Following the independence of South Sudan, 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 roundup

  • Tribal violence around the town of Pibor in Jonglei, South Sudan, has forced 50,000 civilians to flee. South Sudan and the UN have deployed troops and police in an effort to end the clashes.
  • South Sudan has said rebel leader General George Athor was killed during a battle between rebels and the South Sudanese Army.
  • Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), has been killed.
  • The head of Darfur's regional authority has said the region will be divided into five states. Darfur is made up of three states at present.
  • A leading member of Sudanese opposition party, the Popular Congress Party, has been arrested. No reasons for his detention have been released.

News in detail

South Sudan

CNN: South Sudan claims death of rebel leader 21 Dec: The newly independent Republic of South Sudan has announced the death of a prominent renegade rebel leader. Read more

BBC: South Sudan cattle clashes: UN moves troops to Pibor 30 Dec: The United Nations is sending troop reinforcements to the South Sudanese town of Pibor to prevent an attack by members of the Lou Nuer ethnic group. Read more

BBC: South Sudan 'sends more troops' to strife-torn town Pibor 01 Jan: South Sudan's government says it is sending more troops and police to the town of Pibor, to deal with an outbreak of ethnic violence. Read more

Reuters: Up to 50,000 flee South Sudan violence-U.N. 02 Jan: Up to 50,000 people have fled violence in a remote border area of South Sudan, the United Nations said on Monday, after days of clashes between two tribes. Read more

Darfur

Bloomberg: Sudan Will Split Darfur Into Five States, Regional Head Says 21 Dec: Sudan plans to increase the number of states in the western region of Darfur, where government forces are battling rebels, to five from three, the head of the transitional regional authority said. Read more

AFP: Sudan army kills Darfur rebel leader 24 Dec: A key rebel movement from Sudan's Darfur region vowed to press on with its agenda for national reform on Sunday after confirming that government forces had killed their leader. Read more

Sudan

Reuters: Sudan approves 2012 budget, eyes subsidy cuts 20 Dec: Sudan is working on a plan to eliminate commodity subsidies that cost the government over $2 billion a year, an official said on Monday after parliament approved the country's budget for 2012. Read more

Reuters: Sudan arrests opposition politician: party official 20 Dec: Sudanese authorities arrested a prominent member of the opposition Popular Congress Party when he returned from a trip abroad on Monday, a party official said. Read more

AFP: Oil companies invited to join Sudan oil talks 21 Dec: Foreign and domestic oil companies will be asked to join the next round of revenue-sharing talks between Sudan and South Sudan, a top mediator for African Union-led negotiations said Wednesday. Read more

Reuters: Sudan police fire tear gas at protesters-witnesses 22 Dec: Police fired tear gas and used batons on Thursday to break up a student demonstration in Sudan's capital Khartoum over a government dam project, witnesses said. Read more

BBC: Syria mission a diplomatic coup for Sudan 29 Dec: Sudan's Islamist government achieved a diplomatic coup when its former military intelligence chief, Gen Mustafa al-Dabi, was appointed to head the Arab League's observer mission to Syria. Read more

AFP: Sudan seeks China trade in yuan 29 Dec: Sudan has asked its biggest trading partner China to use the yuan currency and Sudanese pounds rather than US dollars in their commercial exchanges, the central bank governor said on Wednesday. Read more

AFP: Hamas PM in Sudan on first regional trip since 2007 29 Dec: Gaza's Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya was in Sudan on Wednesday as part of his first official regional tour since the Islamist movement forcibly seized power in the Palestinian enclave in 2007. Read more