Tag: GreatLakesNews

{{The European Union has asked the Tanzanaian government to act swiftly and arrest and prosecute those behind two bomb attacks in Arusha and other serious acts of insecurity in the recent past.}}

The head of the EU Delegation to East Africa, Mr Filiberto Sebregondi, warned yesterday that growing acts of violence and failure by authorities to take tangible action against perpetrators could jeorpardise the country’s high standing among members of the international community.

“Bomb attacks which occurred in Arusha on May 5 and on June 15 are very worrisome developments….for a traditionally stable, tolerant and peaceful country such as Tanzania, this is a serious setback,” said Mr Sebregondi.

He said perpetrators of such violent incidents should be identified and prosecuted, so that impunity does not encourage them to continue, he said.

NMG

{{Sudanese president, Omer Hassan al-Bashir has hinted today that he could run for re-election in the upcoming presidential elections on the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) ticket.}}

Last March, Bashir reiterated his past intentions to step down at the end of his term in 2015 saying that Sudan is in need of “fresh blood” and that he spent enough time in power.

At the time several officials, including Bashir’s second vice-president al-Haj Adam Youssef, said that it is not up to Bashir to make a decision on his political future but the NCP.

Al-Bashir, who was addressing the NCP’s Shura Council seventh session on Friday, said that the media made conclusions on the issue of his candidacy without being fully informed adding that his re-election will be determined by the NCP’s General Convention and the Shura Council.

The head of the NCP’s Shura Council, Abu Ali Majzoub, on his part asserted that the NCP will nominate Bashir again in 2015.

“We will not approve any candidate other than Bashir”, and addressed Bashir saying “We will only accept you, and we want you to continue holding the torch”.

Bashir said that the NCP will review its statute in preparation for the 2015 general elections and urged the opposition parties to get ready for the polls instead of working overthrow the government.

He went on to say that if the opposition aims at organizing mass street protests with the aim of having army will take its side “we tell them that we are not the Socialist Union (SU)”.

The Sudanese leader was referring to the SU which was the ruling party during the regime of Sudan’s ex-president Gaafar Al-Nmeiri who was deposed after a popular uprising in April 1985 prompting the army to abandon him.

On the economic front, Bashir pointed out that the government’s tab for subsidizing fuel, wheat, and electricity amounts to 14 billion pound SDG ($ 3.2 billion), while the government budget is 25 billion pound SDG ($ 6.4 billion).

Last year, the government launched a package of tough austerity measures, including scaling back fuel subsidies to close a fiscal gap, sparking short-lived protests.

Earlier this month, Sudan’s minister of finance and national economy Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Rasool urged the parliament to authorize gradual lifting of subsidies in order to reduce inflation.

Sudan’s finances have tightened since oil-rich South Sudan seceded from the north in July 2011. The new state contained 75% of the country’s pre-partition oil reserves.

Bashir also spoke of the new constitution that is being formulated and said that government is consulting several stakeholders so that the law of the land accommodates all political forces “except those who refuse”.

The opposition vowed not to take part in the process unless the NCP agrees to cede power and form a transitional government that prepares the country for elections.

Sudan is currently governed by an interim constitution which was ratified following signing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with South Sudan rebels.

Bashir stressed that Sudan will continue its fight against the world which is he said controlled by the Zionist alliances and scoffed at the concept of “international justice” saying it is run by the U.S.

“We continue to exist against their will” said Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on genocide charges related to the Darfur conflict that broke out in 2033.

The Sudanese president acknowledged that his government had in the past provided support for rebel groups fighting the government of South Sudan.

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{{An Ethiopian opposition party called on Thursday for the government to scrap an anti-terrorism law it says is used to stifle dissent, threatening a repeat of protests that brought thousands onto the streets of Addis Ababa early this month.}}

The rally on June 2, organized by another opposition group, was the first large-scale protest in the Ethiopian capital since a disputed 2005 election ended in street violence that killed 200 people.

Opposition groups in the Horn of Africa country were vibrant until that vote but have since largely retreated from public view, the result, analysts say, of harassment by the authorities and divisions within their ranks.

They routinely accuse the government of intimidating and imprisoning their members and rigging elections against them. Ethiopia’s 547-seat legislature has only one opposition member.

The anti-terrorism law ratified in 2009 makes anyone caught publishing information that could induce readers into acts of terrorism liable to jail terms of 10 to 20 years. Opponents say it is used indiscriminately to target anyone who opposes government policy.

