USA sending $100 Million in military aid and equipment, 2013-12-19 [link]
USA Federal Diplomats sent to Central African Republic, 2013-12-19 [link]
USA Military aircraft sent into combat alongside France's Military in Central Africa Republic [link]
Saturday, December 21, 2013
USA military deployed to South Sudan
New and info about the war in South Sudan [link]
"President Obama Orders US Troops to South Sudan Growing violence and talk of civil war in African nation"
2013-12-20 by Jon Queally from "Common Dreams" [http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/20]:
President Obama on Thursday announced that he has sent a team of combat-ready soldiers to the country of South Sudan amid growing violence and increasing talk of "civil war" in the African nation.
The death of several UN peacekeeping soldiers this week and reports of large numbers of civilian casualties as fighting intensified between militias and government soldiers on opposite sides of a recent coup attempt have stirred international focus on the country, with Obama telling Congress in a written statement that the recently formed country is "at the precipice" and the UN Security Council scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in New York on Friday to address the worsening situation.
As South Sudan analyst James Copnall writes [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25454168], the politics of the country are complicated, but "just over two years after it became independent," with refugees fleeing the violence and over 500 people already reported killed this week, "South Sudan is living out some of its worst fears."
Though framed as a both a political and ethnic power struggle, one of the clear fault lines in the growing tensions is centered around control of the country's oil fields that are located in the north, as Reuters indicates [http://news.yahoo.com/workers-clash-south-sudan-oil-fields-16-dead-132119161.html]:
[begin extract]
China National Petroleum Corp, India's ONGC Videsh and Malaysia's Petronas are the main firms running the oilfields. Total has exploration acreage in country. South Sudan, a nation the size of France, has the third largest reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa after Angola and Nigeria, according to BP.
Oil production, which had been about 245,000 barrels per day, supplies the government with most of its revenues. [...]
South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011. A persistent dispute with Sudan over their border, oil and security have added to the sense of crisis.
The row led to the shutting of oil production for about 15 months until earlier this year, slashing state revenues and undermining efforts to improve public services in a nation of 11 million people but with barely any tarmac roads.
[end extract]
Deutsche Welle reports [http://www.dw.de/un-peacekeepers-killed-in-south-sudan-as-fears-of-a-civil-war-grow/a-17312457]:
[begin extract]
After first asserting that it was in control of the situation, the South Sudanese government has now admitted that its forces have lost control of Bor, the capital of Jonglei.
"The situation in South Sudan can be best described as tense and fragile. If it is not contained, it could lead to ethnic cleansing," Choul Laam, a top official with the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement told an Associated Press reporter in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, several countries including Germany, the US, Britain and Italy have been evacuating their nationals.
Later on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides to engage in dialogue as a way of ending the bloodshed.
"The future of this young nation requires its current leadership to do everything possible to prevent South Sudan descending into the chaos that would be such a betrayal of the ideals behind its long struggle for independence," a statement released by his office said.
[end extract]
Offering additional background, the (London) Guardian reports:
[begin extract]
South Sudan's president, Salva Kiir, has accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting to launch a coup last Sunday. The pair, who have been rivals since the long civil war that ended in 2005 and split the country, had been in an uneasy power-sharing government since independence in 2011.
Kiir hails from the Dinka community, while Machar comes from the Nuer. The accusation that the former vice-president had attempted to seize power led to widespread reprisals against his supporters and fellow Nuer in the capital and surrounding areas. What began as a political power struggle has spilled over into open ethnic conflict in some areas.
In Unity State, which produces much of the oil that supports the economies of South Sudan and Sudan, fighting has led to oil workers fleeing the fields and reports suggest the government has lost control of the state capital, Bentiu.
In Jonglei a Nuer-led rebel militia, which claims its community is under attack by the government, has seized Bor, one of the country's most strategically important towns.
The militia made up of military mutineers from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has been raised under the command of the defected general Peter Gadet. After the storming of the UN base, Gadet said he would intervene to prevent further killings.
"It's an important distinction that the Akobo attack was not carried out by the armed opposition but by local youths," said Casie Copeland, a South Sudan expert with the Brussels-based monitor the International Crisis Group.
[end extract]
"President Obama Orders US Troops to South Sudan Growing violence and talk of civil war in African nation"
2013-12-20 by Jon Queally from "Common Dreams" [http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/20]:
President Obama on Thursday announced that he has sent a team of combat-ready soldiers to the country of South Sudan amid growing violence and increasing talk of "civil war" in the African nation.
The death of several UN peacekeeping soldiers this week and reports of large numbers of civilian casualties as fighting intensified between militias and government soldiers on opposite sides of a recent coup attempt have stirred international focus on the country, with Obama telling Congress in a written statement that the recently formed country is "at the precipice" and the UN Security Council scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in New York on Friday to address the worsening situation.
