‘Having two armies in one country really big mistake’ in Sudan, South Sudan’s acting FM tells Arab News

Short Url
Updated 23 May 2023

‘Having two armies in one country really big mistake’ in Sudan, South Sudan’s acting FM tells Arab News

‘Having two armies in one country really big mistake’ in Sudan, South Sudan’s acting FM tells Arab News
  • Deng Dau Deng Malek says the crisis, in some ways, was inevitable even though it caught the world off guard
  • Appeals to feuding Sudanese leaders for protection of oil pipeline to ensure viability of South Sudan economy

DUBAI: The fighting in Sudan, now in its second month, shows no sign of ending, and is contributing to Africa’s swelling number of people displaced by conflicts. What began as a feud between two factions in Khartoum had spread to other regions, claiming lives, shutting down public life, destroying infrastructure and sparking a humanitarian crisis characterized by shortages of medicine, fuel and food.

Now, Sudan’s neighbors, many of which have for decades dealt with their own conflicts, instability and humanitarian challenges, are calling for an end to the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the paramilitary group Rapid Armed Forces, or RAF, before it spills across borders and engulfs them.

Even prior to the eruption of violence in Khartoum on April 15, efforts were underway to prevent simmering tensions between the rival Sudanese factions from turning into an all-out conflict.




A view shows black smoke and fire at Omdurman market in Omdurman, Sudan, May 17, 2023. (Screengrab/Reuters) 

“One week before the crisis, our chief negotiator went to Khartoum to meet with the chairperson of the Sovereign Council, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the then-deputy chairperson of the Sovereign Council, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo,” Deng Dau Deng Malek, the acting minister of foreign affairs of South Sudan, told Arab News in a recent Zoom interview from Juba.

He said the last-ditch diplomatic efforts by the South Sudanese government were aimed at ironing out the kinks of the planned transition to a civilian-led government in Khartoum.

Among the many roadblocks in the path of a peaceful settlement was the thorny issue of the integration of Dagalo’s RSF into the military, an issue which lit the fuse of Sudan’s current conflict.

Malek declined to assign blame exclusively to one side or the other, saying merely that, in some ways, the conflict in Sudan was inevitable.

He said that while the world was largely caught off guard by the eruption of fighting in Sudan, his own country’s experience with conflict resolution and peacemaking equipped him with the foresight to predict that a war was inevitable within the borders of its northern neighbor.




Smoke rises above buildings in southern Khartoum on May 19, 2023, as violence between two rival Sudanese generals continues. (AFP)

In South Sudan, Malek recalled, “there was a provision that provided (for) two armies in one country, which was a really big mistake at that time. So, once the two armies came to Juba, it led to a war in July 2016.”

He added: “We were very much aware that there is always a problem to agree to two armies in one country, whatever the nature, whatever the standing of that army.

“So, yes, the situation in Sudan was known to be really going toward that.”

Even though the South Sudan government expected tensions over Sudan’s power-sharing agreements, Malek acknowledged that it was unprepared for the crisis that arose on April 15.

“We were not very prepared (for) that kind of scale of war (that) would blow out like that,” he said.

“We knew it would be a limited engagement, with a very practical coming together for the SAF and RSF — (but) not to go the way they have gone so far.”

INNUMBERS

  • 705 People killed in fighting since April 15 (WHO).
  • 5,287+ Those who have suffered injuries (WHO).
  • 1.1m Displaced internally or into neighboring countries.

With neither Al-Burhan nor Dagalo willing to call a timeout, South Sudan and other neighbors of Sudan are bracing themselves to deal with the repercussions. Hundreds of thousands have already fled the strife-torn country, with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, predicting that the fighting would force 860,000 people to flee.

“This is one of our biggest concerns, the spillover,” Malek said.

Sudan shares a border, in order of length, with South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Libya.

The UNHCR has envisioned three scenarios: Sudanese refugees fleeing to neighboring countries; refugees hosted by Sudan returning home; and refugees hosted by Sudan moving to other neighboring countries.

“At this particular stage, there are (relatively) very few people who have moved to South Sudan,” Malek said, alluding to the fact that while the majority of those displaced by the fighting in Sudan have fled to Egypt and Chad, South Sudan has received 58,000 people.

