South Sudan

[High_Gravity]

Crowds go wild as South Sudan marks its independence

Frenzied crowds went wild in Juba as South Sudan, the world's newest country, marked its long-awaited day of independence from the north when the clock struck midnight last night.

Among the revellers was South Sudan's information minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, who told Reuters: "It is already the ninth so we are independent. It is now."

North Sudan's Khartoum government was the first to recognise the new state, hours before the formal split took place, a move that smoothed the way to the division of what was, until Saturday, Africa's largest country.

The recognition did not dispel fears of future tensions.

Northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of sensitive issues, most importantly the exact line of the border and how they will handle oil revenues, the lifeblood of both economies.

It's still very much a work in progress.

You are 100% correct Ropey, it very much is a work in progress. South Sudan is going to have build itself from the ground up, they still need to work on the basics like running water, paved roads, schools, food, building up their economy, training and equiping their Military (which I hope the US will help them with, like Israel has been doing), they have an advantage many poor countries in Africa don't and that is they have oil, but they will have to be careful with corruption, the South does have a long road ahead of it.

 

[GHook93]

Crowds go wild as South Sudan marks its independence

North Sudan's Khartoum government was the first to recognise the new state, hours before the formal split took place, a move that smoothed the way to the division of what was, until Saturday, Africa's largest country.

The recognition did not dispel fears of future tensions.

Northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of sensitive issues, most importantly the exact line of the border and how they will handle oil revenues, the lifeblood of both economies.

It's still very much a work in progress.

You are 100% correct Ropey, it very much is a work in progress. South Sudan is going to have build itself from the ground up, they still need to work on the basics like running water, paved roads, schools, food, building up their economy, training and equiping their Military (which I hope the US will help them with, like Israel has been doing), they have an advantage many poor countries in Africa don't and that is they have oil, but they will have to be careful with corruption, the South does have a long road ahead of it.

I hope they suceed i really do, but Africa's track record for states that succeed is very low! However, they do have oil and that helps!

 

[High_Gravity]

It's still very much a work in progress.

You are 100% correct Ropey, it very much is a work in progress. South Sudan is going to have build itself from the ground up, they still need to work on the basics like running water, paved roads, schools, food, building up their economy, training and equiping their Military (which I hope the US will help them with, like Israel has been doing), they have an advantage many poor countries in Africa don't and that is they have oil, but they will have to be careful with corruption, the South does have a long road ahead of it.

I hope they suceed i really do, but Africa's track record for states that succeed is very low! However, they do have oil and that helps!

The oil is definently key however they have to worry about corruption especially since they are a new country, even in Iraq they have the second highest oil reserves in the world after the Saudis and billions go missing all the time and the funds are mismanaged and not spent the right way, the South needs to do better than that and spend the money on the bare necessities their country so badly needs, running water and electricity would be a good start.

 

[High_Gravity]

"Southern Sudan Is Trying to Send Rebels to the North"

Sudan: half a century of civil wars. Mass deaths in Darfur. Poor infrastructure. Potential oil wealth. And now the secession of the country's southern part. On July 9, Southern Sudan officially became an independent country. The secession is the culmination of a decades-long conflict between Sudan's largely African South and its Arabic North.

Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's President, has been issued an arrest warrant by the ICC, accused of genocide in Darfur. As a result, Foreign Minister Ali Karti fills unusually powerful role. In June I met with Karti, a former lawyer, at Sudan's embassy near Buckingham Palace in London.

Mia Farrow, the actress, who often visits Sudan, tells Metro Karti is "brutal, ruthless and a fanatic." But in person, Karti has a ready smile and the demeanor of a friendly professor. During the interview in the modestly furnished embassy, he sipped strong coffee (sugar, no milk), a Sudanese specialty.

As we speak, there are clashes between Sudanese and Southern Sudanese troops in the Southern Sudanese region of Abyei. Can Southern Sudan secede peacefully on July 9?

Everything will go as planned. I don't think clashes here and there will distract us from the process of a peaceful secession of South Sudan.

So you don't worry about increasing violence?

No, because the leadership on both sides has decided not to go back to war. Some incidents like this won't distract us. Sometimes the groups go back to their old habits and clash, but it's not a clash between Sudan's Army and the SPLA [Sudan People's Liberation Army, the southern Sudanese rebel group turned political party].

Southern Sudan will get 75% of oil revenues; the North will get 25%. Do you anticipate a smaller budget and lower living standards?

We're not losing 75% of oil revenues. We're only losing about 26%, because the South already takes about 50%. It's not easy to adjust quickly, but throughout history we've been used to living modestly. It's only recently that we've had added revenue from oil. We'll look at other sources of revenue, for example agriculture and mining, and they're already starting to compensate for lost oil revenue. Of course, total compensation is a long way away. But we'll expand mining and oil drilling, too. Throughout the past six months we've begun new oil explorations, and it looks promising.



