peacekeeping mission's force commander said on Wednesday. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE72T0U220110330
AFP: Sudan says no Abyei vote without Misseriya 31 Mar: Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has insisted the problem of Abyei cannot be resolved without the participation of the Arab Misseriya tribe in a referendum on the status of the disputed border region. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYwSDpiqg53wL9AKnnSbqfTcV-KA?docId=CNG.f142ab717113d4da200c3166df798a00.21
Sudan Tribune: Any new conflict over Abyei will end in Kordofan – South Sudanese official 31 Mar: A key official from the regional government of South Sudan on Thursday warned that war involving the North against the South could involve fighting in the Misseriya town of Muglad in South Kordofan http://www.sudantribune.com/Any-new-conflict-over-Abyei-will,38449
Darfur
BBC: South Sudan training Darfur rebels – Bashir adviser 29 Mar: An adviser to President Omar al-Bashir has accused Southern leaders of training rebels from Darfur in order to destabilise the North. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12898863
AFP: Sudan issues Darfur referendum decree, rebels baulk 30 Mar: President Omar al-Bashir issued a decree on Tuesday paving the way for a referendum on how the Darfur region should be governed, a move slammed by rebel groups claiming it would torpedo the faltering peace talks. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2PBmdswk4oXlZCSUWUUIIxovfhg?docId=CNG.de1bc45a4642d8ad00be85bc0b2fc49d.971
Sudan Tribune: US diplomat disapproves Sudan’s plan for a referendum in Darfur 31 Mar: A US diplomat has disapproved Khartoum’s plan to hold a referendum on Darfur’s administrative status saying the government and rebel groups should make agreements on the issues first. http://www.sudantribune.com/US-diplomat-disapproves-Sudan-s,38453
North Sudan
Reuters: Observers fear weak polls in Sudan flashpoint region 29 Mar: Observers on Tuesday expressed concern that long-delayed elections in Sudan's key oil-producing South Kordofan state could be weakened by low voter turnout and confusing procedures. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFMCD93451120110329
AFP: Sudan doctors in pay protest 31 Mar: Some 300 Sudanese doctors demonstrated at the main hospital in Khartoum on Wednesday demanding that the government honour an agreement made last year to increase their salaries, as food prices continue to rise. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jJxWO0iLJaJzsKYUkja1E1PstJIA?docId=CNG.1c55d652e61ad9ac029d2769b1927b97.6d1
Reuters: Sudanese protesters take message to air waves 02 Apr: Sudanese protesters took to the airwaves on Saturday after failing via the Internet to mobilise anti-government marches like those in neighbouring Egypt and Libya. http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFMCD26434620110402
AFP: Sudan MP says 150,000 starving in Red Sea state 03 Apr: A Sudanese opposition MP said on Saturday that 150,000 people are suffering from hunger in his constituency in an impoverished region of Red Sea state and called on those responsible to resign. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j56ngfxalky5kMuIwqbOkkkA70tw?docId=CNG.1a0d3c9292326e1ddada23d652671adf.aa1
Sudan Tribune: Sudanese parliament speaker rejects presidency directive to allow Southern MPs 03 Apr: The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) revealed on Sunday that the presidency issued a decree instructing that Southern MPs should be allowed to join the new legislative session despite opposition by the speaker. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudanese-parliament-speaker,38479
