The
African Union will not cooperate with the International Criminal
Court over its indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
according to a draft of an AU resolution.
The AU has said the warrant would compromise
peace efforts in Darfur and the 53-member organisation wants a
deferment of the indictment, covering war crimes carried out
during fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region.The draft for an AU
summit, seen by Reuters, said: “(The African Union) decides that
in view of the fact that the request by the African Union has
never been acted upon that AU member states shall not cooperate
pursuant to the provisions of Article 98 of the Rome Statute on
the ICC...or the arrest and surrender of African indicted
personalities.”The draft will be discussed by African Union
leaders on Thursday or Friday at their summit in Libya.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is chairing an AU
panel charged with helping to bring peace to Darfur by making
recommendations to the AU’s Peace and Security Council as an
alternative to the ICC indictment. International experts say
200,000 people have died and more than 2.5 million have been
driven from their homes in the remote western region since
mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in
2003. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.Meanwhile, Muammar
Gaddafi’s home town, Sirte, is not the most accessible venue for
an AU summit.
It is a hot and bumpy four hour drive from the capital Tripoli
to a town reached by only two chartered flights each day.Such is
the shortage of hotel accommodation here that journalists
diplomats are sleeping on an ageing Greek-owned cruise liner
moored in the harbour. Space is equally short in the press room.
There is no phone signal here and the journalists and
dignitaries have almost come to blows as they grapple for
internet lines, now in chronically short supply
Obama visit a reward for Ghana democracy
7/3/2009
President Barack Obama REUTERS
US President
Barack Obama heads next week to Ghana, on the continent
where his father was born, for his first trip as president
to sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa has not been high on
President Obama’s foreign policy agenda in his first six
months in office as he wrestles with wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea.
As an African-American whose father was born in Kenya,
President Obama was anxious not to be seen as exaggerating
the importance of Africa in US foreign policy. “He has not
yet put his stamp on Africa. His visit to Ghana will be the
start,” said Mr. Whitney Schneidman, a former Africa policy
adviser to Obama during his presidential campaign.
President Obama has been
outspoken, however, about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur,
and one of his first acts as president was to appoint his
friend, General Scott Gratian, as his envoy to Sudan. He has
also held talks with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan
Tsangaris on the economic crisis in that country. This will
not be his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. In 2006, he
visited Kenya, Chad, Ethiopia, South Africa and Djibouti as
a US senator.
Ghana, a former British
colony that was the first African nation to win independence
in 1957, held a closely contested presidential election
which saw power peacefully transferred to opposition leader
John Atta Mills in January. The Obama administration is keen
to hold up Ghana as a model for the rest of Africa, where
coups are not uncommon and elections are often marred by
charges of vote-rigging and sometimes violence. “Democracy
and good governance are high up on his agenda, so he is
rewarding Ghana,” said Richard Dowden, director of the Royal
African Society in London. US officials say President Obama
will deliver a major speech in the Ghanaian parliament that
emphasis’s good governance and the importance of democratic
institutions.Africa experts say President Obama may use the
speech to lay out a more comprehensive vision of his policy
on Africa, in particular the importance of dramatically
improving food security on a continent where millions are
starving. Fighting corruption and expanding Bush
administration initiatives to combat the spread of HIV and
Aids and malaria also could be featured.
“If President Obama were to
come to Kenya as the first country in Africa, it would send
some very wrong signals that he is coming here merely
because of some organic relationship that he has with this
country,” said Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga
Africa and the International Court
By
KOFI ANNAN
6/30/2009
Eleven years ago when I opened the Rome
conference that led to the founding of the
International Criminal Court, I reminded the
delegates that the eyes of the victims of past
crimes and the potential victims of future ones
were fixed firmly upon them. The delegates, many
of whom were African, acted on that unique
opportunity and created an institution to
strengthen justice and the rule of law.
Now
that important legacy rests once more in the
hands of African leaders as they meet in Libya
on Wednesday. The African Union summit meeting
will be the first since the I.C.C. issued an
arrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar
Hassan al-Bashir, on charges of crimes against
humanity and war crimes for his alleged role in
the atrocities in Darfur.