As South Sudan analyst James Copnall writes [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25454168], the politics of the country are complicated, but "just over two years after it became independent," with refugees fleeing the violence and over 500 people already reported killed this week, "South Sudan is living out some of its worst fears."
Though framed as a both a political and ethnic power struggle, one of the clear fault lines in the growing tensions is centered around control of the country's oil fields that are located in the north, as Reuters indicates [http://news.yahoo.com/workers-clash-south-sudan-oil-fields-16-dead-132119161.html]:
[begin extract]
China National Petroleum Corp, India's ONGC Videsh and Malaysia's Petronas are the main firms running the oilfields. Total has exploration acreage in country. South Sudan, a nation the size of France, has the third largest reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa after Angola and Nigeria, according to BP.
Oil production, which had been about 245,000 barrels per day, supplies the government with most of its revenues. [...]
South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011. A persistent dispute with Sudan over their border, oil and security have added to the sense of crisis.
The row led to the shutting of oil production for about 15 months until earlier this year, slashing state revenues and undermining efforts to improve public services in a nation of 11 million people but with barely any tarmac roads.
[end extract]
Deutsche Welle reports [http://www.dw.de/un-peacekeepers-killed-in-south-sudan-as-fears-of-a-civil-war-grow/a-17312457]:
[begin extract]
After first asserting that it was in control of the situation, the South Sudanese government has now admitted that its forces have lost control of Bor, the capital of Jonglei.
"The situation in South Sudan can be best described as tense and fragile. If it is not contained, it could lead to ethnic cleansing," Choul Laam, a top official with the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement told an Associated Press reporter in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, several countries including Germany, the US, Britain and Italy have been evacuating their nationals.
Later on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged both sides to engage in dialogue as a way of ending the bloodshed.
"The future of this young nation requires its current leadership to do everything possible to prevent South Sudan descending into the chaos that would be such a betrayal of the ideals behind its long struggle for independence," a statement released by his office said.
[end extract]
Offering additional background, the (London) Guardian reports:
[begin extract]
South Sudan's president, Salva Kiir, has accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting to launch a coup last Sunday. The pair, who have been rivals since the long civil war that ended in 2005 and split the country, had been in an uneasy power-sharing government since independence in 2011.
Kiir hails from the Dinka community, while Machar comes from the Nuer. The accusation that the former vice-president had attempted to seize power led to widespread reprisals against his supporters and fellow Nuer in the capital and surrounding areas. What began as a political power struggle has spilled over into open ethnic conflict in some areas.
In Unity State, which produces much of the oil that supports the economies of South Sudan and Sudan, fighting has led to oil workers fleeing the fields and reports suggest the government has lost control of the state capital, Bentiu.
In Jonglei a Nuer-led rebel militia, which claims its community is under attack by the government, has seized Bor, one of the country's most strategically important towns.
The militia made up of military mutineers from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has been raised under the command of the defected general Peter Gadet. After the storming of the UN base, Gadet said he would intervene to prevent further killings.
"It's an important distinction that the Akobo attack was not carried out by the armed opposition but by local youths," said Casie Copeland, a South Sudan expert with the Brussels-based monitor the International Crisis Group.
[end extract]
South Sudan
* South Sudan "leaders" are sell-outs to transnational capitalists, 2013-12-31 [link]
* USA and UK economic monopolization of natural resources in South Sudan, 2013-12-24 [link]
* USA Military Marines deployed to South Sudan, 2013-12-24 [link]
* USA Military aircraft fired upon by militias, 2013-12-21 [link]
* USA military deployed to South Sudan, 2013-12-20 [link]
"South Sudan's Most Vulnerable Face Hard Struggles In World's Youngest Country"
2013-12-25 by Brian McAfee [brimac6@hotmail.com], posted at [http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/guest-blog-south-sudans-most-vulnerable.html]:
Latest reports now indicate that about 34,000 South Sudanese civilians have sought refuge in United Nations missions in Juba and Bor. South Sudan, having only recently come into existence as an independent nation, July 9, 2011, has a population of 11,367,276 (worldpopulationreview.org). Since fighting broke out on December 15 about 500 thought to be killed and about 800 wounded. It began when former vice president Riek Machar, who had been fired from his position this past July, Machar's attacks against the South Sudan military and President Salva Kiir's responses appear to have primarily only resulted in tens of thousands of the civilian population left in desperate situations, many homeless with injuries and possibly thousands of orphans.
