ReliefWeb: Sudan: IRIN News Briefs, Wednesday 15 March
Source: UN OCHA Integrated Regional Information Network for
Central and  Eastern Africa (IRIN-CEA)
Date: 15 Mar 2000



      Sudan: IRIN News Briefs, Wednesday 15 March

UN SAYS OLS TRANSPORT OF REBELS WAS "ISOLATED
INCIDENT" 

The UN has admitted that Sudanese rebels were transported aboard
a UN aircraft last month, but said it was "an isolated incident and
not part of a broader pattern". The issue arose after a hostage crisis
in early February when four staff and associated personnel were
held for eight days by pro-government militia members who
claimed the UN had transported three rebel leaders on another
flight, Britain's 'Financial Times' reported. UN officials admitted to
the paper that rebel commanders may have travelled on UN aircraft
on several occasions. "We are talking about hundreds and hundreds
of relief workers. There are situations where there are counterparts
who play dual [humanitarian and military] roles," it quoted one
relief worker as saying. UN spokesman Fred Eckhard, said on
Friday the report was "essentially correct". Though an internal
investigation of the hostage incident in Old Fangak from 2-10
February was still being finalised, it confirmed that the UN's
Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) did transport three rebels on one
of its planes, and that this had triggered the hostage incident, he
said. "It is also correct that OLS has tightened its procedures to
keep this kind of thing from happening again. In our view, that was
an isolated incident and not part of a broader pattern," Eckhard
added. 

TURABI WARNS OF "THIRD FORCE" 

The government on Sunday extended the state of emergency in
Sudan, decreed by President Omar al-Bashir on 12 December to the
end of this year. The cabinet said the decision had been taken "to
enable the government to execute its programmes", but that it
would commit itself to external openness and give priority to
citizens' interests, Sudanese television reported. Former speaker of
parliament Hassan al-Turabi - who is now marginalised - has called
on the people to use their power to protect Sudan's constitution
from violation "if the regular forces fail to do so". Turabi, quoted
by the Sudanese newspaper 'Al Ray al-Amm', attacked the
constitutional court's decision, which he said had failed to protect
the constitution from "oppressive forces and a coup d'etat". He
warned that continued confusion within the Congress party "would
bring about a third force from the armed forces or the street to fill
the gap".  

POWER STRUGGLE TO CONTINUE 

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Monday forecast that the
Bashir-Turabi power struggle would continue for the foreseeable
future, and that despite Bashir's "coup" having placed him in the
ascendancy, he had been unable to translate this into outright
dominance. With the rebels' threat on the wane, "the challenges that
have helped to hold together the uncomfortable alliance within the
elite are beginning to recede", it said. Both Bashir and Turabi were
trying to position themselves to head whatever political system
would emerge to succeed the old authoritarian, wartime regime.
"This would suggest that the crisis played out in December could be
only the first round of a more serious political conflict that is
potentially destabilising, especially if fuelled by foreign
interference," the EIU added.
 
POLITICAL ASSOCIATION LAW PASSED 

The government on Sunday approved a political association act,
stating that political parties or organisations who had not yet
registered must do so before they can become active within Sudan.
They would also have to sign an agreement to abide by the
constitution, and to avoid resorting to force or violence for political
gain, Sudanese television reported. The law stipulated that any 100
citizens eligible to vote could submit an application to form a
political party. 

GARANG CALLS FOR REVAMP OF OPPOSITION NDA 

The leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement
(SPLA/M), John Garang, on Friday called for a shake-up of the
opposition umbrella National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He
claimed its future and that of Sudan could hinge on decisions taken
at the current meeting of the NDA leadership in the Eritrean capital
Asmara. Garang said the current organisation of the NDA was
"paralysing" its decision-making. It must "revamp and revitalise" to
exploit divisions in Khartoum as a result of the Bashir-Turabi
power struggle, AFP reported. The SPLM is the largest of eight
opposition groups in the NDA coalition, a grouping perceived to
have been weakened by Sadeq al-Mahdi's Umma Party having held
its own bilateral negotiations with the government.

GOVERNMENT CONTINUES DIPLOMATIC OFFENSIVE
 
Meanwhile, Sudan's recent emphasis on improved diplomatic
relations continued with Foreign Minister Mustapha Osman Ismail
announcing on Tuesday that Sudan and Tunisia had agreed to
restore normal relations during next month's Afro-European summit
in Cairo. On Monday, Khartoum received the new French
ambassador Dominic Vono and resumed its dialogue with the
European Union, which will include discussion on religious
freedom, constitutional developments, democracy and regional
relations, Suna news agency reported. The EU and member
countries have opted for a policy of "constructive engagement" in
an effort to persuade Sudan to adhere to international norms. 