Sudanese 'suspect' back in Canada
6/28/2009
A
man with dual Canadian-Sudanese citizenship has
arrived in Canada after being stranded in Sudan
for six years.
Abousfian Abdelrazik was arrested while visiting his sick mother in
2003, and accused of having links with al-Qaeda.
Canada refused to renew his passport, but after
his release he stayed at the Canadian embassy in
Khartoum. On 4 June a Canadian court ordered the government to allow him to
return. He denies any links to terrorism and has
not been charged with any crimes.
BlacklistMr Abdelrazik was greeted by dozens of well-wishers as he arrived
at Toronto airport late on Saturday.
"I want to say to my supporters from coast to coast, every town,
every city, every village, thank you very much
for supporting me," he said. During his six
years in Sudan, he was twice detained as a
terror suspect. He has said he was tortured. Mr
Abdelrazik's Canadian passport expired when he
was in prison. After his release he found that
he was on a United Nations air travel blacklist.
He had lived in the lobby of the Canadian
embassy in Sudan since April 2008, fearing
arrest by local authorities.
Canadian intelligence officials have
acknowledged there is no information linking him
to any crime.
Genius
of Success to Lead South Sudan to Prosperity
By: James
Okuk, University. of Nairobi
6/15/2009
The
breakaway of Dr. Lam Akol and the emergence of
the SPLM-DC as a challenging political party to
SPLM leadership of the South have generated hot
debates on Southern Sudan political polemics.
Dr. Lam’s audacity has nowadays created an
unexpected hard situation and tough choices for
the Vice President of the GoSS who has been
looking forward for luck of getting the
Presidency of the South at the expense of Mr.
Kiir's failures, using the same hierarchy of
leadership structure that gave Kiir the best of
luck to get SPLM Chairmanship in New Site in
2005 and in Juba in 2008. This dying hope has
been detected from the subsequent writings of
Dr. Riek’s supporters.
One of the
revelations appeared in the exposition that was
flip-flopped by Gatkuoth Deng of USA under the
dubious titled “SPLM vs SPLM-DC: A pig
blaming the fox for quitting.” I call this
article dubious because of the deception tactics
inherent in its message. In a silence mode, this
article tried to persuade the readers to regard
Kiir as useless leader to be given SPLM
candidature for the GoSS Presidency in the
coming elections. It also scared them to support
Dr. Lam in his recent move to declare a contest
for Southern Sudan Presidency without using SPLM
platform.
Sudan:
Former SPLM Figure to Lead Splinter
Group
6/13/2009
By Ismail Adam
Khartoum, Asharq Al-Awsat- A leading
member of the splinter group that has
split from the Sudan's People's
Liberation Movement [SPLM], who asked
not to be identified, has revealed that
the new movement, named "the Sudan's
People's Movement -- Democratic Change,"
which has been formed by this group will
be led by Dr Lam Akol, a prominent
former leader of the SPLM. He told
Asharq Al-Awsat that other prominent
leaders from the SPLM will join the
splinter group but he did not give
names.
Silva Kiir, the SPLM chief, held a
series of meetings with SPLM leaders in
Juba, the southern Sudan capital.
Sources said that during these meetings
the leaders discussed "developments in
the situation in the country and
preparations for the meetings of the
political forces in Juba." This splinter
group leader revealed that their
movement will be allied with the ruling
Sudanese National Congress Party against
the SPLM, led by Silva Kiir. He said
that this alliance will be declared in a
later stage in order to arrange for the
elections scheduled for February. He
expected their nascent movement to
receive broad support from citizens in
southern Sudan and that it will win a
majority over the SPLM in the north.
Former Sudan leader Nimeiri dies
5/30/2009
Former SudanesePresidentJaafar Nimeiri,
who brought Islamic law to the country,
has died at the age of 79, government
officials say. Mr Nimeiri died after
developing "an illness", presidential
assistant Magdi Abdel Aziz said. He did
not provide any further details. Mr
Nimeiri came to power in a 1969 coup
that ended years of civilian rule in
Africa's biggest nation. He later became
a close US ally before being ousted,
also in a coup, in 1985.