One of the more alarming attacks was the one that occurred on Dec. 20 in which 20 Dinka (a native ethnic group) were killed in an attack on a UN compound where the Dinka were being sheltered from just such attacks. Despite this singular case the UN and UN peacekeepers are and will be an indispensable element for a safe and secure South Sudan.
Some demographics, 82% of SS is Christian, 18 Islamic. Primary natural resources, copper, chromium ore, zinc, mica, silver, gold and diamonds. One problem area (in which South Sudan is definitely not alone) is access to drinkable water.
While it seems about half the population do have relatively easy access to water many, too many do not. This is a fundamental rights issue that people should bear in mind for everyone.
I urge and appreciate any cocideration of people donating- I of course suggest the UN, especially UNICEF and also OXFAM, they have been working in both Sudan and South Sudan (as long as SS has existed).
South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, "MINERAL OCCURRENCES AND EXPLORATION WORK DONE IN SOUTH SUDAN. • There are a vast number of metallic minerals spread all over the South Sudan: gold, copper, zinc, lead, manganese, iron, silver, tin, etc. • Also industrial minerals exist: marble, limestone, dolomite, kaolin, clay, asbestos, etc. • Apart from gold at Kapoeta and Luri; copper at Hofrat Ennahas, bauxite/iron ore at Wau area and marble at Kapoeta..."
Note: Here some additional articles for background information (ALM):
* [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/12/south-sudan-erupts.html#slide_ss_0=1]
* [http://www.opic.gov/press-releases/2012/opic-open-business-south-sudan]
* [https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/international/africa/files/South%20Sudan%20Investment%20Climate%20Update.pdf]
* [http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/30/us-southsudan-business-idUSTRE7AT1BG20111130]
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/15/fact-sheet-supporting-south-sudan-s-vision-future]
Maps of the South Sudan-Kenya oil pipeline and the South-Sudan-Ethiopia-Kenya railway, with both connecting with the port construction project at Lamu, Kenya. Comparing of the maps shows the Kenya excursion into southern Somalia creates a potential pacified buffer zone for its South Sudan-Kenya pipeline/railway projects.
USA Military aircraft fired upon by militias
News and info about the conquest of South Sudan [link]
"Evacuation operation aborted as U.S. planes come under fire in South Sudan"
2013-12-21 by Barbara Starr and Tom Watkins, CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/21/world/africa/south-sudan-violence/]:
Washington (CNN) -- A mission to evacuate Americans from South Sudan was aborted Saturday when an aircraft carrying U.S. military members was fired upon as it prepared to land in Bor, wounding four of them, the Pentagon said.
The most severely damaged aircraft was thought to have been hit in the fuel line, a military official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
All three aircraft -- CV-22 Ospreys -- were diverted to Entebbe, Uganda, which is not where their flights originated, the official said. Another aircraft then flew the wounded to Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. Africa Command said in a statement.
The four service members were in stable condition after treatment, the statement said.
Pentagon officials were trying to determine how to mount another effort to evacuate the roughly three dozen Americans in South Sudan, where they have been working for the United Nations, a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was "reviewing options," Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said. "Whatever we do it will be in coordination with the State Department," he added.
The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed before dawn Saturday while aboard Air Force One after landing in Hawaii, then met with his national security team on the matter.
The fighting has displaced as many as 100,000 people, many of whom have crossed the Nile River, he said, adding that he feared a humanitarian disaster was unfolding.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir blamed soldiers loyal to his former vice president, Riek Machar, for starting this month's violence.
Tensions have been high in South Sudan since July, when Kiir dismissed Machar and the rest of the Cabinet. The move inflamed tensions between Kiir's Dinka community and Machar's Nuer community.
Casualties include soldiers and number in the hundreds, the government said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Kiir on Saturday and discussed ways to halt the violence. It was Kerry's second call to Kiir since Thursday night.
"Secretary Kerry emphasized that only through leadership and political dialogue will the challenges facing South Sudan be resolved," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
The two men "discussed the need to prevent ethnic violence, their concern for the welfare of thousands of internally displaced persons fleeing the conflict, as well as for the safety of U.S. citizens in South Sudan, and they agreed to speak again soon," she said.
Meanwhile, the State Department issued an emergency message for U.S. citizens, calling on them to avoid the area around the airport in Bor. Limited flights were continuing from Juba International Airport.
On Friday, Kerry said he was sending a special envoy -- Ambassador Donald Booth -- to the country.
"Now is the time for South Sudan's leaders to rein in armed groups under their control, immediately cease attacks on civilians, and end the chain of retributive violence between different ethnic and political groups," Kerry said in a statement.
