KHARTOUM, Sudan - A man waving a knife hijacked a jetliner carrying about 100 people Tuesday in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, forcing it to land at a World War II-era airfield in the heart of the Sahara Desert in neighboring Libya, officials said.
 
The Boeing 737 was commandeered soon after taking off from Nyala, capital of southern Darfur, en route to Khartoum, the national capital, said Yusuf Ibrahim, director of Khartoum's airport. He said it was not clear whether one or several hijackers were involved.

Libyan aviation officials confirmed the plane landed in Kufra, a desert oasis in that country's arid southeast close to the Sudanese and Egyptian borders.

Authorities were said to be traveling to Kufra, some 1,000 miles from Libya's capital of Tripoli. The airfield has little, if any, communications equipment, and Libyan officials said they had been unable to contact the hijackers since the plane landed.

The only contact was earlier from the pilot, who radioed a mayday signal to Tripoli requesting permission to land and refuel, said a Libyan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. By midnight, the plane had not refueled and it was unclear whether the Libyans would allow it to do so.

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By Philip Thon Aleu

August 26, 2008 (BAIDIT, Jonglei) - At least 3,350 persons, from 480 homesteads, have been left homeless following river Nile overflow at Baidit Payam, Bor County in Sudan’s Jonglei State.

3,900 cattle have their grazing lands tapered to anthills and 1,470 gardens are destroyed, an administrator told a team of reporters Monday at Payam headquarters (16 miles north of Jonglei capital Bor).

Baidit Payam civil administrator Michael Jok says children, pregnant women and the elderly people suffered the most. “Health has generally declined these days and many children suffer diarrhea,” he said.

Some families were seen moving to higher neighborhood and children catch fish on road. Goats by the roadside climbed anthills and trees branches. A distance of 2 miles has been covered by water on road heading to Payam headquarters from Bor Town.

Acting commissioner of Bor County Deng Akuei Kur told a press briefing on Monday at Baidit that his government is unable to combat the situation. “I call upon the State government, the Government of Southern Sudan and the UN agencies to intervene,” he said.

Touring the Payam on Saturday, Governor Kuol Manyang encouraged the population to build hand-made-dykes as the State analyzes the situation for possible assistance.

DALIAN, China -- Eight years ago, Lopez Lomong didn't even have a country. Now he'll be carrying the flag for his adopted nation, leading the U.S. Olympic team at opening ceremonies Friday night.

Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, won a vote of team captains Wednesday to earn the honor of leading America's contingent into the 90,000-seat Bird's Nest Stadium.

The 1,500-meter track runner will be the flagbearer only 13 months after becoming a U.S. citizen.

"It's more than a dream," Lomong said in an interview with The Associated Press moments after he got the news. "I keep saying, I'm not sure if this is true or not true. I'm making the team and now I'm the first guy coming to the stadium and the whole world will be watching me carry the flag. There are no words to describe it."

He was born in Sudan, separated from his parents at the point of a gun at age 6, and with the help of friends, he escaped confinement and made it to a refugee camp in Kenya. In 2001, he was brought to America as part of a program to relocate lost children from war-torn Sudan.

Earlier this week, Lomong, 23, said he was mounting a campaign to be nominated by the track and field team for the flagbearer's position. He said the honor would be memorable, but he also was thrilled to be part of the democratic process that might get him there.

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July 31, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Two Sudanese courts on Thursday sentenced another 22 alleged Darfur rebels to death over an attack on the capital last May in which more than 222 people were killed.

Two injured JEM rebels who were detained by government forces in Khartoum are seen in this image taken from Sudan TV on Sunday May 11, 2008. (AP) The sentences from two special courts, set up to try those rounded up in a security crackdown following the May 10 assault, bring to 30 the number of alleged members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) condemned to death.

"The court sentenced all the 12 accused to death," said Adam Bakr Hassab, one of the defence lawyers at the special court in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum that was attacked by JEM rebels over two months ago.

Hassab told AFP that one of those sentenced to death is aged 16.

"The judge found them guilty of the charges against them and gave them one week to appeal the decision," he said.

"This is not fair because we are already at the end of the (working) week. Then we have two days’ weekend. So we have just have five days to appeal against the verdict," he added.

In the other court, in Khartoum North, Judge Osama Osman referred the cases of three suspected rebels to juvenille courts and found 10 men guilty under Sudanese criminal law and counter-terrorism legislation.

"I sentence you to death by hanging and you have the right to appeal this decision within 15 days," he addressed those standing in the dock.

The condemned, aged around 18 to 25 years old, broke out into loud cries of "God is great" and "thanks be to God", waving their arms in the air after hearing the sentence.

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By Philip Thon Aleu

July 30, 2008 (BOR TOWN) – Dr. John Garang de Mabior was an academician, a strong politician, a scientist and above all a patriotic citizen, State Ministers, who converged for the Third Anniversary Commemoration of his death told students.

Jonglei ministers pose for a photo at the John Garang Institution in Bor on July 30, 2008 (By Philip Thon ST) Dr. John Garang died in Ugandan presidential chopper’s crash on July 30, 2005 on his way to Newsite in Southern Sudan; hours after meeting long time friend, the Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The commemoration attended by the different members of Jonglei cabinet was organised at Garang Institute of Science and Technology in Bor.

Death took Garang 21 days after taking the post of the First Vice-President of the Republic. He was the President Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and Chairman of Sudan’s People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) that fought Khartoum government for 21 years yielding to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the foundation for the GoNU on January 9, 2005, the ministers flash at a brief history of fallen hero.

According to Jonglei state ministers, one should be selective to talk about Garang because he did everything quite prefer. "When we are talking about Dr. John Garang, we need to restrict ourselves because time will not allow us to talk about him," State Minister of Land and Physical Infrastructures, Eng John Amuor Kuol told the students whom he argued to resemble Dr. Garang.

Amuor said Garang was a talented politician, experienced scientist and a man who committed himself to serving the nation till death took him. "Be ambitious. Move forward," he argued.

Deputy Governor Hussein Mar Nyot, State Minister of Finance Kegi Jakok, State Director General of Higher Education Akuila Kelei, Leudier Dean of Cathedral and Bor Community elder Alier Biar, among others poured into Garang Institute in the early hours of Wednesday for one-and-half hours Prayers organized by Institute Administration.