Recently the Southern Sudanese government in Jiba accused the North of cutting off fuel supplies. What's your reaction?

The problem is that there are incidents on the border. The authorities in the North have to take measures to stop these incidents, especially when they involve Southern rebels trying to get into the North. So, we had to take action, but that's the result of the actions of some SPLA leaders. They try to send us rebels and problems from the South. They themselves are responsible for the consequences.

So you're saying that the South was trying to export violence to the North?

Yes.

And Khartoum responded by cutting fuel supplies?

It's not a response; it's a precaution. It's for them to decide whether they want the border to be a means of transporting people and goods, or do they want it to be a means of sending problems to the North?

Earlier this year Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon of Israel told me that Iran is the gravest threat to Israel today, and that Iran is influencing on Sudan. What's your response?

The Israelis know that this does not involve the government of Sudan. Sudan is a vast country, and there are many smugglers. The border, especially on the Red Sea, is so long, about 1000 kilometers. It's not easy for the government to restrict the movement of people. Countries like the United States and European countries aren't able to stop smuggling across their borders, so it's not easy for Sudan to stop it either. If Israel wants to connect this smuggling with the government of Sudan, it's up to them, but they know that it has nothing to do with the government. If the Israeli government is concerned about smuggling across Sudan's borders, they're welcome to visit and cooperate with us. But if they're just sending those accusations to find an excuse to attack us, that's not a constructive way of doing things, and it won't stop arms smuggling across Sudan's borders.

Elisabeth Braw: "Southern Sudan Is Trying to Send Rebels to the North"

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan pound to be launched next week

South Sudan, the world's newest country, will launch its currency next week, officials say.

The South Sudan pound will feature the image of the late John Garang, the south's most revered leader, the AP news agency reports.

A 2005 peace deal that Mr Garang signed with Khartoum paved the way for the south's independence on 9 July.

Analysts say the launch of a currency is one of many challenges facing the new East African state.

Finance Minister David Deng Athorbei said plane-loads of the South Sudan pound would arrive in the capital, Juba, on Wednesday and it would be in circulation by Monday, the AFP news agency reports.

Its exchange rate would be fixed one-to-one with the former currency, the Sudanese pound, Mr Athorbei is quoted by AFP as saying.

'First football match'

He said the South Sudan government had battled to pay salaries for June and July.

"This difficulty is related to the fact that the Khartoum government did not deliver us the physical cash," Mr Athorbei said.

The south's independence follows decades of conflict with the north in which some 1.5 million people died.

Saturday's independence ceremony was held at the mausoleum of Mr Garang, who died just months after signing the peace deal with Khartoum.

John Garang was for years the charismatic leader of the southern rebels On Sunday evening, South Sudan played its first football match, in the capital, Juba.

However, the new national team lost 3-1 to Kenyan club side Tusker FC after taking a 1-0 lead.

South Sudan has not yet been accepted as a member of the world football body Fifa and so the match was not officially recorded.

South Sudan is rich in oil, but is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.

Correspondents say keeping both the north and the south stable will be a challenge.

Fears of a new war resurfaced after recent fighting in the border areas of Abyei and South Kordofan, where some 170,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Separate deals - and the withdrawal of rival forces from the border - have calmed tensions.

But the two sides must still decide on issues such as drawing up the new border and how to divide Sudan's debts and oil wealth.

BBC News - South Sudan pound to be launched next week

 

[High_Gravity]

Independent South Sudan is jubilant, wobbly a day later

Reporting from Juba, South Sudan—

On the day after independence in South Sudan, the modest clock tower in downtown Juba read "Free at Last," and the dirt roadsides were littered with countless paper flags bearing the colors of the new republic. Most of the dignitaries in town for Saturday's big ceremony had flown home, and streets that had been jammed for days — bristling with checkpoints and the machine guns of security forces — were easier to navigate.

Southern Sudan's shaky path to independence But the city was far from quiet Sunday, the second official day of South Sudan's sovereign existence, as celebrations continued. The national soccer team played Kenya, and families slaughtered goats they had saved for big occasions and invited neighbors to eat.

Jubilation is everywhere, but in Christian churches, liberation from the mostly Muslim Arab north — made possible by a 2005 peace deal — carried a special resonance. At the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, people danced and chanted, "Salva! Salva! Salva!" — invoking Salva Kiir, the country's first president — and thanked God. At the midday service, the biblical reading was about the Lord delivering his people from bondage to the Promised Land.

"Today is really a different Sunday," said the Rev. Benjamin Lokio Lemi. "God has brought us back home now."

He said the regime in Khartoum, the northern capital, had long neglected the Christian south, where children outside the city could still be seen taking classes under the trees because they had no schoolhouses.