Saturday's violence wasn't the first this week to harm foreign troops in South Sudan. On Thursday, attackers killed two Indian army peacekeepers, wounded a third, and killed two to 20 of 30 civilians who were seeking refuge at the United Nations' Akobo base, the U.N. said.
In a news release, the African Union called for an immediate truce.
It said that the chairwoman of the AU Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was "profoundly dismayed at the recent turn of events" and condemned the killing of innocent civilians and U.N. peacekeepers in Bor as a war crime.
South Sudan became the world's newest country when it split from Sudan in July 2011. The split happened after a 2005 peace agreement ended years of civil war between the largely Animist and Christian south and the Muslim-dominated north.
The deal led to a January 2011 referendum in which people of the south voted to secede from Sudan.
"U.S. aircraft hit by gunfire in South Sudan as conflict worsens"
2013-12-21 by Carl Odera for "Reuters" newswire [http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/21/us-southsudan-unrest-aircraft-idUSBRE9BK07G20131221]:
JUBA - Three U.S. aircraft came under fire from unidentified forces on Saturday while trying to evacuate Americans from a spiraling conflict in South Sudan. The U.S. military said four of its members were wounded in the attacks.
Nearly a week of fighting in South Sudan threatens to drag the world's newest country into a Dinka-Nuer ethnic civil war just two years after it won independence from Sudan with strong support from successive U.S. administrations.
The U.S. aircraft came under fire while approaching the evacuation site, the military's Africa Command said in a statement. "The aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country and aborted the mission," it added.
The statement said all of the three Osprey CV-22 aircraft involved in the mission had been damaged.
Consequently, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that any move to take power by military means would lead to an end of U.S. and international community support for South Sudan.
The United Nations mission in South Sudan said one of four U.N. helicopters sent to Youai, in Jonglei state, had come under small-arms fire on Friday. No crew or passengers were harmed.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting between Dinka loyalists of President Salva Kiir and Nuer supporters of former Vice-President Riek Machar, who was sacked in July and is accused by the government of trying to seize power.
Fighting has spread from the capital, Juba, to vital oilfields and the government said a senior army commander had defected to Machar in the oil-producing Unity State.
The German military said on Saturday it had evacuated 98 people, including Germans and other nationals, from South Sudan by air to neighboring Uganda. The German ambassador to South Sudan was among them, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said.
A separate plane took Lieutenant-General Hans-Werner Fritz, chief of Germany's Operations Command, along with his aides and five other Germans, to Berlin, the military said.
After meeting African mediators on Friday, Kiir's government said on its Twitter feed that it was willing to hold talks with any rebel group. The United States is sending an envoy to help find a negotiated solution.
South Sudan's foreign minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, told Reuters the government had given African mediators the go-ahead to meet Kiir's rivals, including Machar and his allies.
Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, who led an East African delegation of foreign ministers in Juba aimed at mediating between the feuding sides, said the team did not manage to meet Riek Machar face to face, neither did they make phone contact.
"We are trying to contact them. We are hopeful of having both sides on the negotiating table within the space of 10 days," Tedros told Reuters.
In their meeting with Kiir, Tedros said they were also aiming to get humanitarian aid to afflicted populations unhindered.
CEASEFIRE CALL -
Benjamin said Lieutenant-General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, sent to South Sudan by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, had stayed behind along with a Kenyan diplomat after the African mediators left on Saturday and would work on making contact with Machar.
Sumbeiywo was the chief mediator in the talks that led to the signing of the 2005 peace agreements with north Sudan.
"So on the side of the government ... we have established dialogue without any condition," Benjamin said. "All we say, we urge former Vice-President Riek Machar not to incite the people of South Sudan through ethnic configuration."
United Nations staff say hundreds of people have been killed across the country, which is the size of France, this week and that 35,000 civilians are sheltering at U.N. bases.
The United Nations said on Friday at least 11 Dinka civilians had been killed during an attack by about 2,000 armed youths from another ethnic group on a U.N. peacekeeping base in Jonglei state. Two Indian peacekeepers were also killed.
The African Union called on Saturday for a Christmas ceasefire, and its chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma described the killings of civilians and U.N. peacekeepers as a war crime.
Reuters television footage showed several hundred government troops leaving Juba to deploy in Jonglei state.
Toby Lanzer, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, said via Twitter that Bor, in Jonglei state, remained tense. "We've heard clashes & seen bodies in the streets. Civilians have left town to flee for their safety," he wrote.
Information Minister Michael Makuei told Reuters an army divisional commander in Unity State, John Koang, had defected and joined Machar, who had named him the governor of the state.
Jacob Dut, a political science lecturer at the University of Juba, said most army divisions had between 10,000 and 13,000 troops, although not all were fully manned.
