Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie

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Mans: Sep 14, 2011; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

computer parts posted:

I think Namibia isn't doing too bad but they also have a giant desert to keep people away.

Cape Verde seems like heaven compared to life in Angola and mostly everywhere else in the mainland.

# ? Jul 19, 2015 14:54

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 05:37

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

R. Mute posted:

Kagame's also working towards extending the allowed terms in office, isn't he? He's still pretending that's not what he's interested in, but party's pushing 'spontaneous' petitions to call for a constitutional change. Unsurprisingly considering Rwanda's political climate, they're ostensibly getting massive amounts of support - so it looks like it's a forgone conclusion. The main difference with Burundi being that the West isn't making as much of a fuss about Rwanda as it is about Burundi. A pretty prominent Africa commentator in Belgium raised this point in an op-ed piece this morning, but couldn't really find a reason for the difference in approach towards both countries. Personally, I feel like the donor countries are still very wary about getting involved in Rwandan politics, still having the genocide on their minds. It's easier to just let Rwanda be than to possibly gently caress something up.

Also because the donor countries are all cynical bastards, but that's a given.

I think part of it has to do with concerns that in Burundi third-termism is a destabilizing concern, Nkurunziza's grip on power is nowhere near as absolute as Kagame's and attempting to game the system to his advantage is widening political cleavages in such that the security situation is at threat - the situation in Rwanda is markedly different as Kagame's third term has barely met with a peep of opposition so the concern here is more about establishing a healthy democratic process rather than preventing a humanitarian crisis. There have been some mumbled complaints from donor countries about Kagame's plans to go after a third term, it may mean some slashed funding when he goes ahead with it but this is hardly something to dissuade Kagame who has been on the donor naughty books for the last few years after the Congo Group of Experts accused him of directly funding armed groups in the DRC. There has been some news in regards to this with the Rwandan parliament voting 99% in favour of a referendum on eliminating term limits, arguably this is quite smart as a popular referendum (which Kagame would undoubtedly win) is a hard thing for donor countries to discount as "undemocratic". Rwanda will probably play out a bit like Uganda back in 2005, a lot of gnashing of teeth and complaints from donors that eventually die down when people remember the regional importance of the nation in question and decide that it's better to stay on their good side.

In contrast, the vagueness about whether or not Joseph Kabila in the DRC will go after a third-term is considered a much much bigger concern. He didn't make it much of a secret that he was contemplating it at the end of last year which sparked protests violently suppressed by the police and army earlier this year, the unravelling situation in Burundi and the successful street protests in Burkina Faso against Blaise Compaore's third term plans in October of last year seem to have given him cold feet though and he has publicly denied he wants a third term - not that many people believe him though. Kabila's grip on power again is nowhere near absolute and the idea of him getting a third term has proved massively unpopular, even among members of his own party and the ruling clique around him. Donor countries have been applying huge amounts of pressure to get him to stand down at the end of his current term as a third term will undoubtedly prompt a political crisis that may reverse some of the gains the UN has made in the East of the country working alongside the Congolese armed forces. Again, the focus is on the security situation primarily with the health of democratic institutions being a concern but one that takes second place to the threat of violence.

For example Denis Sassou Nguesso in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) is currently working to eliminate term limits so he can run again - but he's already been in power for 31 of the last 36 years (a lot of it before the introduction of the current constitution) so no one is kicking up much of a fuss. See also Faure Gnassingbe in Togo getting a third term earlier in the year with barely anyone batting an eye, his family have ruled the country since 1967 so no one was much surprised.

# ? Jul 19, 2015 16:17

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

The so-called "decoupage," or provincial splitting, was made official in the DRC last week. Here's the new provincial map:

Notably, Orientale (northeast) was split into four provinces, Equateur (northwest) into five, and Katanga (southeast) into four. Orientale was the most populous province and the largest gold-mining region, while Katanga was the center of the copper mining industry. The split is probably going to have little effect on the average resident because most of the provinces are just as terrible at providing basic services as the federal government, but apparently Kabila pushed it through to weaken governors who would challenge him in the 2016 election. In Orientale, where I'm currently living, the parliamentarians in each new province will have to appoint interim governors, yet there's no money to hold proper elections after that.

Also, I highly recommend Congo: The Epic History of a People by David van Reybrouck for anyone interested in the country's history. There's not much out there about the current political situation bar stuff in Foreign Affairs, but Radio Okapi is far and away the best news source in the country.

# ? Jul 19, 2015 19:13

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

surrender posted:

Also, I highly recommend Congo: The Epic History of a People by David van Reybrouck for anyone interested in the country's history. There's not much out there about the current political situation bar stuff in Foreign Affairs, but Radio Okapi is far and away the best news source in the country.

This is a good book and I second this

Other good source of Congo political stuff is Congo Siasa, horrible looking blog run by Jason Stearns probably best known for writing Dancing in the Glory of Monsters but is big old wonk who was also a member of the Congo Group of Experts for a while.

surrender, hows the FDLR disarmament thing being received in your neck of the woods - most of them are getting shunted to Kisangani aren't they?

# ? Jul 19, 2015 19:22

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

edit is not quote dummy

# ? Jul 19, 2015 19:23

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

kustomkarkommando posted:

This is a good book and I second this

Other good source of Congo political stuff is Congo Siasa, horrible looking blog run by Jason Stearns probably best known for writing Dancing in the Glory of Monsters but is big old wonk who was also a member of the Congo Group of Experts for a while.

surrender, hows the FDLR disarmament thing being received in your neck of the woods - most of them are getting shunted to Kisangani aren't they?

