(LAND DESTROYER REPORT, RT) Who is to blame for the crisis in South Sudan?
COMMENT As well as Glencore International, which now has a PPP with the South Sudanese state's NILEPET, called PETRONILE. Also, there is 'trouble at mill', as there seem to be some kind of renegotiations going on. Maybe that is what the current strife is about - a shifting of allegiances by Glencore International towards Riek Machar. It will be interesting to see if RM wants to reinstate the old oil deal with Glencore. What is telling, is that the latest changes of the guard all come from within the government. Salva Kiir was the righthand man of Johnny Garang, Riek Machar is the righthand man of Salva Kiir. Plenty of space for eternal manipulation. - MrK
The nascent civil war in South Sudan is a product of kleptocratic governance, systemic corruption, and political posturing that has reignited deep ethnic divisions between the nation’s two largest tribal groups.
(Nile Bowie - RT) - The world’s youngest nation has been in disarray since December 14th, when sporadic gunfire and skirmishes broke out in the capital, Juba. Shortly after, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir announced that a coup had been attempted by members of his own presidential guard allied with Riek Machar, the ambitious former vice president who was purged in July. Since then, the country has been destabilized by fighting between government forces and members of the army loyal to Machar, forcing tens of thousands to abandon their homes and seek shelter in squalid UN bases throughout the country. Reports indicate that rebels have captured swathes of territory, including areas such as Bentiu, a northern provincial capital in the country’s most oil-rich region, and other economically strategic areas. Kiir belongs to the Dinka – the country’s most powerful and populous ethnic group – while Machar is ethnically Nuer, and sources claim that brutal ethnic violence has broken out between the two groups with heavy involvement by government forces.
Juba has insisted that its forces have only protected civilians and have not taken part in massacres, despite numerous reports of security forces arbitrarily targeting civilians belonging to the Nuer ethnic group. The resulting violence has prompted the UN to add nearly 6,000 international troops and police officers to the more than 7,600 peacekeeping forces already in the country.
The United States – which has been South Sudan’s main political backer prior to and since its independence in 2011 – has firmly declared their support for Kiir’s government and warned the rebels against attempts to seize power through military force. Though the current crisis has undeniable ethnic dimensions that have reemerged as a consequence of historically unsettled animosity between the Dinka and Nuer people, the crux of the problem is political. The rampant corruption and misuse of governmental authority in political and economic affairs has divided the ruling party (the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement or SPLM), while the state’s inability to provide basic services and alleviate poverty has created widespread disenchantment in a society that was largely optimistic that independence would bring lasting peace.
Salva Kiir’s ‘Dinkocracy’
Critics of President Kiir, who enjoys sweeping constitutional authority, accuse him of ruling the country like a tyrant when he unexpectedly purged former vice president Machar and his entire Cabinet after Machar announced plans to challenge Kiir in the 2015 presidential elections. Kiir’s relations with dissenting factions of the SPLM have steadily deteriorated since the purge, including with party heavyweight, Pagan Amum, who has been the South’s chief negotiator with the Sudanese government in Khartoum on separation issues and border disputes after independence. Kiir, perhaps attempting to hedge against growing discontent toward his rule, forced more than 100 army generals into retirement in an effort to bring more loyal figures into the military. These features of Kiir’s one-man-rule have contributed to the creation of a disgruntled faction in the army that backs Riek Machar, including a renegade faction of the army led by General Peter Gatdet Yak, whose forces stormed SPLA bases in Jonglei state and took full control of military equipment and heavy weapons.
President Salva Kiir & former VP Riek Machar
In such a diversely heterogeneous state, the increasing ethnic dimension of this conflict is a testament to Kiir’s failure to build an inclusive and representative political order. Rather, many complain that Kiir has reinforced the Dinka tribe's influence over political, military, and economic affairs. Abhorrent levels of corruption have triggered mass distrust in the political system; reports indicate that thousands of fake names have been found on security payrolls and the government admits that officials have stolen some $4 billion dollars from its coffers. Riek Machar’s credentials are hardly any better; he is seen as an opportunist for siding with the Sudanese government in Khartoum at various times during the civil war that raged for two decades prior to South Sudan’s secession. Furthermore, he is historically accused of exploiting ethnic relations as a means of mobilizing support for his own factions. Machar is not a rebel leader controlling an organized opposition structure by any means; disgruntled factions have allied with him over their discontent with the way Kiir has been running the country. The thousands of people who have taken refuge in UN bases throughout the country – even in the capital – is a telling sign of how little faith people have in proper governance and the army’s ability to protect them.
A question the West should be asking…
The SPLM has received support from the US and Israel throughout the duration of the civil war fought between southern rebels and Khartoum, which has historically had unfriendly relations with the West and has moved very closely to China in recent times to jointly develop the country’s oil wealth prior to the separation. Romantic notions for self-determination did not motivate the West to support southern secession; the objective was to partition Sudan and deprive Khartoum of economically relevant territory in the south where most of the oil fields lie. In exchange for the financial, material, political, and diplomatic support received from the West, the new government in Juba endorsed a ‘Faustian pact’ with its sponsors to open its economy to international finance capital and multinational interests. The government in Juba even applied for IMF membership before it had even officially gained independence from Sudan.
