From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Jun 24 2009 - 05:58:37 EDT
US warns of threats against Sudan government, West
Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:48am GMT
By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Islamic militants have threatened violence against
Sudan's government and could target Western interests following the death of
a suspected militant, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum said on Wednesday.
The U.S. embassy, which urged its citizens to keep a low profile and
restrict their travel, did not give details of the "jihadist website" it
said had published the threats or the suspected militant that had been
killed.
The warning comes at a time of already heightened tension in the capital,
where a judge was due on Wednesday to issue a verdict in the case of five
men accused of murdering a U.S. aid worker and his driver.
Sudan, which hosted al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the 1990s before
expelling him, has been on a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since
1993.
The U.S. embassy's warden message said: "Statements threatening violent
action against the government of Sudan have been posted on a jihadist
website, following the death of a suspected Islamic extremist."
It said calls to attack government targets "and/or Western interests" might
be repeated during Friday prayers, and warned citizens not to travel inside
the capital from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on that day.
Sudanese state media last week reported a university professor, wanted on
charges related to extremism, had died after a police chase.
A police spokesman was quoted as saying someone threw a stone at the suspect
while he was trying to get away from officers on a motorcycle on Wednesday
last week, thinking he was a thief, and he died later in hospital of head
injuries.
U.S. officials have acknowledged Sudan has been cooperative in sharing
intelligence on militant groups since the September 11 attacks in 2001. But
Western embassies have continued to warn that militants remain active in
Sudan.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri in 2007 criticised President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir for letting international peacekeepers into the
country's Darfur region and accused him of abandoning Islam to appease the
United States.
In August 2007, Sudanese security services said they had broken up a plot to
attack the French, British, U.S. and U.N. diplomatic missions in Khartoum.
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
US urges Sudan to carry out North-South peace deal
Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:15am GMT
By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Sudan's north and south on
Tuesday not to allow disputes over oil and elections to unravel the 2005
peace deal that ended their two-decade civil war.
Disagreements over how to implement the deal could drag the African oil
exporter back into conflict if not settled ahead of a ruling on a disputed
oil region in July, elections in 2010 and a referendum on southern secession
the following year.
"The stakes are enormous," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim
Steinberg, reflecting fears among officials and analysts that the civil war,
in which two million people died, could erupt again. The war was separate
from the Darfur conflict which continues in western Sudan.
Steinberg spoke at a U.S.-hosted conference that gathered officials from
north Sudan's dominant National Congress Party, the south's Sudan People's
Liberation Movement and 20 countries to try to keep the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement on track.
The agreement set an interim period, with a coalition government between the
Muslim north and mostly Christian south and the sharing of oil wealth. It
ends in 18 months with a referendum in the south for which analysts say the
government is unprepared.
On Tuesday night, conference participants emphasized that they want to see
nationwide elections in line with the February 2010 timetable and that a
referendum on self-determination should occur no later than January 2011.
A return to war would be disastrous effect for Sudan, its oil industry --
where Total of France, CNPC of China, Petronas of Malaysia and other major
firms are active -- and surrounding states.
A key dispute between the two sides has been control of the oil-producing
Abyei region in central Sudan. The north and south claim parts of it and
their troops have clashed there since the 2005 deal.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is due to rule on the
dispute in July but it is widely believed neither side will be satisfied by
its decision.
'SOFT LANDING'
The U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Gen. Scott Gration, said the Khartoum
government and the SPLM, which rules the south, had agreed to work together
to prevent the verdict from igniting violence.
"We have taken a commitment to ensure that we will do everything we can and
come up with a plan to ensure a soft landing from both sides," Gration told
reporters.
Another U.S. official said the parties had agreed in several days of talks
in Washington to send representatives together with Gration to Abyei when
the ruling comes out to quell dissatisfaction.
The February election is another area of disagreement. The SPLM says a
census under-counted southerners and has demanded a redrawing of
constituencies.
Analysts say the government has done little to prepare for the possibility
of a southern vote to secede in the January 2011 referendum. Such a breakup
could ignite conflicts over borders, oil and the land rights of militias
that roam between the two areas.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition he not be named, said
representatives of the north and the south wanted to continue three-way
talks, with the U.S. serving as a mediator, next month in Khartoum and in
August in Juba.
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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