BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Sudan welcomes ‘victory’ after removal from terror list

December 14, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Sudanese finance minister Dr. Heba Mohamed Ali speaking during the meeting of Board of Directors of the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority in Khartoum on Monday, December 14, 2020 [Photo by SUNA]

JUBA – Sudan has welcomed, as victory, the removal of the African country from the United States list of State Sponsor of terrorism, hours after the United States embassy in Sudan announced that Sudan has now been removed from the terror list after 27 years.

Speaking during the meeting of Board of Directors of the Capital Markets Regulatory Authority in Khartoum on Monday, Sudan’s finance minister, Dr. Heba Mohamed Ali, welcomed the official lifting of Sudan’s name from the list of terrorism, saying it is a major achievement for country.

“This is a major victory and a great step in the promotion of investment in the country,” she said. adding: “Sudan is expected to witness many requests from foreign investors and the concerned authorities are in a complete readiness for investment control and investor protection.”

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Kiir, Machar to arrive in Khartoum on Sunday morning – Tutkew

November 13, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny [Photo via Getty Images]

KHARTOUM – South Sudan President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and his first deputy, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, will both arrive in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Sunday morning to attend the Sudanese peace celebration, presidential security advisor Tutkew Gatluak said.

The latest update came a day after a senior opposition official close to Machar said the main armed opposition leader is traveling to Khartoum in the next few days, without stating the purpose of his trip.

On Friday, vice-president Hussein Abdelbaggi and Gatluak arrived with a huge delegation to Khartoum ahead of the Sunday peace function.

Speaking to reporters at Khartoum airport following his arrival from Juba, Gatluak who is also the chief negotiator for the Sudanese peace deal, said Kiir and Machar would arrive in the Sudanese capital on Sunday morning, the day the peace celebration is expected to take place.

“We have come with vice-president Hussein Abdelbaggi to join our brothers in the state of Sudan in celebrating their peace because this is a historic moment for the people of Sudan and also the people of the state of South Sudan,” Gatluak said.

“The day after tomorrow, 1st Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of the state of South Sudan will arrive together with his brother Dr. Riek [Machar] to also join the Sudanese people in the celebration,” Gatluak added.

Under the auspices of South Sudan government, Sudanese parties signed a landmark peace agreement in October in Juba, in a ceremony that was attended by several regional heads of states and international representatives.

The peace agreement ends almost two decades of war that has seen hundreds of thousands of people killed in the country’s restive region of Darfur, Southern Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains.

The agreement signed by the rebel Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) and the ruling coalition government in Khartoum establishes a self-rule for Southern Kordofan and the western region of Darfur.

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Sudan’s Burhan issues general amnesty for armed groups

November 13, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

President of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan [Photo by AFP]

KHARTOUM – The Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has issued a Republican decree granting general amnesty to all armed groups who took up arms against the government of Sudan, according to Sudanese media.

The state-owned Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that the amnesty will however exclude those under international arrest warrants for war crimes against humanity committed in the restive Darfur region.

“Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, issued today a general amnesty for all those who carried weapons or participated in any of the military or war operations or participated in any act or statement related to combat operations,” the SUNA reported.

“The decision, which carries the number (249) for the year 2020, excludes those against whom arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court or who are facing criminal charges or lawsuits for the crime of genocide and crimes against humanity,” it added.

it further said that the “decision shall take effect from the date of its signature.”

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Sudanese singer arriving from Juba with $300,000 detained at airport

November 12, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Sudanese singer Asha al-Jabaliya [Photo courtesy, moderated by Sudans Post]

JUBA – Sudanese authorities on Monday briefly detained a famous singer arriving from South Sudan’s capital Juba with at least $300,000 and several kilograms of gold at Khartoum airport, according to one security source.

Asha al-Jabaliya has been in Juba since October participating on concerts ahead of the signing of Sudanese peace deal between government and a number of opposition groups on October 3.

Speaking to Sudans Post this morning, the security official said Asha was detained at airport, but was released following interrogation on where he brought the money and the gold.

“She was arrested and then detained at airport. After interrogation, he said he got the money from concerts and the gold as gifts from senior government official of the state of South Sudan and he was then released,” the official said.

Several phone calls to Asha were unsuccessful, but several official also told ,Sudans Post that Asha went to Juba in October upon an invitation from South Sudan presidential advisor on security, Tutkew Gatluak who is also the chief negotiator for Sudanese parties.