"Division 4 (Koang's unit) is adjacent to the border with Sudan. That means there is more military hardware and that means that this defection is a big loss," Dut said.
"Evacuation operation aborted as U.S. planes come under fire in South Sudan"
2013-12-21 by Barbara Starr and Tom Watkins, CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/21/world/africa/south-sudan-violence/]:
Washington (CNN) -- A mission to evacuate Americans from South Sudan was aborted Saturday when an aircraft carrying U.S. military members was fired upon as it prepared to land in Bor, wounding four of them, the Pentagon said.
The most severely damaged aircraft was thought to have been hit in the fuel line, a military official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
All three aircraft -- CV-22 Ospreys -- were diverted to Entebbe, Uganda, which is not where their flights originated, the official said. Another aircraft then flew the wounded to Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. Africa Command said in a statement.
The four service members were in stable condition after treatment, the statement said.
Pentagon officials were trying to determine how to mount another effort to evacuate the roughly three dozen Americans in South Sudan, where they have been working for the United Nations, a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was "reviewing options," Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said. "Whatever we do it will be in coordination with the State Department," he added.
The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed before dawn Saturday while aboard Air Force One after landing in Hawaii, then met with his national security team on the matter.
The fighting has displaced as many as 100,000 people, many of whom have crossed the Nile River, he said, adding that he feared a humanitarian disaster was unfolding.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir blamed soldiers loyal to his former vice president, Riek Machar, for starting this month's violence.
Tensions have been high in South Sudan since July, when Kiir dismissed Machar and the rest of the Cabinet. The move inflamed tensions between Kiir's Dinka community and Machar's Nuer community.
Casualties include soldiers and number in the hundreds, the government said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Kiir on Saturday and discussed ways to halt the violence. It was Kerry's second call to Kiir since Thursday night.
"Secretary Kerry emphasized that only through leadership and political dialogue will the challenges facing South Sudan be resolved," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
The two men "discussed the need to prevent ethnic violence, their concern for the welfare of thousands of internally displaced persons fleeing the conflict, as well as for the safety of U.S. citizens in South Sudan, and they agreed to speak again soon," she said.
Meanwhile, the State Department issued an emergency message for U.S. citizens, calling on them to avoid the area around the airport in Bor. Limited flights were continuing from Juba International Airport.
On Friday, Kerry said he was sending a special envoy -- Ambassador Donald Booth -- to the country.
"Now is the time for South Sudan's leaders to rein in armed groups under their control, immediately cease attacks on civilians, and end the chain of retributive violence between different ethnic and political groups," Kerry said in a statement.
Saturday's violence wasn't the first this week to harm foreign troops in South Sudan. On Thursday, attackers killed two Indian army peacekeepers, wounded a third, and killed two to 20 of 30 civilians who were seeking refuge at the United Nations' Akobo base, the U.N. said.
In a news release, the African Union called for an immediate truce.
It said that the chairwoman of the AU Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was "profoundly dismayed at the recent turn of events" and condemned the killing of innocent civilians and U.N. peacekeepers in Bor as a war crime.
South Sudan became the world's newest country when it split from Sudan in July 2011. The split happened after a 2005 peace agreement ended years of civil war between the largely Animist and Christian south and the Muslim-dominated north.
The deal led to a January 2011 referendum in which people of the south voted to secede from Sudan.
"U.S. aircraft hit by gunfire in South Sudan as conflict worsens"
2013-12-21 by Carl Odera for "Reuters" newswire [http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/21/us-southsudan-unrest-aircraft-idUSBRE9BK07G20131221]:
JUBA - Three U.S. aircraft came under fire from unidentified forces on Saturday while trying to evacuate Americans from a spiraling conflict in South Sudan. The U.S. military said four of its members were wounded in the attacks.
Nearly a week of fighting in South Sudan threatens to drag the world's newest country into a Dinka-Nuer ethnic civil war just two years after it won independence from Sudan with strong support from successive U.S. administrations.
The U.S. aircraft came under fire while approaching the evacuation site, the military's Africa Command said in a statement. "The aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country and aborted the mission," it added.
The statement said all of the three Osprey CV-22 aircraft involved in the mission had been damaged.
Consequently, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that any move to take power by military means would lead to an end of U.S. and international community support for South Sudan.
The United Nations mission in South Sudan said one of four U.N. helicopters sent to Youai, in Jonglei state, had come under small-arms fire on Friday. No crew or passengers were harmed.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting between Dinka loyalists of President Salva Kiir and Nuer supporters of former Vice-President Riek Machar, who was sacked in July and is accused by the government of trying to seize power.
Fighting has spread from the capital, Juba, to vital oilfields and the government said a senior army commander had defected to Machar in the oil-producing Unity State.