Despite supporting the South’s independence with diplomatic muscle and military aid, the United States has been unable to gain a foothold in the country’s oil sector; Juba’s crippled economy remains dominated by Asian companies, primarily from China.
South Sudan must rely on pipelines that run through Khartoum to export its oil, and the two countries produced around 115,000 barrels of oil per day in 2012, less than half the volume produced in the years before South Sudan's independence. Both sides have nearly gone to war over disputed oil fields that straddle a poorly demarcated border. Judging from the poor economic performance of both countries since the partition and the dramatic loss of the life in the ongoing crisis, the experiment of South Sudanese independence is failing.
Those countries that supported the partition of a unified Sudan for narrow economic and geopolitical interests have failed by off-shoring their nation-building responsibilities to multinationals and investors who lack interest and confidence in developing anything outside the oil sector. It has created a situation where state-officials loot billions while food insecurity is rampant throughout the country. In effect, the foreign-sponsors of the SPLM have encouraged a system of ‘trickle-down economics’ without the trickle-down, which is an inseparable dimension to the current political crisis. It would be highly unlikely that the US would renege on their support for Juba, or scale back weapons sales or military aid, even if Salva Kiir continues running the country like a ‘president-for-life’.
As South Sudan stands on the precipice of a brutal civil war, policy-makers and pundits in the West should ask themselves if supporting dialogue and reconciliation between parties in a unified Sudan would have been wiser than supporting the birth of a nation that has been marred by instability since its inception.
This article originally appeared on RT.com
Nile Bowie is a Malaysia-based political analyst and a columnist with Russia Today. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
Labels: RIEK MACHAR, SALVA KIIR, SOUTH SUDAN, SUDAN
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(BLACK STAR NEWS) U.S. Calls On South Sudan's Kiir To Release Machar's Allies For Addis Peace Talks
Milton Allimadi
January 04,2014
The United States has called on South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to immediately release Former Vice President Riek Machar's colleagues so that the Addis Abbaba peace talks to end fighting can "be meaningful and productive."
The conflict in South Sudan erupted December 15 as a power struggle between Kiir and Machar but has quickly taken on an ugly ethnic dimension with Kiir's armed supporters attacking Nuers and Machar's backers targeting Dinkas.
There are no firm estimates of people killed although the 1,000 figure has been widely used; more than 100,000 people have been displaced from their homes and many sought shelter at UN barracks.
Machar has denied Kiir's accusations that he'd tried to stage a coup, sparking the fighting. In a report on Sudan Tribune Machar claims his forces are now marching to seize Juba, the capital city.
The U.S. has warned against any attempted military solution to what it's terms a political conflict. In a statement today, The U.S. Department of State supported Machar's earlier demands that his political allies who have been detained by Kiir be released so they can take part in the peace talks.
"We urge the Government of South Sudan to uphold its commitments and release political detainees immediately. To be meaningful and productive, discussions of political issues requires the presence of the senior SPLM members currently detained in Juba, among others," the statement, released by Marie Harf, deputy State Department spokesperson, said.
Machar had made his side's participation on the talks conditional on the release of his colleagues. Machar's allies include Pagan Amum, the former ruling SPLM's Secretary General and the chief negotiator during dispute with Sudan that had led to the temporary halt in oil exports; pipelines run through Sudan.
"These talks are of critical importance to the people of South Sudan. There can be no military solution to this conflict. Forging a durable and lasting peace depends on resolving the underlying political causes of the conflict. Special Envoy Booth's presence at the talks in Addis Abbaba underscores our enduring commitment to peace, reconciliation, and a unified, democratic South Sudan," the statement adds, referring to U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Donald E. Booth.
"The parties must use these talks to make rapid, tangible progress on a cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access, and the status of political detainees," the statement also said.
Labels: JOHN KERRY, RIEK MACHAR, SALVA KIIR, SOUTH SUDAN, SUDAN
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(NEWZIMBABWE, REUTERS) Emergency declared in South Sudan
02/01/2014 00:00:00
by Reuters
COMMENT - Why are all these sellouts wearing cowboy hats? To signify that they have sold out to the United States camp? - MrK
Negotiators prepare for peace talks with rebels ... President Salva Kiir
SOUTH Sudanese President Salva Kiir declared a state of emergency in two states on Wednesday as his negotiators prepared for peace talks with rebels to end more than two weeks of violence that has pushed the country towards civil war.
Kiir called the emergency in Unity and Jonglei states, the two regions whose capitals are now controlled by rebel forces loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar, who Kiir has accused of plotting a coup.
Gunshots were heard near the presidential palace on Wednesday evening. A presidential spokesman said security forces most likely fired the shots at residents breaking a curfew.
Both sides are under mounting pressure from regional and Western powers to reach a deal to stop the bloodletting that has killed more than 1,000 people in the world's newest state and displaced nearly 200,000 more.