In 1993, Lemi said, northern soldiers captured him and gave him the choice between death and conversion to Islam. Pressure from church officials won his release after a month and a half. During the generations-long civil wars between north and south, "almost everybody in the south lost a relative," Lemi added. But now, "we are telling people to forgive."

Paul Bonju, a former member of parliament who represented the south in Khartoum, said that when northern President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir ruled both parts of the country, it was common for southerners aspiring to government jobs to drop their Christian names and assume Muslim ones because advancement was otherwise sharply curtailed. "There was marginalization," Bonju said, "and there was persecution."

Nearby, as he spoke, scores of South Sudanese were celebrating with traditional tribal dances on a dirt field. A bull had been slaughtered, and men were staking its stretched-out skin to the ground so it could be dried and fashioned into a drum-top in time for celebrations on Monday, a national holiday.

South Sudan, which voted overwhelmingly in January to secede from the north, is one of the world's most troubled places, with widespread illiteracy, chronic hunger, meager infrastructure, numerous internal rebellions and a host of unresolved disputes with the regime in Khartoum.

The capital saw a frenzy of road-building and construction in the run-up to Saturday's celebrations, but hotels and restaurants don't take credit cards, and the streets lack lights. At night, the headlights of cars and motorbikes swim through the saturating smoke of surrounding trash fires.

Taban lo Liyong, a South Sudanese writer and literature professor at the University of Juba, said that with independence it was no longer possible to blame the north for the south's woes. "From today on, the blame game is off," he said. "Nobody can use the Arabs as a boogeyman."

Liyong would like to see Kiir live up to his public pronouncements about crushing corruption, which many consider pervasive.

"The first problem he's going to face is his tribesmen," Liyong said of the new president, whose large Dinka ethnic group dominates the government. "A lot of people are excluded from power. Meritocracy has not taken place."

Liyong stood in the VIP section at the independence ceremony Saturday and watched those wounded in war, some of them missing limbs, go by along with the widows and orphans. He said he wanted to weep but was overcome by anger at the politicians around him, wondering whether they were there to build a working nation or to make themselves rich.

Like many in South Sudan, Liyong credited the United States, and President George W. Bush in particular, with pushing north and south toward the 2005 peace agreement that ended generations of civil war and paved the way for partition. But his concerns now have turned to future aid.

"It was George Bush and the Christian fundamentalists who heard the cry of South Sudan," he said. "Today is Barack Obama's day. We don't know what he is going to do."

South Sudan: Independent South Sudan ready for real test - latimes.com

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan, Libya, and the Two-State Solution

On Saturday, July 9, a historic happening occurred, an event that caused the entire world to stop for a moment and celebrate the perseverance of worldwide democracy: a new nation was born. South Sudan, the newest member of the worldwide community, was created out of the ashes of one of the most tumultuous regions in the world, Sudan. Plagued by genocide, decades of brutal civil war, and a lack of a government interested in preserving the liberties of the people, the people of South Sudan will have a chance to pursue peace, democracy, and opportunity in a land in which such ideas had not existed for many years.

Indeed, Saturday's declaration was met with approval and elation by all parties involved. Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, issued this statement: "I have come here today to share with you your jubilation and festive on this occasion, not because we have turned away from Unity...because of deep-rooted conviction that unity cannot be realized through war and that the will of Southern Sudanese people must be respected..."

"...we thought that it would be better for Southern Sudanese to achieve their aspiration in separation from a united Sudanese entity and establish their own state according to the official government announcement issued in Khartoum yesterday according to which we recognized the new Republic of South Sudan as an independent state despite our belief that unity of Sudan would have been the better option and more viable and beneficial to our people in the South and the North."

The content of Mr. al-Bashir's speech demonstrated the belief held among many that in cases such as that of Sudan, peaceful independence of certain regions is a better long-term solution than unity in a large, diverse state. The implementation of a two state solution will certainly improve the lives of citizens of Sudan and South Sudan; now, the governments of both states will be able to focus on controlling a smaller, less diverse and multi-ethnic sphere, thus being able to provide more support to the people.

Read more: South Sudan, Libya, and the Two-State Solution - Technorati Politics

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan Joins UN As 193rd Member

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations has a new member – South Sudan.

The African nation, which gained independence Saturday, became the U.N.'s 193rd member by acclamation Thursday.

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss banged a gavel signifying South Sudan's admission to the world body as diplomats burst into applause.

The country's independence was the climax of a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war with the Arab-dominated north and called for a referendum in which South Sudan voted overwhelmingly for secession.

After the vote, the flag of South Sudan was raised outside U.N. headquarters to more applause.

South Sudan Joins UN As 193rd Member

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan will have relations with Israel-official

CAIRO, July 15 (Reuters) - South Sudan, already recognised by Israel, will forge relations with the Jewish state and hopes to help bring peace to the Middle East, the new state's vice president said in remarks received on Friday.