The German military said on Saturday it had evacuated 98 people, including Germans and other nationals, from South Sudan by air to neighboring Uganda. The German ambassador to South Sudan was among them, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said.
A separate plane took Lieutenant-General Hans-Werner Fritz, chief of Germany's Operations Command, along with his aides and five other Germans, to Berlin, the military said.
After meeting African mediators on Friday, Kiir's government said on its Twitter feed that it was willing to hold talks with any rebel group. The United States is sending an envoy to help find a negotiated solution.
South Sudan's foreign minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, told Reuters the government had given African mediators the go-ahead to meet Kiir's rivals, including Machar and his allies.
Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, who led an East African delegation of foreign ministers in Juba aimed at mediating between the feuding sides, said the team did not manage to meet Riek Machar face to face, neither did they make phone contact.
"We are trying to contact them. We are hopeful of having both sides on the negotiating table within the space of 10 days," Tedros told Reuters.
In their meeting with Kiir, Tedros said they were also aiming to get humanitarian aid to afflicted populations unhindered.
CEASEFIRE CALL -
Benjamin said Lieutenant-General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, sent to South Sudan by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, had stayed behind along with a Kenyan diplomat after the African mediators left on Saturday and would work on making contact with Machar.
Sumbeiywo was the chief mediator in the talks that led to the signing of the 2005 peace agreements with north Sudan.
"So on the side of the government ... we have established dialogue without any condition," Benjamin said. "All we say, we urge former Vice-President Riek Machar not to incite the people of South Sudan through ethnic configuration."
United Nations staff say hundreds of people have been killed across the country, which is the size of France, this week and that 35,000 civilians are sheltering at U.N. bases.
The United Nations said on Friday at least 11 Dinka civilians had been killed during an attack by about 2,000 armed youths from another ethnic group on a U.N. peacekeeping base in Jonglei state. Two Indian peacekeepers were also killed.
The African Union called on Saturday for a Christmas ceasefire, and its chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma described the killings of civilians and U.N. peacekeepers as a war crime.
Reuters television footage showed several hundred government troops leaving Juba to deploy in Jonglei state.
Toby Lanzer, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, said via Twitter that Bor, in Jonglei state, remained tense. "We've heard clashes & seen bodies in the streets. Civilians have left town to flee for their safety," he wrote.
Information Minister Michael Makuei told Reuters an army divisional commander in Unity State, John Koang, had defected and joined Machar, who had named him the governor of the state.
Jacob Dut, a political science lecturer at the University of Juba, said most army divisions had between 10,000 and 13,000 troops, although not all were fully manned.
"Division 4 (Koang's unit) is adjacent to the border with Sudan. That means there is more military hardware and that means that this defection is a big loss," Dut said.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
USA Federal Diplomats sent to Central African Republic
News and info about the imperialist conquest in the Central Africa Republic [link]
"Top U.S. Officials Fly to Central African Republic"
2013-12-19 by Chris Good [http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/12/top-u-s-officials-fly-to-central-african-republic/]:
Two top U.S. diplomatic officials are flying to the war-torn Central African Republic this morning, marking the highest-level U.S. visit there since the country devolved into chaos that has left hundreds dead in the past weeks.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield are slated to land in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital of Bangui at 3 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. local, Power told reporters on Tuesday, noting that the people of CAR “are in profound danger.”
The two will meet with government and religious leaders to press for peace and security as international troops confront an alarming situation, with Muslim and Christian militias engaged in widespread religious reprisal killings.
“President Obama, Secretary [of State John] Kerry and I have all been deeply disturbed by reports of ongoing brutality in the Central African Republic,” Power told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. Media outlets agreed not to publish her comments until her scheduled landing in the country.
“Mobs have been going door to door,” Power said. “Urgent action is required to save lives.”
Last week alone, over 600 people were killed across CAR and 159,000 driven from their homes in Bangui, the United Nations office of the high commissioner for human rights said on Friday.
“The situation in the Central African Republic is both desperate and extremely dynamic and volatile,” Power said. “My government is thankful to the French and the brave African troops for putting their lives at risk.”
Power spoke by phone with transitional president Michel Djotodia on Dec. 8. Djotodia has said he cannot control the rebels that helped usher him into power earlier this year.
In March, largely Muslim rebels known as the Seleka seized Bangui, and rebel leader Djotodia dissolved the constitution and became transitional president. Responding to religious violence perpetrated by ex-Seleka fighters, Christian communities formed “anti-balaka,” or “anti-machete,” militias, and religious reprisal killings ensued, with Christian and Muslim communities both driven into hiding by militias. Of CAR’s 4.6 million population–half of whom are children, according to the U.N. — about 10 percent have been displaced.