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By Philip Thon Aleu

July 19, 2008 (BOR TOWN) – Experienced; but unqualified elderly government staffs should prepare to leave offices for educated-discipline youths anytime after unclassified staffs are force leave, Governor Kuol Manyang said here on Saturday.

 Governor Kuol Manyang addressing the State Ministry for Health staffs on Saturday July 19, 2008 (Photo by Philip Thon, ST) The move is a continuation to reducing numerous government staffs that started with unclassified this month.

Governor Gen. Kuol Manyang Juuk, in an hour briefing to State Ministry for Health staffs, argued that youths are potential human resource that should be developed to realize speedy development than striving to keeping experienced but less-productive elders in offices.

"We can’t keep the elderly in government offices in the name of ’experienced.’ Twenty, thirty or so years work experience does not qualify one to be a nurse or doctor," he said.

According to Gen. Manyang, pre-peace (CPA) government of Sudan employed numerous elderly or young unqualified staffs to boost her influence among prominent citizens but totally non-developmental.

This curves national budget into salary (particularly in the South Sudan), he says adding that it is a barrier to progress.

However, youths on streets say State Government is partly responsible to high level of unemployment and very small change is been expected. "Ministries prefer employing foreigners particularly as secretaries or what they call IT officers," John Madit reacts to governor’s call to oust elders in a name of creating jobs for youths.

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By Wasil Ali

July 20, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — A shipment of new Russian MIG-29 tactical fighters has recently arrived into Sudan from Belarus, a source familiar with the matter told Sudan Tribune today.

Russian MIG-29 fighter Jet The source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that a dozen MIG-29 combat fighters were shipped discreetly by planes through a Belarusian company two weeks ago.

However he could not confirm whether the fighters were actually sold by Belarus or they simply came through the East European country.

The planes are now in the Wadi Sayedna air base, the source added.

Belarus is one of the Sudan armament providers. A military cooperation protocol covering training, exchange of experiences, and military science fields was inked between the two countries in June 2006.

If the MIG-29’s are used in Darfur it would be in violation of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1591 which prohibits selling arms to Sudan government or Darfur rebels for use in the war ravaged region.

Last year Russia was accused by Amnesty International (AI) supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur but the Russian foreign ministry denied the charge.

Last May a MIG-29 was shot down by Darfur rebels over the Sudanese twin capital city of Omdurman and its Russian pilot was killed.

July 9, 2008 (BOR TOWN) – Three students detained last month for inciting tribal hatred, over internet, have been released on Tuesday.

The students hail security unit of professionalism and Jonglei government of been very transparent and fast in investigating their case. They are, orally, bounded to Jonglei, ready to be called anytime should need arise and banned from posing commends on internet again.

The students, from Dr John Garang de Mabior Institute of Science and Technology, Bor, were arrested on June 28 by security intelligent - a day after the Institute administration gave two weeks suspension for breaching Institute rules limiting correspondence.

A third student was arrested on Monday July 1. All were charged for posing hostile messages in Sudan Tribune commentary forum – they (students) accept and admitting wrongdoings, investigating officer says.

While briefing the students on Monday July 1 at the Institute, Jonglei governor Kuol Manyang condemns the students’ behaviors and cautioned them against using offensive adjectives.

“If somebody says or does something bad, just say ‘not good’ or ‘good’ if it is good. Do not insult yourself. Don’t insult tribes.” He said.

According to students, the security unit found them guilty for insulting themselves but not politically motivated. State Attorney General suspended the charges and allowed them to go back to school had it not been the two weeks suspension that ends on Friday July 11, the students told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday. Institute confirmed the release and maintains the suspension.

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(RTTNews) - Sudan's government on Thursday condemned the attack on UN-AU peacekeeping mission in the country's troubled Darfur region on Wednesday, which resulted in the death of seven peacekeepers.

The government blamed the SLM-Unity rebel faction for the attack and said in a statement released Thursday that the attack was intended to "destabilize the region and prove it is not safe." It also urged the UN and western countries to take sterner actions against the rebels.

Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday killed seven members of the joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission and injured 22 others in a well-coordinated attack in northern Darfur.

Despite the Sudanese government's claims, the UNAMID suspects government-backed Janjaweed militia of being responsible for Wednesday's attack, for which no one has yet claimed responsibility.

The UNAMID or the joint AU-UN mission took over peacekeeping duties in the troubled Darfur region in January from the AU peacekeeping force. Though it is authorized to have 26,000 members, it has only about 9,000 troops under its disposal now.

UN estimates that about 300,000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million displaced after ethnic Africans of the region took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in 2003 to fight discrimination.

June 30, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir issued a decree today relieving the chief of the civil aviation authority Gen. Abu-Bakr Gaa’far.

Ibrahim Abdullah Abd Al-Karim was named as the new civil aviation authority chief.

Sudan official news agency (SUNA) also reported that Al-Bashir banned all Russian made planes from operation.

The decision by the Sudanese president comes in the aftermath of a cargo plane crash today near Khartoum airport shortly after takeoff killing four Russian crew members.

A plane (Ilyushin 76) chartered by a private company called Ababiel crashed near the airport in an empty area.

The plane crashed and the fire had already started while it was in the air, a witness said. While taking off the plane collided with an electricity pillar and crashed, he added.

The plane was flying from Khartoum to Juba.

Earlier this month a Sudan airways passenger plane veered off the runway and burst into flames minutes after it landed killing 28 people.

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June 30, 2008 (JUBA) — Vice President of southern Sudan government has pointed figures at the Ugandan army saying they are responsible of recent attacks in the border areas with Uganda. He further ordered the Ugandan troops who hunting the LRA rebels to leave the country.

A Ugandan soldier in May 2007. Riek Machar who is also the chief mediator of the Ugandan peace talks had last March innocented the Ugandan rebels from accusations of committing attacks against civilians in different part of the greater equatorial.

Speaking to the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, Machar said that according to the findings of a committee sent to investigate the attacks, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is to blame on recent attacks in Western Equatoria State.

"I sent the committee to go and investigate it. The rest of the evidence is there. Indeed, it didn’t turn out to be the LRA, but they were UPDF," Machar told parliament in Juba.

According to documents presented to parliament, the ceasefire monitoring team attached to the Ugandan peace talks investigated an alleged LRA attack close to the Sudanese-Ugandan border in which a 31-year-old man was abducted.