Of these, according to Malek, only 8,000 are Sudanese. Incidentally, prior to the fighting that began last month, Sudan itself was home to more than a million refugees — mostly from South Sudan — as well as more than 3 million IDPs, or internally displaced persons.

With the security situation in Sudan no longer suitable for those who once sought shelter there, many former refugees are now twice displaced, returning to their countries of origin or seeking safety elsewhere.

Aside from dealing with waves of refugees and IDPs, Sudan’s neighbors will also have to face up to the wide-ranging consequences of the conflict.

“(South Sudan’s) economic viability is also dependent on the pipeline, the oil that passes through the territory of the Republic of Sudan,” Malek said.

South Sudan’s crude oil exports reached around 144,000 barrels per day early this year, with the majority of this being piped to Sudan’s Red Sea coast. Now, the price of oil has fallen from $100 per barrel to $70.

Though oil continues to flow through the vital pipeline, the conflict has threatened oil revenues as well as the world’s energy supply.

“Our message to both of the (Sudanese factional) leaders and those who are fighting — (something) we will say to both — is this: We need protection of this pipeline because it is the viability of the economy of (our) country,” Malek said.




United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) personnel use an excavator to repair the dykes in Bentiu on February 8, 2023. Four straight years of flooding, an unprecedented phenomenon linked to climate change, has swamped two-thirds of South Sudan. (AFP)

The combined blow of economic setbacks and influx of displaced people threatens to overwhelm Sudan’s neighbors in northern and central Africa, most of whom are impoverished and unstable themselves.

South Sudan is still reeling from a six-year civil war which ended just three years ago. That human-made catastrophe was followed by severe floods, which continue to this day and have pushed the country’s roughly 12 million residents, more than 2 million of whom are internally displaced, to the brink of starvation by making agricultural lands inaccessible.

“The UN too is overwhelmed by our own situation,” Malek said, adding that “UN agencies have been under very serious stress.”

As a result of the many overlapping crises, three-quarters of South Sudan’s population is dependent on humanitarian aid, according to UNHCR data.




Nearly a million people were affected by South Sudan flooding. (AN photo by Robert Bociaga)

Malek pointed out that South Sudan had been hosting 340,000 Sudanese in several camps in the Upper Nile state. “We are coordinating with the UN agencies to be able to address the situation of those who are returning and the (people who) are crossing (into South Sudan) from Sudan,” he said.

“Particularly now, when we are talking about the northern part of South Sudan, to which the refugees and IDPs are returning. The infrastructure there is a challenge. Also, Sudan was the only way that we received commodities from Port Sudan, and now (there is) a very big challenge as to whether that will continue to work.”

Looking to the future, Malek said international support is vital to limiting the damage being caused by the crisis in Sudan and preventing its neighbors from being destabilized by a humanitarian catastrophe.

In this context, Malek said UN agencies would have to “provide the necessary support to localities inside Sudan” so that they can stop the free movement of fighters.




Provision of water, sanitation and hygiene to a growing number of IDPs in South Sudan has become an alarming issue. AN photo by Robert Bociaga)

He cautioned once more that if “the insecurity and war spread out of Khartoum to the region, the situation will be difficult for all the neighboring countries.”

Turning to the problems that beset South Sudan, Malek noted that while the US has long been an ally, supporting the world’s youngest nation through times of conflict — from the 2011 independence referendum through to the 2018 peace talks in Kenya — work still needs to be done for the sanctions and arms embargoes imposed on the country to be lifted.

“We have said that now we have to open up a new page with the United States of America and for us to work together,” he said. “Of course, they have issues with (our) human rights issues, issues of democracy, issues of corruption, or issues of governance.”

“South Sudan is under sanctions and the US is the penholder on these particular sanctions (at the UN). There are about five benchmarks that (the US wants) to see. If these five benchmarks are met by the government of South Sudan, then we will be able to get out of sanctions and the arms embargo.”

 


Christian blocs indicate support for Jihad Azour as a Lebanon presidential candidate 

Among the likely names from the Christian bloc suggested for the role is former Finance Minister Jihad Azour.
Among the likely names from the Christian bloc suggested for the role is former Finance Minister Jihad Azour.
Updated 29 May 2023

Christian blocs indicate support for Jihad Azour as a Lebanon presidential candidate 

Among the likely names from the Christian bloc suggested for the role is former Finance Minister Jihad Azour.
  • Patriarch Al-Rahi praises parliamentary consensus before his trip to Vatican and France
  • Hezbollah sees nomination of Azour as a ploy to overthrow their candidate Frangieh

BEIRUT: News emerged on Sunday that the largest Christian blocs in the Lebanese parliament — the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, and the Lebanese Phalanges Party — were moving toward reaching a consensus on a presidential candidate.

