07 Jan 2008 19:49:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds statement from Chadian government in paragraphs 6-8)
By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Chadian planes have bombed Chadian rebel positions near the capital of Sudan's Western Darfur state, a U.N. report said of the second reported cross-border incursion in two weeks.
Six Chadian "opposition members" were killed in the attacks on villages in Darfur early Sunday, said the report seen by Reuters on Monday.
Rodolphe Adada, head of the African Union-United Nations force for Darfur, said he was watching growing tensions along the Chad-Sudan border with deep concern and said they could negatively affect the deployment of the long-awaited joint Darfur peacekeeping mission.
In a statement, Adada said he was "concerned that if the situation is not immediately brought under control, great numbers of internally displaced persons and refugees will likely be the first victims of any further escalations."
Relations between Chad and Sudan have been tense in recent years as both try to quell insurgencies close to their long and porous border. They accuse each other of backing rebels trying to overthrow their respective governments.
Chad's government issued a statement saying that Chadian "mercenaries" were integrated into the ranks of the Sudanese army. It said it viewed any attack from Sudanese territory as an attack by the Sudanese army and reserved the right to respond.
"All our air and ground forces are mobilised to guarantee the security of our national territory with the aim of blocking any mercenary presence or bases on either side of the border with Sudan," the statement said.
It made no direct reference to the strikes mentioned in the U.N. report.
SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERN
Sunday's reported strikes came a day after Chadian President Idriss Deby threatened to send his armed forces into Sudan to destroy rebel fighters he accuses Khartoum of supporting.
The U.N. report said the attacks took place on Jan. 6 at approximately 4:30 a.m. on the villages of Goker and Wadi Radi 35 km south of Geneina.
"It has been confirmed that the Chadian air force bombed these two locations killing six Chadian opposition members and injuring four," it said.
It said the injured were being treated in a civilian hospital in el Geneina, capital of Western Darfur state, 1,100 km (680 miles) west of Khartoum.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council expressed "serious concern at the recent upsurge of activities of the illegal armed groups in western Sudan and in eastern Chad, and at the resulting tension between Sudan and Chad."
A statement read to reporters by Libyan Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, current council president, said council members "called on Sudan and Chad to exercize restraint and pursue dialogue and cooperation".
The air strikes are likely to enrage Sudan, which has repeatedly denied supporting Chadian rebels and warned Chad not to take military action.
Sudan has accused Chad of bombing parts of Darfur on Dec. 28. But N'Djamena insisted it had targeted rebel units on the border without crossing into Darfur. (Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations; Editing by Keith Weir)
AlertNet news is provided by Reuters
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Sudan paper suspended for "insulting" president
Tuesday 8 January 2008.
January 7, 2008 (JUBA) — A Sudanese newspaper has been ordered to shut down for two days after being accused of insulting President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the paper’s editor and owner said on Monday.
Nhial Bol said Sudan’s National Press Council had suspended his English language daily The Citizen over an editorial it wrote about armed clashes on the country’s north-south border.
"The National Press Council ... (said) an article was insulting to President Bashir and so they suspended us for two days," said Bol, who estimates he will lose $7,500 on advertising during the shutdown next Saturday and Sunday.
Newspapers have to register with the National Press Council, Sudan’s official press regulator, and cannot publish if their membership is suspended.
Bol said that his paper, which has its newsroom in south Sudan’s capital Juba, had been shut down nine times before by the press council.
"Sometimes they allow you to print and then they come and take all the papers. Comparatively, this is a light punishment," he said.
No one was immediately available for comment from the National Press Council.
(Reuters)
January 7, 2008 (JUBA) — A Sudanese newspaper has been ordered to shut down for two days after being accused of insulting President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the paper’s editor and owner said on Monday.
Nhial Bol said Sudan’s National Press Council had suspended his English language daily The Citizen over an editorial it wrote about armed clashes on the country’s north-south border.
"The National Press Council ... (said) an article was insulting to President Bashir and so they suspended us for two days," said Bol, who estimates he will lose $7,500 on advertising during the shutdown next Saturday and Sunday.
