♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of this week’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Demonstration calling for better basic services in Abu Jubeiha in South Kordofan (Social media)

A compact digest of this week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.


Peace negotiations: Darfur almost final, SPLM-N make demand

August 24 – 2020 JUBA In the capital of South Sudan, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance clarified issues with the security protocol in the peace agreement on the Darfur track. Meanwhile, a political declaration has been made concerning the stalled Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile state) track, demanding transfer of negotiations to Sudan's Council of Ministers.

Tut Galuak, head of the mediation team in the South Sudanese capital, stated that rounding up the Darfur track peace talks is going well: “All parties are determined to sign the peace agreement on August 28”.

Issues reviewed include displaced people in the Darfur region, refugees, recurrent conflicts between farmers and herders, land use and ownership, and transitional justice, according to South Sudanese mediator Dhieu Mathok.

The security protocol has been finalised apart from the issue of integrating the forces, said Mathok. The government negotiation delegation believes the integration should take place within a time frame of 39 months (the length of the transitional period after which general elections will take place), while the rebel groups suggest that it takes place over a period of seven years.


Eastern Sudanese Nazir: Clashes are not tribal

August 21 – 2020 KHARTOUM According to the Nazir of Hadendawa tribe, Sayed Tirik, the recent clashes in various parts in eastern Sudan are not tribal. “We know who is leading the war,” he said in a press conference held by the High Council of Beja Nazirs and Independent Chieftainships in Khartoum. It is “a conspiracy led by some politicians who do not care about the stability of the East and do not care about the lives and property of innocent people”.
 
He called on the protestors at the sit-in in Kassala to refrain from escalating activities, until an agreement is reached between the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok over the appointment of Saleh Ammar as new civilian governor of Kassala.

The Nazir praised the heads of the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers for their understanding of the eastern Sudanese people’s rejection of Ammar’s appointment. The governor should resign to “save the government from embarrassment,” he said.

Kassala has unique specifications for a governor, according to Tirik, as it is a border state challenged by insecurity, human trafficking, and smuggling.


Hamdok: 40% of Sudanese economy 'sabotaged by smuggling’

August 22 – 2020 KHARTOUM On Thursday, the rate of the Sudanese Pound on the Khartoum parallel market fell to its lowest level. According to Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, the biggest threat to the country’s economy is the widespread smuggling of goods, in particular gold.

Sudan peace talks with SPLM-N El Hilu suspended

August 22 – 2020 JUBA / KHARTOUM The South Sudanese team in Juba mediating the peace talks between Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu has suspended the negotiations, until they have talked with the movement's leadership.

PM willing to step down ‘if the people demand it’

August 22 – 2020 KHARTOUM Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, in an interview with Radio Omdurman on Friday, said: “We do not need demonstrations and barricades to communicate with each other. We are all in one and the same boat. We can go together or sink together at the same time. There is no victor or defeated. The only victor is the homeland.”
 

Sudan Sovereign Council chairman meets Chad president

August 21 – 2020 UM JARAS The Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Abdefattah El Burhan, held talks with Chad President Idris Déby at his residence in Um Jaras in Chad to discuss regional issues and terrorism.

Sudan unrest: Police assault protestor

August 20 – 2020 KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN / KASSALA / RED SEA / SOUTH DARFUR / WHITE NILE Protests sparked in Khartoum on August 17, the day which marks the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Constitutional Declaration, continued yesterday, while sit-ins continue across the country calling for justice and security in Sudan, with mixed results.

‘Detainees in Port Sudan tortured’

August 19 – 2020 PORT SUDAN People arrested in connection with the recent tribal clashes in Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state, have reportedly been subjected to severe torture. The Red Sea state governor lifted some of the security measures taken to stop the violence.

Sudan govt, SPLM-N Agar renegotiate ‘political issues’ in Two Areas

August 19 – 2020 JUBA The Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction under the leadership of Malik Agar, that signed a security protocol on Monday, started negotiations on a “revision of the political issues paper for the Two Areas” (South Kordofan and Blue Nile state).

COVID-19: 'Less than 0.03% of Sudanese infected'

August 19 – 2020 KHARTOUM The coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rate in Sudan is less than 0.03 per cent of the population. The health authorities are preparing a response to the spread of polio in the country.

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