They reported that about 30 gunmen raided a homestead at Nyongwa village on June 19, looted food and household goods and abducted Jino Moga Mandara.

The abductee was found dead three days later, apparently with a head injury and stab wound seemingly from a bayonet, three kilometres (two miles) away from the homestead on the route down which the attacker beat a retreat.

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June 24, 2008 (DAKAR) – Military experts from feuding neighbours Chad and Sudan met on Tuesday to discuss how to patrol their 1500 km long common border zone.

According to a non-aggression pact signed in the Senegalese capital, on the sidelined of the Islamic Conference summit on March 13, the two countries agreed to deploy a monitoring force to ensure stability on the joint border and to establish a contact group composed of Congo, Eritrea, Gabon, Libya and Senegal.

General David Ngomine Beadimadji led a team of Chadian military experts, while Sudanese General Ibrahim Ezzedin led his country’s delegation. Negotiations began on Tuesday, a day late due to the late arrival of the Sudanese.

"Chad will supply its own soldiers to patrol its own border, Sudan will supply its own soldiers to patrol its own border, and the peace and security force will become a mechanism for observing the two countries," Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio told reporters at an opening ceremony on Monday.

Senegal and Libya, both members of a "contact group" following implementation of the Dakar peace deal, had identified 10 sites suitable for border surveillance posts, he said.

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JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudanese authorities have begun to collect thousands of guns amassed by civilians during decades of war to try to end tribal conflicts which claim dozens of lives each year, officials said.

Since a 2005 north-south peace deal ended Africa's longest civil war, efforts by the semi-autonomous southern government to disarm civilians have claimed an estimated 1,500 lives because they took weapons from some tribes leaving them vulnerable to neighbouring communities who were still armed.

Southern Internal Affairs Minister Paul Mayom said on Thursday few had given up their guns voluntarily and a new army- backed campaign was needed. He said they would simultaneously disarm communities nearby to avoid bloodshed.

"(This) new approach is comprehensive disarmament, by removing all the illegal guns," Mayom said. "If you don't do it we'll take it by force."

During Sudan's north-south civil war which has raged on and off since 1955, tribal communities were given or bought weapons to protect their lands and cattle. But with peace, gun law has remained paramount in many parts of the south.

The new campaign will differ from earlier attempts that targeted specific communities.

In 2006 the Swiss-based independent research group Small Arms Survey estimated some 1,200 civilians and 400 soldiers were killed in a campaign to disarm the Lou Nuer tribe as their neighbours retained weapons.

But this year the civil authorities will give communities warning and then record, collect and store the guns in a more organised fashion to avoid similar bloodshed.

At least 911 rifles have already been collected in one area, one official said. But others warn that any army involvement could backfire. "There could be violence," John Baloch, a member of one of the still-armed tribal communities said.

Cattle raiding and revenge attacks have sparked cycles of violence in the largely pastoralist south with deep tribe and clan divides. At least 20 people were killed in one incident in May but numbers are often higher.

"Without disarmament there can be no peace," said William Chan Acuil, deputy of the southern government's humanitarian wing.

The north-south war, complicated by issues of religion, oil, ideology and ethnicity, claimed 2 million lives and forced more than 4 million to flee their homes.

June 23, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Senior Presidential Assistant, Minni Arcua Minawi denied reports about his defection to Chad and affirmed he will soon return to Khartoum from Darfur were he visited Refugee camps.

Minni Minawi Informed source told Sudan Tribune from Ndjamena that he met with Minawi who was expressed anger “in very harsh language” at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) for not implementing the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). Minawi managed to slip into Chad despite refusal by Khartoum to let him visit” the source said.

However, the Sudanese official denied in a statement to Al-Ray Al-Aam his travel to Chad affirming that he was in Kamoa near Karnoyi after visiting displaced camps in remote areas of North Darfur.

He further said he was in the border area for sorting out some problems. "I will return in a few days to conduct my duties in Khartoum soon." Minawi said.

The former rebel warned of attempts made to create a crisis between him and the government and added:

Minawi who is the only former rebel leader to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) with the Sudanese government in Abuja on 5 May 2006, expressed repeatedly frustrations and criticized Khartoum for not implementing the peace agreement.

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By Tesfa-alem Tekle

June 22, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The joint meeting of ministers of Water Resources of Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan held in London to discuss projects that would be executed on Nile River was successfully concluded, according to Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR).

Minister of Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo told Walta information center that the projects studied by the British and French companies EDF and Scott Wilson could benefit the three nations if implemented.

The companies have forwarded detailed studies of projects to be undertaken in the Nile Basin,he said, adding that the three countries have reached consensus on the hydropower opportunities available in the basin.

The studies would help expand large-scale irrigation development works in Ethiopia, Asfaw stated, further noting that they have also proved that hydropower projects to be developed in the Nile Basin could only be materialized in Ethiopia.

The studies are of paramount importance to avert the evaporation problem witnessed in the Sudan and Egypt as well as the erosion in Ethiopia, the minister added.

The studies also revealed that projects carried out around the Nile basin could be of immense economic benefits if carried on the highlands of Ethiopia. Sudan has supported the idea, he said.

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June 10, 2008 (BEIJING) — Sudan and China today signed eight agreements covering such fields as economic and technological cooperation, finance, agriculture and public health; in presence of Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, Vice-President and Xi Jinping Chinese Vice-President.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha at a welcome ceremony in Beijing, on June10, 2008 (Xinhua) Taha arrived in Beijing on Monday to start his third China trip. He visited China in March 1996 and March 2001.

According to the signed agreements China will extend two grants of financial assistance to the Sudanese Government in addition to a interest-free loan, the establishment of an agricultural centre in state of Gedaref, eastern Sudan and to send Chinese agricultural experts to Sudan

The parties agreed to establish a hospital in al-Damazin, Blue Nile state funded by the Chinese side, besides the signing of the memorandum of understanding on the migrations procedures of Chinese workers in Sudan

The agreements were signed by Awad Ahmed al-Jaz the Sudanese minister of finance and national economy and Chinese Minister of Trade Shi Quangsheng.

While the protocol of agricultural cooperation between Sudan and China was signed by al-Zubair Bashir Taha, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Chinese Minister of Agriculture Sun Zhengcai.

The Vice President Taha invited Chinese businessmen to invest in his country saying that Sudan enjoys broad possibilities for investment and agriculture besides the oil projects and infrastructure like dams, roads, bridges, electricity, industrial and various commercial activities especially in Communications and engineering sectors.