Newspapers have to register with the National Press Council, Sudan’s official press regulator, and cannot publish if their membership is suspended.
Bol said that his paper, which has its newsroom in south Sudan’s capital Juba, had been shut down nine times before by the press council.
"Sometimes they allow you to print and then they come and take all the papers. Comparatively, this is a light punishment," he said.
No one was immediately available for comment from the National Press Council.
(Reuters)
Children mortality remains high in southern Sudan – charity
Wednesday 9 January 2008.
January 8, 2008 (LONDON) — A British-based international charity, Save the Children, said today that rates of children mortality remain high in southern Sudan. It further warned that thousands of children are still facing death.
A four-year-old Sudanese boy collapses from hunger at a feeding centre run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in the village of Paliang, about 160 km northwest of the southern town of Rumbek, May 25, 2005. (Reuters).
Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, three years ago, health care conditions for children reach crisis point. One in four children in Southern Sudan dies before the age of five, mainly from easily preventable diseases such as malaria or diarrhoea; said Save the Children.
It added that tens of thousands of families still have very limited access to basic healthcare, with just one trained doctor for every 100,000 people.
The 2005 peace agreement promised to direct proceeds from Sudan’s rich oil reserves to help rebuild the country’s destroyed health and education systems. Yet three years on, communities struggling to survive after the country’s 20 year civil war have seen little change.
The international charity called on southern Sudan government to commit more funding to building up education, health and protection services. Also it urged fundraisers to give more money and advice to the South Sudanese government to protect children.
In a report released at the end of last December, the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF said the number of children who die before their fifth birthday fell below 10 million in 2006, but much more still needed to be done.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report attributed the progress in children’s mortality rates largely to improvements in healthcare.
By comparison, an estimated 20 million children under five were dying every year at the beginning of the 1960s.
But UNICEF’s executive director, Ann Veneman, pointed out that "much more must be done" and "if we do so, we can help create a better world for girls and boys, and for generations to come."
The study also found an appalling lack of basic sanitation, hygiene and drinkable water, which contributes to the deaths of more than 1.5 million children each year from diarrhea and related ailments.
(ST)
January 8, 2008 (LONDON) — A British-based international charity, Save the Children, said today that rates of children mortality remain high in southern Sudan. It further warned that thousands of children are still facing death.
A four-year-old Sudanese boy collapses from hunger at a feeding centre run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in the village of Paliang, about 160 km northwest of the southern town of Rumbek, May 25, 2005. (Reuters).
Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, three years ago, health care conditions for children reach crisis point. One in four children in Southern Sudan dies before the age of five, mainly from easily preventable diseases such as malaria or diarrhoea; said Save the Children.
It added that tens of thousands of families still have very limited access to basic healthcare, with just one trained doctor for every 100,000 people.
The 2005 peace agreement promised to direct proceeds from Sudan’s rich oil reserves to help rebuild the country’s destroyed health and education systems. Yet three years on, communities struggling to survive after the country’s 20 year civil war have seen little change.
The international charity called on southern Sudan government to commit more funding to building up education, health and protection services. Also it urged fundraisers to give more money and advice to the South Sudanese government to protect children.
In a report released at the end of last December, the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF said the number of children who die before their fifth birthday fell below 10 million in 2006, but much more still needed to be done.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report attributed the progress in children’s mortality rates largely to improvements in healthcare.
By comparison, an estimated 20 million children under five were dying every year at the beginning of the 1960s.
But UNICEF’s executive director, Ann Veneman, pointed out that "much more must be done" and "if we do so, we can help create a better world for girls and boys, and for generations to come."
The study also found an appalling lack of basic sanitation, hygiene and drinkable water, which contributes to the deaths of more than 1.5 million children each year from diarrhea and related ailments.
(ST)
US Bush says "deeply troubled" by events in Darfur
Wednesday 9 January 2008.
January 8, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday he was "deeply troubled" by the unending crisis in Darfur and called for rapid deployment of an effective peacekeeping force and dialogue to end the turmoil.
George Bush
He made the statement in conjunction with the third anniversary on Wednesday of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, which ended 21 years of civil war in that country.