Well, I'm working at the military base that's housing the rebels :shobon:

It's actually not too bad. The move was pushed back a few times due to security concerns, but they're been here for a while (8 months? I'm not sure) without any issues. There are over 800 people in the camp right now - about 160 rebels with their wives and children. I had the opportunity to tour the camp when the US ambassador visited a couple of months ago. It's not an ideal situation, of course, but they're living in reasonably well-built barracks with electricity and a clinic. The UN is providing food and medical supplies, and some people are even growing a few crops. The rebels and their families are free to go back to Rwanda at any time, but as of the time of my tour, only one family has taken that offer. They (probably rightly) fear discrimination, if not outright punishment, if they go back.

Hell, there was a bigger uproar when a new general of Tutsi descent was assigned to Kisangani as part of this year's military reorganization. The locals still aren't too happy about 2001-02.

edit: Thanks for the blog link! It's kind of tough to keep up with news from the rest of the country. I try to listen to Okapi every once in a while, but my French is still poor.

curried lamb of God fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Jul 19, 2015

# ? Jul 19, 2015 20:08

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Barack Hussein Obama is returning to his country of birth tomorrow to receive new instructions from the secret Kenyan Muslim Communist cabal.

This is the first time Obama will be visiting Kenya, not for a lack of opportunities - he visited neighbouring Tanzania in 2013 but decided against a visit to Kenya, something interpreted regionally as a very deliberate snub to President Kenyatta who was at the time indicted by the ICC for allegedly funding a Kikuyu ethnic militia during the 2007/2008 Kenyan Post Election Violence (PEV). Kenyatta's trial has subsequently collapsed amid mutual accusations of bad faith from both sides, the ICC has attacked the Kenyan government for withholding information they requested and Kenya has attacked the ICC for proceeding with a trial solely on witness testimony (most of which was retracted after the initial indictment - some after the witnesses where threatened, some after it became evidence witnesses where unreliable). Though Kenyatta's trial collapsed Vice President William Ruto is still facing charges, the White House has ruled out Obama meeting him - Kerry snubbed him earlier this year as well during his recent visit in May, much to Ruto's anger. Not really surprising especially when you consider that a witness in the trial recently turned up hacked to pieces.

In a bit of a face saving exercise he's decided to double down on a populist religious line and has been doing a bit of pulpit bashing condemning Obama's stance on same sex marriage and vowing to stand firm against foreign pressure to decriminalise homosexuality. Snippet:

Daily Nation posted:

�Homosexuality is against the plan of God, God did not create man and woman so that men would marry men and women marry women,� said the Deputy President on Sunday at the Africa Inland Church (AIC) Ziwani in Nairobi.

�We have heard that in the US they have allowed gay relations and other dirty things. I want to say as a Christian leader that we will defend our country Kenya, we will stand for our faith and our country,� he added.

He asked Christians and Muslims to stand and defend their faiths and resist any attempts to legalise gay unions in the country.

�No amount of persuasions, theories or philosophy will make us change our position. We believe in God, this is a God fearing nation and will continue to be so,� said the DP.

Seems to be working well enough as this has suddenly become an issue around the visit with lots of international media carrying the story.

kustomkarkommando fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Jul 23, 2015

# ? Jul 23, 2015 23:29

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Also, polls are closed in Burundi and counting is underway.

The inter-party talks chaired by Uganda have been temporarily suspended but are due to resume. Whether or not they have anything to discuss after the results are announced is another issue.

And as per Reuters, the EU has gone public that they are ready to impose sanctions if/when the inevitable is announced:

Reuters posted:

"The European Union is preparing ... to adopt, if necessary, targeted restrictive measures against those whose actions led to acts of violence, repression and serious human rights abuses or hinder the search for a political solution," Mogherini said in a statement.

Six government officials are likely to be targeted with asset freezes and travel bans and discussions are under way to draw up the measures, EU officials told Reuters, although no further details were immediately available. There is no discussion to consider broader steps that could harm the population, one official said.

The United States has also imposed visa bans on some Burundian government officials. It has not named them.

# ? Jul 23, 2015 23:33

the paradigm shift: Jan 18, 2006

The US is also planning to review aid for Burundi.

Reuters posted:

"Over the next couple of months we will be reviewing very carefully the level of our assistance, what programs will be continued or not," Ambassador Dawn Liberi told Reuters, adding it would be driven by policy concerns and administrative issues.

"It is a process that will obviously continue depending on what happens politically," she said, calling for steps to ensure full democratic freedoms, disarming militias and lifting curbs on the media after private radio stations were shut down.

"What we are calling for is for all parties to go back to the mediation process and try to forge a way forward that is inclusive," she said. The aim, she added, is to ensure U.S. aid to the health and other such sectors is not affected.

It seems odd that she doesn't explicitly lay out that it will affect the military aid, the article discusses how much we give them but then kind of focuses on the health aid.

the paradigm shift fucked around with this message at 11:35 on Jul 24, 2015

# ? Jul 24, 2015 11:32

Luigi Thirty: Apr 30, 2006; Emergency confection port.

E: wrong thread

# ? Jul 24, 2015 20:37

Homura and Sickle: Apr 21, 2013

Grats to Pierre Nkurunziza on winning a third term

# ? Jul 24, 2015 21:57

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

the_paradigm_shift posted:

The US is also planning to review aid for Burundi.

