• Sudan lifts ban on opposition newspaper
• Sudan's Bashir pledges peace in first South Sudan visit since split
• Sudan's Bashir visits South Sudan for first time since split

• UN ends political mission in Sudan, where world hasn't been able to stop bloodshed
• Desperate scenes as more than 3.1 million people displaced by war in Sudan
• Entire villages in Sudan's West Darfur region have been burned to the ground by marauding militias

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Sudan lifts ban on opposition newspaper
1 February 2014 - A Sudanese official says the government has lifted a ban on an opposition newspaper, a week after Khartoum announced that it would hold a national dialogue to address freedom of expression. The ban's lifting comes a week after President Omar al-Bashir announced the dialogue. (more)

Sudan's Bashir pledges peace in first South Sudan visit since split
13 April 2013 - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Friday he wanted peace and normal relations with South Sudan in his first visit there since it split off from his country in 2011 after decades of civil war. Diplomats hope Bashir's visit will help the two sides overcome deep mistrust and solve their remaining disputes over the ownership of Abyei and other contested border regions. (more)

Sudan's Bashir visits South Sudan for first time since split
12 April 2013 - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in South Sudan on Friday for the first time since Africa's once-largest country split in 2011, raising cautious hopes the two adversaries may be edging toward establishing peaceful co-existence. The neighbours agreed in March to resume cross-border oil flows and take steps to defuse the tension that has plagued them since South Sudan's independence in July 2011 following a treaty which ended decades of civil war. (more)

Sudan leader to make first visit to South Sudan
11 April 2013 - A government official says Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will travel to South Sudan on Friday. The visit will be al-Bashir's first to South Sudan since the country peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said Thursday that the two heads of state want to prove to the world that the two countries plan to live peacefully together. Al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir will discuss how to implement security agreements the two countries signed in September and the status of the contested region of Abyei. (more)

Sudan's President Bashir to make first visit to South Sudan since split
30 March 2013 - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will visit his long-time foe South Sudan for the first time since its independence next week, an official said on Friday, cementing new deals on oil and border security between the two countries. The African neighbours agreed this month to resume cross-border oil flows and defuse tensions that have plagued them since South Sudan seceded in July 2011 following an agreement which ended decades of civil war. (more)

UN envoy says Sudan and South Sudan withdrawing troops from demilitarized zone
24 March 2013 - The Governments of Sudan and South Sudan have begun withdrawing their troops from a safe demilitarized border zone, a United Nations envoy said on 22 March, as he briefed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the latest agreements between the two neighbours. Earlier this month, the countries signed an agreement concerning the establishment of a safe demilitarized border zone, the deployment of a joint border verification and monitoring mechanism, and the activation of agreed security-related mechanisms as of 10 March. (more)

Sudan, Darfur rebels sign ceasefire in Qatar-media
11 February 2013 - The Sudanese government signed a Qatar-sponsored ceasefire with a splinter Darfur rebel group, Sudanese and Qatari state media said, in an attempt to revive a stalled peace process to end a decade-long conflict. The deal was signed by a group that calls itself the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) but which is a tiny off-shoot of the main rebel group of that name. (more)

Sudan adds 10,000 bpd with new oilfield - state media
26 December 2012 - Sudan will boost its oil production by 10,000 barrels a day when the new Hadida field comes on stream this week in the west of the African country, state news agency SUNA said on Wednesday. Sudan, which lost three quarters of its oil output when South Sudan seceded from it in July 2011, is producing 120,000 bpd and plans to reach 150,000 bpd by year-end, its oil minister said in October.. (more)

Sudan, South Sudan peace deals include banking, monetary accord
29 September 2012 - Sudan and South Sudan, fleshing out the details of their new peace deals, have agreed to cooperate on banking and monetary policy, which could help boost trade after decades of civil war. The two countries, which came close to war in April, agreed on Thursday to improve border security and foster trade, crucially to restart oil exports from the South through northern pipelines. The two countries plan to set up a joint central bank committee to allow bank transfers and foster trade between them, according to an agreement published by the African Union late on Thursday. (more)

Sudan and South Sudan on the road of cooperation and peace
28 September 2012 - The Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan has released a statement saying that another milestone towards peace was achieved in Addis Ababa with the conclusion of the extensive negotiations that brought to bear a monumental agreement between Sudan and South Sudan. This is yet another clear testament that peace can indeed prevail, and an occasion which once again highlights the resolve and commitment of the two countries to peace and security. (more)