"I am deeply troubled that innocent civilians continue to fall victim to the scourge of government- and rebel-led attacks in Darfur," Bush said.
"I remain firmly committed to the rapid deployment of an effective peacekeeping force coupled with serious political dialogue between the parties to help end the crisis and the suffering of the innocent people of Darfur," he added.
A new United Nations-mandated peacekeeping mission took over from an African Union mission on Jan. 1 in the western region of Darfur, where some 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million made homeless since ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Sudan’s Arab-dominated regime in February 2003.
The new mission, the U.N.’s largest, will eventually consist of 20,000 troops and 6,000 police and civilian personnel, but only around 9,000 troops and police are currently in place.
Relations between Sudan and the United States have long been strained, most recently over the near five-year Darfur conflict where Washington has accused Khartoum of genocide.
A U.S. diplomat and his driver were murdered on New Year’s day in Khartoum, a day after Bush signed a law aimed at piling economic pressure on the government in Khartoum.
Bush also said Tuesday that Washington remained committed with the implementation of all aspects of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which created a southern autonomous government in Sudan and two separate armies.
North Sudanese troops completed their withdrawal from oil rich areas of the south, a southern general said on Tuesday, heading off the latest brewing north-south crisis.
A joint defense council had given the northern troops until Wednesday to leave after they failed to meet a December 31 deadline that was part of a deal that saw southern ex-rebels return to government after resigning in October.
Their withdrawal from the unity cabinet was the worst crisis to hit the 2005 peace deal that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. An estimated two million people were killed and another 6 million displaced in the two-decade-long conflict.
"While much progress has been made in forming a government of national unity, sharing wealth, and respecting a cessation of hostilities, many challenges remain to the agreement’s full implementation," Bush said.
He called for efforts to ensure that a nationwide census was immediately conducted to allow national elections to be held on time next year.
"The work of Sudan’s border commission also must be reinvigorated, along with efforts to redeploy troops away from disputed border areas, to reduce the chances of a return to violence," he said.
"The Comprehensive Peace Agreement laid the groundwork for lasting peace and unity for all of Sudan, and its vigorous application will continue to underpin U.S. involvement across Sudan," Bush said.
(AFP)
January 8, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday he was "deeply troubled" by the unending crisis in Darfur and called for rapid deployment of an effective peacekeeping force and dialogue to end the turmoil.
George Bush
He made the statement in conjunction with the third anniversary on Wednesday of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, which ended 21 years of civil war in that country.
"I am deeply troubled that innocent civilians continue to fall victim to the scourge of government- and rebel-led attacks in Darfur," Bush said.
"I remain firmly committed to the rapid deployment of an effective peacekeeping force coupled with serious political dialogue between the parties to help end the crisis and the suffering of the innocent people of Darfur," he added.
A new United Nations-mandated peacekeeping mission took over from an African Union mission on Jan. 1 in the western region of Darfur, where some 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million made homeless since ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Sudan’s Arab-dominated regime in February 2003.
The new mission, the U.N.’s largest, will eventually consist of 20,000 troops and 6,000 police and civilian personnel, but only around 9,000 troops and police are currently in place.
Relations between Sudan and the United States have long been strained, most recently over the near five-year Darfur conflict where Washington has accused Khartoum of genocide.
A U.S. diplomat and his driver were murdered on New Year’s day in Khartoum, a day after Bush signed a law aimed at piling economic pressure on the government in Khartoum.
Bush also said Tuesday that Washington remained committed with the implementation of all aspects of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which created a southern autonomous government in Sudan and two separate armies.
North Sudanese troops completed their withdrawal from oil rich areas of the south, a southern general said on Tuesday, heading off the latest brewing north-south crisis.
A joint defense council had given the northern troops until Wednesday to leave after they failed to meet a December 31 deadline that was part of a deal that saw southern ex-rebels return to government after resigning in October.
Their withdrawal from the unity cabinet was the worst crisis to hit the 2005 peace deal that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. An estimated two million people were killed and another 6 million displaced in the two-decade-long conflict.
"While much progress has been made in forming a government of national unity, sharing wealth, and respecting a cessation of hostilities, many challenges remain to the agreement’s full implementation," Bush said.
He called for efforts to ensure that a nationwide census was immediately conducted to allow national elections to be held on time next year.
"The work of Sudan’s border commission also must be reinvigorated, along with efforts to redeploy troops away from disputed border areas, to reduce the chances of a return to violence," he said.
"The Comprehensive Peace Agreement laid the groundwork for lasting peace and unity for all of Sudan, and its vigorous application will continue to underpin U.S. involvement across Sudan," Bush said.
(AFP)
Sudan attacked UN hybrid force in Darfur – Ban Ki-Moon
Wednesday 9 January 2008.
January 8, 2008 (NEW YORK) — UN chief has condemned today attack by the Sudanese army against a supply convoy for the hybrid peacekeeping force last night in western Darfur and lodged a protest with Khartoum.
Ban Ki-Moon with members of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) (Reuters).
Early Tuesday the UNAMID said in a press statement that a road convoy was attacked on Monday night while it was on a re-supply mission to hybrid force sites in the area between Um Baru, Tine and Kulbus, in West Darfur.
"The Secretary-General condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms and stresses that, for the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping Operation to be able to perform its mandated functions, the Government of Sudan has to provide unequivocal guarantees that there will be no recurrence of such activities by its forces." Ban Ki-Moon said.
He further added "In this connection, the United Nations is lodging a protest with the Government of Sudan."
The area where the attack occurred has witnessed violent clashes between the government of Sudan and rebel Justice and Equality Movement. Also, the UNAMID air operations have been restricted due to the security concerns.
A Sudanese civilian driver suffered seven gunshot wounds and vehicles were damaged during the attack on the convoy. He was evacuated to UNAMID headquarters in the Darfur town of Al-Fasher for medical care.
The South African peacekeepers protecting the convoy did not return fire, and no UNAMID casualties were incurred during the attack on the convoy. However a tanker truck was destroyed and an armored personnel carrier was damaged.
APPARENT MISTAKE
Sudanese troops apparently mistook the U.N. convoy for Darfur rebels who operate in the area near the border with Chad. "It was night time, it seems the (Sudanese) soldiers lost their calm," a UN official told the Associated Press.
The senior official working with the hybrid force said the Sudanese soldiers stopped shooting after 10 minutes and let the peacekeepers go.
U.N. vehicles are painted white and marked with the U.N. logo to signal their neutrality. It was unclear how the Sudanese soldiers could have mistaken them for rebels, who usually drive camouflaged pickup trucks and don’t have armored vehicles.
The head of the peacekeeping mission, Rodolphe Adada, consulted with Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday and both sides "agreed to launch an urgent investigation," UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni said.
"The is the first time UNAMID is attacked, and we hope it will be the last," Mezni said. "We are in Darfur to bring peace, not to fight."
REBEL’S CONDEMNATION
The two main rebel movements condemned the attack and describe it as first clear manifestation of Khartoum will to undermine the Longley awaited peacekeeping force to protect Darfur Civilians, they told Sudan Tribune.
Abdelwahid al-Nur the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement expressed his strongest condemnation of the attack. He further warned "Without security there will no talks with Khartoum government."
While the spokesperson of the Justice and Equality Ahmed Hussein Adam who also condemned the attack said "This precedent shows clearly that Sudanese government working to abort the UNAMID mission and challenge the will of the international community in Darfur."
Both urged the international community to strongly condemn "the Sudanese aggression" against the hybrid peacekeeping force.
Last month in a report to the Security Council, Ban warned that the UNAMID mission was at risk, because the force still lacks crucial components, including a ground transport unit, 18 transport helicopters and six light tactical helicopters meant to provide air mobility and firepower to protect civilians and peacekeepers.
Further Jean-Marie Guehenno, the head of the UN peacekeeping department, told the Security Council in November that UNAMID risked humiliation if it was not provided with the required muscle and firepower. He specifically insisted on the importance of including four key non-African units to the force: a Thai infantry battalion, two Nepalese special forces contingents and a Scandinavian engineering unit.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission that began Jan. 1 is the latest international attempt to end the violence. A poorly equipped African Union force of about 7,000 soldiers was unable to end the chaos and suffered dozens of casualties of its own.
The hybrid force formally took over from the poorly equipped African Union mission aims to restore security and protect civilians and create conducive conditions for peace in Darfur.
According to the UN experts more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes since fighting began in 2003 between Government forces and rebel groups.
(ST)
Some information for this report provided by AP.
January 8, 2008 (NEW YORK) — UN chief has condemned today attack by the Sudanese army against a supply convoy for the hybrid peacekeeping force last night in western Darfur and lodged a protest with Khartoum.
Ban Ki-Moon with members of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) (Reuters).
Early Tuesday the UNAMID said in a press statement that a road convoy was attacked on Monday night while it was on a re-supply mission to hybrid force sites in the area between Um Baru, Tine and Kulbus, in West Darfur.
"The Secretary-General condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms and stresses that, for the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping Operation to be able to perform its mandated functions, the Government of Sudan has to provide unequivocal guarantees that there will be no recurrence of such activities by its forces." Ban Ki-Moon said.
He further added "In this connection, the United Nations is lodging a protest with the Government of Sudan."
The area where the attack occurred has witnessed violent clashes between the government of Sudan and rebel Justice and Equality Movement. Also, the UNAMID air operations have been restricted due to the security concerns.
A Sudanese civilian driver suffered seven gunshot wounds and vehicles were damaged during the attack on the convoy. He was evacuated to UNAMID headquarters in the Darfur town of Al-Fasher for medical care.
The South African peacekeepers protecting the convoy did not return fire, and no UNAMID casualties were incurred during the attack on the convoy. However a tanker truck was destroyed and an armored personnel carrier was damaged.
APPARENT MISTAKE
Sudanese troops apparently mistook the U.N. convoy for Darfur rebels who operate in the area near the border with Chad. "It was night time, it seems the (Sudanese) soldiers lost their calm," a UN official told the Associated Press.
The senior official working with the hybrid force said the Sudanese soldiers stopped shooting after 10 minutes and let the peacekeepers go.
U.N. vehicles are painted white and marked with the U.N. logo to signal their neutrality. It was unclear how the Sudanese soldiers could have mistaken them for rebels, who usually drive camouflaged pickup trucks and don’t have armored vehicles.
The head of the peacekeeping mission, Rodolphe Adada, consulted with Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday and both sides "agreed to launch an urgent investigation," UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni said.
"The is the first time UNAMID is attacked, and we hope it will be the last," Mezni said. "We are in Darfur to bring peace, not to fight."
REBEL’S CONDEMNATION
The two main rebel movements condemned the attack and describe it as first clear manifestation of Khartoum will to undermine the Longley awaited peacekeeping force to protect Darfur Civilians, they told Sudan Tribune.
Abdelwahid al-Nur the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement expressed his strongest condemnation of the attack. He further warned "Without security there will no talks with Khartoum government."
While the spokesperson of the Justice and Equality Ahmed Hussein Adam who also condemned the attack said "This precedent shows clearly that Sudanese government working to abort the UNAMID mission and challenge the will of the international community in Darfur."
Both urged the international community to strongly condemn "the Sudanese aggression" against the hybrid peacekeeping force.
Last month in a report to the Security Council, Ban warned that the UNAMID mission was at risk, because the force still lacks crucial components, including a ground transport unit, 18 transport helicopters and six light tactical helicopters meant to provide air mobility and firepower to protect civilians and peacekeepers.
Further Jean-Marie Guehenno, the head of the UN peacekeeping department, told the Security Council in November that UNAMID risked humiliation if it was not provided with the required muscle and firepower. He specifically insisted on the importance of including four key non-African units to the force: a Thai infantry battalion, two Nepalese special forces contingents and a Scandinavian engineering unit.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission that began Jan. 1 is the latest international attempt to end the violence. A poorly equipped African Union force of about 7,000 soldiers was unable to end the chaos and suffered dozens of casualties of its own.
The hybrid force formally took over from the poorly equipped African Union mission aims to restore security and protect civilians and create conducive conditions for peace in Darfur.
According to the UN experts more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes since fighting began in 2003 between Government forces and rebel groups.
(ST)
Some information for this report provided by AP.
UN spokesperson in Sudan calls it quits
Wednesday 9 January 2008.
January 8, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The spokesperson for the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Radhia Achouri announced that she will leave the post by the end of this week.
Former UN SG envoy, Jan Pronk, with the UNMIS spokeswoman Radhia Achouri.
“I was privileged to be part of the UNMIS build-up when it was the Mission was at it advance stage” Achouri said in a statement sent by email.
The announcement came as a joint African-United Nations force (UNAMID) took over peacekeeping duties in Darfur last week and existing AU forces switched their green berets to the UN blue ones. The transfer of authority has been largely symbolic.
Sudan not signed off on the Status of Force (SAF) agreement that governs the work of the new force. It has refused to allow night flights — except for medical evacuation — or large U.N. cargo planes.
Additionally, the government has attempted to require the force to give it advance notice of all movements and to ensure that its military can scramble U.N. radio communications when it is conducting operations.
Sudan has also refused to allow non-African units in Darfur including Swedish, Thai and Nepalese troops.
The Tunisian born UN officer was frequently subject to a hostile media campaign and threats by government agencies including the Sudanese army.
The Sudanese government has been irritated by Achouri‘s statements on issues such as obstacles facing humanitarian access in Darfur and lack of compliance by northern troops on withdrawal from the South.
Last May the Sudanese justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi warned Achouri not to go down the same road of the expelled UN Special Representative to Sudan Jan Pronk. The latter was expelled by Khartoum in October 2006 for exposing information on the performance of the Sudanese army in Darfur.
Achouri was considered close to Pronk during his time in Sudan.
The UN spokesperson said that she had an “enriching experience” in UNMIS which was mandated with supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the North and South signed in 2005.
Some observers who spoke to Sudan Tribune last year noted that the UNMIS has been severely weakened since the expulsion of Pronk. They also said that UN leadership in New York was not adequately supporting the mission in face of Khartoum’s intimidation.
Nonetheless Achouri said that she wishes that the year 2008 “would be the year of comprehensive peace in Sudan, for the people deserves it”.
(ST)
January 8, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The spokesperson for the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Radhia Achouri announced that she will leave the post by the end of this week.
Former UN SG envoy, Jan Pronk, with the UNMIS spokeswoman Radhia Achouri.
“I was privileged to be part of the UNMIS build-up when it was the Mission was at it advance stage” Achouri said in a statement sent by email.
The announcement came as a joint African-United Nations force (UNAMID) took over peacekeeping duties in Darfur last week and existing AU forces switched their green berets to the UN blue ones. The transfer of authority has been largely symbolic.
Sudan not signed off on the Status of Force (SAF) agreement that governs the work of the new force. It has refused to allow night flights — except for medical evacuation — or large U.N. cargo planes.
Additionally, the government has attempted to require the force to give it advance notice of all movements and to ensure that its military can scramble U.N. radio communications when it is conducting operations.
Sudan has also refused to allow non-African units in Darfur including Swedish, Thai and Nepalese troops.
The Tunisian born UN officer was frequently subject to a hostile media campaign and threats by government agencies including the Sudanese army.
The Sudanese government has been irritated by Achouri‘s statements on issues such as obstacles facing humanitarian access in Darfur and lack of compliance by northern troops on withdrawal from the South.
Last May the Sudanese justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi warned Achouri not to go down the same road of the expelled UN Special Representative to Sudan Jan Pronk. The latter was expelled by Khartoum in October 2006 for exposing information on the performance of the Sudanese army in Darfur.
Achouri was considered close to Pronk during his time in Sudan.
The UN spokesperson said that she had an “enriching experience” in UNMIS which was mandated with supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the North and South signed in 2005.
Some observers who spoke to Sudan Tribune last year noted that the UNMIS has been severely weakened since the expulsion of Pronk. They also said that UN leadership in New York was not adequately supporting the mission in face of Khartoum’s intimidation.
Nonetheless Achouri said that she wishes that the year 2008 “would be the year of comprehensive peace in Sudan, for the people deserves it”.
(ST)
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