Among the likely names suggested for the role is former Finance Minister Jihad Azour, 57.

Azour currently serves as the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund.

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi made a possible reference to the consensus in his Sunday sermon on the eve of his trip to the Vatican and then to Paris.

Al-Rahi expressed hope that a president of the republic would be elected as soon as possible so that the constitutional institutions could be organized.

He said: “We thank God for what we hear about some consensus among parliamentary blocs regarding the future president, so that he does not pose a challenge to anyone, and at the same time possesses a personality that responds to Lebanon’s needs today and inspires internal and external confidence.”

Al-Rahi hoped the “chaos occurring at several levels” would also stop soon.

Hezbollah and the political coalition allied with it support the nomination of Sleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada Party who is close to the Syrian regime, but most Christian parliamentary blocs in Lebanon reject him.

Mohammed Raad, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc chief, reacted to the possibility of the Christian parliamentary blocs reaching a consensus on Azour as their candidate.

Raad said in a statement on Sunday that “the candidate whose name is circulating is a maneuvering candidate whose mission is to confront the candidate we support and to undermine him.”

He called on the other group “to stop wasting time and prolonging the deadline.”

The presidential vacuum in Lebanon will enter its eighth month on June 1 after 11 parliamentary election sessions failed to enable a presidential candidate to reach the second round of the presidential elections due to a lack of quorum.

Opposition forces to Hezbollah previously insisted on nominating MP Michel Mouawad, but Hezbollah considered him an “inflammatory candidate.”

A political analyst stated that Azour did not want to be a “confrontational or challenging candidate.”

The Lebanese media reported that Azour said he “wants to be the president who carries a rescue project for the country with the approval of everyone.”

The political analyst was cautious about “considering Azour as a final candidate for the Christian blocs, in anticipation of any surprises or changes in positions at the last moment.”

He, however, praised what he saw as the positive direction achieved so far.

MP Elias Hankash, who is involved in the negotiations, said that the chances of electing a president soon had improved.

He also said that name of former Minister Azour was among the names agreed upon by the Free Patriotic Movement.

Hankash said: “There is an insistence that we cannot devote the presidency to Hezbollah.”

He emphasized that “we want an acceptable candidate who has the specifications that we do not compromise on, and we see that the country cannot tolerate settlements, and we are not talking today about a settlement but about accepting a candidate.

“There are principles that many have died for, and a settlement occurs when we give up on principles, but when we agree on a name, this is not called a settlement.”

MP George Okais, a former judge and member of the Lebanese Forces party, spoke of progress in the negotiations between the opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement, without yet reaching an agreement on a unified name.

Okais said he expected that next week could be a turning point in this direction.

He pointed out that the proposal of Azour came as a result of an agreement with the Free Patriotic Movement on a non-provocative name for the Hezbollah team.

At the same time, he said the name could unify the ranks of the opposition, “so we have gone halfway, waiting for the other team.”

Ali Hassan Khalil, a member of the Amal Movement bloc, believes that “the logic of political forces coming together only to obstruct the candidate we supported cannot lead our country to safety.”

He added: “When we supported a candidate for the presidency (Frangieh), we were guided by deep convictions that we wanted a president who could manage national consensus.”

Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah’s executive council, said: “There is no way to reach a president of the republic except through consensus.”

Safieddine added: “This is Lebanon, and this is its nature, and this is how the solutions are in it.” 

Maronite Patriarchate spokesperson Walid Ghayad said on Sunday that Al-Rahi was heading to the Vatican on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

He will then travel to Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

According to Ghayad, Al-Rahi will ask for France’s assistance in the Syrian refugee issue in Lebanon and the necessity of their return to their country, in addition to addressing financial matters, especially in light of the economic crisis.

Azour coordinated the implementation of important reform initiatives when he served as the finance minister from 2005 to 2008.

Before and after this tenure, he held several positions in the private sector.

