Tag: GreatLakesNews

{{The African Union’s (AU) mediation team suspended the stalled peace process aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states on Wednesday, as the government and rebel delegations once again failed to conclude a framework agreement.}}

Last March, the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) asked the head of the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to broker the talks in order to reach an agreement by 30 April 2014.

On 22 April, chief mediator Thabo Mbeki submitted an amended version to the two parties providing to discuss a cessation of hostilities, humanitarian assistance, and political issues related to the Two Areas.

Besides that the mediation proposed to discuss the national dialogue process to achieve democratic transition in the country.

After failing during the past nine days to bridge the gaps between the two parties, the AUHIP mediators on Wednesday evening announced the suspension of the talks. The mediators are expected to report to the AUPSC for further guidance.

The mediation will present a detailed report to the Peace and Security Council,” said an African diplomat close to the file. He further said that the two parties are responsible for the failure of the negotiations.

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{{US congressman Frank Wolf has called on president Barack Obama to send former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to South Sudan to help resolve the ongoing crisis, amid warnings the conflict is eerily reminiscent of the genocide that unfolded in Rwanda 20 years ago.}}

“I stand before you as concerned as I have ever been about the state of affairs in South Sudan and the potential for the recent violence to spiral into genocide – a genocide that could defy even the horrors of Rwanda given the oil reserves that are in play,” he said.

Wolf made the comments at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday in which he showed graphic photos of mass killings taken by an expert who witnessed the atrocities taking place during a recent wave of ethnic violence.

“I stand before you as concerned as I have ever been about the state of affairs in South Sudan and the potential for the recent violence to spiral into genocide – a genocide that could defy even the horrors of Rwanda given the oil reserves that are in play,” he said.

“MORAL OBLIGATION”

The US played a pivotal role in South Sudan’s secession from Sudan in 2011 following the signing of a peace agreement in 2005 aimed at ending the more than two-decades-long conflict, and thus had a “moral obligation to act”.

“President Obama must do more to resolve this crisis. America helped give birth to South Sudan,” Wolf said.

“Both sides are at fault and by immediately dispatching president Clinton and president Bush to help negotiate a halt to these killings, we would unequivocally convey to the long-suffering people of that nation that this is a US foreign policy priority,” he added.

Wolf’s comments come ahead of a visit to the capital, Juba, by secretary of state John Kerry as the US warns it is considering targeted sanctions on South Sudan.

The alleged massacre of more than 200 civilians sheltering in a mosque after rebel troops recaptured Unity state capital Bentiu from government forces has sparked international condemnation.

Rebels are accused of carrying out targeted killings after rounding up civilians based on ethnicity and nationality.

UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay and special envoy for the prevention of genocide Adama Dieng were in South Sudan this week where they held high level meetings with president Salva Kiir and former vice-president turned rebel leader Riek Machar as part of investigations into the circumstances surrounding the recent killings.

Wolf himself has travelled to both Sudan and South Sudan on several occasions and is widely recognised in Congress for his work in the region.

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{{The UN’s top human rights official arrived in South Sudan on Monday, officials said, amid an increase in global concern over the country’s civil war and a wave of atrocities.}}

A spokesman of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Joe Contreras, said High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay arrived in the capital Juba on a joint mission with Adama Dieng, the UN’s special envoy for the prevention of genocide.

The two are expected to remain in the country for two days and investigate on behalf of UN chief Ban Ki-moon. They are expected to meet South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and other senior officials.

Last week the UN Security Council brandished the threat of sanctions against South Sudan government forces, loyal to President Kiir, and rebels behind former vice president Riek Machar, who are responsible for escalating abuses.

Both sides have been implicated in atrocities and war crimes including massacres, rape, attacks on UN bases sheltering civilians from ethnic violence and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Last week, the rebels were blamed for the killings of hundreds of people in the oil hub of Bentiu, and a pro-government mob killed dozens of civilians in an attack on a UN base in Bor.

Kiir’s government has been fighting Machar’s forces — a mix of army defectors and ethnic militia — since December 15.

The four-month-old war has left thousands and possibly tens of thousands of people dead, and forced over one million to flee their homes, sparking a massive humanitarian crisis.

More than 78,000 civilians are currently crammed into eight UN bases in the country, while more than a million people have been displaced within the country or have fled to neighbouring states, mainly Uganda and Ethiopia.

Violence has also taken on an ethnic dimension, pitting Kiir’s Dinka tribe against militia forces from Machar’s Nuer people.

AFP

{{The Saudi ambassador to Kenya Malhan Ghorm says his country is “contemplating” legal action against the Kenya police for “illegally detaining” their national.}}

The ambassador further claims that this action by police was tantamount to “maligning the name of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” by associating their national with terrorism.

