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World
News
Page 28
Borneo Bulletin, Monday July 15, 2019
Sudan activists
call for ‘justice’ for
killed protesters
EU supports Iraq-proposed
conference on US-Iran tensions
BAGHDAD (AP) - The European
Union (EU) supports an Iraqi
proposal to hold a regional
conference
amid
rising
tensions between the United
States (US) and Iran, the
group’s foreign policy chief
said last Saturday.
Iraq is an ally of the two
rival nations, which are on a
collision course as the Iran
nuclear deal threatens to
unravel. Iraq has offered to
mediate between Tehran and
Washington, while Iran has
pressed European parties to
the nuclear agreement to offset
the effects of US sanctions.
Foreign
Policy
Chief
Federica Mogherini, on her
first visit since 2014, said the EU
shared with Iraq the approach
to dealing with the difficult
situation, adding that the
priority is to avoid escalation
and any miscalculations that
could lead to “dangerous
consequences” for Iraq and
beyond.
She said the EU is ready
to
support
the
regional
conference idea “in all ways
that could be useful”. She said
there is a need to de-escalate
and find avenues for dialogue.
Avenues of the "unknown...
can
be
dangerous
for
everybody", Mogherini said.
Iraq is under pressure to
prevent its territories from
becoming a battleground for
the spiraling tension between
Iran and the US, both power
brokers here.
The US maintains military
bases and more than 5,000
troops in Iraq.
“The region is not prepared
for a new war. We are still
fighting terrorism. It is an
unfinished war,” said Iraq's
Foreign Minister Mohammed
al-Hakim, speaking alongside
Mogherini. He said Iraq
should not be a scene for this
conflict “but should have a
supportive role in resolving
this crisis with other Arab
countries, particularly Kuwait
and Oman”.
The Emir of Kuwait visited
Iraq last month to discuss the
rising tension; while Oman
has also offered to mediate
between the two rivals.
Iraqi
Foreign
Ministry
spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf
said the idea of a regional
conference is being developed
but the issue was raised with
foreign delegations that visited
Iraq.
Mogherini also met with
Iraq's prime minister and
president.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim (R) holds a press
conference with visiting European Union Foreign Policy Chief
Federica Mogherini after their meeting at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq
AP
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Tens of
thousands of Sudanese flooded the
streets of the capital of Khartoum
and other cities last Saturday to
mark the 40
th
day since the deadly
dispersal of a protest sit-in, and
a protest leader said a planned
meeting with the country’s ruling
generals to sign a power-sharing
deal was postponed.
The ‘Justice First’ marches
were called by the Sudanese
Professionals’ Association, which
has been spearheading the protests
since December last year. Those
demonstrations led to the military
ouster of autocratic president Omar
al-Bashir in April.
The marches mark 40 days since
the dispersal of the pro-democracy
protesters’ sit-in in outside military
headquarters in Khartoum on June
3. Protest organisers said security
forces killed at least 128 people
during the dispersal and subsequent
crackdown. Authorities, however,
put the death toll at 61, including
three security force members.
Protesters have called for a
“transparent and fair” investigation
into the deaths. “The military
council should be held accountable
(for) the massacre,” said protester
Samer Hussein.
Footage and photos posted by the
SPA showed thousands of people
demonstrating in the capital and its
sister city of Omdurman. There were
protests in other places, including
the Red Sea city of Port Sudan and
the eastern province of Kassala.
Protesters were seen waving
Sudanese flags and posters that read,
“Freedom, Peace and Justice” and
“Civilian (authority) is the people’s
choice.”
The marches came just over a
week after massive demonstrations
on June 30, when tens of thousands
of demonstrators flooded the streets
in the biggest show of numbers in
the uprising. At least 11 people were
killed in clashes with security forces,
according to protest organisers.
Last Saturday’s marches also
put pressure on the ruling military
council as it and the Forces for
Declaration of Freedom and Change,
which represents the protesters,
planned to meet to sign a power-
sharing agreement. African Union
envoy Mohammed el-Hassan Labat
originally said a meeting would take
place last Saturday night. But Ahmed
Rabei, a spokesman for the SPA, said
later the protest movement called
for the talks to be postponed until
yesterday “for more consultations”
within the FDFC on the deal.
The state-run SUNA news agency
however reported that both sides
would meet late last Saturday.
SUNA quoted a statement by the
military council as saying that they
would discuss the “constitutional
document” with the FDFC in their
meeting in a luxury Khartoum
hotel.
Labat, the AU envoy, and
Mahmoud Dirir, Ethiopia’s envoy,
met with the military council. Then
Labat told reporters the meeting
was postponed to yesterday.
The signing ceremony was
expected to take place earlier this
week, but several delays have been
announced, raising suspicions the
two parties might still be divided
over the agreement’s details.
Late last Saturday, the Sudanese
Communistparty,which ispart of the
protest movement, said it rejected
the
power-sharing
agreement
because it does not include an
international investigation into the
crackdown and it keeps paramilitary
forces in existence.
The party said it would not take
part in the sovereign council, the
Cabinet or the legislative body
which would rule Sudan during the
transition.
The deal includes a joint
Sovereign Council set to rule for
a little over three years while
elections are organised, along
with a constitutional declaration,
according to a copy of the deal
obtained by The Associated Press.
A military leader is to head the
11-member council for the first
21 months, followed by a civilian
leader for the next 18.
The deal, which also includes an
FDFC-appointed Cabinet, was meant
to end a political deadlock between
the military and protesters since the
Khartoum sit-in site was cleared.
They
also
agreed
on
an
independent Sudanese investigation
into the deadly crackdown by
security forces on the protests last
month, though it’s unclear if anyone
will be held accountable.
Members of the military stand as General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo,
the deputy head of the military council, speaks during a military-backed
tribe’s rally, in the Nile River State, Sudan
AP