They include working at McKinsey & Company and Booz & Company, where he was a senior partner and executive adviser.

Before joining the IMF in March 2017, he was a managing partner at the consulting and investment firm Infinity Partners for investment and business consulting.


Syria says Israeli missiles target sites near Damascus

Syria says Israeli missiles target sites near Damascus
Updated 29 May 2023

Syria says Israeli missiles target sites near Damascus

Syria says Israeli missiles target sites near Damascus
  • The last Israeli air raids on Syria on May 2 left seven dead

DAMASCUS: Syrian army air defenses on Sunday confronted an Israeli missile strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, and there were no casualties, state media said.
Citing a Syrian military source, state media said missile strikes coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights had targeted several sites it did not identify.
“Our air defenses confronted the aggressors’ missiles and downed some of them with only material losses,” the Syrian military source said.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
Israel has for years carried out attacks on what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran’s influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar Assad in a civil war that started in 2011.
The strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict with a goal of slowing Iran’s growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli military experts say.
Fighters allied to Iran, including Hezbollah, now hold sway in vast areas in eastern, southern, and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.

 


Israel launches ‘eye in the sky’ balloon in Galilee

Israel launches ‘eye in the sky’ balloon in Galilee
Updated 28 May 2023

Israel launches ‘eye in the sky’ balloon in Galilee

Israel launches ‘eye in the sky’ balloon in Galilee
  • High-tech device to offer early warning of drones, missiles as conflict fears grow

RAMALLAH: A surveillance balloon launched by the Israeli military in the northern Galilee region will provide early warning of long-range missiles and drones targeting the country, sources said on Sunday.

Israeli authorities said that the balloon weighs several tons, and is equipped with specialist cameras, computers and radar.

The balloon is located on the triangle of the Jordanian-Syrian border, and can monitor territory hundreds of kilometers away. 

Military sources said that the new balloon is similar to the device that protects the Dimona reactor in the Negev desert.

It will be able to detect long-range missiles and drones launched from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as monitor aircraft at Damascus airport and deep into Lebanon, the sources said. 

According to the sources, transporting and launching the balloon was one of the most complex logistical operations the Israeli Air Force has carried out in the past decade.

A US team helped to assemble and launch the balloon, the sources said.

The Israeli army expects any future war to be a “multi-front” confrontation, with coordinated attacks involving thousands of aircraft, including drones, and cruise missiles. 

The system, developed jointly by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency, comprises a balloon capable of flying at high altitudes with radar and detection systems to scan a large area in any direction.

Rami Shmuel, CEO of RT, an Israeli company that makes surveillance balloons, told Arab News that the systems are much better than drones or other security surveillance methods from both economic and operational perspectives. 

“The balloon costs $1 per hour, while the done costs $600, and it can stay in the sky between 14-20 days continuously, while the drone can stay for a few hours only,” Shmuel said.

He said that balloons, unlike drones, can be fitted with cumbersome high-resolution cameras.

“It’s the best security surveillance and warning method,” Shmuel added.

Majdi Halabi, an expert on Israeli affairs, told Arab News that Iran has provided Hezbollah in Lebanon with hundreds of Shahid and Khaybar drones, which pose a significant threat to Israel.

The surveillance balloon will allow drones to be intercepted and brought down before they cross Israel’s borders, he said.

“If 5,000 drones and missiles were launched by Hezbollah toward Israel, it would cause terrible destruction,” Halabi added.

According to the sources, Israel faces significant defense challenges, particularly in the north.

Yoni Ben Menachem, an Israeli analyst, told Arab News the country has accurate intelligence regarding Hezbollah’s intention to attack Israeli targets.

He referred to a statement by Naim Qassem, deputy head of the party, who said the next war would be fought inside (Israel) and not in southern Lebanon.

“Hezbollah is trying to change the game rules that have prevailed since the July 2006 war by moving the battle into Israel instead of southern Lebanon.”

Meanwhile, Israel will begin large-scale military maneuvers on Monday, including the air force, army and navy, in areas across the country. Combat aircraft will take part in the exercises, which will last about two weeks.

Civil aviation routes in Israel will be changed and airspace closed to small aircraft during the exercises.