It seems odd that she doesn't explicitly lay out that it will affect the military aid, the article discusses how much we give them but then kind of focuses on the health aid.

The US has threatened to cut military aid, it's a bit of grey area though as the military (as far I have seen) have generally not been implicated in the violence with most of the accusations of rights abuses being laid at the feet of the police and imbonerakure. The military are generally seen as a stabilizing force, ethnic quotas have ensured representation from both communities and the post-conflict military is generally considered a bit of a success in terms rebel reintegration, I think there are fears that cutting foreign aid to the military could have knock-on effects to their relative impartiality in politics and general cohesion - I mean there was an attempted military coup only a few months ago.

Also, Burundi are currently the force leader and the second largest contributor (about 25% of troops) to AMISOM, the African Union Mission to Somalia. If Burundi pulls out their troops in protest to foreign military aid cuts (or because they can not afford to continue to participate) the other member states would have to pick up the slack, something not many people are particularly keen on considering Al-Shabaab's recent attacks in AMISOM contributing countries like Kenya.

Here's an article in more detail from a Great Lakes wonk published in *shudder* the washington post of all places

# ? Jul 24, 2015 22:00

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Jagchosis posted:

Grats to Pierre Nkurunziza on winning a third term

# ? Jul 24, 2015 22:13

Goatse James Bond: Mar 28, 2010; If you see me posting please remind me that I have Charlie Work in the reports forum to do instead

Jagchosis posted:

Grats to Pierre Nkurunziza on winning a third term

I, for one, never doubted the glorious leader.

# ? Jul 25, 2015 05:14

V. Illych L.: Apr 11, 2008; ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

So what's going on with those nascent border conflicts in South Sudan? Are the neghbouring countries nibbling off their preferred bits during the civil war, or are they worried about destabilising the area further or what?

# ? Jul 25, 2015 16:18

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

V. Illych L. posted:

So what's going on with those nascent border conflicts in South Sudan? Are the neighbouring countries nibbling off their preferred bits during the civil war, or are they worried about destabilising the area further or what?

I haven't really heard much about the border disputes with Kenya which have always taken a back seat to the much more divisive border disputes with Sudan. For reference, here's a handy map showing the various Sudanese border disputes:

The big one is Abyei, which has been a major source of contention between South Sudan and Sudan since before independence. In the run up to independence there was a major dispute about who should have control of Abyei - both parties have nominally agreed that the future of the region is to be decided by a referendum. The issue is who gets to vote in the referendum; South Sudan believes that only permanent residents should be allowed to vote (who are overwhelmingly Ngok Dinka, a subset of the one of the largest ethnic groups in South Sudan) while Sudan also believes the vote should be extended to the nomadic Misseriya Arab's who graze their cattle in Abyei in the summer months but are not permanently resident. After a series of clashes between the respective armed forces of Sudan and South Sudan in 2011 an agreement was signed in Addis Ababa to demilitarize the area and allow a UN mandated monitoring mission to oversee the truce, at the moment I think there are about 4,000 odd troops deployed by Ehiopia in Abyeia under the banner of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) who have been keeping the peace. Sudan isn't going to wade into that any time soon because of the possible international implications. The area is administered by a temporary autonomous body who have held their own referendum on the issue back in 2013 that was internationally ignored (as it excluded the Misseriya). Arguably the current situation is favourable to Sudan as it puts UNISFA in the place of attempting to keep the peace between the two communities, there are still rolling clashes every grazing season, and allows them to focus their troops elsewhere.

Another major issue surrounding the Abyei problem is what exactly constituted Abyei. This was settled in 2009 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague which defined it's boundaries. Massive map below showing how Abyei has been gradually redefined over the years as part of the border negotiation:

Now the big issue here is that the 2009 arbitration notably cuts out Heglig in the East. Why is this an issue? Well, here's another map!

Yep, Oil. And lots of it.

Heglig was at the centre of a major crisis back in 2012 that you could describe as war (if you're being generous) that saw Sudan and South Sudan directly combat each other over control of the oilfield. The conflict was rooted in bitter negotiations over oil fees, I mentioned it briefly earlier but South Sudan relies on Sudan to transport it's oil for export and increasing anger over transport fees and the failure of post-independence negotiations to settle the issue was a major motivator for South Sudan to move against Heglig. The war/skirmish (whatever) was a bit of catastrophe for South Sudan economically though, Sudan responded not only with military force but also by completely shutting down South Sudan's access to their oil network - preventing them from exporting a single barrel and almost completely crashing the South Sudanese economy. Eventually, on 27th September 2012 an agreement was reached between Sudan and South Sudan that halted the violence and reached something of an agreement on the border issue - not the demarcation of the border but the establishment of a 10km DMZ on either side that would be monitored by UNISFA (who where already in the area anyway). The final demarcation of the border is to be decided by a technocratic panel set up by the AU but god knows how long that will take. For reference here's a map with the DMZ marked:

Both sides have not exactly stuck to the DMZ though, they move troops in and out of it all the time and the monitoring mission has found it difficult actually keeping track of what is happening so it is a bit of a mess - but it does seem to have stabilized the situation a bit and at least stopped direct military confrontation like in 2012.