JUBA, Sudan, June 11 (Reuters) - Cholera has infected almost 6,000 south Sudanese and killed at least 44 this year, with more than half dying within the past four weeks, officials from the South Sudanese Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

"From previous experience it always starts (in the south) and goes north," South Sudan's director for preventable medicine John Rumunu said. The epidemic has now reached Bor town, in the centre of South Sudan, he said.

A 2005 peace deal ended more than two decades of north-south civil war and established a semi-autonomous southern government, but the conflict left the region's health infrastructure desperately undeveloped.

Some 700 people died from the waterborne disease in 2006 and around 25,000 were affected. Cholera causes vomiting and acute diarrohea and can rapidly lead to death from dehydration if not treated.

This year outbreaks have occurred in several southern towns, Rumunu said, including the southern capital Juba where cases in nearby army barracks first raised the alarm in May.

Government authorities and United Nations agencies have been trying to force private water truckers to chlorinate their water before selling it to Juba households, most of which do not have running water.

Sahr Kemoh, a water and sanitation expert with the United Nations Fund for Children, said in 2007 an estimated 9,800 cases were recorded in total, but said year's rains were not over.

Sudan's north-south conflict killed 2 million people. Fought over religious, ethnic and ideological differences it was fuelled by the discovery of large oil reserves. It is separate from the Darfur conflict.

By Wasil Ali

June 3, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The Darfur advocacy groups in the US have expressed little surprise over the abrupt suspension of normalization talks between Washington and Khartoum.

Demonstrators listen to a speaker after a march sponsored by The Save Darfur Coalition to mark International Human Rights Day with a Dream for Darfur Torch Relay through the streets of Washington, DC to China’s embassy, 10 December 2007 (AFP) John Prendergast, a former Clinton administration official and Co-Chair of the ENOUGH Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity, told Sudan Tribune that the talks “were ill-fated because the U.S. approached them without any leverage”.

“U.S. Defense Secretary Gates himself has said that it make sense to pursue negotiations only when you have built some leverage” he added.

Professor Eric Reeves, Smith College English professor and Sudan expert, echoed the same call saying “it is hardly surprising that he [Williamson] found it impossible to make progress in normalizing relations with Khartoum’s genocidaires”.

The US special envoy told reporters in Khartoum today that dialogue with the Sudanese government on bilateral ties will be halted after failing to broker an agreement between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) over the oil rich region of Abyei.

"Until they want a meaningful peace, there is nothing the United States or others can do. I’ve tried my best and I leave sad and disappointed," he said following days of talks on how to resolve a crisis in Sudan’s Abyei district.

"Right now our talks are suspended," he added.

Professor Reeves accused the Sudanese government of “deliberately and systematically” escalating military tensions in the area.

“Khartoum continues to renege on key terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), including accepting the binding arbitration of the Abyei issue reflected in the July 2005 report of the distinguished Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC)” he said.

The ‘Save Darfur’ coalition issued a statement attributed to its president Jerry Fowler, saying that the decision by the US to suspend the talks “must not be an end to robust U.S. engagement to resolve the crises in Abyei and Darfur – neither of which can be solved in isolation from the other”

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JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan's leader accused the northern government on Tuesday of reinforcing troops in the disputed oil town of Abyei, raising tensions as U.N. Security Council envoys flew in to shore up a north-south peace deal.

Clashes in Abyei last month increased fears of a return to all out war between the northern government and the south, which signed a peace agreement in 2005 to end two decades of civil war. The Security Council envoys, who flew into the southern capital Juba on a tour of African hotspots, discussed Abyei with South Sudan's leader Salva Kiir and will also hold talks with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government in Khartoum.

At stake in Abyei is control of lucrative oilfields and a pipeline supplying about half Sudan's daily 500,000 barrel output. Three years after the peace accord, the sides have failed to agree on the borders or administration for the area. South Sudan's leader told reporters: "The troops are coming down from Khartoum to Abyei ... I have already called him (Bashir) to order his military leaders to pull out their forces from the Abyei area. We are not going to fight them."

Kiir, who is president of semi-autonomous south Sudan as well as first vice-president of the country as a whole, said there was no danger of a return to war "as long as there was a will for peace". Deng Arop, a senior official of the parliament in the south, told Reuters 38 trucks full of northern soldiers had arrived in el-Muglad, a town about 120 km (75 miles) north of Abyei, over the weekend.

"They are converging on Abyei, they expect a big fight," he said. "There are three battalions -- one brigade."

He estimated that would mean 2,100 soldiers and not less than 1,500, equipped with heavy weapons.

No on was immediately available for comment from Sudan's government or armed forces. But officials have denied southern accusations of troop buildups in the past.

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By Philip Thon Aleu

May 19, 2008 (BOR TOWN, Jonglei) – Cattle primitive business, the barter trade, resulted to lost of over three dozens lives between Nuer Lou and Duk Padiet communities of Jonglei state at Pakam Amiel in Duk County (about 150 miles) northern Bor Town Saturday on May 17, Sudan Tribune has learnt.

Jonglei government says no official number of causalities is available.

"I can’t tell you exactly what happens because we do not have the report in written form," the Acting Government of Jonglei state and the State Minister for Land and Physical Infrastructures Eng. John Amuor Kuol told Sudan Tribune when contacted Sunday at Dr. Garang Institute cultural day, Bor Town.

The minister, however, acknowledged that the two communities were engaged in exchange of fire on Saturday.

"You will complete the rest of the function because I’m going to attend a meeting in the town where we shall discuss the current insecurity reports," he told parents and students at Dr. Garang Institute Sunday, referring to the fight between Duk and Wutror Counties communities of Jonglei.

Bor town residents belonging to the two communities denounce the clashes and call upon the state government to act.

All top Jonglei officials, including commissioner of Duk County are attending SPLM National Convention in southern Sudan capital Juba and thus inaccessible. Minister Amuor represents the state government.

The Oil Company; ASCOM Co. Ltd staff operating at Aker-Ker — location between the two communities — are said to be safe.

Nuer Lou cattle keepers, while returning from Duk’s Toch — area between rivers used to graze cattle in dry seasons — in Duk County territory, fell apart when a two men exchange of a bull and a heifer failed Saturday.