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Flops
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UN ends political mission in Sudan, where world hasn't been able to stop bloodshed
1 December 2023 - The United Nations Security Council voted Friday to end its political mission of a few hundred people dedicated to ending the civil war in Sudan. ...A paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, which was born out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, has been at war against the Sudanese military since mid-April, when months of tension exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas. (more)

Desperate scenes as more than 3.1 million people displaced by war in Sudan
12 July 2023 - More than 3.1 million people have been forced to flee their homes amid an increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in war torn Sudan. Human rights groups are warning of widespread ethnic violence, attacks on civilians and rampant ... violence against women and girls as the warring factions -- the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- continue to battle for control of the northeastern African country. (more)

Entire villages in Sudan's West Darfur region have been burned to the ground by marauding militias
29 May 2023 - Entire villages in Sudan's West Darfur region have been burned to the ground by marauding militias, with aid agencies now warning the region is on the brink of a 'humanitarian catastrophe'. Widespread looting and the destruction of vital infrastructure has left many with little to no access to food, clean water, and medicine. A ceasefire between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a lull in the violence around the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. But fighting has continued in Darfur, and as the conflict there enters its seventh week, the region appears to have plunged into chaos. (more)

Sudan fighting eclipses new truce as aid groups raise alarm
25 April 2023 - Sudanese and foreigners streamed out of the capital of Khartoum and other battle zones, as fighting Tuesday [25 April] shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Aid agencies raised increasing alarm over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help. (more)

Sudan: up to 20,000 flee violence as rival leaders refuse to negotiate
22 April 2023 - Up to 20,000 people have fled the escalating violence in Sudan to seek safety in neighbouring Chad, many of whom lack basic needs such as food, water, and shelter, the United Nations has said. ... 'In the past days, an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people have fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region to seek refuge in neighbouring Chad,' the UNHCR agency said, citing figures from its teams at the border. (more)

What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan's future?
17 April 2023 - Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan's two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation's transition to democracy. Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people. (more)

Sudan: Dozens die and thousands flee in West Darfur tribal fighting
16 December 2021 - Tribal fighting has killed dozens of people over the past three weeks in three separate areas of Sudan's West Darfur region and thousands of people have fled the violence, local medics have said. The West Darfur Doctors Committee said in statements on Wednesday and Thursday [8 and 9 December] that attacks in the Kreinik area killed 88 and wounded 84, while renewed violence in the Jebel Moon area killed 25 and wounded four. Meanwhile, violence in the Sarba locality killed eight and wounded six. 'They have created a wave of displacement from the outskirts into the town, with a humanitarian situation that can be described at the very least as catastrophic,' the committee said in a statement late on Wednesday, referring to Kreinik. (more)

In Sudan, austerity and protest as economy crumbles
2 December 2016 - Inflation approaching 20 percent and government austerity have fuelled growing discontent and rare protests in Sudan in recent weeks. Protests have so far been small but, mindful of popular anger that swept away several Arab autocrats in 2011, the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has been quick to silence media criticism over its handling of the crisis. Sudan's economic problems have been building since the south [now South Sudan] seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of oil output, the main source of foreign currency and government income. (more)

Sudan could be arming South Sudan rebels, says report
18 October 2014 - Sudan's government plans to increase military assistance to rebels in South Sudan, which could prolong the south's civil war and return the region to a wider conflict, according to a leaked document. South Sudan -- which broke away from Sudan in 2011 after a peaceful vote for independence -- has had an internal conflict since last December between supporters of the government and former Vice President Riek Machar. Thousands have been killed and some 1.7 million people displaced. (more)

US accuses Sudan of deadly attacks on civilians
13 June 2014 - The United States on Thursday condemned recent attacks by the Sudanese government's Rapid Support Forces on civilians in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, saying they have been deliberately targeting schools and hospitals. The statement from US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power came just days after a coalition of 45 organizations providing humanitarian aid or supporting peace efforts in Sudan wrote to the UN Security Council, African Union and Arab League demanding an end to attacks on civilians. 'Since April, not only have ground attacks on, and the shelling of, civilian populations increased, but the Government of Sudan has intensified its air campaign, dropping hundreds of barrel bombs and other ordinance on Sudanese towns and villages, deliberately targeting hospitals and schools,' Powell said. Power said the increased violence has displaced or severely affected about 1.2 million people. She said aid groups working in Sudan have accused the RSF of looting and destroying food and water supplies in areas recaptured by rebels. (more)