The DMZ agreement did not go down well in South Sudan and I've seen some people make a connection with it and the ongoing rebellion, the idea that Kiir has abandoned the people in the DBZ/contested regions under Sudanese control has apparently been used as a mobilizing force by the rebels.

The other big area way in the west, Kafia Kingi, has been in the news recently as reports seem to indicate that the LRA leadership is hiding out there. Yes, Kony and all that.

Also in the news South Sudan-wise, it seems there has been a bit of a split in the SLPM-IO as that assessment I posted earlier theorized:

Radio Tamazuj posted:

Political and military differences have led to a major split within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), prompting the group's leader Riek Machar to relieve two of his top commanders.

The two relieved commanders are Peter Gatdet, formerly the movement's top commander in Unity State, and Gathoth Gatkuoth, who was the 'military governor' of Upper Nile State before holding a command position within the rebels' Pagak military headquarters.

Gatdet is a major military commander and a repeat rebel, he's a pretty important figure in terms of the troops he can deliver to the SPLM-IO so him splitting off will most like damage them in military terms. Having another rebel leader running around isn't great news though...

# ? Jul 25, 2015 20:22

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

So, Obama actually met Ruto in Kenya. You know, the guy currently up in front of the ICC...

# ? Jul 26, 2015 15:20

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

This is like when all the Cuban exiles flipped their poo poo when Obama shook hands with Raul Castro. Just because you greet someone cordially doesn't mean you approve of everything they've ever done.

# ? Jul 26, 2015 16:06

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

PT6A posted:

This is like when all the Cuban exiles flipped their poo poo when Obama shook hands with Raul Castro. Just because you greet someone cordially doesn't mean you approve of everything they've ever done.

True, but I still think avoiding being photographed shaking hands with someone actively being tried for crimes against humanity is advisable - especially considering the fact the US has been supporting the ICC in Africa against a growing tide of criticism. It may have been outside of the US's control but it's still an awkward situation for sure

# ? Jul 26, 2015 16:29

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Also, some twitter people are mad at France24 for changing a headline to a story they posted online after the Office of the President in Burundi complained about it on twitter of all places

The complaint:

They changed it from Low Participation, Violence, Criticisms: The Presidential elections in Burundi aren't fooling anyone to Presidential Elections: The Opposition denounce a "masquerade"

A letter of thanks posted shortly after the change was made:

The article in question

# ? Jul 26, 2015 16:47

Discendo Vox: Mar 21, 2013; We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Note that Obama is frowning in all of those photos. He and his team are aware of the long-term possible uses of them (though frankly that's overestimating the public knowledge of the Republican base).

# ? Jul 26, 2015 18:04

Homura and Sickle: Apr 21, 2013

Hey so even though Diskendo Fox posted in this thread gently caress goons for letting it die. Brief update to try to spur its revival:

Major human rights activist in Burundi that was critical of Pres. Nkurunziza's third term was critically wounded in a motorcycle attack assassination attempt, which follows the murder of the president's personal security chief, Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana. Looks like Burundi is spiraling towards sporadic violence, at a minimum

# ? Aug 5, 2015 09:54

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Jagchosis posted:

Hey so even though Diskendo Fox posted in this thread gently caress goons for letting it die. Brief update to try to spur its revival:

Major human rights activist in Burundi that was critical of Pres. Nkurunziza's third term was critically wounded in a motorcycle attack assassination attempt, which follows the murder of the president's personal security chief, Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana. Looks like Burundi is spiraling towards sporadic violence, at a minimum

I've been meaning to post in this for like a week but was to sickly to effort post.

In other Burundi news there has been a major split in the opposition who where previously unified against a third term. Agathon Rwasa, who officially came second in the presidential election even though he boycotted the poll, took his seat in parliament alongside his party and was elected deputy speaker with the support of Nkurunziza's CND-FDD indicated some kind of back room deal was probably worked out.

Its a move which has somewhat undermined the oppositions negotiating power in the ongoing inter party talks as you can imagine.

# ? Aug 5, 2015 10:20

the paradigm shift: Jan 18, 2006

In some good news the Nigerian army freed more boko haram victims: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33754769

Edit: is the president of Uganda still trying to mediate or did he give up around the election?

the paradigm shift fucked around with this message at 10:29 on Aug 5, 2015

# ? Aug 5, 2015 10:23

KaptainKrunk: Feb 6, 2006

surrender posted:

The so-called "decoupage," or provincial splitting, was made official in the DRC last week. Here's the new provincial map:

Notably, Orientale (northeast) was split into four provinces, Equateur (northwest) into five, and Katanga (southeast) into four. Orientale was the most populous province and the largest gold-mining region, while Katanga was the center of the copper mining industry. The split is probably going to have little effect on the average resident because most of the provinces are just as terrible at providing basic services as the federal government, but apparently Kabila pushed it through to weaken governors who would challenge him in the 2016 election. In Orientale, where I'm currently living, the parliamentarians in each new province will have to appoint interim governors, yet there's no money to hold proper elections after that.

Also, I highly recommend Congo: The Epic History of a People by David van Reybrouck for anyone interested in the country's history. There's not much out there about the current political situation bar stuff in Foreign Affairs, but Radio Okapi is far and away the best news source in the country.

The feature article in the latest NLR is also pretty good.

# ? Aug 5, 2015 10:53

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

the_paradigm_shift posted:

In some good news the Nigerian army freed more boko haram victims: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33754769

Edit: is the president of Uganda still trying to mediate or did he give up around the election?

Museveni himself has backed away from them and appointed another government official to continue the talks, they are currently suspended though with no progress and it's not looking good for their resumption any time soon - the continuing attacks from still mysterious groups and the government striking a deal with a section of the opposition puts them in a strong position to push ahead.

# ? Aug 5, 2015 11:24

Discendo Vox: Mar 21, 2013; We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

Jagchosis posted:

Hey so even though Diskendo Fox posted in this thread gently caress goons for letting it die.

???

Ouch, I wasn't aware that was my reputation now.

Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Aug 5, 2015

# ? Aug 5, 2015 13:08

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Quick South Sudan update.

The newest round of peace talks have been convened as of yesterday in Addis Ababa under the meditation of IGAD-Plus; the newly expanded international meditation group that includes Representatives of IGAD (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda), Representatives of the High Level African Union Ad-hoc Committee on South Sudan (Algeria, Chad, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa) as well as representatives from the EU, China, UK, USA, Norway and the UN. The current talks have a deadline of August 17th and there have been repeated statements from various figures, including Obama, that if the talks fail a new stricter round of sanctions will be imposed on both the Government of South Sudan and the SPLM-IO.

The major belligerents have been gathered to discuss the proposed IGAD Compromise Peace Agreement which they published at the end of July. If you are a nerd like me full pdf here but here are the choice extracts and major bones of contention:

IGAD Compromise Peace Agreement posted:

1. Establishment, Seat and Term of TGoNU

1.1. There shall be a Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) established in South Sudan entrusted with the task of implementing this Agreement.
...
1.6. The power sharing ratio in the TGoNU shall be applied as follows: Executive body as 53%, 33%, 7%, and 7 % for the GRSS, the SPLM/A-IO, the SPLM Leaders (Former Detainees) and other political parties respectively. Whereas power-sharing ratios in the conflict affected States of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile shall be as reflected in Chapter 1, Article 15.4 of this Agreement.
...

15.1. State Governments in the States most affected by the current conflict in Jonglei, Unity, andUpper Nile shall be reconstituted.

15.2. Any other State or County declared by one of the warring parties as most affected area by the conflict, JMEC shall investigate and recommend remdial options.

15.3. Not later than one month of the commencement of the Transitional Period, Transitional Governors of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states shall be appointed for the duration of the Transition. For each of the Governors position, the SPLM/-IO shall nominate three candidates from which the President shall select and respectively appoint.

15.4. The State Council of Ministers in the States of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile shall be reconstituted and appointed at the beginning of the Transition, and not later than a month, as per the following power sharing ratios:
15.4.1. GRSS: thirty-three (33) per cent;
15.4.2. SPLM/A-IO: fifty-three (53) per cent;
15.4.3. SPLM Leaders (Former Detainees): seven (7) per cent;
15.4.4. Other Political Parties: seven (7) per cent.

Nudging the percentage points in their favour of course will be a primary aim for both parties but the idea of effectively handing control of the three major rebellious states to the SPLM-IO has infuriated the government (the fact these are all major oil producing states may have some bearing on that). Shortly after the IGAD-Plus proposal was published President Kiir shot back with an official letter of complaint, attacking the Proposal and what he interpreted as threats from the international community to accept it "or else" . Full scan here, selected snippets below:

President Kiir posted:

The decision making process in the Council of Ministers at the national level and the structure and composition of state governments in the conflict-affected states (Upper Nile, Jonglei & Unity states) as per the clauses; 10 and 15 of Chapter 1 respectively, pose huge challenges to the peace process. Such proposals suggest undeclared Confederation structure for South Sudan, which, if applied as it is, would undermine the sovereign authority of the independent South Sudan and would prepare a ground for the three regions of Bahr El Ghazal, Equatoria and Upper Nile to seriously demand for independent entities of their own in the short term. Thus, this would be the end of South Sudan and would constitute a beginning for the real conflict that would put the region on the real historical predicament... The eminent result is the total disintegration of the country! And let it be on record that; our government will not encourage such a move.
...

[the IGAD-Plus proposal] is, in a great extent, deceptive to the world view, confusing to the conflicting parties, drafter's intention is professional dishonest, the content and substance of the same is designed to attract public discontentment. The expectation is that there will be a BIG NO from one or both conflicting parties, so that any BIG NO from a party would invite foreign intervention in the pretext of a necessity for peace and security of the general population. In the recent past, the history of such approach is full of cases witnessed in many areas with a similar situation and similar economic resources led by huge oil deposit. South Sudanese government and the people are against war. Peace is our choice. We are capable of pursuing peace in our own way without or with less cost.

Sure enough early word out of the peace talks, leaked by sources (I wonder who) to VOA confirms the Government's general unhappiness with the IGAD-Plus proposal:

VOA posted:

A source at the talks, who asked not to be named, said the government asked that it be given 70 percent of seats and portfolios in the proposed transitional government, that the armed opposition group led by former vice president Riek Machar be given 20 percent and other political parties 10 percent.

Machar's SPLM-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), meanwhile, asked for the opposite -- 70 percent for itself, 20 percent for the government and the remainder going to other opposition parties.

South Sudan in Focus has not been able to independently confirm this information.

In another twist at the talks in Addis Ababa, government negotiators said Friday they no longer consider the former detainees to be a separate negotiating party because they have been reincorporated into the government.

South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei, who is also the government spokesman at the talks, said he is surprised that the former detainees are even sitting at the negotiating table.