Riek Machar, speaking to Alhurra television after the UN General Assembly in New York admitted South Sudan to the United Nations on Thursday, said that most of his country's neighbours had diplomatic relations with Israel.

"Therefore we will have relations with all the Arab and Muslim countries and even with Israel..." Machar said in Arabic, according to a transcript in English sent to Reuters on Friday.

"As a matter of fact, we look forward to playing a role in solving the existing issues in the Arab world, even the issues between Israel and the Arab countries."

"We fully understand the issues in the Arab world, particularly the Palestinian issue and the right to have a Palestinian state," he added.

South Sudan, most of whose people follow Christian and traditional African beliefs, became independent on Saturday in line with a January referendum that was the culmination of a 2005 peace deal ending decades of civil war with the north.

Israel recognised South Sudan on Sunday, offering the new state economic help after it seceded from the mainly Arab and Muslim north -- which has no relations with the Jewish state.

Machar said Israel's recognition of South Sudan followed Juba's recognition by Arab countries including north Sudan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

"We need international peace. We will have relations with all Arab countries. Israel initiated relations with us. This is not a strange development," he added.

South Sudan will have relations with Israel-official | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters

 

[High_Gravity]

Sudan Rejects Dual Citizenship for South Sudanese

Sudan's ruling party has affirmed the government will not grant dual citizenship to people of South Sudan, after the new country said it will allow dual nationality.

Citizenship is a key unresolved issue between the neighboring countries, which separated when South Sudan declared independence on July 9.

A spokesman for Sudan's National Congress Party, Ibrahim Ghandur, said the government will not extend dual nationality to South Sudanese because southerners voted overwhelmingly to split from the north.

Ghandur also said that if South Sudanese were granted dual citizenship, millions of southerners would remain in the north, leaving South Sudan's ruling party in charge of vast natural resources and a much smaller population.

Many southern Sudanese fled to the north during a 21-year civil war that ravaged much of the south.

The neighboring countries are still working to resolve other critical issues including oil revenue-sharing, border disputes and the future of the contested Abyei region.

Separately, South Sudan began began rolling out its new currency on Monday.

Sudan's central bank says it will start circulating its own new currency later this month.

Sudan Rejects Dual Citizenship for South Sudanese | Africa | English

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan ships first oil

South Sudan has made its first shipment of oil as an independent country, despite failing to agree how to divide critical spoils with its erstwhile partner to the north.

Sudan split in two on July 9, following a landslide referendum of southerners who voted for separation from the Arab-led north.

“We have already started shipping – we shipped 1m barrels today,” Arkangelo Okwang, director general for energy in South Sudan, told the Financial Times.

The sale highlights a failure to agree details of Sudan’s messy divorce, which threatens to return the former warring sides to violence.

Under a 2005 peace deal that halted decades of fighting, both sides split the revenues from oil produced in the south but exported via northern infrastructure, including pipelines, a refinery and export terminal.

The south produces about 375,000 bpd, which provides 98 percent of its budget, and says the revenue-sharing agreement must end now it is a sovereign territory.

“We are still negotiating...nothing is yet clear,” said Mr Okwang, who said he expects the north to bill the south for the use of its facilities, and added that South Sudan would ship a further 600,000 barrels on July 23, but declined to reveal the sale price.

Mr Okwang said that both shipments were of low-quality “Dar blend” from Blocks 3 and 7, which abut the border with the north, and were bought by Chinaoil. The shareholders in the block are the China National Petroleum Company, with 41 percent, and Malaysia’s Petronas with 40 percent.

In Khartoum, Omar al-Bashir, the president, has threatened to close the pipeline if the south refuses to share revenues and pay transit fees, arguing that if the 2005 arrangement changes Sudan will have lost $15bn by 2015, although the IMF estimates that Khartoum will instead lose about $5bn.

Lead negotiator for South Sudan, Pagan Amum, told the FT he viewed Mr al-Bashir’s comments as an “empty threat” and said the north had asked for “unfair and unreasonable” conditions of passage.

“They came with crazy ideas saying they are going to impose several transit fees – a usage fee, something called a normal transit fee, then something called a special fee – maybe $15 per barrel, even more – then maybe other charges, and they wanted revenue-sharing to continue,” said Mr Amum.

Mr Amum said the south was instead prepared to offer $3bn in “assistance” to the north and offered transit fees in line with international norms, citing 41 cents per barrel charged by the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, which is a similar-length. Despite receiving offers to build a pipeline to neighbours Ethiopia, Kenya or Uganda, Mr Amum said he hoped that negotiations with the north would be successful.

South Sudan ships first oil - FT.com

 

[High_Gravity]

Resolve dispute between Juba, Khartoum quickly

Unless the ongoing dispute between South Sudan leaders and the oil trading giant Glencore is resolved we could be witnessing a wrong start for Africa’s newest nation. Southern Sudan will only flourish if it handles its oil wealth wisely and cautiously handles its dealings with some of the industry giants who want a stake in the oil revenue.

