SPLM NCP Sign a Framework for discussions in Sudan

29 June 2011—(Khartoum) — The SPLM and the NCP on Tuesday signed a frame work agreement, in an attempt to resolve their differences and find a lasting peace in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

The agreement, signed in Addis Ababa, is to pave way for comprehensive political and security arrangements in the two areas.

A Sudanese intellectual and political analyst said that the accord between the two parties is a positive move towards peace and stability in the warring regions.

Doctor Omar Ahmed El-Garrai spoke to SRS from Khartoum on Wednesday.

[Omar al-Garrai]: "I think it is a good agreement and the talks were successful. It falls on the interest of all Sudanese people. I think the SPLM stance is strong in these talks, because the talks with the NCP come following the armed aggressions by the government on southern Kordofan state. In addition to that, the fear by the government that southern Kordofan might turn to an area of accountability such as what has happened in Darfur."

The NCP had earlier vowed not to negotiate with SPLM/SPLA in the north, and instead threatened to clear the SPLA forces in southern Kordofan.

Al-Garrai however said that the NCP’s move to sign the agreement is a show that the party is aware of the intensity of the atrocities committed in the area, and the price that the perpetrators are likely to pay in the end.

[Omar El-Garrai]: "For the NCP, if these talks succeed, it will be a big success for them, I think they will succeed in hiding a big crime that occurred in Southern Kordofan, whereby hundreds of people were killed and thousands fled their homes. It is better for the NCP to stop the political statements and threats and as well insistence of using force and rejecting to withdraw from Abyei and southern Kordofan. They had better reconsider their position and try to win in the diplomatic round after they tried the military round and did not even gain a tangible military win."

The agreement also stipulates that “any disarmament to the SPLA forces in the north shall be done in accordance with agreed upon plans and without resorting to force."

The SPLA from the two states are to be integrated into the northern army "over a period of time and with modalities to be agreed upon," or demobilized.

The agreement which was facilitated by the chief African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki, was signed by the chairman of the SPLM in the north Malik Agar and the presidential advisor Doctor Nafi Ali Nafi.

The Rest @ Sudan Radio

Shabaab & Dyncorp use the same Transport - Aerolift

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Air cargo carriers used to smuggle weapons to war-torn parts of Africa have also been hired to deliver humanitarian aid and support peacekeeping operations, a leading peace think tank said Tuesday.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report that 90 percent of air cargo companies identified in arms trafficking-related reports had been used by UN agencies, European Union and NATO members as well as leading non-governmental organisations to deliver aid.

"For example, UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan have continued to use aircraft operated by (Sudan's) Badr Airlines even after the UN Security Council recommended an aviation ban be imposed on the carrier in response to arms embargo violations," the SIPRI report said.

The report also singled out other African carriers such as Astral Aviation, African International Airlines and the Sudanese-registered Trans Attico as being named in arms trafficking reports.

It also said several US private security firms hired air cargo carriers and aircraft which have been "involved in the trafficking of arms to militias which the US government have designated 'global terrorists'."

• The report cited Dyncorp, a company that provides security services for the US government, as having contracted Aerolift, a firm accused by the UN Security Council in 2006 of being involved in arms trading, to supply weapons to an Islamist militia that controls much of southern Somalia.

The militant group, Al-Shabab, was added by the US government to its list of terrorist organisations in March 2008 over alleged links to Al-Qaeda.

SIPRI's report added that air carriers involved in aid and peacekeeping operations were also used to transport "conflict-sensitive" goods such as cocaine, diamonds and other precious materials.

One of the report's authors, Mark Bromley, said that a more rigourous application of the EU's existing air safety regulations could play a crucial role in stemming the flow of weapons to Africa's conflict zones.

"Air safety enforcement could put hard core arms dealers out of business," Bromley said in a statement.

"Our research shows that companies named in arms trafficking-related reports have poor safety records. Safety regulations represent their Achilles heel, and can do to them what tax evasion charges did to Al Capone," he added.

The Rest @ AFP













US Dyncorp contracted Aerolift to supply weapons to an Islamist militia that controls much of southern Somalia

US private security firms hired air cargo carriers and aircraft which have been "involved in the trafficking of arms to militias which the US government have designated 'global terrorists'.

"The report cited Dyncorp, a company that provides security services for the US government, as having contracted Aerolift, a firm accused by the UN Security Council in 2006 of being involved in arms trading, to supply weapons to an Islamist militia that controls much of southern Somalia.

Source: AFP report Tuesday, 12 May 2009 - copy

Sudan: Government and Militia Assaulting before the Peace Keepers Arrive

Sudan appears to have come to a strategy to respond to the imposition of a peace keeping force:

Try to finish the genocide before the New UN troops arrive.

• Was it really government supported militia that destroyed the peacekeepers at Haskanita? The rebels appear too confused about who did it, and no one really gets any advantage.....except Khartoum
• Before any investigation could occur, what remained of Haskanita was burned down in the night.
• And Now, Sudanese government troops and allied militia on Monday attacked a town belonging to the only Darfur rebel faction to sign a 2006 peace deal. "Half of Muhajiriya is burnt down."

China, Libya - are you watching?

-Shimron Issachar

Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Blamed on Haskanita Attack

Suleiman Jamous, a member of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Unity faction which is one of two groups accused of the attack, said if his faction was involved in the attack it was a local decision, not ordered by the leadership.

"I have asked the leadership of SLA Unity to withdraw all the troops from the area, to where they can be under the direct control of the military command," Jamous said.

SLA Unity and a breakaway faction of the Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM) led by Bahr Idriss Abu Garda have forces in the Haskanita area.

Other JEM commanders said Abu Garda and a SLA Unity commander had the stolen AU vehicles.

SLA Unity military chief Abu Bakr Kadu has denied his forces had attacked the AU base, saying the African troops may have been caught in the crossfire between fighting with the army.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa