Following South Sudan's referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact joel@insightonconflict.org or complete the form below.
News Round-up
- Officials in Abyei say 116 people have been killed and many more have fled after the North seized the region two weeks ago. A UN report has warned of the potential for ‘ethnic cleansing’ if those who have fled are not allowed to return. The UN Security Council has demanded that the North withdraw their troops, the US has sent a senior aide to Sudan and Ethiopia has offered to send peacekeepers.
- There were armed clashes in South Kordofan over the weekend. It is not clear who is involved in the fighting or why it began. The South believe the North had tried to disarm Southern-aligned soldiers based in the region. The North denies this claim and the UN has sent a team to investigate. Earlier in the week the governor of Jongeli state had accused the North of trying to provoke violence in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
- At the start of the week, the North and South reached agreement on border security, pledging to establish a jointly-administered, demilitarised border zone between the two countries.
- President Omar al-Bashir has laid out his plans for North Sudan after the South gains independence in July. He insisted that there will be no early elections, but that a broad-based government, involving opposition parties will be established. He also called for a new constitution and outlined his plans for the economy.
- A confidential UN report has evidence of a possible massacre in a remote Nile River village by South Sudanese troops. Witnesses report Southern soldiers firing indiscriminately at civilians after a battle with rebels. 254 unarmed civilians were said to have been killed.
- The Darfurian rebel group, the Liberation and Justice Movement, is believed to be close to signing a peace agreement. Five-hundred members of civil society met in Doha and endorsed a framework for peace which could be used as the framework for a peace agreement.
News in detail
Abyei
NY Times: Many civilians have been killed in disputed region of Sudan 01 June: Officials from the disputed Abyei area of Sudan said Wednesday that 116 civilians, including many children, had been killed last month when the Northern Sudanese army seized Abyei. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/africa/02sudan.html
AFP: UN Council calls on Sudan to withdraw troops from Abyei 03 June: The UN Security Council demanded Friday that Sudan withdraw troops from Abyei and stop looting and attacks in the region disputed with rival Southern Sudan. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gTZUcVyMDgx50uDqs6gQc4C5gJKQ?docId=CNG.0c5600ba871e01177a8ea11fe546d524.861
AP: UN report warns of 'ethnic cleansing' in Sudan 03 June: A confidential UN report warns that the invasion by Sudan's military of the contested North-South region of Abyei could lead to "ethnic cleansing" if the tens of thousands of residents who fled can't return. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/03/general-af-Southern-sudan-ethnic-cleansing_8498557.html
North Sudan
Sudan Tribune: Sudan deploys troops to borders with Libya 31 May: The Sudanese government sent reinforcements to the borders with Libya amid reports of fighting between Darfur rebels and armed Libyan opposition, an official said today. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-deploys-troops-to-borders,39073
AFP: Farmers 'clash with police' in Sudan breadbasket 01 June: Farmers clashed with police on Wednesday in Gezira state, Sudan's agricultural heartland, while demonstrating against an "unacceptable" government offer to buy their land, several protesters said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gw_Y44Gr5WulFXVaAdpd5W89x_Xg?docId=CNG.3fe18ab5af9d3cb2bd07a5efa1d18035.3e1
Sudan Tribune: Sudanese president outlines features of post-secession North 02 June: President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday ruled out the possibility of calling for early elections stressing that the next one will be held in 2015 as planned. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudanese-president-outlines,39090
Bloomberg: Sudan’s Bashir says state will cut spending as South secedes 03 June: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said his government prepared a three-year program to cut spending to cope with the secession of the oil-rich South next month. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-03/sudan-s-bashir-says-state-will-cut-spending-as-South-secedes.html
AFP: Sudan journalists 'tried' for reporting rape case 03 June: Five Sudanese journalists have gone on trial in Khartoum for publishing articles relating to the alleged rape of a female opposition activist by security force personnel, one of them and a human rights group said on Friday. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j0f2Ygd9obIhcihlUnY0hjaJDrhQ?docId=CNG.e386ba88e61d9632c4ea2054fcb81efb.7c1
North-South relations
Sudan Tribune: Sudan parties sign accord on border security 31 May: Sudan’s two main political parties, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the South-based Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Monday signed a joint position paper that governs border security between North and South. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-parties-sign-accord-on,39062
South Sudan
AP: Civilians dead in South Sudan battle 02 June: Southern Sudan soldiers attacking a rival ethnic group fired indiscriminately on unarmed men, women and children at a remote Nile River village, killing or wounding hundreds of civilians, according to witness accounts in a confidential U.N. report. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iGjG9whhCv3fK2pUQK5m9HkvOFig?docId=8760bf3cf28f4230838f7a530d928a4e
Darfur
Sudan Tribune: Sudan and Darfur’s LJM rebels to sign a peace agreement within weeks 01 June: The Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) will sign a peace agreement within three weeks, the two parties said one day after the adoption of a framework document for peace in Darfur by the Darfur stakeholder conference. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-and-Darfur-s-LJM-rebels-to,39083
Reuters: Rebel convoy in Sudan's Darfur ambushed - rebel 02 June: Sudanese government troops ambushed rebels in the western Darfur region on Wednesday and Thursday, killing at least two fighters, a rebel spokesman said. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7510KV20110602
South Kordofan
Sudan Tribune: Jongeli governor accuses North of instigating conflict ahead of South Sudan’s independence 02 June: Jonglei state governor Kuol Manyang Juuk said Tuesday that the Northern military’s deployment at sites occupied by Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states is an attempt to ignite renewed conflict and to disrupt South Sudan’s independence in July. http://www.sudantribune.com/Jongeli-governor-accuses-North-of,39085
BBC: UN probes clashes in oil-rich South Kordofan 05 June: The UN is investigating clashes that have broken out in Sudan's oil-producing state of South Kordofan. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13663568
AFP: Fighting in volatile Sudan oil state: UN 05 June: Fighting erupted on Sunday in South Kordofan, Sudan's volatile oil-producing border state, a UN spokeswoman said, where the North is pressuring the Sudan People's Liberation Army to disarm. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hBqLYrqU06awbvxoXlQ_5g0Zv5vA?docId=CNG.bbaf1601ea15250b70584a4c3761a175.be1
Sudan Tribune: Clashes erupt in South Kordofan between SAF and SPLA 05 June: Fighting broke out on Sunday in the key Northern border state of South Kordofan, just weeks before oil-rich South Sudan is due to separate from the North. http://www.sudantribune.com/Clashes-erupts-in-South-Kordofan,39109
International
Sudan Tribune: Obama dispatches adviser to Sudan for talks on Abyei 01 June: The United States appeared to step up its effort to contain the crisis in Sudan in the wake of the military escalation in the country which led to the takeover of a contested area by the Northern army. http://www.sudantribune.com/Obama-dispatches-adviser-to-Sudan,39084
BBC: Ethiopia offers peacekeepers for Abyei in Sudan 01 June: Ethiopia has offered to send peacekeepers to Sudan's disputed border region of Abyei after its recent seizure by Northern troops. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13613025