The Saudi man, Ali Hanash Al Amri was released Monday morning after being held in Lamu.

Police claimed he was heading to Somalia to support the Al-Shabaab.

However, the Saudi ambassador says Al Amri was a tourist who was arrested in a hotel.

The Saudi Arabian university student who has been in police custody in Mombasa for several days over terror links was Monday released to his country’s ambassador in Nairobi for deportation.

Principal Magistrate Abraham Gachie allowed an application by police to have Mr Al Amri released to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Nairobi.

{{Tourism Purpose }}

In a letter addressed to the Mombasa County criminal investigations officer, Mr Henry Ondiek, the ambassador stated that: “Mr Al Amri came to Kenya for the sole purpose of tourism and he has no ill will motive towards Kenya”

The letter which was tabled in court added: “The embassy undertakes upon itself to send him back to Saudi Arabia within the shortest possible time. I therefore request you to release him immediately so as to enable the embassy to send him to Saudi Arabia,”

Last week, a legal representative from the embassy visited the 25 year old Al Amri at Port Police Station.

The official also held meetings with top security officers before flying back to Nairobi and returned Monday to receive the man and take him to Nairobi.

He was arrested at Kiunga border village last Wednesday while in the company of a Kenya government official working for a research institution who told police that the Saudi man requested to travel with him to undertake marine research there.

Mr Al Amri was identified as a fourth year surgery student at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands who entered Kenya from Tanzania through the Lunga Lunga border point.

According to court documents seen by the Daily Nation, the man was travelling on a three months holiday visa and had visited Lesotho, South Africa, Zanzibar and Tanzania before arriving into the country.

{{Detained for 10days }}

He was to be held for ten days at the police station on a Mombasa court directive to allow police conclude their investigations in relation to terrorism after arresting him along the Kenya-Somalia border.

According to the United Nations and western security agencies, Kenya has been a main route for foreigner terror recruits travelling to Somalia to fight for the Al- Shabaab.

In the past, Kenyan security agencies had arrested a number of British, German, French, and Belgium and American citizens on terror suspicions along the border area.

In March, a Nairobi court sanctioned the deportation of three Belgian men arrested in 2013 in Malindi after completing a one year jail term for being unlawfully resident in Kenya.

Ben Abdalla Ismail, Rachid Benimari (French) and Mustapha Bouyabaren (Belgian) were extradited to Brussels where they were to answer to terror related charges.

In 2010 British national Michael Adebolajo was arrested in Kizingitini village before being deported to the UK and was in 2013 sentenced to life after he was convicted of murdering a British soldier on the streets of London.

NMG

{{Somalia has temporarily recalled its ambassador to Kenya following the arrest and alleged harassment of one of its diplomats in Nairobi, officials said Monday.}}

The diplomatic protest comes amid an ongoing crackdown in Kenya against suspected militants that has also seen thousands of Somalis and ethnic Somalis detained by Kenyan police and dozens of them deported.

“I was called in Mogadishu by the government to give an explanation regarding the harassment and arrest made against Somali diplomat by the Kenyan police in Nairobi,” the ambassador, Mohamed Ali Nur, told reporters in Mogadishu.

“The detention was in complete violation against the diplomatic rights of a country and could damage the relations between the two countries,” he added.

Somalia’s deputy foreign minister, Mahad Mohamed Salad, said the recall was temporary, and parliament speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari said deputies would also briefed by the ambassador on the crackdown.

“This is an opportunity for the parliament to hear about the problems facing the Somali people in Kenya and the arrest of the Somali diplomat,” he said.

Officials identified the arrested diplomat as working in the embassy’s consular department. It was not immediately clear if the diplomat was still being detained, and there were no details on the circumstances of the arrest.

Earlier this month Kenyan authorities launched mass round-ups of foreigners, saying they needed to weed out sympathisers of Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab rebels following a string of militant attacks.

The operation has focussed on Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate, and residents have accused police of indiscriminately arresting people of Somali origin.

Somalia’s Shabaab rebels claimed responsibility for the attack last year on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi which left at least 67 dead, and recent weeks have seen a string of attacks blamed on Islamists in the capital and near the coastal city of Mombasa.

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{{Ugandan and DR Congo government officials are meeting in Kampala to draw up a plan to enable over 180,000 Congolese refugees return home following the return of peace.}}

The fourth tripartite meeting which also includes UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) opened Monday at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala.

It is attended by Richard Magenze, the DR Congo minister of internal security, decentralization and customary affairs with governors of the strife-strike provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Orientale.

Magenze said that with support of the UN mission in DR Congo, the Congolese army has usefully defeated the negative forces in the eastern DRC provinces, and restored peace which is favorable for people to return.