"He
was too ill to be taken out of the
country for treatment," Mr Nimeiri's
secretary Makkawi Ahmed was quoted as
saying by Reuters. he funeral would be
held on Sunday in Omdurman, near the
capital Khartoum, officials said.
Life in exile
After seizing power in 1969, Mr Nimeiri
gradually shifted from being a left-wing
admirer of Egypt's late President Gamal
Abdel Nasser to becoming a US ally.
During his time in office, the first
civil war between the Muslim north and
Christian and animist south was brought
to an end. n 1983, he introduced Islamic
Sharia law to Sudan - a move which many
analysts say triggered a fresh
north-south conflict.
Mr
Nimeiri's rule was also marked by a
severe economic crisis in the late 1970s
and early 1980s, that was compounded by
Sudan's huge foreign debt and political
upheavals. There was a short period of
democratic civilian rule after he was
ousted in 1985, but the army under
current President Omar al-Bashir seized
power in 1989, backed by Islamist
hardliners. Mr Nimeiri returned to Sudan
in 1999 after spending 14 years in exile
in Cairo, Egypt
Sudan walks out of Nile River talks
5/25/2009
Ethiopian minister for Water Resources and
Irrigation Dingamo Asfwa acknowledges delegates
at the opening of the Nile Council
of Ministers conference in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
The meeting was disrupted temporarily after
Sudan walked out in protest. Photo /WALTER MENYA
Raiders 'seize Sudan army base'
5/25/2009
Armed raiders have seized a Sudanese army base
in the conflict-torn region of Darfur, near the
border with Chad, international peacekeepers
say. The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force said the Umm
Baru base was some 100km (60 miles) from the
frontier. The identity of the attackers has not
been confirmed, but rebels from the Justice and
Equality Movement (Jem) have been recently
active in the areaNeither
Sudan nor Jem have not commented on the
peacekeepers' report. Peace talksLast week, Jem
seized Sudan's army base at Kornoi, about 50km
(30 miles) from Chad's border. The governments
in Khartoum and N'Djamena accuse each other of
backing rebel forces inside their respective
territories. The reported fall of the Umm Baru
base comes as a fresh round of peace talks
between Sudan and Jem is due to begin on
Wednesday in Doha, Qatar. The United Nations
estimates that 300,000 people have died in a
six-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and
more than two million more have been displaced.
Invade our territory at your own peril, Sudan
tells Chad
5/23/2009
Will not tolerate
“The Sudanese Ministry of Defence pointed out it
will not tolerate any aggression on the Sudanese
lands, and warned that the Armed Forces will
destroy any force that attempts to attack the
Sudanese territories,” read a statement on the
Suna state media agency.
The underdeveloped neighbours regularly accuse
each other of supporting each others rebels.
Troubled relations have worsened in recent
weeks. Chad said Khartoum backed a rebel attack
earlier this month, hours after the countries
had signed a reconciliation deal in Doha.
The Chadian Government went on to admit
launching air attacks inside Sudan in a bid to
wipe out rebel camps. Khartoum, which denied
backing the rebels, has up to now made
relatively restrained public statements,
referring only to unspecified repercussions of
any Chadian attack and signalling that it was
still seeking a diplomatic resolution.
In another sign of heightened tensions in the
remote region, UN sources said they had
unconfirmed reports Sudanese army planes bombed
land close to the Chad border in north Darfur on
Monday and Tuesday, the site of recent clashes
between Khartoum and Darfur rebels.
Time
could be up for Sudan leader
5/13/2009
Sudan's President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir addresses the media at Khartoum
airport, April 1, 2009 upon arrival from the
Arab Summit in Doha. The chief prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court said on Monday he
is confident the court's judges will soon charge
Sudan's president with genocide and three Darfur
rebels with war crimes.
Fresh troubles for the Nuba Mountains with
fugitive Haroun as governor.
5/12/2009
By: Dr. Justin Ambago Ramba, M.D. United
Kingdom.
The people of the Nuba Mountains are still to
come out of their shock when they learned of the
Sudanese president Omer al Bashir’s strange and
wrongly timed appointment as governor for South
Kordofan of the fugitive, Ahmed Haroun, who is
wanted by the ICC for over 50 crimes against
humanity committed in the western province of
Darfur in the periods between 2003– 2004.