A Nuer Lou is said to have demanded exchanging his heifer for colored-bull — a sign of riches and of great reputation in cattle keeping communities — belonging a Duk Padiet who refused. He was instantly shot dead for denying the barter business, relatives in Bor town claimed.

Exchanges of fire erupted in revenge and defend lasting for six (6) hours (9:00am – 2:00Pm) between the two neighbors. Unconfirmed source puts dead to over thirty and many more wounded. Duk County is said to have lost a half herd of cattle on May 17.

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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- The leader of Sudan's main opposition party said Saturday that a recent attack on the capital by Darfur rebels may encourage other disgruntled Sudanese to rise up against the government.

Hassan Turabi, the country's leading Islamist ideologue and an ally-turned-adversary of President Omar al-Bashir, lambasted the government over its handling of the Darfur conflict, in which as many as 300,000 people have died since 2003. He also said the U.N. is not doing enough to protect Darfur.

Hundreds of fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement, which has emerged as the most effective Darfur rebel group, staged the bold attack on Khartoum's twin city, Omdurman. It was the first time in decades the rebels had approached the capital.

"There is so much misery in Darfur, genocidal measures actually," Turabi, 75, told reporters in an interview at his home in the capital, Khartoum. "They thought they have to remind this country right here in the center that there is a tragedy called Darfur."

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May 15, 2008 (NAIROBI) — The UN World Food Program (WEP) said today that its Humanitarian Air Service (WFP-HAS) in Sudan can continue operations until mid-June, adding that there is still a risks of closure.

WFP-HAS, which flies about 14,000 humanitarian workers around Sudan each month, has faced a funding crisis this year. On its US$77 million budget for 2008, the air service still needs US$51 million to fly from mid-June onwards.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Nairobi, the WFP said a 2 million U.S. dollar contribution from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund(CERF) and accumulated private donations from Japan totaling just fewer than 500,000 dollars will allow the air operation to continue.

Last March the WFP-Humanitarian Air Service was extended its flights ntil 30 April, thanks to four donors who responded quickly to an announcement that the air operation would be grounded by 31 March due to lack of funds.

The air service is more important than ever because insecurity in recent months throughout Darfur has made road travel extremely dangerous. This year, 64 WFP contract trucks have been hijacked, with 41 still missing and 28 drivers are unaccounted for. Two WFP contract drivers have been killed in Darfur this year. Three other drivers and one assistant were killed in two separate incidents in southern Sudan.

KHARTOUM, May 14 (Reuters) - Sudan on Wednesday urged the international community to list the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) as a terrorist group, after its lightning weekend assault on the capital.

Sudan says more than 200 people died in Saturday's attack, in which more than 300 heavily armed rebel vehicles sped across 400 miles (around 640 km) of desert to the western Khartoum suburb of Omdurman.

The assault was only halted at the bridge leading to central Khartoum, army headquarters and the presidential palace. It was the first time in decades of civil war that rebels from Sudan's peripheries had brought the conflict to Khartoum's doorstep.

"We think that it is beyond doubt that JEM is a terrorist organisation and through diplomatic means we are going to ask them to hand over all the JEM leaders in other countries," said senior foreign ministry official Mutrif Siddig.

He said the foreign ministry briefed foreign diplomats on Tuesday, asking them to add JEM to the international list of terrorist organisations.

"We told them that through bilateral and multilateral institutions we are going to issue an arrest warrant for JEM leaders wherever they are."

Rights groups have expressed concern at reports of mass arrests, torture and two public executions of Darfuris and others caught up in a wave of arrests following the assault.

State media said on Sunday that 300 people had been arrested, but many more have been detained since.

JEM said on Wednesday authorities detained JEM rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim's wife in Khartoum for a day.

"Zinad Ali Yousif has never been engaged in politics and has never occupied any position in JEM," JEM said in a statement. "Her arrest shows how low (President Omar Hassan) al-Bashir's government can sink."

Sudan doubled the price on Ibrahim's head to $250,000 on Sunday and cut diplomatic relations with Chad, accusing it of backing the rebel attack.

Chad denies any involvement but analysts say it was likely revenge for an attack this year on Chad's capital N'Djamena by rebels Chad's President Idriss Deby says were armed by Khartoum.

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By Wasil Ali

May 12, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — A leading Islamist opposition party leader arrested briefly by Sudanese authorities denied any links with a Darfur rebel group that launched an attack on the capital over the weekend.

Hassan al-Turabi “The Justice and Equality Movement [Darfur rebel group] have no relation with the Popular Congress Party (PCP). It is true that many of JEM members used to be part of us back in the days, but they broke with us to create their own party” Hassan al-Turabi told Sudan Tribune today by phone following his release from prison.

The powerful Islamic leader was arrested in the early morning hours of Monday, and four members of his party, by Sudanese security agents as he was returning from a PCP gathering in Sennar town on the banks of the Blue Nile in southeastern Sudan.

Al-Turabi said he expected his arrest by the government so he was not surprised.

“I was telling people who accompanied me on my way back to Khartoum that I have a feeling that I am going to be detained by Sudanese security” Al-Turabi said.

Sudanese authorities said that they have obtained documents and testimony from rebel captives that could implicate Al-Turabi in the failed attempt by JEM to take over Khartoum.

Darfurian rebels staged a bold attack and fought fierce battles with the Sudanese army on the outskirts of the capital. However the Sudanese government said it repulsed the attack and accused Chad of backing the assault.

Al-Bashir said in a televised statement that he holds Chad responsible of the foiled attack by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) troops against the Sudanese capital. He also announced that diplomatic relations with Chad have been broken.

The Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail speaking to Al-Jazeera Arabic TV earlier today denied that Al-Turabi was arrested saying he was “summoned” for questioning.

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Juba, May 13, (Bloomberg) - Southern Sudan will use African pouched rats to hunt for landmines planted in the country during its two-decade civil war, the head of the anti-landmine group said.

The rats, which are prized for their acute sense of smell, are being trained in Tanzania to search for the weapons, said Sam Apiliga, chairman of the Southern Sudan Anti-Landmine Organization.

"A rat can de-mine 100 square meters in 20 minutes," Apiliga said. "A landmine expert can do the same work in two days."

Southern Sudan was recognized as a semiautonomous state in 2005 following a peace agreement that ended 20 years of civil war in which at least 2 million people died.

The system of using rats to search for landmines was developed by Apopo, an Antwerp, Belgium-based organization.