Stability in Sudan is vital to the region, El-Sisi says

Stability in Sudan is vital to the region, El-Sisi says
Updated 28 May 2023

Stability in Sudan is vital to the region, El-Sisi says

Stability in Sudan is vital to the region, El-Sisi says
  • Egyptian leader lays out roadmap to end violence, restore security

CAIRO: Restoring stability and security in Sudan is important not only for the Sudanese people but also for the entire region, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said.

El-Sisi’s remarks came in his speech at a meeting of the African Peace and Security Council on Sudan attended by heads of state and government via video conference.

The Egyptian president said: “In addition to its political significance, today’s meeting bears symbolic value, affirming the continued partnership between African parties, all international partners, and relief agencies to work together toward a stable and secure Sudan.”

El-Sisi said: “Our meeting today comes to adopt the de-escalation plan, which was formulated in coordination with neighboring countries which represents an important step toward achieving stability and internal consensus, and ending the current bloody conflict.”

He also highlighted other initiatives to deal with the Sudanese crisis, as well as preserving the country’s territorial integrity and institutions.

“Efforts made within the framework of the African Union are complementary to other tracks, including the Arab League, whose recent summit endorsed the formation of an Arab ministerial contact group to deal with the crisis,” El-Sisi said.

“This is in addition to the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) efforts and the agreements signed during the Jeddah negotiations, stipulating the commitment to a ceasefire, opening the way for the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid, and the withdrawal of troops from public hospitals and facilities.

“These tracks must be based on common, coordinated, and mutually supportive standards and establish a road map for the political process to address the root causes of the issues that led to the current crisis and aim at broad and inclusive participation of all Sudanese people,” he added.

Egypt has highlighted the importance of close coordination with neighboring countries to resolve the crisis, and restore security and stability in Sudan.

El-Sisi said that Egypt has assumed its responsibility as a major neighboring country to Sudan by intensifying communication with all the actors and international partners to put an end to the violence.

The Egyptian president listed four factors on which his country based its efforts, the most important of which are:

First: the need for a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire that is not limited to humanitarian purposes.

Second: the necessity of preserving state institutions in Sudan, which are the backbone for protecting the country from the risk of collapse.

Third: The conflict in Sudan concerns the Sudanese. “Our role as regional parties is to help them stop it and achieve consensus on the resolution of the causes that led to it in the first place. In this regard, Egypt stresses its respect for the Sudanese people’s will, non-interference in their internal affairs, and the importance of not allowing foreign intervention in their current crisis,” El-Sisi said.

Fourth: The humanitarian repercussions of the Sudanese crisis extend beyond the state’s borders and affect neighboring countries.

El-Sisi said that “Egypt has committed itself to its responsibilities in this regard by receiving 150,000 Sudanese citizens to date, in addition to hosting 5 million Sudanese, who are treated as citizens.”

He called on relief agencies and donor countries to provide support to allow neighboring states to continue this role.


18th Arab Media Forum kicks off in Kuwait

18th Arab Media Forum kicks off in Kuwait
Updated 28 May 2023

18th Arab Media Forum kicks off in Kuwait

18th Arab Media Forum kicks off in Kuwait
  • Editors-in-chief from Arab newspapers discuss addressing upcoming digital media transformation

KUWAIT: The 18th Arab Media Forum kicked off on Sunday in Kuwait under the patronage of Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah.

The event focused on a range of issues pertaining to the future of media in the region, Kuwait News Agency reported.

During one of the sessions, Jameel Al-Thiyabi, editor-in-chief of Saudi newspaper Okaz stated that the rise of Artificial Intelligence would have an impact on media outlets all over the world, emphasizing the importance of keeping up with AI developments in media rather than falling behind.

The Arab League’s assistant secretary-general for media Ahmed Khattabi stressed the importance of addressing challenges within digital media, adding that improving media capacities should not overshadow topics of significant importance to the Arab world, particularly the Palestinian cause.

Meanwhile, Waleed Al-Jasim, editor-in-chief of Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai, said Arab media faced challenges surrounding media freedoms, adding that social media platforms allowed for more freedom of expression compared with mainstream media.

Hatim Al Taie, editor-in-chief of Omani newspaper Al-Roya, warned younger people working in the industry needed to prepare for the oncoming digital media transformation. He called on the Arab League to impose fees on international media companies, with the money used in funding media entities in the Arab region.