Already, Juba is facing a separate row with North Sudan over the split of revenues from the oil wealth and how much it is supposed to pay. If these two dynamics halt the pumping of oil from the south to the northern port, we could witness a near collapse of the southern economy or a false start for the new government.

These two are weighty matters that will require the intervention of leaders of IGAD countries more so because they touch on the security of the new nation and the region. An oil row could trigger a dispute that could jeopardise the economic development of the entire region.

Of course Khartoum is bitter for having lost 75 per cent of its 500,000 barrels-a-day oil production after the south became independent. But it should not embark on a silent economic sabotage by increasing the amount charged on oil flowing in its pipelines. That should not be allowed.

Business Daily:  - Opinion & Analysis |Resolve dispute between Juba, Khartoum quickly

 

[High_Gravity]

Sudan: UN peacekeepers killed by Abyei landmine blast

Four Ethiopian UN peacekeeping troops have been killed by a landmine in Sudan's disputed region of Abyei.

A UN spokesman said seven other peacekeepers were injured by the blast in Mabok, south-east of Abyei town, which was occupied by northern forces.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was "saddened" by the deaths, he added.

The deaths come less than a week after the 4,200-strong Ethiopian peacekeeping force arrived in Abyei, claimed by the governments of Sudan and South Sudan.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Mr Ban had expressed his condolences to the Ethiopian government, and the family and friends of those killed.

The injured have been airlifted to Kadugli, in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan.

The village where the landmine exploded had been occupied by troops loyal to the government in Khartoum, which has signed the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of anti-personnel mines.

Northern forces had occupied Abyei in May, raising fears of a renewal of Sudan's 21-year, north-south conflict.

After the offensive, more than 100,000 people fled the territory, mainly to South Sudan, which gained independence on 9 July.

But in June, both north and south agreed to withdraw their troops from Abyei, leaving a 20km (12-mile) buffer zone along the border.

A week later, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to send a 4,200-strong Ethiopian peacekeeping force to Abyei to monitor the withdrawal, as well as human rights.

The resolution established a new UN peacekeeping force, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (Unisfa).

It also ordered Unisfa to protect civilians and to "protect the Abyei area from incursions by unauthorised elements".

Sudan's permanent representative to the UN, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, said northern forces would withdraw as soon as the Ethiopian troops had been deployed.

BBC News - Sudan: UN peacekeepers killed by Abyei landmine blast

 

[High_Gravity]

Sheboygan native aids in birth of new nation, South Sudan

Inside a Sheboygan coffee shop, Michael Eddy is on his laptop computer sorting through the tens of thousands of photos he took in the past year while helping establish the world's newest nation — South Sudan.

In one, Eddy, a Sheboygan native and foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, stands arm in arm with Sudanese people waving flags during the country's independence celebration last month in the capital of Juba.

He then quickly flips through a series of photos where he's seen with a number of high-profile dignitaries, including Sen. John Kerry, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and former President Jimmy Carter, before stopping at the photo he's been looking for.

In it, a Sudanese woman has burst into tears following the country's historic January independence vote that few thought was possible during a half-century of civil war and oppression that left more than 2 million dead.

"It was a moment of release. They all broke down," Eddy said, pointing at the photo. "I'm already rationalizing to myself to get used to the fact you might never experience this kind of emotion again."

For Eddy, 43, who's spent the past week visiting family in Sheboygan, it's hard to convey all he's seen and done in the past year, easily among the most rewarding in his 12 years in international development work for USAID, a federal agency that provides economic and humanitarian assistance around the globe.

Starting in July 2010, the North High School graduate was assigned to Sudan and put in charge of coordinating a historic election that would cap South Sudan's successful push toward independence, which was made possible by a 2005 peace deal between war-torn Sudan's north and south.

Working with a more than $75 million budget, the USAID team — led by Eddy — got more than 4 million people registered to vote and established more than 2,600 polling centers.

The accomplishment was no small feat given the country's dispersed, migratory population, of which about 85 percent can't read or write.


The work required long days with little time to rest. At one point Eddy worked 105 straight days, including Christmas and New Years.

It was also dangerous, including the time a airplane he was traveling in landed and was surrounded and held for several hours at gunpoint.

But the payoff came on Jan. 9, when South Sudanese residents overwhelmingly voting in favor of independence. South Sudan officially became its own country July 9, breaking Africa's largest country into two.

Eddy's photos show one rural polling station during the January vote consisting of a plastic folding table that poll workers had walked several days to set up beneath a tree.

"That's what overwhelmed me, how important this was. It was everything for them," Eddy said.

Eddy first became interested in international work after studying abroad while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He later completed his master's degree in international affairs at American University in Washington, D.C., and held several positions, including with the World Bank, before joining USAID.