The White House has said it would deny support - vital in a country the size of France that still has hardly any infrastructure more than two years after secession - to any group that seizes power by force.
The rebel delegation earlier arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa ready for the ceasefire talks. They said government negotiators had not yet arrived.
Both sides have agreed in principle to a ceasefire but neither has indicated when the fighting would stop and mediators are concerned that fighting around the flashpoint town of Bor will scupper the talks even before they begin.
South Sudan's defence minister earlier said government forces were battling rebel fighters 11 miles south of Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, which has untapped oil reserves and was the site of an ethnic massacre in 1991.
"There will have to be a fight because they want to defeat the government forces," Defence Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk told Reuters from the capital Juba, 190 km south of Bor by road.
Rebels loyal to Machar seized control of Bor on Tuesday.
US pressure
The Addis Ababa talks will focus on finding ways to roll out and monitor the ceasefire, the East African IGAD bloc that is mediating the talks said.
The clashes, which have spread to half the country's 10 states have unsettled oil markets and raised fears of the conflict spilling over in an already fragile region.
"We don't want to expose the people of South Sudan to a senseless war," South Sudan's Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said on a government Twitter feed on Wednesday.
Kiir has accused his long-term political rival Machar, who he sacked in July, of starting the fighting in a bid to seize power.
Machar has denied the charge, but he has taken to the bush and has acknowledged leading soldiers battling the government.
Clashes between soldiers erupted on December 15 in Juba. The violence quickly spread, dividing the country along the ethnic lines of Machar's Nuer group and Kiir's Dinkas.
South Sudan's neighbours, Washington and the United Nations played a central role in negotiations that ended decades of war with Sudan to the north and led to the secession of South Sudan in 2011, and have been scrambling to stem the latest violence.
The White House upped the pressure for the talks on Tuesday.
"We will hold leaders responsible for the conduct of their forces and work to ensure accountability for atrocities and war crimes," spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said ethnic-based atrocities, often carried out against civilians by uniformed men, had taken place across the country.
Fighting across the country has displaced at least 180,000 people, according to the United Nations.
The clashes have revived memories of the factionalism in the 1990s within the SPLM, the now ruling group that fought Sudan's army in the civil war. Machar led a splinter faction at the time and Nuer fighters loyal to him massacred Dinkas in Bor.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, NEOCOLONIALISM, OIL, SALVA KIIR, SOUTH SUDAN
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(STICKY) (NEWZIMBABWE) Kenyans give Mugabe rousing welcome
Man of the moment ... Kenyatta waves to crowds as he arrives at the Moi Sports Centre
09/04/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe was cheered wildly at a sports stadium in Kasarani on Tuesday as he joined 11 other heads of state to witness the swearing-in of Kenya’s new President Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan was the first head of state to take his seat at the inauguration podium followed by South African President Jacob Zuma and others including Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete and Joseph Kabila of the DRC.
Kenya’s Business Daily reported on its website that “but it was Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni who received a rousing welcome from Kenyans who thronged the stadium” to witness the inauguration of Kenya’s fourth President.
Mugabe might be fighting for his political career in Zimbabwe ahead of elections later this year, but across the African continent, he is seen as a hero for his outspoken attacks on the West and fighting for African liberation.
The 89-year-old veteran leader saluted the cheering Kenyans with his trademark fist – the symbol of his Zanu PF party.
In Kenyatta, Mugabe sees a potential ally. Western countries led by the United States and Britain publicly urged Kenyans to vote for Kenyatta’s rival, Raila Odinga, who was conspicuous by his absence from the inauguration. He is believed to have gone on holiday in South Africa, snubbing Kenyatta's invitation.
Kenyatta – facing prosecution for crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the bloody post-election violence which left over 1,000 people dead in 2007 – turned the Western hostility into a campaign issue, and his message resonated with Kenyans who helped him trounce Odinga by over 800,000 votes. Odinga's court bid to overturn the results was dismissed.
Western countries – citing the impending charges against Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court headquartered at The Hague – sent only special envoys to the inauguration and have vowed to maintain only “essential contact” with Kenyatta’s government.
Museveni, picked by the African heads of state to represent them, said Kenyan voters had rejected “blackmail” by the West.
“I want to salute the Kenyan voters on one other issue – the rejection of the blackmail by the ICC and those who seek to abuse this institution for their own agenda,” he said.
Museveni said he supported the ICC because he hated impunity. But “the usual, opinionated and arrogant actors using their careless analysis have distorted the purpose of that institution,” he noted.
“They are now using it to install leaders of their choice in Africa and eliminate the ones they don’t like.”
After he was sworn in, Kenyatta pledged that Kenya would strive to uphold its international obligations “as long as these are founded on the well-established principles of mutual respect and reciprocity.”
“We must remember that no one country or group of countries should have control or monopoly on international institutions or the interpretation of international treaties,” President Kenyatta said.
Labels: ROBERT MUGABE, SALVA KIIR, UHURU KENYATTA
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