“We shall demand that the anti-terror law be abolished immediately. It contradicts the constitution and violates the rights of people,” Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party spokesman Daniel Tefera said at a news conference in Addis Ababa.

In a statement, UDJ said the government was doing too little to tackle unemployment and corruption and announced a campaign of nationwide debates and rallies.

“If there is no positive response from the ruling regime, we shall go to court with the millions of signatures in our hands,” it said.

More than 10 journalists have been charged under the anti-terrorism law, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which says Ethiopia has the highest number of exiled journalists in the world.

{wirestory}

{{The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced June 20, that it has retired the military chief of staff and other senior officers after they have reached the retirement age.}}

SAF spokesman Colonel al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad said that Lieutenant General Mustafa Osman Obeid will replace Colonel General Esmat Abdel-Rahman as the army’s new Chief of Staff. General Hashim Abdullah Mohamed Hassan was appointed as the deputy Chief of Staff.

Lieutenant General Mohamed Graham Omer Sha’oul was appointed as the new SAF General Inspector, General Ismail Breima Abdel-Samad as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Ahmed Abdalla al-Naw as the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces, General Emad al-Deen Mustafa Adawi as the Chairman of the Joint Operations Staff, General Daleel al-Daw Mohamed Fadlalla as the Chief of Staff of the Navy, General Sideeg Amer Hassan Ali as the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security and General Al-Sayed Ali Sir al-Khatim Mustafa as the Director of the Medical Services Administration.

Col. Al-Sawarmi said that other unnamed officers at several senior ranks were either promoted or sent to retirement “in the context of the annual routine work at the SAF” and “succession of generations and to provide opportunities to others”

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir also met today with the outgoing and the new chiefs of staffs, he added.

The role of the Sudanese army has been under the microscope lately given stepped up attacks by rebel groups in Darfur, South Kordofan and North Kordofan state.

In late April, Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels, who aim to topple the regime of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir, took control of Abu-Kershola as part of a wide offensive that saw them briefly occupying North Kordofan second largest town of Um Rawaba.

The attack was significant given the fact that rebel activity has been mostly limited to the states of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Residents said that the rebels were met with little resistance from government forces there.

This month the powerful presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie said in rare remarks that the army is struggling to deal with rebels and stressed the need to boost recruitment and support for the military.

But at the time al-Sawarmi said in a subtle response to Nafie that the army has protected the capital from falling at the hands of the rebels.

“I emphasize that the Sudanese army is the one deterring any outlaw and if it wasn’t for the Sudanese army deterring outlaws whether they belonged to the so-called [Sudan] revolutionary front and other rebel movements, these movements have now seized the city of Khartoum and the regime would have totally collapsed” al-Sawarmi told Sudan Radio Service (SRS).

“The truth is that the army protects the homeland and this does not need us to confirm,” he added.

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{{Sudanese people who have fled a recent surge in fighting in the western Darfur region live in terrible conditions and face a “humanitarian disaster,” a U.N. human rights expert said after visiting the strife-torn region.}}

War broke out in the western region of Darfur over a decade ago. Mainly African tribes took up arms against the Arab government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalization.

Violence is down from a 2004-2005 peak but a new wave of fighting between the army, rebels and competing tribes has displaced since January about 300,000 people who live in camps across the vast arid region.

“The difficult conditions facing the people … especially women and children, were terrible,” Mashood Adebayo Baderin said on Thursday in Khartoum after visiting a camp for displaced people in South Darfur.

Baderin, a Nigerian asked by the United Nations Human Rights Council to assess the situation in Sudan, made his third trip to the African country.

“The tents were inadequate and most of the new IDPs (displaced people) have resorted to using local materials to construct make-shift shelter,” he said, adding that urgent action was needed to avoid a “humanitarian disaster.”

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Bashir and other Sudanese officials on charges of masterminding war crimes in Darfur. They deny the charges and refuse to recognize the court.

Human rights groups and the United Nations estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have died in Darfur’s conflict. The government says around 10,000 people have been killed.

Baderin said the humanitarian situation was worsening in parts of Blue Nile state, where the Sudanese army is also fighting rebels, who accuse the government of neglect.

“I am … concerned about civilians trapped in rebel-controlled areas as a result of the belligerent activities of government and rebel forces in the region,” he said.

“I have been informed that many displaced and vulnerable civilians have been forced to move further south without access to basic necessities such as water and food,” he said, adding that access for aid agencies in government-controlled areas had improved.

{Reuters}