"It is rather strange that they have now come to claim that they are not part and parcel of the government, but they continue to stand as an entity," Makuei said.

"In the government position, we have deleted the list of the FDs (former detainees) from those who will be participating in the (power-sharing) ratios. Not only that, but we don't even recognize their presence at the peace talks as an entity," he said.

The "reincorporation" of detainees mentioned has to do with Pagan Amum re-entering the government, I posted a more detailed article about that a little bit earlier. The SPLM-IO's demands for 70% of the seats seems pretty counter-productive, it's hard to see how the two parties can be negotiated to a crompose in one week - some of the early optimism that the SPLM-IO political leadership is now more willing to hammer out an agreement may have been a bit premature.

Also, the official parliamentary opposition (the SPLM-DC) who have stuck to politics and steered clear of the conflict where invited to the conference but the Government denied them travel visas. Not exactly a fantastic sign.

kustomkarkommando fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Aug 8, 2015

# ? Aug 8, 2015 19:37

the paradigm shift: Jan 18, 2006

~~Sabotaging your own peace process is pretty silly, but if these talks fail to come to an agreement soon is more violence likely?~~

NM, they're angry that the international community is pressuring them, still silly but more understandable. My other point still stands because it almost reads like a plea to the opposition to ignore this deal and wait until the government makes their own deal. I dunno, just feels scummy.

Hopefully everyone is sick of it and will continue to try, but honestly I thought the South Sudan issues were tribal not oil until this thread so I dunno anything clearly.

the paradigm shift fucked around with this message at 12:50 on Aug 9, 2015

# ? Aug 9, 2015 12:43

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

News out of Nigeria is that Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, may have been ousted from his position - according to Chad anyway

France24 posted:

Chad�s President Idriss D�by declared Tuesday that efforts to combat neighbouring Nigeria�s Boko Haram jihadists had succeeded in �decapitating� the group and would be wrapped up �by the end of the year�.

Addressing reporters in the capital N�Djamena on the 55th anniversary of Chad�s independence from France, D�by said: �Boko Haram is decapitated. There are little groups (of Boko Haram members) scattered throughout east Nigeria, on the border with Cameroon. It is within our power to definitively overcome Boko Haram.�

�The war will be short, with the setting up of the regional force, it will be over by the end of the year,� D�by added, referring to a new five-country force aimed at ending Boko Haram�s bloody six-year Islamist insurgency that he said would be �operational in a few days�.

Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria have all pledged troops towards the new force.

D�by further claimed that Boko Haram was no longer led by the fearsome Abubakar Shekau and that his successor was open to talks.

�There is someone apparently called Mahamat Daoud who is said to have replaced Abubakar Shekau and he wants to negotiate with the Nigerian government.

�For my part, I would advise not to negotiate with a terrorist,� D�by, whose country has been spearheading the regional fightback against Boko Haram, said

Shekau has been notably absent in the last two videos released by Boko Haram (both of them released under their new branding of Wilayat Gharb Ifriqiyyah, replacing their old formal name of Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihad). This lead to a lot of speculation he may be injured or has gone underground as Boko Haram shifts back to more conventional smash and grab tactics after the somewhat successful military operation by the new regional alliance against territory under their control. Of course, D�by could just be completely making this up - rumours have been swirling for a while and taking advantage of the talk to big up the effectiveness of their operations clearly has it's benefits. Ceasefire talks involving D�by have a bit of a track record of possibly being complete fiction.

Also, Buhari has given the military three months to sort this whole insurgency thing out. No pressure guys.

kustomkarkommando fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Aug 13, 2015

# ? Aug 13, 2015 23:32

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Interesting piece via African Arguments that gives some of the only detail I've seen about the supposed new leader of Boko Haram:

Who is Boko Haram�s �new leader�? posted:

If this who I think it is then this news is significant. First of all, his real name is Muhammad Daud. He is said to be about 38 years old and is a Shuwa Arab from Maiduguri with a Kanambu mother from Chad. He is one of the earliest students of Muhammad Yusuf, Boko Haram�s original leader, and is said to have been one of the few amongst the close circle of Yusuf�s students that disagreed with the 2009 Uprising in which the group launched attacks on Nigerian security forces. Daud apparently argued that Boko Haram was not yet strong enough to take over the area.

Daud is also said to be a trader in perfumes and an ex-serviceman, although the particular service he was in is not known by the majority of my sources. He is also one of the scholars of Islamic State of West Africa and is regarded as their Imam of the Science of Hadith. He was said to be a staunch Yusufi, opposing the polarising policies of Shekau after Yusuf�s death in 2009; despite swearing an oath to Shekau, he was one of the few top dogs against the pledge of allegiance made to Islamic State, rejecting it as a betrayal of the teachings of Yusuf.

If Daud really is seeking negotiations, it means he has broken away from Shekau with a faction of men loyal to him. And if he is claiming to have replaced Shekau as the head of the group, it probably means Shekau and his followers are now in Daud�s rifle sights. Daud�s hatred of Shekau may very well surpass his hatred for the Nigerian State.

How does this change anything?

Firstly, Daud is a powerful commander within the group, in charge of Boko Haram�s counter-intelligence and internal security arm known as Amniyah. Before that, he was in charge of the unit responsible for operations in Maiduguri and other major Nigerian cities, meaning he oversaw the training of suicide bombers, the planning of operations in major cities, the selection of targets, and the dispatching of the human weapons to their assigned strike areas. He also ran the group�s intelligence unit and was responsible for collecting the hundreds of millions of naira many state governors were paying the militants to avoid Boko Haram attacking their states.