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Sudanese opposition leader Sadig al-Mahdi tests positive for COVID-19 as Burhan, Hamdok test negative

October 29, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Sudanese opposition politician and leader of National Umma Party Sadig al Mahdi [Photo via Getty Images]

KHARTOUM- Prominent Sudanese politician and leader of the country’s opposition National Umma Party (NUP) Sadig al-Mahdi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to close aides.

One senior NUP told Sudans Post on Thursday that the opposition leader was informed of his COVID-19 status this afternoon after he and other senior opposition figures gave samples for testing on Wednesday night.

“Al Imam Sadig al Mahdi has tested positive for COVID-19 and there are several others who have also tested positive for the virus,” the official said in Khartoum on condition of anonymity.

The opposition official said the former prime minister was in a stable condition and was not showing signs of the illness.

“However, the Imam is doing good and has not shown signs of the virus. He is now isolating and doctors will monitor him for the next 14 days,” the official said.

Burhan, Hamdok, Hemeti test negative

Separately, Sudans Post was told that Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has tested negative for the virus, along with leader of the Transitional Soveriegn Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan with his deputy General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

A source also said several members of the Transitional Sovereign Council have also tested positive for the virus.

“The prime minister is negative. Al-Burhan and Mohamed Daglo are also negative, but several inside the Council are infected,” the source said without identifying.

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Sudan, South Sudan reopen borders for the first time in 9 years

October 28, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

South Sudan’s defense minister Angelina Teny speaking during a ceremony to reopen Sudan-South Sudan borders in Kosti, Sudan [Photo by Sudans Post]

KHARTOUM – The governments of Sudan and South Sudan have for the first time in nine (9) years reopened their borders after a high-level security delegation from South Sudan visit Khartoum this week, according to the ministry of defense.

Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel, the SPLA-IO deputy spokesman and defense ministry spokesman, said in a brief social media statement that the Upper Nile-White Nile state border crossing point was reopened during a ceremony in Kosti on Tuesday.

“On 27/10/2020, the Minister of Defense & Veterans Affairs Hon Angelina Jany Teny and her Sudanese Counterpart Hon. Yassin Ibrahim led a High Level delegations from South Sudan and Sudan to witness the long awaited official reopening of the borders between the two sisterly Countries in Kosti, White Nile State,” the defense ministry official said in the statement.

Borders between Sudan and South Sudan were shut up in 2012 following the Heglig crisis which saw South Sudan armed forces, the SPLA-IO, taking over Heglig, a disputed border town near Unity state, for almost one week in April that year.

In September the same year, the two countries signed the Cooperation Agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, providing for the reopening of the two countries’ borders, but the agreement has never been implemented.

Following the outbreak of South Sudanese civil war in December 2013, hundreds of South Sudanese civilians fled to Sudan to seek refuge.

Earlier this month, Sudan’s President of the Transitional Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah al Burhan said during the signing of the Sudanese peace agreement in Juba that South Sudanese will no longer need visas to visit Sudan.

This is in line with the cooperation agreement which guarantee Four Freedoms: “freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to acquire and dispose property.”

President Salva Kiir has also ordered the implementation of the four freedoms.

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Two Israeli diplomats arrive in Sudan as talks of normalization near – foreign ministry source

October 21, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Benjamin Netanyahu wants Israel’s parliament to protect him from prosecution [Photo by Oliver Weiken/dpa]

KHARTOUM – Two senior Israeli diplomats have arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Wednesday evening after Sudan reportedly consented to normalization of ties with the Jewish state, according to a foreign ministry source.

The Sudanese diplomatic source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was ‘not allowed to talk to the media on the matter’, said the unnamed Israeli diplomats, along with their aides, were accompanied to Khartoum by one Emirati diplomat and a Saudi security officer.

“This evening, two officials from the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs arrived in Khartoum. They [came]together with a foreign ministry colleague from [United Arab] Emirates and a security official from Saudi [Arabia],” the source said.

“They will stay here and they will return tomorrow (Thursday) night and a lot about the process (normalization) will be discuss so that as soon as the US delist our country from terror designation, we will then publicly announce talks to begin,” the official added.

The foreign ministry declined to publicly comment on the alleged visit.

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Sudanese ‘stakeholders’ tell Trump country is ready to start normalization talks with Israel

October 19, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Sudan’s Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan speaks during the opening session of the First National Economic Conference in the capital Khartoum on September 26, 2020. [Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images]

JUBA – Sudanese authorities have informed the Trump Administration that the North African country is ready to start normalization talks with Israel, according to a senior foreign ministry official.