War crimes suspect heads Sudan post
5/10/2009
Harun is wanted by
the ICC for
allegedly allowing
rapes and murder to
be committed in
Darfur
A man wanted for alleged war crimes in
Darfur has been appointed
as governor for Sudan's disputed south
Kordofan province.
Ahmed Harun was named as being chosen to
head the oil-rich region in a decree
issued on Thursday by Omar al-Bashir,
who is also sought by the International
Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war
crimes.
Harun, who had been the minister of
state for humanitarian affairs, had an
arrest warrant issued against him in
2007.
The ICC has 51 charges of war crimes and
crimes against humanity against Harun,
which were allegedly committed in
Sudan's western Darfur region in 2003
and 2004.
17-year-old Sudanese immigrant pleads guilty to
killing Aurora woman
Teen gets 35 years for murder of Aurora woman
By :Clifford
Ward
5/9/2009
In October 2005, Marilyn Bethell and Gareng Deng
lived about 2 miles from each other in Aurora,
but their lives were going in distinctly
different directions. Deng was a troubled
14-year-old. A Sudanese immigrant who had
witnessed wartime atrocities in his homeland and
claimed he was a victim of sexual abuse as a
5-year-old, Deng had a lengthy juvenile arrest
record in this country.
Ethiopian news paper describes moments of panic Elbashir
5/5/2009
The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir went through thirty
minutes of panic at an airport in northern Tigray region during
an official visit last month, an Ethiopian news paper reported
today. ‘The Reporter’ independent daily which is published in
native Amharic language said that the Sudanese delegation headed
by Bashir was stuck in the presidential jet at Mekele Airport
waiting for the boarding ladder.
Mbeki to meet ICC boss over Bashir case
5/5/2009
Former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki will meet the prosecutor of
the International
Criminal Court, Mr Louis Moreno-Ocampo, on Sudanese
President Hassan al-Bashir’s
arrest warrant. Mr Mbeki, who chairs the
African Union Darfur panel, made the announcement
to reporters at the AU
headquarters in Addis Ababa Mbeki on Saturday.
He said the planned meeting was part of the search for lasting peace and
ensuring justice in Darfur. Mr Mbeki hinted that he had already established contacts with Mr Moreno-Ocampo. The arrest warrant for
President Bashir was issued last March.
“We have agreed that we would
find an occasion as soon as possible to meet face to face with him,Mr
Mbeki said.
Specific demands
He declined to elaborate on any specific demands he hoped to make to the
ICC. According to the Rome statute, the prosecutor doesn’t have the
right to drop the arrest warrant that has been authorized by a panel of
judges. Mr Mbeki’s Darfur panel is scheduled to submit a final report to
the AU in early July.The panel comprises eminent personalities from
Africa and is charged with the task of fighting impunity and
seeking accountability for suspects on the Darfur case. The AU
has criticized the arrest warrant against the Sudanese President
and asked the UN to defer it. Several African leaders have also
criticized the ICC, claiming it was targeting Africans
Raila assures Sudanese of
solidarity
5/4/2009
Williston
Ugand: Nuba View Kisumu Kenya
President of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit (left) receives a
certificate from Great Lakes University of Kisumu Vice Chancellor Dan
Kaseje (right) after being conferred with a honorary degree during the
university's third graduation
ceremony in Kisumu on Sunday. Looking on
is Prime Minister Raila Odinga (centre). President Kiir donated
US$
100,000 ( Sh8,000,000) to assist in development of the university.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said the Kenya Government backs the full
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which brokered a
truce between warring factions in Sudan.The agreement, signed between
the northern the southern Sudanese, Mr Odinga said, was crucial to
lasting peace in the East African region.
The South Sudan Democratic Forum
Second National
Conference: Juba, 5/1/2009
CONFERENCE CLOSING
STATEMENT BY BONA MALWAL
First of all, let me
salute all of you, delegates to this second National Conference of The
South Sudan Democratic Forum. You all know that our first National
Conference was our founding Conference. However, the Sudan new Political
Party Act now considers this as our founding Conference.