"We train the rats to detect landmines," Anne Geni, an official from Apopo, said in an interview today. "They are not used to detonate the devices."

The technique has been used successfully in Mozambique, where mines were laid during that nation's 1975 to 1992 civil war.

African pouched rats, so called because of their cheek pouches used to carry food, can grow up to 1 metre in length.

May 7, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese investigators have completed the gruesome task of sifting through the wreckage of the Beech 1900 that crashed last week and started preparing their technical report.

Salva Kiir Mayardit (R) and Vice-President Riek Machar (C) stands on May 6, 2008 in Juba during a burial ceremony for South Sudan’s late Defence minister Dominic Diem Deng (AFP) Due to technical failure a plane of South Sudan Air Connection came down on Friday May 2, 375 kilometers from Juba, killing everyone on broad including South Sudan army minister Dominic Dim Deng and Justin Yac Arop, GoSS presidential Adviser for Decentralization.

The deputy director of the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority and member of the technical investigation team, Mohamed Saleh al-Kenani said the investigators had visited the site of the accident, 15 km east of Rumbek, and returned to Khartoum carrying the black box, which should explain why the Beechcraft crashed.

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By James Gatdet Dak

May 7, 2008 (JUBA) – The population and housing census in Southern Sudan officially ended on Tuesday, May 6, unsuccessfully according to reports from various states in the region.

The Chairperson for the Southern Sudan Census, Statistics and Evaluation Commission, Mr. Isaiah Chol Aruai, in a press statement he issued on Tuesday, estimated that about ninety to ninety-five percent (90% to 95%) of South Sudan population has been counted.

Aruai blamed a number of challenges for not achieving a 100% headcount. He said insecurity in the South coupled with heavy rainfalls in some states were among the obstacles to the success of the census. The Census Chairperson however concluded that the exercise went on well.

Sample reports from various states such as Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Eastern Equatoria, Upper Nile and Lakes states dispute the census results, saying many more areas have not been reached and counted in the region.

For instance, Census Field Coordinators in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, reported that several villages near to the North-South border have been counted to the northern population by enumerators from Southern Kordufan while dozens of villages more were not mapped in the census mapping and therefore could not be located for the count.

A similar report came out of Rumbek where about twenty-eight villages and many more cattle camps were not counted because they were not included in the census mapping. Some villages, although mapped, could not be accessed because of insecurity in the area, the report added.

Census Field Coordinators also complain about lack of transport, saying in some situations two Counties had to share only one vehicle for the enumeration exercise and without means to communicate.

There is also a wide range of complaints by enumerators that promises by respective state census offices to make them sign contracts in order to get paid after the exercise have not materialized, leaving enumerators confused and worried whether they would get paid or not.

The Sudan Population and Housing count is the most important mechanism in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) meant to determine how power and wealth should be shared between North and South in accordance with the census results.

The results of the Census will also be used for determining political constituencies prior to the conduct of the country’s general elections in 2009.

This will also be used by the government in planning for distribution of basic services across this vast country.

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By James Gatdet Dak

May 4, 2008 (BENTIU) – Governor of Unity State, Taban Deng Gai has lost the SPLM state election for chairperson to his rival Dr. Joseph Minytuil Wiejang who overwhelmingly won the votes as the results were officially announced yesterday.

Dr. Wiejang is currently the Minister of Health in the Government of Southern Sudan. The position for deputy-chairperson was won by Mr. Samuel Lony Geng while the position for Secretary is yet to be announced later today. The elections were conducted under direct supervision of Dr. Theophillus Ochang Lotti, an Advisor to the President of the Government of Southern Sudan.

Present during the state congress formation were GOSS and SPLA senior officials and officers that hail from Unity state. These included Dr. Riek Machar Teny, Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Madam Angelina Teny, State Minister of Energy and Mining in the Government of National Unity, Lt. General Paulino Matip Nhial, SPLA Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Major General Peter Gatdet Yaka and a number Parliamentarians.

In another news development, Lt. Gen. Paulino Matip Nhial urged the Government of Southern Sudan leadership to remain calm and courageous following the tragic plane crash on Friday near Rumbek town that claimed the lives of Dr. Justin Yaac Arop, Presidential Advisor on Decentralization and Lt. Gen. Dominic Dim Deng, Minister for SPLA Affairs and 19 others.

Gen. Matip said the incident is a great lost and sadly reminds the people of Southern Sudan about the tragic plane crash that claimed the live of our late leader, Dr. John Garang de Mabior.

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan and called for demarcation of the contested oil-rich border region between the north and south.

Some 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers are enforcing a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between the ethnic African south and Sudan's Arab-dominated government in the capital Khartoum -- but peace remains fragile.

The disputed region in southern Kordofan province, where four days of fighting between south Sudanese troops and Arab tribesman ended Tuesday, is claimed by north and south, like the nearby oil rich region of Abyei. Both have become potential flashpoints that could wreck the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

In a report to the Security Council earlier this month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said recent clashes and tensions in
the Abyei area "represent a potential threat to the agreement" and to the national unity government in Khartoum that now includes members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement which led the war in the south.

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By James Gatdet Dak

April 30, 2008 (BENTIU) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) State Congress formations began yesterday throughout the ten states of Southern Sudan.

Riek Machar Participants are drawn from all Payams of each state to form the party’s state congresses and elect their respective leaderships.

Speaking to the press yesterday in Bentiu town, the capital of Unity state, the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan and Deputy Chairman of the SPLM, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, urged all the SPLM members who are constitutional post holders in Southern Sudan to actively participate in the SPLM Congress formations in the ten states.

Dr. Machar said the current exercise of the SPLM State Congress formations is the first of its kind in the Movement and the beginning of the real democratic transformation of the SPLM into a political party.

He added that the exercise will strengthen democratic institutionalization of the Party structures.

Unity state kicked off its SPLM Congress formation on Tuesday, April 29, at Rubkona County, the SPLM state headquarters, in which the current state Governor Brig. Taban Deng Gai will contest for the Party’s state chairmanship in the election against his challenger, Dr. Joseph Minytuil Wiejang, the current Minister of Health in the Government of Southern Sudan.

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By Philip Thon Aleu

April 30, 2008 (BOR, Jonglei) – Child abduction, that resumed in Bor county last month, is not by Murle tribesmen or if any; then there is no official reports, commissioner of Pibor County has said here Tuesday April 29. The commissioner however says he can not rule out an element of trust in the claims. Bor dismissed the denial.