Musa Ecweru, the state minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees said the initial plan to repatriate Congolese nationals in 2011 experienced a setback following a resurgence of fighting by the M23 rebel group.

“Since 2011, we have been receiving a mass influx of refugees at different times,” said Ecweru. He said that today, a total of 184,837 Congolese refugees live in Uganda, of whom 35,554 live in Kampala.

Sakura Atsumi, the acting UNHCR representative in Uganda said Congolese comprise majority of refugees in Uganda, and are settled mainly in Rwamwanja, Kyangwali, Nakivale and Kyaka II settlements.

Minister Ecweru said that there has been spontaneous return to DRC of refugees who have been leaving the settlement camps. However, one such spontaneous return turned tragic when over 100 refugees drowned in Lake Albert last month.

“Refugees will be provided with necessary information and sensitized about return areas and programmes so that they can make informed decisions about repatriation in safety and dignity. However in the interim, government of Uganda and UNHCR will work out modalities to facilitate spontaneous returns pending organized voluntary repatriation,” said Ecweru.

Stefano Severe, the UNHCR representative in DR Congo in a statement said displaced civilians who had sought refuge elsewhere are spontaneously returning to their homes in the areas of Beni, Rutshuru in North Kivu.

Severe however said that in spite of restoration of peace in some parts of eastern DRC, several armed groups remain active and the situation is still volatile and unfavorable for voluntary repatriation.

Newvision

{{Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohamed has revealed IGAD is going to hold a summit to seek a solution to the spiralling violence in South Sudan and the worsening humanitarian situation.}}

She said, ” the summit will be held soon but we have not agreed on the dates yet. I don’t think we are ready to sit and watch this any longer.”

She said it was time for the international community to cooperate and ensure that a solution is found as soon as possible to restore peace in South Sudan.

“It’s so ironic that just a few days we were all in Kigali Rwanda commemorating the 1994 genocide then we come and watch these killings in South Sudan happening right in front of our eyes, in front of our living rooms every day,” she lamented.

Mohamed however downplayed criticism that Kenya was reluctant on the matter adding that she and the rest of East African Community states were in the front line to see peace restored in the war-torn country.

“Not a day passes without a discussion on South Sudan taking place somewhere in government; either is State House itself, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning in terms of assistance going to South Sudan. So I don’t know why one would say we are reluctant,” Mohamed defended.

The CS was speaking on Sunday during the opening of the Kenya-Rwanda 8th Joint Commission for Co-operation (JCC) in Nairobi.

Touching on the South Sudan issue, Rwandan Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said there was need to take a different approach by looking at how to reconcile fighting ethnic communities.

“I speak this out of experience. There is no better help than self help,” Mushikiwabo challenged the South Sudanese leaders. “Let’s stop this idea that people have to die when we want power. Let’s distance citizens from power differences.”

During the two day session in Nairobi, Kenya and Rwanda will be discussing achievements made following the mid-term review of the JCC in 2011.

Key areas of focus will be security, immigration, infrastructure and trade.

{{South Sudan’s new army (SPLA) commander has said his priority will be to protect the constitution and the territorial integrity of the new nation, in an apparent back-track on previous statements in which he called for the withdrawal of soldiers from the Bahr el Ghazal region fighting rebel forces in different areas across the country.}}

Speaking to government officials on Saturday who had paid him a visit to offer their congratulations on his appointment, General Paul Malong Awan said restoring law and order was at the top of his agenda.

“The mission of an army is always to ensure defence of the nation, the lives of the people from any harmful threats and their properties. Another important mission of the army is to protect the constitution of the country and restore law and order. This is what we must do now as the top priority,” he said.

While Awan acknowledged existing challenges facing the army, he said he was committed to working with the country’s leadership to ensure that the basic needs of military personnel are met.

He also urged the army to remain prepared and on alert in the face of impending conflict with the rebel fighters in the country.

“I have always said that a soldier should always give priority to combat preparations. The minds of the commanding officers and soldiers alike seem to be away from the battlefield. This current attitude and behaviours must change,” he said.

However, critics have questioned the reasons behind Awan’s sudden change of heart, after previously advocating for the withdrawal of government troops from Aweil, the capital of his home state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal (NBeG).

Awan, a military veteran and the current governor of NBeG, was appointed after his predecessor General James Hoth Mai was sacked by president Salva Kiir.

Observers say Awan and his supporters pressured the president to remove the SPLA’s former chief of general staff amid concerns Mai was working against the leadership and collaborating with government critics.

Awan had also threatened to recall government troops from the Northern Bah el Ghaal region currently fighting rebels loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity states.

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