Daud has a significant support base � I expect hundreds of fighters to follow him if he has left Shekau � and would have tons of information about sleeper cells and operatives of Islamic State West Africa. He could expose the money generation and transfer methods the group uses, reveal critical intelligence about the group�s inner structure, and maybe even offer up information as to how to kill Shekau. If Daud is really seeking negotiations, the Nigerian government should hurry and take the offer as having him on side could well be a game changer.

However, the risk of course is that this is all just a ruse to buy time. And looking back at Boko Haram�s history of behaviour, this possibility cannot and should not be ruled out either.

If true this could be a signal of an internal feud inside Boko Haram reminiscent of the Hassan Dahir Aweys/Godane split in al-Shabaab, similarily fuelled by internal discontent with re-aligning the movement to more internationalist jihadi aims.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 19:06

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

South Sudan wise things aren't exactly going well. A meeting of the "Front Line States", basically IGAD without the other international bodies, in Kampala earlier this week seems to have yielded some backing for the Government of South Sudan's demands in regards to power-sharing in the major rebellious states:

Sudan Tribune posted:

The group calling itself the �Front-line States� composed of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan were invited for a meeting to Entebbe, Uganda, by president Yoweri Museveni.

Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn and Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, joined by the Sudanese foreign minister Gandour, held the Monday joint meeting during which president Museveni criticized the IGAD-Plus proposal as coming from the �White man� and was seeking for an African solution.

President Museveni and president Salva Kiir of South Sudan reportedly asked for changes to be made in the proposal as well as for the 17 August deadline to be extended to give the two warring parties ample time for direct negotiations.

However, the rebel leader�s press secretary said information the armed opposition has received from the IGAD chief mediator, Seyoum Mesfin, indicated that major unilateral changes surprisingly took place in the IGAD-Plus proposal.

�While the warring parties have been negotiating to try to agree on some of the contentious issues that can now be incorporated into the IGAD-Plus peace proposal as amendments, IGAD-without-Plus has stepped back by changing provisions and coming up yet with new proposals in the text,� Dak further lamented.

For instance, he said, the �front-line states� were dragged by president Museveni into withdrawing the provision for power-sharing in the states. The IGAD-Plus proposal initially said in the three states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states in the greater Upper Nile region, the government would get 33%, the Sudan Peoples� Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) would get 53% and the former detainees and political parties would equally share the remaining 14%.

�This time IGAD is saying there should be no power sharing in the states,� he said.

He said IGAD in the Uganda meeting had also reneged on its previous proposal which sought for demilitarization of the capital, Juba. The opposition supported the demilitarization of the capital, including state capitals and other major towns in the country, arguing that it would restore confidence and avoid repeat of massacres of civilians in the towns by the army.

Dak further added that on the security arrangements including command of the rival armies for a period of transition, unification and duration of the process, the front-line states said the issue would be left to army chief of staffs of Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.

He said the latest development has gone against the very peace proposal by IGAD-Plus which was supposed to be the basis for negotiations and agreement.

He said the armed opposition faction of the SPLM-IO will not accept this, criticizing IGAD for dwelling on conflicting interests among the regional actors instead of focusing on a consistent sustainable path to peace in South Sudan.

Riek Machar, leader of the SPLM-IO, has blasted these proposals publicly - specifically blaming Museveni who has militarily supported Kiir's government since day one. The deadline of August 17th is on the horizon and this set-back makes it pretty unlikely that the talks will conclude productively.

To add even more woes to the process Machar's position as leader of the SPLM-IO seems to be in jeopardy. I mentioned earlier that he had dismissed prominent repeat rebel Peter Gatdet from his command, the initial concern was that Gatdet would form a splinter group but it seems he has instead used his influence to try to oust Machar from his position as leader with the aim of scuttling the peace talks. Full pdf here:

quote:

We reject any peace agreement that includes President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar in the leadership of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGONU). The two leaders have become symbols of hate and conflict and are obstacles to peace as both leaders wrangle over who should lead. Similarly the two communities of Nuer and Dinka have bcome so polarized and divided to the extent that one community will reject the leadership of the other. Other sons and daughters of South Sudan should be allowed to lead during the transitional period and both President Kiir and Dr. Riek should wait for the next coming elections and contest for the presidency if they so desire. If this should not be the case then we suggest that a military led Transitional government comprising officers from both parties be formed until next elections are conducted.
...

The SLPM/A-IO has a leadership crisis over the management of the movement. Dr Riek has mismanaged and failed to unite the movement. He has turned the movement into a family enterprise that resulted to unilateral decision making and which led to the summary dismissal of General Peter Gatdet and General Gathoth Gatkuoth. It is to be raclled that the two generals played a crucial role in resucing the life of Dr Riek. Dr Riek and his in-law Taban Deng Gai have engaged in trade and have forgotten the main purpose for which we took up arms.

WE the Generals of the SPLM/A in Opposition have lost confidence in the leadership of Dr. Riek Machar Teny, and from today he ceases to be Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/A-IO. Therefore any peace that he signs with the Government of South Sudan will not be legitimate and will not be respected by the SPLM/A-IO led by Generals.

Our objective is to bring about a regime change through elections in South Sudan in order to bring a sustainable peace and development to our people. We therefore appeal to all people of South Sudan, all political parties, regional leaders and international community to support us in this political move.