NGO DEPLORES MILITIA RAIDS 

Christian Solidarity International (CSI) on Tuesday alleged that the
pro-government Popular Defence Forces (PDF) enslaved 188
southern Sudanese women and children during raids on three
villages in northern Bahr el Ghazal at the weekend. A PDF unit of
some 1,300 men on horseback attacked Malith on 10 March,
looting the village and enslaving an estimated 70 people after
repelling the SPLA, CSI alleged in a statement. The unit then
moved southwards and enslaved 50 people at Rup Deir before
being repelled by the SPLA, it added. A second PDF unit from the
Atiat garrison moved down the Wau-Khartoum railway line and
attacked Majok Kuom on the morning of Sunday 11 March,
capturing about 68 women and children in the process, CSI
claimed. It said four representatives of the NGO and independent
journalists had seen for themselves the "charred remains" of Malith
after the attack. The raids marked "the most recent of a series of
grave violations of the current UN-brokered ceasefire in northern
Bahr el -Ghazal," the statement said.

CONCERN AT FOOD RELIEF GAPS LEFT BY NGO
WITHDRAWALS 

WFP said on Tuesday it was particularly concerned over the effect
of gaps in supplementary and therapeutic feeding programmes that
would result from certain NGOs discontinuing work in SPLM-held
areas of southern Sudan. They were forced to pull out after refusing
to sign a memorandum of understanding with the rebels' relief wing,
the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA). While the
agency would ensure uninterrupted food aid distributions in all
areas affected by the departure of World Vision - which, until 1
March, was in charge of emergency food aid distributions in Tonj
and parts of Gogrial counties in Bahr el Ghazal - there would be
gaps in therapeutic and supplementary feeding for malnourished
children, WFP said. UNICEF has also indicated that the withdrawal
of World Vision and German Agro-Action (GAA) "may affect food
security in these areas in the long term", an OLS report added.
Apart from feeding programmes, the provision of agricultural input
and seeds might also not be covered in time to avoid negative
consequences, the WFP report stated. The UN Office for
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is to examine more
fully the impact of the withdrawal of NGOs in south Sudan. 

CARE WELCOMES RELEASE OF KIDNAPPED WORKERS 

The NGO CARE has welcomed the safe recovery on 9 March of
two of its workers kidnapped on 2 January in an ambush between
Bentiu and Mayoum in Unity State by unidentified gunmen. The
agency thanked the UN and the SRRA for their assistance in
securing the release of the two men, staff member Kwak Makwak
and consultant Santino Deng, said CARE's East Africa and Middle
East director Jon Mitchell. Two other CARE workers perished in
the ambush. 

GOVERNMENT SIGNS NEW $30 MILLION OIL DEAL 

The government on Sunday signed an oil exploration deal with a
transnational oil consortium covering around 70,000 square miles in
central Sudan. These include the Adar Yel oilfields near Melut in
Upper Nile state, Reuters quoted the state-owned 'Alwan'
newspaper as saying. The consortium, Melut Petroleum Company,
is due to spend US $30 million exploring and developing the
concession over three years. An independent
Canadian-commissioned mission reported in February that oil had
become a key issue in the civil war, and that extraction by the
Canadian firm Talisman in Upper Nile was linked to government
human rights abuses against civilian populations. 

WAR COSTS CLOUD OTHERWISE BRIGHT ECONOMIC
OUTLOOK 

Sudan's oil exports were expected to reach US $1.7 billion this
year, more than double the estimated earnings in 1999. Combined
with a recovery in agricultural exports, this would leave Sudan with
a trade surplus of some US $230 million, its first such surplus in
over 20 years, the Economist Intelligence Unit forecast on Monday.
The overall current account would remain in deficit, however, as
foreign oil firms recouped investments and repatriated profits, and
as an improved relationship with the IMF caused Sudan to pay
more in servicing its external debt, the EIU said. While increased
export volumes and high government expenditure expected to drive
GDP growth to around 7 percent this year, the war would remain
"a heavy burden on state finances" and hold back privatisation,
which was an integral part of Khartoum's economic liberalisation
policy, the report added. 

[ENDS] 
[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: 
irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ] 
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