Following the January election in South Sudan, Eddy has helped run a variety of programs providing technical assistance to the fledgling nation as leaders there set up laws, a constitution and civil programs.

He's also gave the thousands of photos he took in the past year to the people of South Sudan, as he was often the only non-media member there photographing historic moments, such as a photo he has of South Sudan President Salva Kiir casting his vote in the January referendum.

Going forward, Eddy said the country still faces its share of challenges, as it's one of the poorest and least-developed places in the world. There are also unresolved problems between the south and its former foe in the north, and there are tensions between the country's 170 different ethnicities.

But Eddy, who previously oversaw development work for the U.S. government in Macedonia, Bolivia and Nicaragua, said that South Sudan has already come a long way.


"For the region and for the world, it is in the U.S. people's interest that there be stability there, that there be a democratic representative government that listens to their people," Eddy said.

Throughout his travels, and no matter how remote his assignment, Eddy is periodically reminded of home.

Sometimes it's in the most unlikely of ways, such as the Fourth of July party he attended in Juba this year, where they served Johnsonville brats.

"It was a miracle," he said. "Sheboygan brats served in South Sudan. It was a big deal."

Eddy returned to the United States just two weeks after South Sudan's July independence celebration, traveling to Sheboygan to see his parents with his wife, Sharane, and two children, Isaac and India, ages 8 and 6.

It's a trip he makes once a year, and as always it's been an adjustment returning to American culture after being so immersed in the developing world.

"I'll be at the grocery store and go into the cereal aisle and be stuck for a while," Eddy said. "Your head can't comprehend there's this many choices of cereal. It's reverse culture shock back to what it's like to live here."

Eddy is scheduled to leave Sheboygan today.

His work in Sudan complete, he'll soon begin a four-year assignment in Thailand, doing regional development work. He'll be joined there by his wife and kids, who spent the past year living in Washington, D.C.

While visiting Sheboygan, he was scheduled to attend his 25th high school class reunion, the first he's attended since graduating from North High School in 1986.

He conceded there was really no short answer in updating his classmates on what he's been up to.

"That's my predicament," he said. "There's no short answer. I can only give the 30,000-feet version."

Sheboygan native aids in birth of new nation, South Sudan | Sheboygan Press | sheboyganpress.com

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan's SSLA Unity State rebels 'cease fire'

The biggest rebel movement in the newly independent South Sudan has declared a ceasefire, its spokesman says.

The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) has been involved in clashes with the new nation's army this year.

Its fighters are concentrated in Unity State, near many of South Sudan's lucrative oil fields.

When South Sudan split from Khartoum last month, its President Salva Kiir offered an amnesty to various militias fighting in the south.

South Sudan's army spokesman told the BBC he had not heard about a ceasefire, but confirmed there had been "behind doors" contacts between the government and the SSLA.

South Sudan's independence from Sudan was the outcome of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of conflict between north and south in which some 1.5 million people died.

The BBC's James Copnall in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, says insecurity is one of the greatest challenges facing the new state of South Sudan.

Ethnic tensions

The SSLA, led by a dissident general Peter Gadet, is the most significant militarily of the half dozen or so southern rebel groups, our reporter says.

His fighters took up arms earlier this year in protest against corruption, mismanagement of oil revenues and what they believe is the domination of the Dinka ethnic group.

Most of the SSLA are from the Nuer ethnic group, the second biggest in South Sudan.

"We are declaring a ceasefire and we are also accepting the amnesty offered by the president as the basis of talks with the government of South Sudan," SSLA spokesman Bol Gatkouth Kol told the AFP news agency.

The group's intention was to integrate its soldiers into the southern army, he said.

He told the BBC he was in South Sudan's capital, Juba, as the head of an SSLA delegation for further talks.

If the ceasefire is confirmed and then holds, it will be a major step forward for South Sudan's stability, our reporter says.

BBC News - South Sudan's SSLA Unity State rebels 'cease fire'

 

[Ropey]

South Sudan's SSLA Unity State rebels 'cease fire'

The biggest rebel movement in the newly independent South Sudan has declared a ceasefire, its spokesman says.

The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) has been involved in clashes with the new nation's army this year.

Its fighters are concentrated in Unity State, near many of South Sudan's lucrative oil fields.

When South Sudan split from Khartoum last month, its President Salva Kiir offered an amnesty to various militias fighting in the south.

South Sudan's army spokesman told the BBC he had not heard about a ceasefire, but confirmed there had been "behind doors" contacts between the government and the SSLA.

South Sudan's independence from Sudan was the outcome of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of conflict between north and south in which some 1.5 million people died.

The BBC's James Copnall in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, says insecurity is one of the greatest challenges facing the new state of South Sudan.

Ethnic tensions

The SSLA, led by a dissident general Peter Gadet, is the most significant militarily of the half dozen or so southern rebel groups, our reporter says.