Yasir
Arman: "A patronizing mediocre northerner.
4/28/2009
Press Statement in response to Yassir Arman by Dr. Lam and Co. the Press
Statement and Conference we held on Wednesday the 22nd
instant, is typical of his evasive and equivocatory language. Rather
than address the issues raised, he went into a windy talk and the only
thing that comes out clearly from it is the blame he leveled against
SUNA for having allowed its premises to be used for holding the press
conference.
Sudan shuts down pro-government newspaper
4/26/2009
By:Nuba view
Sudan has shut down one of
the main pro-government newspapers and ordered its editor to refrain
from
writing after he called for a senior politician from the south to
be killed, newspapers reported on Sunday.The decision was unusual because the Arabic-language
al-Wifaqnewspaper was an Islamist-leaning publication close to Sudanese
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's National Congress Party, Sudan's
dominant party which has its powerbase in the north
Statement on the Situation in the SPLM: From Dr. Lam Akol, Ghazi and
Manoah Aligo
4/23/2009
As you may have followed through the media, an impudent statement was
issued by a certain Yien Matthew Chol on 16/3/2009 claiming that Dr. Lam
Akol Ajawin and Mr. Ghazi Suleiman the advocate, have deviated from the
position of the SPLM on the issues being debated these days - meaning
the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict the
President of the Republic. The statement heaped insults on the two
leaders and labeled other serious allegations against them. He went as
far as to describe them as enemies to the SPLM (See the Arabic Daily Al
Ray Al Aam dated 18/3/2009).
Mandela boosts ANC at final election rally
4/19/2009
JOHANNESBURG
Nelson Mandela attended South Africa's ruling African National
Congress' final rally on Sunday, giving the party a boost ahead of the
country's April 22 election. The ANC is almost certain to win the
election but faces its biggest challenge since coming to power when
apartheid ended in 1994. Former president Mandela, 90, was driven into a
packed sports stadium in a golf cart to cheers from the tens of
thousands of ANC supporters gathered for the rally to be addressed by
party leader Jacob Zuma.A frail-looking Mandela, wearing an ANC T-shirt,
was helped onto the stage by Zuma.
His
attendance at the rally is bound to give the ANC a boost days ahead of
the election in which analysts expect the ruling party to lose its
two-thirds parliamentary majority as it faces criticism over its
performance on poverty, crime and AIDS. The new breakaway Congress of
the People (COPE) party, formed by ANC dissidents, and a revitalized
official opposition Democratic Alliance hopes to tap into frustrations
with ANC graft scandals. The ANC said its final campaign rally will be
one of the biggest political rallies to be held in the country yet. It
is being held at two adjoining Johannesburg sport stadiums with a
combined capacity of over 100,000 people.
State prosecutors have given the ANC a boost by dropping graft charges
against Zuma, whom the new parliament is certain to elect president.
Zuma has said the graft case was part of a political campaign to
undermine him. His ANC has promised to do more to bring economically
disadvantaged blacks into the mainstream economy through land reform and
affirmative action programmers. But Africa's biggest economy is on the
brink of recession, and Zuma will be in a difficult position. Union
allies are pushing him to spend more on the poor, while foreign
investors crucial for growth fear he will steer the economy to the left.
SPLM’s Al-Hilu sworn in as deputy
governor of South Kordofan
4/15/2009
Abdel Aziz Adam Al-Hilu sworn in as the new deputy
governor of South Kordfan state before the Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir.
Al-Hilu replaces Daniel Kodi, who had been removed by his party for
failure to manage his political and executive duties. He also had been
accused of violating the SPLM constitution. The new deputy governor who
a member of the political bureau of the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement (SPLM) vowed today to work in order to ensure security and to
promote peaceful coexistence in the region.He also pledged to work for
the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the economic
development of South Kordofan. Al Hilu,who is
originaly from the Massalit tribe in Darfur, faces huge
challenges in the region. Some Nuba contest his representation for their
region;
Hanged Sudanese 'may be innocent'
4/14/2009
convicted
of beheading a newspaper editor in 2006.