This comes after officials in Khartoum last week said the country had agreed to normalize with the Jewish state if certain conditions, including aid, are met in addition to removal of Sudan from a US list of State Sponsor of Terrorism.

Speaking to Sudans Post this afternoon, a senior foreign ministry official said the leader of Transitional Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had convened a secret meeting last week that was attended by the Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, two members of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), and a representative from the Umma Party.

He said the meeting conducted Friday night agreed by consensus to endorse an immediate normalization talks and wrote to the US government informing it that the country is ready to start talks with Israel.

“Well there was a meeting by the stakeholders on Friday night. These including the Council, the government and FFC as well as Umma party of Sadig al Mahdi. This meeting endorsed the immediate start of normalization process and it then wrote to the US administration that we are ready for normalization talks with our brothers in Israel,” the official who requested not to be named said.

“You know last week the Americans gave us a 24-hour ultimatum to decide if we were to normalize with Israel and the government asked the US for another 72 hours because that period is very insufficient for our leaders to meet and take decision,” the official added.

Other sources in Khartoum have also confirmed that the government has been informed that the removal of the country from the terror list was at the Trump’s desk as of this afternoon and a landmark decision awaits Sudan.

“We have learned from our US brothers that the decision on removal of our country from that list is under President Trump and Sudan is waiting a great decision,” the official said.

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UN Security Council urges Sudan’s holdout groups to ‘immediately’ join peace process without pre-conditions

October 12, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

Russian’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia [Photo via UNSC]

NEW YORK – The United Nations Security Council has urged holdout Sudanese rebels who didn’t sign the October 3, peace agreement in Juba to immediately join the South Sudan-brokered peace agreement without preconditions.

Last week, Sudan’s ruling coalition and a number of opposition groups under the banner of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (RSF) signed a landmark peace agreement in Juba, ending almost two decades of war.

The agreement provided for autonomy in the country’s south and teh restive regions of Darfur. It importantly also provides for integration of thousands of rebel fighters into the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF).

However, two key opposition groups have not signed the agreement.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) led by renegade Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hilu and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) led by General Abdel Wahid Nur, have refused to sign the agreement over suspicion of the ruling military.

In a statement, the UN Security Council said they welcome the signing of teh agreement and commended the commitment of the parties to the deal to end the 17-year-old conflict which has killed thousands and displaced millions.

“The members of the Security Council welcomed the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement in Juba on 3 October 2020 by the Government of Sudan, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minawi,” the statement said.

The statement went on to encourage ” signatories of the peace agreement to begin swiftly the process of implementation, particularly of key provisions of the agreement pertaining to security arrangements and addressing the root causes of conflict in Darfur and the Two Areas.”

It further urged the none signatories to the agreement to join the process without precondition immediately.

“The members of the Security Council urged those who have yet to join the peace process with the Government of Sudan to do so immediately, constructively and without pre-conditions to conclude swiftly negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement, and called upon all international actors to continue encouraging non-participatory parties in this regard,” it said.

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Sudan lobbying for Machar’s release from house arrest

October 11, 2020 BY NANCY ABDEL RAHMAN

South Sudan First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok [Photo by Sudans Post]

JUBA – The Sudanese government is lobbying to have South Sudan First Vice-President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, released from house arrest, a foreign ministry source in Khartoum said Sunday.

Machar, an influential figure in South Sudanese politics, has been under forced house confinement since late 2016.

He was initially kept in South Africa for two years, and later on moved to Khartoum where peace talks, which culminated in the revitalized peace agreement, were taking place under the auspices of former president Omar al Bashir.

In February this year, he was appointed South Sudan first vice president, but Machar who is a signatory to the revitalized peace agreement has remained under house arrest, to the point he is not allowed to go to church.

Speaking to Sudans Post this evening, a foreign ministry official in Khartoum said Sudan, the current chair of teh regional bloc, was working to have Machar released because he has shown the needed commitment to the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“The prime minister is talking to the member states of the IGAD on the issue because it has been two years since the revitalized peace agreement has been signed and Machar has shown nothing suspicious against the peace agreement,” the foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

“So, we have made it very clear to the region that Machar’s status must conform with the currently reality of peace in the state of South Sudan,” he added.

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