Human rights violations have been widespread. A Nov. 15 United Nations report cited “summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence, torture, illegal arrests and detentions, looting of property, illegal checkpoints and extortion.” Sexual violence against women and girls has gone on “with absolute impunity,” U.N. reported.
International troops are seeking to disarm rebels and restore order. This month, the United Nations Security Council authorized 1,500 French troops and 3,600 African Union troops to confront and disarm rebels. The African force will be expanded to 6,000, meaning a total of 7,500 international troops will be in CAR. The U.S. military has helped deploy African troops, flying C-130 transport planes to and from Burundi to move soldiers into CAR.
The U.S. has authorized $100 million to support the international forces with supplies and trucks. On Dec. 10, President Obama augmented an initial $40 million with $60 million in added Department of Defense funds. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has given a total of $24.6 million in humanitarian assistance.
"Top U.S. Officials Fly to Central African Republic"
2013-12-19 by Chris Good [http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/12/top-u-s-officials-fly-to-central-african-republic/]:
Two top U.S. diplomatic officials are flying to the war-torn Central African Republic this morning, marking the highest-level U.S. visit there since the country devolved into chaos that has left hundreds dead in the past weeks.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield are slated to land in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital of Bangui at 3 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. local, Power told reporters on Tuesday, noting that the people of CAR “are in profound danger.”
The two will meet with government and religious leaders to press for peace and security as international troops confront an alarming situation, with Muslim and Christian militias engaged in widespread religious reprisal killings.
“President Obama, Secretary [of State John] Kerry and I have all been deeply disturbed by reports of ongoing brutality in the Central African Republic,” Power told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. Media outlets agreed not to publish her comments until her scheduled landing in the country.
“Mobs have been going door to door,” Power said. “Urgent action is required to save lives.”
Last week alone, over 600 people were killed across CAR and 159,000 driven from their homes in Bangui, the United Nations office of the high commissioner for human rights said on Friday.
“The situation in the Central African Republic is both desperate and extremely dynamic and volatile,” Power said. “My government is thankful to the French and the brave African troops for putting their lives at risk.”
Power spoke by phone with transitional president Michel Djotodia on Dec. 8. Djotodia has said he cannot control the rebels that helped usher him into power earlier this year.
In March, largely Muslim rebels known as the Seleka seized Bangui, and rebel leader Djotodia dissolved the constitution and became transitional president. Responding to religious violence perpetrated by ex-Seleka fighters, Christian communities formed “anti-balaka,” or “anti-machete,” militias, and religious reprisal killings ensued, with Christian and Muslim communities both driven into hiding by militias. Of CAR’s 4.6 million population–half of whom are children, according to the U.N. — about 10 percent have been displaced.
Human rights violations have been widespread. A Nov. 15 United Nations report cited “summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence, torture, illegal arrests and detentions, looting of property, illegal checkpoints and extortion.” Sexual violence against women and girls has gone on “with absolute impunity,” U.N. reported.
International troops are seeking to disarm rebels and restore order. This month, the United Nations Security Council authorized 1,500 French troops and 3,600 African Union troops to confront and disarm rebels. The African force will be expanded to 6,000, meaning a total of 7,500 international troops will be in CAR. The U.S. military has helped deploy African troops, flying C-130 transport planes to and from Burundi to move soldiers into CAR.
The U.S. has authorized $100 million to support the international forces with supplies and trucks. On Dec. 10, President Obama augmented an initial $40 million with $60 million in added Department of Defense funds. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has given a total of $24.6 million in humanitarian assistance.
USA sending $100 Million in military aid and equipment
News and info about the imperialist conquest in the Central Africa Republic [link]
"White House Announces $100+ Million in Largely Military Aid to Central African Republic"
2013-12-19 by Ed Krayewski [http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/19/white-house-announces-100-million-in-lar]:
The French-led intervention in the Central African Republic isn’t something the United States wants to be left out of. US military flights in support of the intervention began last week [http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/12/us-military-flights-to-assist-car-inter], and now the White House has pledged up to $116 million in mostly military aid to the country, in addition to the $24 million in aid the federal government was planning on spending there this year.
From USA Today: [begin extract]
The United States plans to provide more than $100 million in security and humanitarian assistance to the war-torn Central African Republic, the White House announced Thursday.
"The CAR faces extraordinary challenges to restore security and to ensure protection of the civilian population," the White House said in a statement.