“I can not deny the fact that child abduction might have started, but I do not have that information,” Commissioner Akot Maze Adikir told reporters at Diam-Diam hotel, (Bor town) when summoned to explain circumstances surrounding Murle tribesmen’s brutal behaviors in Jonglei state. Two trips of two children were drove out

Adikir however, says last year’s atrocities may resume should the Luo Nuer, who he said attempted cattle raiding there last month, fail to desist. “I do not rule out any resumption of atrocities this year, but my people will not start,” he said adding that Murle may respond in revenge if continuously attacked as Luo Nuer tried in March 2008.

Communities in Jonglei have been engaged in tribal conflicts since peace deal – commonly known as the compressive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended South-North civil war was reached three years ago. But all neighbors of Murle community jointly said they (Murle) are responsibly for the insecurity. SPLM Jonglei state leaders, who converged here Tuesday failed to accuse one tribe as being in charge of the suffering as well as admitting the arms littering at the hands of cattle keepers as the cause.

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By Isaac Vuni

April 27, 2008 (JUBA) — More than six hundreds Christians from Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS), led by Rt. Rev. Nataniel Garang Anyieth, Provincial Dean of ECS and Bishop of Bor Diocese, last Friday held prayer for peace and unity within SPLA officers in the military headquarters in Juba.

Section of congregation of ECS mobile prayer group in SSLA premisses in Juba on 25 April 2008. (By I. Vuni - ST) Rev. Anyieth made these comments during a prayer service at SSLA premises organized by mobile ECS revival groups currently visiting Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan.

The Bishop noted that southern Sudanese people are participating and managing for the first time Sudan national population and housing census, since creation of the Sudan. Therefore it’s important to commit their services to God the almighty for better result and future planning for the development of war ravaged southern Sudan.

The Rt. Rev. Anyieth emphasized that it’s the responsibility of SPLA forces to guarantee and protect the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that has ushered the right to be counted by sons and daughters from Southern Sudan, and to the election and referendum in 2011.

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KHARTOUM (AFP) — Around 95 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in south Sudan that have also targeted equipment and facilities used in a historic nationwide census, local press reports said on Friday.

Clashes broke out on Tuesday in the southern Lakes State between two rival branches of the Dinka tribe after a dispute over cattle, the daily Al-Sahafa reported, adding that dozens were left dead in the streets.

Tribal clashes, often provoked by cattle theft, are frequent in southern Sudan but rarely reach such deadly intensity in the semi-autonomous part of Africa's largest country.

Martin Manil Wol, who is supervising the nationwide census, said the attackers torched all of the census facilities, including 12 boxes of questionnaire forms.

Sudan on Tuesday began its first census in 15 years, a milestone in the peace deal that ended Africa's longest civil war, but it has been overshadowed by disputes.

The two-week census is crucial to prepare constituencies for national elections and confirm or adjust the wealth- and power-sharing ratios in central government.

Sudan's undeveloped south has refused to be bound by the results and Darfur rebels have boycotted the count, as both accuse the Arab north of manipulating the census to maximise its control and marginalise the African majority.

By Wasil Ali

April 23, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — A senior US official today criticized the Chinese government and accused it of being insensitive to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

Richard S. Williamson, new US special envoy to Sudan “Speaking from my responsibility I continue to be disappointed that China doesn’t have greater concern about the people suffering in Darfur and are not proactively helpful to us” the US special envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson told the Senate foreign relations committee.

Williamson was testifying before the US Congress for the first time since his appointment in December of last year. The hearing was held on the topic named “The Continuing Crisis in Darfur”. The other speakers at the hearing included Jane Lute of the UN Department of Field Support and assistant administrator for Africa at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Katherine Almquist.

The soft spoken envoy told the US senators that China continues to protect the Sudanese government from international pressure and slowing down UN efforts in Darfur as a veto wielding member.

“Yesterday there was a discussion in the UN Security Council (UNSC) about benchmarks; put more pressure for rapid deployment [of peacekeepers to Darfur]. The Chinese position was twofold. Yes it would be good to have more rapid deployment but no let’s not put pressure on them. They said benchmarks are counterproductive” he said.

Williamson’s remarks are a clear departure from those of his predecessor Andrew Natsios who often argued that the Chinese government is doing ‘behind the scenes’ work to pressure the Sudanese government on making concessions.

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KHARTOUM, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - Sudan on Tuesday shuts down for its first census in 15 years, a milestone in the peace deal that ended Africa's longest civil war but clouded in dispute threatening to undermine the accord further.

In the 2005 agreement signed by the former warring north and south, the two-week census is crucial to prepare constituencies for national elections and confirm or adjust the wealth and power-sharing ratios in central government. But the undeveloped south has refused to be bound by the results and rebels in Darfur will boycott the count, both accusing the Arab north of manipulating the census to maximise its control and marginalise the African majority.

Khartoum, assisted greatly by the United Nations, says it has prepared the most comprehensive population count ever held in Sudan, a country almost constantly engulfed in civil war since independence from Britain in 1956. Around 60,000 enumerators and 200 observers are to deploy for the population count costing Sudan and the international community 103 million dollars.

"The census begins at one minute past midnight (2101 GMT Monday)," Yasin Haj Abdin, director of the central bureau of statistics, told AFP. "The planning and field work in the south has been the best possible... They have every enumerator in place and (we have) the international resources to get best possible census in the south and all of Sudan," Abdin said.

But discontentment and disillusionment run deep in the south, where the legacy of the war that killed two million people and displaced another four million, is keenly felt despite a flood of refugees returning for the count.

"The level of preparedness was very low and even if counting takes place (Tuesday) its not going to produce the desired results," south Sudan information minister Gabriel Changson Chang told AFP.

His government said it was unlikely to accept the results after the north insisted the survey go ahead --delayed for the fourth time last week when the south complained that ethnicity and religion were not included.

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April 21, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — Democratic White House contender Barack Obama said he is “deeply concerned” over reports that the Bush administration is negotiating with Sudan over normalizing ties.

 US Senator Barack Obama (AP) “This reckless and cynical initiative would reward a regime in Khartoum that has a record of failing to live up to its commitments” Obama said in a statement made available today.