His fighters took up arms earlier this year in protest against corruption, mismanagement of oil revenues and what they believe is the domination of the Dinka ethnic group.

Most of the SSLA are from the Nuer ethnic group, the second biggest in South Sudan.

"We are declaring a ceasefire and we are also accepting the amnesty offered by the president as the basis of talks with the government of South Sudan," SSLA spokesman Bol Gatkouth Kol told the AFP news agency.

The group's intention was to integrate its soldiers into the southern army, he said.

He told the BBC he was in South Sudan's capital, Juba, as the head of an SSLA delegation for further talks.

If the ceasefire is confirmed and then holds, it will be a major step forward for South Sudan's stability, our reporter says.

BBC News - South Sudan's SSLA Unity State rebels 'cease fire'

This is a case where amnesty and integration is the path. An enlightening post HG.

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan Officials: 125 Killed In Cattle Raid

JUBA, South Sudan — More than 185 people have been killed in South Sudan in a recent cattle raid and an unrelated militia attack, officials said Sunday.

The incidents underscore the challenges and insecurity faced by South Sudan, which became the world's newest country when it declared independence in July.

South Sudan army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said fighters loyal to rebel leader George Athor crossed the border from north Sudan and attacked a town in South Sudan's Upper Nile state. Aguer said the violence which started Friday left 60 people dead, including seven soldiers and 53 militia members. He said the soldiers managed to repel the attackers.

Separately, South Sudanese officials said Sunday 125 people were killed in a cattle raid during which tribesmen stole 2,000 cattle in the country's east. Jonglei state Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk said eight villages were destroyed when warriors from the Murle tribe in Pidor county attacked the Lou-Nuer tribe of Uror county on Thursday.

Justice Minister John Luk Jok said he saw bodies strewn across the scene of the raid and that some children's limbs had been amputated.

The two tribes frequently clash over land and cattle. In May, nearly 70 people were killed in a weeklong cattle-related conflict between the two rival tribes.

South Sudan Officials: 125 Killed In Cattle Raid

 

[High_Gravity]

The State of South Sudan and NATO

The magazine, Global Public Square, and the Times of London have recently published statements by US former envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, in which he called on US government and European governments to create a long strategic alliance with the State of South Sudan.
In addition, Natsios called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to include South Sudan in the NATO's security system through entering into a security guarantee agreement with it whereby South Sudan would be included in the NATO's mandate and hence any aggression on South Sudan would be considered an aggression on all NATO system.
However, many observers consider attempts by some powers to intimidate some regional parties by making them believe that the Government of north Sudan has evil plans against its neighbors aim at creating regional tensions, a situation that justifies Western intervention.
These fears of north Sudan intentions had increased in the months that preceded the conduction of the referendum on self-determination of South Sudan with western circles claiming that the Sudanese government was adamant to abort the referendum process to prevent the South from attaining its independence and announcing its state.
Such plans and intimidations were clearly manifested in the reports of nongovernmental organizations that closely monitors the situation in Sudan, in the reports that have been regularly prepared by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and in strategic studies centers reports; we should not forget the international conference on Sudan that was held last September at UN headquarters in New York.
All these fora have focused on fears that north and south Sudan would slip into war and violence assuming that the Government of north Sudan may not be pleased with the secession of South Sudan and the difficulties it would face following the loss of 75 percent of the country's oil.
However, all such expectations have proved to be baseless since they have been founded on wrong information and assumptions: the referendum process had gone on smoothly and without any problems, with 98 percent of Southern Sudanese voting for secession.
Following the announcement of the new Southern state on July 9, the same circles have begun again to warn against the risk of the eruption of war between the two neighboring states because of the many pending issues and differences between them, particularly Abyei region.
When the Sudanese Armed Forces found itself forced to control Abyei region in reply to SPLA's repeated violations and aggression, these hostile circles have started again to warn against the danger of the eruption of war and found the legitimate move of Sudanese Armed Forces to defend itself an evidence of Khartoum's bad intentions.
These same circles use the difficulties being faced in arriving at a final solution to the Abyei questions as a pretext for intimidation and planting differences between the two states in the north and the south in additional to regional parties.