Lobby group Amnesty Inter condemned as "outrageous" the hanging
of nine Sudanese men
They
were arbitrarily arrested, tortured and then subjected to an
unfair trial," said the body's deputy Africa director Tawanda
Hondora. They were hanged in a prison in the capital, Khartoum,
in front of relatives of the editor, Mohammed Taha. The men,
from Darfur, were apparently upset by an article in Mr Taha's
paper.
His decapitated body was found on a dirt road a day after he had
been abducted from his home in Khartoum. Groups of women were
wailing outside the jail after the executions, reports the
Reuters news agency. Controversial editor Ten people were
initially convicted of the murder but one was later acquitted. A
defence lawyer said an article in Mr Taha's al-Wifaq newspaper
had angered members of the Darfur community by downplaying the
scale of rape in the Darfur conflict and insulting women from
the region.
Despite being an Islamist himself, Mr Taha had sparked angry
demonstrations when in 2005 he reprinted an article questioning
the roots of the Prophet Muhammad. He was put on trial for
blasphemy but the charges were later dropped. Mr Taha had been
the target of an assassination attempt five years previously
after writing an article which criticised the ruling National
Congress Party. Despite his controversial past, thousands of
weeping mourners attended Mr Taha's funeral in September 2006.
For Obama, anti-racism talks present a tough test
3/30/2009
President Barack Obama is facing a difficult set of challenges on the
sensitive issue of an upcoming United Nations conference on racism. The
developing world, including the African Group of countries, views the
planned session in Geneva as an important event warranting full
participation by all UN member-states.
“I
would say the African Group is one of the driving forces in this process
and has played a key role in the negotiations on the draft outcome
document,” a conference spokesman, Mr Doune Porter, told the Nuba View
Dismissal of lawsuit over Sudan strikes upheld
By NEDRA
PICKLER
3/29/2009
An appeals court on Friday upheld a decision to dismiss a $50 million
lawsuit against the United States over President Bill Clinton's 1998
decision to order missile strikes in Sudan.
Bashir warrant threat to talks, says UN mediator
3/28/2009
An
International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir may have compromised the quest for peace in Darfur, a
UN and African Union mediator has said.The official, Mr Djibrill Bassole,
called on the UN Security Council to heed the concerns of the AU, an
organization grouping 53 African countries, that has urged the council
to use its power to suspend the ICC’s proceedings against Sudan’s
President. Mr Bashir was charged by the court with war crimes in
Darfur.Mr Bassole was addressing the 15-nation council, which later
appealed to Sudan to reconsider a decision to expel some aid groups in
Darfur after the ICC move. Khartoum has accused the groups of supplying
information to the ICC, which they deny.
Darfur getting worse, says UN
3/25/2009
The US said on Monday its diplomats had found worsening conditions,
including water shortages, at camps for displaced people in Darfur and
urged Khartoum to reverse a decision to expel 13 aid groups.The State
Department repeated it would hold Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir
responsible for each death caused by the expulsion of the major aid
groups this month.The US Embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Khartoum,
Alberto Fernandez, and officials from the USAid, travelled over the past
week to El Fasher in northern Darfur and visited the Zam Zam camp to get
a first-hand look at the impact of the expulsions, the department
said.“This crisis has been exacerbated by the March 4 and 5 expulsions,”
concluded the department, providing details of the trip by Mr Fernandez
and other US officials.
People fleeing
The US officials found resources, particularly water, at Zam Zam had
been further strained by the recent arrival of 36,000 people fleeing
fighting in the past two months between armed groups and the Sudanese
government in Darfur.Meanwhile, gunmen demanding a satellite phone have
shot dead a Sudanese aid worker at his home in the Darfur region where
he worked for a Canadian charity, the man’s employer said today.
“He was ambushed two days ago by men demanding a satellite phone. “They
beat him because he couldn’t provide them with a Thuraya (phone),” said
Mark Simmons, Sudan country director for the Fellowship for African
Relief.“They came to his house at 9pm on Monday and when they didn’t
find a phone there, they shot him,” he added.