It added: "We are actively working to help end the violence, protect civilians, prevent atrocities, provide humanitarian assistance, and help create an environment that allows constitutional and democratic governance to be restored." [end extract]
See the White House’s full statement and “fact sheet” here [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/12/19/fact-sheet-us-assistance-central-african-republic]. Up to $60 million of the aid will be for “defense services” and “defense articles” for the French forces that arrived in the Central African Republic earlier this month as well as the African-led mission deployed in the country. Another $40 million will go to “Peacekeeping Operations funding” for the African-led portion of the intervention in the Central African Republic.
No word from the White House if it'll decide to spend money on the crisis in nearby South Sudan, too. President Obama has also deployed military personnel across the continent, from the Niger to Uganda, but today's announcement did not mention troops.
"White House Announces $100+ Million in Largely Military Aid to Central African Republic"
2013-12-19 by Ed Krayewski [http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/19/white-house-announces-100-million-in-lar]:
The French-led intervention in the Central African Republic isn’t something the United States wants to be left out of. US military flights in support of the intervention began last week [http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/12/us-military-flights-to-assist-car-inter], and now the White House has pledged up to $116 million in mostly military aid to the country, in addition to the $24 million in aid the federal government was planning on spending there this year.
From USA Today: [begin extract]
The United States plans to provide more than $100 million in security and humanitarian assistance to the war-torn Central African Republic, the White House announced Thursday.
"The CAR faces extraordinary challenges to restore security and to ensure protection of the civilian population," the White House said in a statement.
It added: "We are actively working to help end the violence, protect civilians, prevent atrocities, provide humanitarian assistance, and help create an environment that allows constitutional and democratic governance to be restored." [end extract]
See the White House’s full statement and “fact sheet” here [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/12/19/fact-sheet-us-assistance-central-african-republic]. Up to $60 million of the aid will be for “defense services” and “defense articles” for the French forces that arrived in the Central African Republic earlier this month as well as the African-led mission deployed in the country. Another $40 million will go to “Peacekeeping Operations funding” for the African-led portion of the intervention in the Central African Republic.
No word from the White House if it'll decide to spend money on the crisis in nearby South Sudan, too. President Obama has also deployed military personnel across the continent, from the Niger to Uganda, but today's announcement did not mention troops.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
"Somali soldiers to be trained on home turf in 2014: EU"
2013-12-17 from "AFP"
Brussels -
Training of Somali soldiers by the EU will be shifted from Uganda to Somalia early next year, with an improvement in the security climate there, the EU said in a statement Tuesday.
The EU Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM Somalia), launched in early 2010, has so far trained 3,600 Somali troops, mainly at a camp in Bihanga, 250 kilometres (155 miles) west of the Ugandan capital Kampala where the EUTM headquarters is located.
But, "in the first months of 2014, the mission is set to conduct all its advisory, mentoring and training activities in Mogadishu, Somalia," the EU statement said.
The training mission underpins the EU's strategy to see a stable Somalia established after decades of conflict.
It aims to transform what was essentially loosely linked militias into a cohesive armed force under the control of Somalia's transitional government which took power in August 2012, in the wake of the 2006 fall of an Islamist regime in the country.
The government, which has control only over the capital and some other regions in the country, is bolstered by African Union troops, particularly from Kenya, which are containing the Islamic militia Al-Shabaab, linked to Al-Qaeda.
The EU statement said an Italian officer, Brigadier General Massimo Mingiardi, was appointed to take over as the new EUTM commander from February 15, succeeding Irish Brigadier General Gerald Aherne who has run the mission since February this year.
The EU's Somalia mission was extended to March 31, 2015 at the start of the year.
Brussels -
Training of Somali soldiers by the EU will be shifted from Uganda to Somalia early next year, with an improvement in the security climate there, the EU said in a statement Tuesday.
The EU Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM Somalia), launched in early 2010, has so far trained 3,600 Somali troops, mainly at a camp in Bihanga, 250 kilometres (155 miles) west of the Ugandan capital Kampala where the EUTM headquarters is located.
But, "in the first months of 2014, the mission is set to conduct all its advisory, mentoring and training activities in Mogadishu, Somalia," the EU statement said.
The training mission underpins the EU's strategy to see a stable Somalia established after decades of conflict.
It aims to transform what was essentially loosely linked militias into a cohesive armed force under the control of Somalia's transitional government which took power in August 2012, in the wake of the 2006 fall of an Islamist regime in the country.
The government, which has control only over the capital and some other regions in the country, is bolstered by African Union troops, particularly from Kenya, which are containing the Islamic militia Al-Shabaab, linked to Al-Qaeda.
The EU statement said an Italian officer, Brigadier General Massimo Mingiardi, was appointed to take over as the new EUTM commander from February 15, succeeding Irish Brigadier General Gerald Aherne who has run the mission since February this year.
The EU's Somalia mission was extended to March 31, 2015 at the start of the year.
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