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:
- Around 80 people were killed in South Sudan following an attack on a cattle camp by rebels led by former SPLA soldier Peter Gadet. The SPLA claim that a lieutenant from the Northern army was killed fighting alongside the rebels.
- Ahmed Harun, incumbent NCP governor of South Kordofan was declared the winner of last weeks gubernatorial election. The SPLM have disputed the result - pulling their candidate out of the race as votes were being counted - alleging the vote was rigged they refused to recognise the result.
- Four UN peacekeepers were killed after being attacked in Abyei.
- A senior member of the SPLM has said that they will not drop the claim on Abyei from the transitional constitution, despite what was agreed in recent negotiations between Juba and Khartoum.
- In Darfur, the two main splinter groups of the rebel group the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) – the SLM-Minnawi and SLM-Nur – have announced they will be forming an alliance aimed at overthrowing the government in North Sudan.
News in detail:
South Sudan
South Sudan cattle raids 'kill 80' in Warrap state 10 May: At least 80 people have been killed in South Sudan after rebels attacked cattle camps, the Southern army says. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13350791
AFP: More than 80 killed in Southern Sudan violence 11 May: More than 80 people were killed when rebels attacked cattle herders in Southern Sudan, officials said, while hundreds marched in the Southern capital to protest the unresolved status of a volatile border hotspot. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1fXdEydi0XQinvLWoOn-prf3RiQ?docId=6a4a43785d6346f7a1e76a5b38ccc1fd
AFP: Northern officer among South Sudan dead - official 13 May: A Sudanese army lieutenant was among more than 80 people killed in fighting this week between the Southern army and a rebel militia in the South's oil-producing Unity state, its information minister said on Thursday. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gW9aPxb19e8B5J8U6u56MSJXnraQ?docId=CNG.68850918b3c1cd9d7cc093c0f33d0a3a.971
South Kordofan
South Kordofan polls authority says no way to review vote-counting 11 May: The National Election Commission (NEC), which is organising contentious elections in Sudan’s central state of South Kordofan, on Wednesday declared that the vote aggregation process has been finalised and there is no way to review it. http://www.sudantribune.com/South-Kordofan-polls-authority,38868
AFP: SPLM pulls out of 'rigged' vote in Sudan oil state 14 May: The main rival to Sudan's ruling party candidate in a hotly contested election for governor in the tense oil-producing border state of South Kordofan pulled out on Friday saying the vote was rigged. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iDzIUX5AnRtSJ9Eb8Gb2d2g5OCJg?docId=CNG.e3465c20de9ed0ab1051e340d52cbd47.471
Bloomberg: Sudan Governor, Wanted By ICC, Wins Oil State Election 15 May: Ahmed Haroun, the incumbent governor of Northern Sudan’s only oil-producing state, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in the western region of Darfur, was declared the winner of Southern Kordofan state’s delayed elections. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-15/sudan-governor-wanted-by-icc-wins-oil-state-election-1-.html
Abyei
BBC: UN peacekeepers attacked in Abyei 11 May: Four UN peacekeepers in Sudan have been wounded after their patrol was attacked in the disputed Abyei region along the North-South border. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13362357
Sudan Tribune: SPLM maintains inclusion of Abyei in South Sudan’s draft constitution 13 May: A senior member of the South Sudan’s ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), on Friday said his party maintains its position of including the contested region of Abyei in the draft transitional constitution of South Sudan. http://www.sudantribune.com/SPLM-maintains-inclusion-of-Abyei,38891
North Sudan
Reuters: Inflation biting Sudanese ahead of separation 12 May: Sitting behind shelves full of canned tuna, chocolate bars, coffee powder and cookies, Abdul-Qader Nasser struggles to remember when business was as bad as now. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/12/sudan-economy-mood-idUSLAE94173320110512
International
Sudan Tribune: Sudan calls on EU to drop ICC as condition for receiving aid 12 May: The Sudanese government told a visiting official from the European Union that they should waive one of the requirements that is preventing Sudan from receiving aid under the Cotonou agreement. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-calls-on-EU-to-drop-ICC-as,38883
Darfur
Two rebel leaders sign alliance pact, vow to bring down Bashir’s regime 14 May: Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and Minni Minnawi, the leaders of the two main groups of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) signed an alliance pact today to overthrow the regime of President Omer al-Bashir and to build a democratic regime in Sudan. http://www.sudantribune.com/Two-rebel-leaders-sign-alliance,38905