You will pay for deaths, Hillary warns Bashir
3/19/2009
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will be responsible for “every
single death” caused by the expulsion of 13 foreign aid groups from
Sudan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said “This is a
horrendous situation that is going to cause untold misery and suffering
for the people of Darfur, particularly those in the refugee camps,” Mrs
Clinton said of Sudan’s decision to expel the aid groups earlier this
month.“The real question is what kind of pressure can be brought to bear
on President Bashir and the government in Khartoum to understand that
they will be held responsible for every single death that occurs in
those camps,” she told reporters.
Obama: NGOs eviction to worsen Darfur case
3/12/2009
Sudanese children sing and hold pictures of Sudan's President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir outside the U.N. Offices during a demonstration against
the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for al-Bashir, in
Khartoum, March 11, 2009. US President Barack Obama has condemned the
Sudanese government’s decision to expel aid groups, saying it risked
creating an even greater humanitarian crisis in its western Darfur
region.
Freed opposition leader tells Bashir to surrender to ICC
3/11/2009
BY : Wellstone Oganda
nuba vIew
Sudan released an Islamist opposition leader today, two months after he
was detained for calling on President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to surrender
to the International Criminal Court.Dr Hassan al-Turabi, 76, flown to
his home in the capital Khartoum in the early hours without explanation,
made clear he had not changed his view that President Bashir should give
himself up to the court which issued an arrest warrant last week
.
Strong
evidence'
for
Bashir
case
3/3/2009
The
war
crimes
court's
chief
prosecutor
says
there is
strong
evidence
in
favour
of his
Darfur
genocide
case
against
Sudan's
President
Omar al-Bashir.
Luis
Moreno
Ocampo
said he
had more
than 30
witnesses
prepared
to
testify
against
Mr
Bashir
at The
Hague.
On
Wednesday
International
Criminal
Court
(ICC)
judges
will
announce
if they
will
indict
Sudan's
leader.
Mr
Bashir,
who
denies
the
charges,
said any
move by
the ICC
to seek
his
arrest
would be
worthless.
Sudan
does not
accept
ICC's
jurisdiction.
"Any
decision
by the
International
Criminal
Court
has no
value
for us,"
Sudan's
leader
said at
the
inauguration
of a dam
on the
Nile
north of
Khartoum,
according
to AFP
news
agency.
"It will
not be
worth
the ink
it is
written
on."
Appeal
Prosecutors
sought
the
warrants
for Mr
Bashir
last
July on
10
charges
of
genocide,
crimes
against
humanity
and war
crimes.
They
allege
that the
president
mobilised
Sudan's
military
and Arab
militias
in a
campaign
of
murder,
rape and
forced
displacement.
Mr
Moreno
Ocampo
told a
small
group of
reporters
at the
court's
headquarters
in The
Hague:
"The
intention
was to
exterminate
three
ethnic
groups
and that
is why
it is
genocide
according
to our
view."
The
Argentine
prosecutor
said if
judges
decided
against
issuing
a
warrant,
he would
appeal.
The
decision
of the
judges
is set
to be
announced
at 1300
GMT on
Wednesday
at a
press
conference
in The
Hague.
if the
warrant
is
granted
and an
arrest
carried
out, Mr
Bashir
would
become
the
first
sitting
head of
state to
be
hauled
before
the ICC
since
the
court
opened
its
doors in
2002.
The war
in
Darfur
began in
2003
when
rebel
groups
took up
arms
against
the
government,
complaining
of
discrimination
and
neglect.
Up to
300,000
people
have
died so
far and
more
than two
million
have
fled
their
homes,
according
to UN
officials.
Sudan
has
always
denied
backing
the Arab
Janjaweed
militias
accused
of the
worst
atrocities.
It says
the
scale of
the
suffering
has been
exaggerated
for
political
reasons
by its
enemies
in the
West.
Turabi’s wife raps Sudan’s Bashir, VP Taha over detention; hails ICC
2/26/2006
The wife of a jailed Islamist opposition leader pointed fingers at senior
members of the Sudanese government accusing them of throwing her husband in jail
over “personal grudges”.In mid-January Sudanese authorities took the leader of
the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan Al-Turabi
into custody shortly after he made remarks in which he called on president Omer
Hassan Al-Bashir to surrender himself to the International Criminal Court (ICC).Al-Turabi
has yet to be officially charged and Sudanese officials have denied that he is
being held over his ICC statements.
