Day: October 10, 2021

Sudanese military officials including the deputy commander of the controversial Rapid Support Forces (RSF) recently visited Israel, several officials confirmed on Saturday.

Sudanese diplomatic sources said that a military and security delegation paid a secret visit to Israel this week.

The visiting delegation was headed by the RSF Second Commander Lt-Gen Abdel Rahim Hamdan and includes Lt-Gen Mirghani Idris Suleiman, Military Industry Corporation of Sudan.

Al-Sharq newspaper reported on Saturday that the delegation ended its visit to Israel and went to one of the Arab countries, without naming it.

Al-Arabiya TV reported that the Sudanese military delegation during the two-day visit met with Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata.

The relations with Israel have been managed by the military component since the meeting of the President of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Entebbe, Uganda, on 3 February 2020.

The civilian-led government said the normalization of relations with Israel should be endorsed by transitional parliament.

However, in April 2021, a joint meeting of the Sovereign Council and government approved the repeal of the Israel Boycott Law of 1958 which had banned diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.

A senior official in the government of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok told the “Sudan Tribune” on Saturday that the cabinet was not informed of the visit, adding that “such matters fall under the purview of the military component”.

Also, it is not clear if the military delegation reached a cooperation deal with the Israeli officials who are keen to not appear as backing the military component which is in conflict with the civilian government.

On 6 January 2021, Sudan signed on to the Abraham Accords brokered by the Trump administration to normalize relations between Israel and Arab countries.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Volker Perthes Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) proposed that the Sudanese parties should set up a joint roadmap to implement the transitional agenda.

Perthes on Saturday met with the Chairman of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fatah al-Burhan to discuss the ongoing political crisis that sparked between the civilian and military components after the coup attempt of 21 September.

Following the meeting, he stated he encourage the parties to overcome the current crisis and focus on the objectives and real issues facing the transitional process in Sudan.

“The meeting tackled a draft roadmap for outstanding issues in the transitional period and the need for comprehensive dialogue between the political parties and agreement on a joint roadmap,” reads a statement by the Sovereign Council on Saturday.

The meeting also discussed the need to address the eastern Sudan crisis as a national issue that must be taken into consideration, further added the statement.

Al-Burhan refused to deploy forces to ensure the movement of goods between the terminals on the Red Sea and the rest of the country and the tribal protesters have closed roads and blocked the seaports.

Perthes already met with Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and several members of the Sovereign Council. He plans to meet with the ruling coalition of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

Following the 21 September failed coup, al-Burhan sent a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, UN Secretary-General and President of the Security Council to reiterate his commitment as the leader of the military component to protect the democratic transition in Sudan.

“We are committed to overseeing and protecting the transition in the Sudan until we reach the goal of holding free and fair elections that genuinely reflect the will and aspirations of the Sudanese people. We will work to prevent any attempt, from any quarter, to hinder the transitional process,” reads a letter to the Security Council on 29 September.

Source: Sudan Tribune

South Sudan’s First Vice President, Riek Machar held a meeting with media leaders to understand various perspectives to address threats and protest arising from unemployment of the young people.

The meeting comes on the backdrop of the increased protest and threats against humanitarian workers by unemployed youth group demanding 80% employment of local youth by relief organizations working in the area in which they operate.

Machar was prompted by latest development in Pibor administrative area in which youth gave humanitarian organizations 72 hours ultimatum to pull out of the area if their demands are not met.

The ultimatum resulted in the withdrawal of 78 national staff representing different relief organizations but who are from different ethnic groups and regions outside Pibor. 3 international staff members who were working in the area were also evacuated.

The United Nations decried the action of the youth, saying it would affect provision of essential services to vulnerable groups at the time floods have inundated the area, causing destruction of properties and displacement.

Many of the relief organizations whose staff have now been pulled out of the area following threats and ultimatum issued by the leadership of the youth from the area were involved in the emergency management activities.

Their activities have now stalled, and the situation remains dire.

Machar says he wants to find a lasting solution to the situation caused by unemployment by soliciting views from different stakeholders, including members of the media, civil society, humanitarian organizations, the UN mission, local leadership and national institutions such as the ministry of labor and human resources, ministry of public service, ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, relief and rehabilitation commission, his office, council of ministers and the office of the president in collaboration and involvement of other clusters chaired by other deputies.

The Dawn Newspaper, one of the daily English newspapers operating in the capital, Juba, decried the action of the youth, describing it as appalling and embarrassing.

“The latest threat to expel some 30 United Nations staff working in the restive Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) is appalling and at the same time embarrassing. The problem of unemployment in this country has not been created by the UN. The anger of these belligerent youth should be channeled toward the national government and their local leaders in the GPAA”, the publication wrote in its editorial brief in response to the ultimatum and subsequent evacuation of the aid workers.

The paper attributed the cause of protest and threats by youth organizations and inability of the local leadership to promptly contain and handle the situation from spiraling out of control to lack of employment resulting from dependence syndrome on relief, all emanated from years of conflict with which the country has been riddled before, during and after secession from Sudan in 2011.

The head of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS), Patrick Charles Oyet commended the decision of the first vice president to call and convene a meeting with the leaders of the media, saying it was the time first time that the leadership in South Sudan at the top level had consulted media leaders to solicit their views about what role they can play to tackle the issue of youth unemployment and what needs to be done to help young people diversify their skills and knowledge to help find jobs in the country.

Machar is the government appointed chairman of a High-Level Committee formed in July to study grievances resulting from youth unemployment. The body was tasked to identify, analyze, and devise strategies that would provide a roadmap on how to permanently resolve the grievances arising from unemployment in the country. He was deputized by Vice President for Service Clusters Hussein Abdel Bagi Akol, and Vice President for Gender and Youth Cluster Rebecca Nyandeng.

Source: Sudan Tribune