Last week the New York Times (NYT) obtained a series of documents exchanged between the Washington and Khartoum on a series of steps to normalize relations between the two countries. The documents were leaked by an unidentified US official described as being “critical of the administration’s position”.

The report said that the Bush administration could remove Sudan from an American list of state supporters of terrorism and normalize relations if the Sudanese government agreed, among other steps, to allow Thai and Nepalese peacekeepers as part of the peacekeeping force.

The newly appointed US special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson met in Rome last week with a high level Sudanese delegation to discuss normalization of ties. The meeting adjourned late Friday and will be resumed “within a month” according to Sudan official news agency (SUNA).

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April 21, 2008 (JUBA) — South Sudan hopes to begin the long delayed demobilisation of tens of thousands of former rebel fighters in May but many could return to violence without jobs or enough money, a government official said on Monday.

SPLA soldiers smoke cigarettes in a military barrack in Nabanga, near the Sudan-Congo border, Western Equatoria, April 12, 2008. (Reuters) South Sudan’s army — which one U.N. official estimates at about 140,000 strong — is a massive strain on the budget of the semi-autonomous region, struggling to build a nation from the war ruined but mineral rich south.

"To start the process and then get stuck on the way would be a disaster," the south Sudan Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) Commission head Arop Moyak Monytoc said.

"Many know no life but behind a gun. To do demobilization without sustainable reintegration...these people will go violent definitely," he said.

Sudan’s north-south war killed some 2 million people and forced another 4 million from their homes before a 2005 peace deal. Under the peace deal the south can vote for independence in 2011.

Soldiers leaving the army will initially get food, household goods and some cash to last six months.

But after that their future is bleak. Jobs are not guaranteed and the United Nations has not agreed to give enough money to help them rejoin society, he added.

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By Isaac Vuni

April 20, 2008 (JUBA) — The First Vice president of the republic and president of the government of southern Sudan, General Salva Kiir Mayardit, has today, called upon the newly enthroned Archbishop of the Episcopal church of the Sudan, Most Revered Daniel Deng Bul to unite the Anglican Church of the Sudan that got divided during the 21 years of liberation struggle.

President Salva Kiir addressing congregation at All Saints Cathedral in Juba on ocassion of Enthronement of Archbishop Deng of ECS (I Vuni, ST) Speaking at the enthronement ceremony of Archbishop elect Daniel Deng at All Saints Cathedral in Juba, President Kiir noted that the Episcopal Church of the Sudan was so much divided during the war time and called upon the new Arch bishop Daniel Deng Bul to unite the Anglican Church under his administration for effective delivery of services and development of the war-torn southern Sudan.

He appealed to churches in the Sudan particularly southern Sudan to support government in promoting southern Sudanese cultures particularly for the youth who are so possessed of embracing foreign cultures they might have been assimilated to during the liberation struggle period.

President Kiir hailed the positive role Sudanese churches together with their counter parts in the neighboring countries played during SPLM/A liberation struggle that led to signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005.

He called upon all people of southern Sudan to fully participate in the fifth Sudan national population and housing census that kicks off from Tuesday 22nd April 2008.

Kiir said the presidency of Sudan have agreed on the issues of ethnicity and religion that was omitted from the questionnaires to be addressed separately soon after the census is concluded.

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JUBA, Sudan, April 16, 2008 (AFP) - South Sudan said on Wednesday it was unlikely to accept the results of a national census after its northern former enemy insisted that the survey, crucial to a fragile peace agreement, go ahead.

"We are not bound by the outcome of the census if it is carried out by the presidency," south Sudan Information Minister Gabriel Changson Chang told AFP after President Omar el-Beshir ordered that the survey go ahead despite southern doubts.

Chang said on Monday that the census, originally due to take place on April 15, had been deferred until later this year, but Beshir subsequently issued a decree insisting that it proceed next week.

Cash-flow problems and logistic headaches have dogged preparations for the repeatedly delayed population count, a crucial part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Africa's longest-running civil war.

Chang said that it is "a very difficult if not impossible proposition" for the north to address southern objections to the way the census is being prepared before it starts on April 22.

Southern concerns focus on the repatriation of internally displaced and refugees to the south, making funds available for security and adequate provision of census forms in the appropriate language.

"I don't know what credible results will come out of that," Chang said, complaining about "a lot of discrepancies" over forms in Arabic going to areas where Arabic is not properly spoken and in English to Arabic-speaking areas.

The census is to prepare for voter registration for elections due in 2009. Its results will also redraw or confirm the ratio of power-sharing between north and south in the central government.

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April 15, 2008 (PARIS) — The US efforts to boost efforts in the war ravaged region of Darfur took an unprecedented turn Tuesday with a senior official holding a rare meeting with a rebel movement in France.

US special envoy for Sudan Richard Williamson is seen in Khartoum in February 2008 (AFP) The US special envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson met with a high level delegation from Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to discuss the resumption of peace talks and cessation of hostilities in Darfur.

JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein told Sudan Tribune from Paris that the meeting was supposed to include Khalil Ibrahim leader of JEM but said that “logistical difficulties due to his presence in Darfur” prevented him from attending.

However Hussein disclosed that that Williamson had phone conversation with Ibrahim earlier today and that the latter will meet with the US envoy “very soon” to discuss ways of “bringing about a comprehensive and sustainable peace in Darfur”.

The meeting is the first of its kind since the US administration imposed sanctions on Ibrahim for his role and accused him of “activity aimed at further destabilizing the situation on the ground [in Darfur]”.

Last year a US state department official speaking to Sudan Tribune said that “Ibrahim’s agenda is that of Hassan Turabi, the head of the Popular Congress Party and an ex-ally of President Al-Bashir”.

The official elaborated by saying that it is clear to the US administration that Ibrahim is focused on Khartoum and not on the crisis of his people in Darfur.

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April 14, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — China will build a large-scale hospital in the Blue Nile State in south-eastern Sudan, a local official announced on Monday.

Blue Nile state minister of health, Ali Mohamed Idriss, said that the construction of the hospital, which is to occupy an area of 20,000 square meters and will have nearly 100 beds, would start at the beginning of next year and would last for about one year.

He said that the hospital would be named "the Hospital of the Chinese Sudanese Friendship.", the Chinese Xinhua reported.

"This is a precious present from China to the local people in the Blue Nile State, and we express our extreme thanks and appreciation for the Chinese government’s donation," the Sudanese official said.

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