Diplomatic flurry in Sudan as ICC draws closer to
deciding on Bashir case
2/20/2009
The Sudanese president Omer
Hassan Al-Bashir today received the Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade who
arrived on a previously unannounced visit that lasted a few hours.Sudan official
news agency (SUNA) said that Wade and Bashir discussed bilateral ties and
developments related to the Darfur conflict in a closed meeting.
The Senegalese president told
reporters afterwards that Sudan’s relation with Chad was on the agenda
disclosing that he held a recent meeting with Chadian president Idriss Deby. He
also noted that relations between the two countries are witnessing “some
difficulties”.Last month Al-Bashir met with Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi along
with Wade where he accused Chad of supporting the rebel Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM) in its latest attack on Muhajriya location in southern Darfur.
Sudan president Omer Al-Bashir
2/07/2009
1944:
Omer Hassan Al-Bashir is born in the northern Sudan village of Hosh Banaga.1960:
Joins the Sudanese army and graduates from the military academy six years later.
1973:
Served with the Egyptian army during the Yom Kippur war.1989:
Brigadier Al-Bashir is chosen by the National Islamic Front (NIF) and its leader
Hassan Al-Turabi to lead a coup ousting the government led by Prime Minister
Sadiq Al-Mahdi. He is proclaimed as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command
Council for National Salvation.
1993:
The Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation is dissolved and Bashir
is announced as president of Sudan.1996:
Al-Bashir wins the presidential elections with 75.7% of the votes. All major
parties boycotted the elections.1999:
Al-Turabi who was parliament speaker introduced a bill to curb the president’s
powers, after which Al-Bashir dissolved the parliament and declare a state of
emergency following backing by the army and major figures at the NIF.2000:
Al-Bashir is reelected for a second five years term receiving 86.5% of the
votes.2001:
The Sudanese president orders the arrest of Al-Turabi on allegations that he was
trying to overthrow the government.
2003:
Two Darfur rebel groups rise up, saying government neglects arid region and arms
Arab militia against civilians.2004:
The UN says Darfur has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Washington labels the Darfur conflict as genocide. 2005:
The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) led by Bashir and Sudan People
Liberation Movement (SPLM) led by John Garang sign a peace agreement ending two
decades of civil war between North and South.2006:
Al-Bashir refuses to accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur accusing the world body of
‘neo-colonialism’.2008:
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo
requests an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir including three counts of genocide,
five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. The charges are connected to
the conflict that broke out in Darfur in 2003
Bashir 'war crimes' call arrest
1/15/2008
Sudanese Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi has been
arrested after calling on President Omar al-Bashir
to hand himself in to face war crimes charges. The
veteran opposition leader is the most high-profile
Sudanese figure to say the president should go to
The Hague to face charges over Darfur.
Mr. Turabi's son said he was worried for the health
of his 76-year-old father. international Criminal
Court (ICC) judges are deciding whether to issue an
arrest warrant for Mr. Bashir. The BBC's Amber
Henshaw in Khartoum says tension is mounting ahead
of the ICC decision. The head of national
intelligence recently said foreigners in Sudan could
be attacked if an arrest warrant is issued for the
president. Mr. Turabi was taken from his Khartoum
home on Wednesday, family members said.
Sarah Obama
starts historic journe
By: George
Olwenya
1/12/2009
Mama Sarah Obama
has started her journey to the US to witness the swearing-in
of her grandson Barack Obama as the 44th American
President.And she is not travelling empty-handed. As a
grandmother, she is carrying special gifts for her grandson
— a Luo traditional three-legged stool, a flywhisk and a
shield, which are symbols of leadership. "I wanted to give
him a spear too, but I have been told that due to security
reasons, I will not be allowed to board a plane with it,"
Mama Sarah told The Standard.Mama Sarah was in a jubilant
mood as she left Nyang’oma Kogelo village for Nairobi. There
was a battery of foreign and local journalists to record the
moment.
