Gulf Loses Patience With Sudan
As protests against the 30-year regime of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir enter a third month the reluctance of traditional Gulf allies to provide financial backing leaves him increasingly isolated. MEES, 22 February 2019 More than two months since protests began on 19 December against an increase in the price of bread and other basic commodities, [...]
South Sudan signals end to crude cargoes
African Energy, 26 July 2018 In lifting contracts agreed by Juba in early July for crude shipments in August, there is no cargo for Sudan Petroleum Corporation, signalling an end to the diversion of oil cargoes to Khartoum to pay South Sudan’s oil debts. Energy minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said in February that the transfers [...]
US imposes South Sudan oil sanctions
African Energy, 5 April 2018 The US government has imposed licensing restrictions on South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Mining, state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet) and 12 other oil-related organisations. The restrictions were issued on 21 March by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the US Department of Commerce “as part of [...]
No Winners In Yemen As Untenable War Drags On
MEES, 28 October 2016 War in Yemen is becoming increasingly intolerable for almost all the players involved, but still there is no sign of a negotiated way out of the conflict, making a de facto partition of the country a possibility. The current phase of a long-running war in Yemen has endured since September 2015 [...]
North Africa Security Special Report: Too Late To Roll Back Islamic State?
MEES, 18 September 2015 The growing presence of terrorist movements across North Africa, particularly in Libya, threatens to destabilize the whole region. Even in the best case scenario, involving a peace deal in Libya, there is no prospect of an end to the threat posed by Islamic State. Overseas investment in the region will continue to [...]
Erdogan lined up for victory in presidential polls
Frontline Club – 25 July 2014 Turkey’s prime minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan will win next month’s presidential elections and become the country’s first directly elected president, according to a panel of experts assembled at the Frontline Club on 22 July 2014.
MENA Countries Hike Defense Spending For 2013
MEES, 18 April 2014 MENA military spending has more than doubled since 2004, rising 4% to $150bn for 2013, according to a report released this week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Saudi Arabia was the world’s fourth biggest spender, and the highest in the region in 2013, spending an estimated $67bn on [...]
Sudan-South Sudan relations: Now for (yet another) hard part
Focus turns to political challenges as Sudan and South Sudan reach deal on oil 9 September 2013 Now that Khartoum has agreed to drop its threat to prevent South Sudanese oil exports via its pipeline infrastructure, a series of political challenges remain if the two countries are to continue to co-operate on the energy sector [...]
Sudan-South Sudan oil deal has its limits
17th April 2013 Foreign Policy – The Middle East Channel Sudan and South Sudan reached a deal in the early hours of March 12, after a week of negotiations in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, which should spark the beginning of exports of South Sudanese oil from Sudan’s Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast, for [...]
Why we shouldn’t use Iran’s human rights record as an excuse for war
26 March 2012 Iran’s record on human rights is dreadful, but we must not allow it to become an excuse for war. Last week I had the privilege of hearing at first hand the findings of the UN’s top representative on human rights in Iran. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s ‘Special Rapporteur’, had submitted his first [...]
Six months after South Sudan gained independence, the same challenges remain
On 9th January, South Sudan will celebrate six months of independence form the north. But the problems faced by the new country are still mounting In early 2011 I devoted two months to covering the referendum on the independence of South Sudan from the north and the government’s efforts to set up the apparatus for [...]
Old tensions fail to disappear in Sudan
As Sudan splits, the issues that caused the bloody civil war will not be easily consigned to history If anybody thought that the success of the January referendum on the secession of South Sudan from the north meant that the hard work was over, recent events will have forced them to reassess. The backdrop to [...]
Sudan prepares for split
Co-operation between the North and the South will be key to economic development. But disputes over oil resources and debt will hamper progress Forty years of civil war in the past half century have meant Sudan has rarely enjoyed the political stability that is vital for economic development. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in [...]