Sudan: The South Accuses North of Bomb Raid

Juba, Sudan

The Southern Sudan defence forces have accused the northern army of carrying an air attack in one of its positions, leaving four soldiers and two civilians wounded.

 The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Philip Aguer said a Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) helicopter gunship attacked its position at Kiirabem in North Bahr al-Ghazal injuring four of its soldiers and two civilians.

 Guer said that SAF was trying to drag Sudan back into war again, terming the attack as an intended move to disrupt the referendum process.

 The northern forces spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled denied allegations of any clashes to have taken place, despising the claims as absolutely not being true.

The referendum’s commission spokesman George Benjamin has called on the two sides to keep their promise of maintaining peace and security, warning that the ongoing voter registration and the upcoming referendum could be jeopardized if violence is not contained.

He called for the two governments to commit to peace in the region so that the commission could appeal to people in affected areas to resume with registering for the referendum.

In his address to the Inter Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) heads of state summit on Sudan on Wednesday, south’s President Gen Salva Kiir expressed disappointment in the Khartoum government for deliberately failing to contribute funds to the referendum commission, which he termed could risk a return to instability and violence if delayed.

 He called upon the IGAD- the guarantor of the CPA- and other international community to mobilize support for the outcome of the referendum and ensure peaceful transition.

 The United Nations peacekeeping forces in Sudan say it has no information on the reported attack but it will send a team to the remote area to investigate.

 If confirmed, this would be the second air strike this month by the north targeting the south. Earlier this month the northern forces dropped a bomb on south’s territory near the north-south border which they claim was accidental during their pursuit of rebels from the Darfur region.

 The scheduled January 9 referendum is the final implementation of the 2005 peace deal, where it’s to determine whether the semi-autonomous south would gain full independence. While the south is expected to vote for secession the north would like to keep the whole country.

 Cairo, Egypt

Mubarak Denies Ethiopian Rebels Claim

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said that the country’s ties with Ethiopia are friendly, dismissing allegations that his country was supporting Ethiopian rebel groups.

 His remarks follow an assertion by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that Egypt was trying to destabilize Ethiopia by supporting several small rebel groups in the country in a war with Egypt over the Nile River.

 Zenawi,  speaking during an interview with the Reuters news agency on Tuesday said that direct conflict will not work, as well as indirect approaches but civil dialogue would be the only “sane option”.

 "This is the first time we hear that we support any group in any country. This is not something we do with any nation and this is not our form of conduct," Mubarak told the state-run al-Ahram newspaper in Cairo.

He said that Egypt had a very amicable relation with Ethiopia and he was surprised by Zenawi’s comments because it was something they could not do with any Arab or African country.

With almost two-thirds of Egyptians depending on a farming sector fed by the Nile waters, Egypt is worried of dam construction in upstream countries that could affect flow of the river.

 Egypt and Ethiopia are among seven Nile Basin countries which have been in conflict over distribution of its waters in the initial 1929 treaty. A separate dealing by Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed in May, provoked major outcry from Egypt to call it a "national security" issue.

 Ethiopia initiated a $1.4billion hydro-power project early this year having built five dams on the Nile in the past decade.

 Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki expressed regret of Ethiopia and other countries to seek a new agreement, saying that Egypt was firmly behind its legal and political positions on the Nile issue, having pursued dialogue and cooperation on the use of the waters.

Annan’s Message to the People of Guinea

 “You have just taken part in elections of historic significance. I urge you to accept the results, that will be validated by the Supreme Court, in a spirit of peace, unity and democracy. I also urge all Guineans to reject violence. The Government and its security agencies must fully assume their responsibility to protect the civilian population. You must combat ethnic divisions and solve problems by constitutional means in order to build a united, strong and stable Guinea”