Strategic Burden

Whether Natsios meant that South Sudan should be allowed to join NATO or that his statement was mere invitation for a protection agreement within a strategic perspective, any of the options would form a strategic burden for the alliance. As we know, NATO has been facing lately unending crises that have imposed on the alliance unprecedented challenges and hence have forced it to reconsider its options and capabilities continuously.
The State of South Sudan, no matter how much Natsios' doting in its unlimited wealth, would not be better than other Greater Lakes countries whose natural resources, mineral and precious metals wealth have turned from a blessing to a curse, with these countries slipping into unending civil wars.
With the passage of time, these wars turned into regional ones and into war-by proxy when certain countries and what is commonly known as Resources Stealing Networks, interfered in these conflicts as active elements.
On this, we quote Natsios who said, "International companies are racing for developing the huge south Sudan resources: rich soil, plenty irrigation water, vast and open fertile lands, plenty mineral resources, including valuable but depleting metals , such as gold, copper , diamond and coltan in addition to 75 percent of both north and south Sudan oil reserves.
According to experience, the inflow of capital and international companies are considered an element of corruption of the political class in many countries, particularly those newly born and fragile ones that are being ruled by former rebels who are not used to running a government.
Indeed, media reports published last July tell us that Norwegian Peoples Aid Society (NPAS), a non-profit Norwegian society, has revealed that some foreign governments, individuals, and companies have concluded deals with influential figures at Government of the State of South Sudan (GoSS) under which GoSS agreed to lease to them the most fertile lands in South Sudan for subsequent investment in the form of agricultural projects and bio-fuel production plants and the growing of vast areas of forests on an area estimated at 2.6 m hectares
In commenting on these reports, NPAS said that the figures are "shocking since the areas of some of these projects are tremendous and that "in addition, South Sudan is considered as one of the high-risk counties in terms of security".
Ironically, a new report released by Maplecroft, an international firm that is concerned with risks analysis has said under its terrorism risk index analysis has said the South Sudan, though it is the newest country in the world, occupies No 5 position in the list of the top countries that are most prone to terrorist attack.

Sudan Vision Daily - Details

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan seeks to open up for foreign investors

South Sudan is organising a series of international trade shows as it seeks to open up the country for foreign investors.The country plans to hold trade fairs in Brazil, India and China by the end of the year. However, the first fair is scheduled for early next month at the Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba.

The country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in charge of the promotion.Delegates from East Africa would be required to pay $2,500 for a package that includes visa and airport tax, return flight, accommodation in Juba, transport to and from the conference venue and the participation fee. South Sudan requires heavy investment in infrastructure such as road, housing, education, health and other social amenities to spur economic growth.

Investment analysts have urged Kenyans to take part in these conferences since they will not only serve as networking forums but help them identify viable business opportunities and investment procedures in the country, which is a fast-emerging market.

“Given the underdevelopment present in the country the government is keen on acquiring capital to deliver the various services necessary for it to get on its feet,” Mr Eric Musau, an analysts with Standard Investment Bank said. “Foreign investment will be key in achieving this.”

With a population of about 12 million, the landlocked country relies on local industry to cater to its consumer goods demand, presenting a huge potential for foreign investors.

Several Kenyan companies such as Equity Bank, Kenya Airways and Kenya Commercial Bank have established their subsidiaries in South Sudan with many others expressing their interest to invest in different sectors of the economy.

The latest entrant is Family Bank, which has announced plans to finalise an acquisition deal by June next year as it catches up with other Kenyan banks, which have set up base in the country. “The buy-out will help us gain acceptance in the market and cut short the investment lead time,” said Peter Munyiri, the CEO of Family Bank.

Banks are rushing to open shop in South Sudan, which is fast morphing into a fertile ground for both local and international companies after its break from the North and subsequent declaration of independence on July 9.

South Sudan seeks to open up for foreign investors

 

[High_Gravity]

South Sudan slams Hamas PM’s remark, demands apology

October 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Republic of South Sudan has strongly censured remarks in which Ismail Haniya, Prime Minister of the ousted Hamas’s government in Gaza strip, reportedly described the newly independent country as “a foundling state.”


Prime Minister of Hamas’ government (ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting) According to a report published by the daily Sudanese newspaper Al-Ahdath last week, Haniya was delivering a Friday prayer sermon on 30 October when he described South Sudan as a “foundling state” as he strongly advocated the view that Palestinians should seek to establish their state through armed struggle not at the UN General Assembly.

“We have not heard in history that states were established through international resolutions, even this foundling state in South Sudan, which was severed from Sudan’s main homeland, did not come to exist through a UN resolution but rather through fighting and agreements,” he was quoted.

Haniya further said that establishing a Palestinian state with its capital Jerusalem is the goal of all Palestinian people, stressing that it is not acceptable that a Palestinian state be established in exchange for ceding a span of the hand of Palestinian territories.”

“We support the establishment of a Palestinian state on liberated territories but without recognizing the [Israeli] occupation,” he added.

Reacting to his statement, the government of South Sudan expressed regret and denunciation over Haniya’s remarks.

The head of South Sudan’s diplomatic mission in Egypt, Farmina Makueit, described Haniya’s statement as “irresponsible” and called on him to apologize to South Sudanese people.

“Haniya deliberately involved South Sudan in the conflict between Hamas and [its rival] Fatah [Palestinian Liberation Organization],” the southern official said.

Since it gained full independence from Sudan in July this year, South Sudan vowed to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel and reportedly announced intention open an embassy in Jerusalem.

South Sudan slams Hamas PM