How much support the dismissed leaders can muster in the movement is questionable but it is a worrying sign of a significant split within the movement, rather than manifesting through a splinter group it looks like it will play out as a power play within the group itself.

Sure enough it looks like hawks in the Government of South Sudan are using the signs of a possible split to try to scupper the peace talks by recalling their negotiation team:

VOA posted:

Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomoro told reporters in Juba the government has also decided to recall the entire negotiating team from Addis.

Lomoro said Mr. Kiir would stay away from the talks until the government could establish who is main interlocutor would be in Addis.

"If the president is going to go to Addis Ababa, he must go with a clear mind as to who he is going to meet and negotiate with," Lomoro said.

He said there has been confusion as to whom Mr. Kiir would sit across the negotiating table from after a group of military commanders split from Machar's SPLM-in-Opposition group and announced that they no longer recognized Machar as their leader.

...

The lead government negotiator at the talks, Nhial Deng Nhial, gave a different explanation for why Mr. Kiir would not travel to Addis Ababa as expected on Friday. He said the South Sudanese president only received a formal invitation to attend the talks on Thursday.

�Obviously, on such short notice, you wouldn�t expect him to come,� Deng told South Sudan in Focus in a telephone interview from Addis.

Deng also flatly denied that he and his team have been ordered back to Juba.

"Absolutely not, we have not been recalled," he said. "I am still here with the entire team in Addis Ababa."

Some doubt there but another source seems to has spoken to press backing up the claims by Lomoro

Radio Tamazuj posted:

The Council of Ministers has announced their decision to suspend the South Sudanese government's participation at the peace talks in Addis Ababa with the armed opposition leadership, led by former Vice-President Riek Machar. It requested President Salva Kiir not to travel to Ethiopia, despite mounting global pressure on him and Machar to reach their deal by Monday 17 August, and international threats of sanctions.

The acting caretaker Governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, Salva Chot Ayat, confirmed in an interview with Radio Tamazuj from Juba that the Governors' council has passed a resolution asking the Council of Ministers to withdraw the government's team of negotiators from the talks, �until the rebels have sorted out their differences�.

Not looking good is it.

# ? Aug 15, 2015 19:58

Whorelord: May 1, 2013; Jump into the well...

What's the current state in Mali vis-a-vis the whole Taureg/Jihadist situation anyway?

Also people should watch the movie Timbuktu, it's great

# ? Aug 16, 2015 03:14

Homura and Sickle: Apr 21, 2013

Whorelord posted:

What's the current state in Mali vis-a-vis the whole Taureg/Jihadist situation anyway?

Also people should watch the movie Timbuktu, it's great

Last I checked the peace deal between Mali and the Tuaregs has been holding up while Jihadist groups have conducted sporadic attacks on government checkpoints in the periphery. This was in July and I doubt the situation has changed much.

# ? Aug 16, 2015 03:19

Sneaks McDevious: Jul 29, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Thanks for updating is thread again. It's such a fascinating continent politically. While it is fairly basic stuff and not very investigative, the BBC World Service gives plenty of coverage to continent-wide issues and elections.

# ? Aug 17, 2015 09:20

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

The South Sudan deadline has passed with no final deal.

Machar has signed as has Pagan Amum, the "rehabilitated" detainee who was reinstated into the ruling party recently, but Kiir has not signed. He's asking for a 15 day extension for "consultations" with his party - ostensively to convince hawks in his government to accept the deal.

# ? Aug 18, 2015 08:51

double nine: Aug 8, 2013

Every time I try to get a grip on the history and (political) factions in a region of Africa my head starts spinning due to the complexity of it all. Thanks for clearing up at least some of the ongoing conflicts.

# ? Aug 18, 2015 10:06

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

IGAD has published the final treaty text signed by Machar that's still awaiting Kiir's signature. Seems Kiir did manage to make some inroads on some of the more contentious clauses. I think it's worth doing a quick side by side from the initial IGAD-Plus proposal to the final version for anyone interested in this kind of thing:

Original text posted:

15.1. State Governments in the States most affected by the current conflict in Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile shall be reconstituted.

15.2. Any other State or County declared by one of the warring parties as most affected area by the conflict, JMEC shall investigate and recommend remdial options.

15.3. Not later than one month of the commencement of the Transitional Period, Transitional Governors of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states shall be appointed for the duration of the Transition. For each of the Governors position, the SPLM/A-IO shall nominate three candidates from which the President shall select and respectively appoint.

15.4. The State Council of Ministers in the States of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile shall be reconstituted and appointed at the beginning of the Transition, and not later than a month, as per the following power sharing ratios:

15.4.1. GRSS: thirty-three (33) per cent;

15.4.2. SPLM/A-IO: fifty-three (53) per cent;

15.4.3. SPLM Leaders (Former Detainees): seven (7) per cent;

15.4.4. Other Political Parties: seven (7) per cent.

15.5. In the event that a State Ministerial post falls vacant during the Transition Period, the replacement State Minister shall be nominated by the top leadership body of the party that first selected that State Ministerial portfolio, as appointed at the commencement of the Transition.The replacement State Minister shall serve in office until the end of the Transition Period;

Final Text posted:

15.1. Not later than one month of the commencement of the Transitional Period, Transitional Governors of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states shall be appointed for the duration of the Transition. For two of the Governors position in Upper Nile and Unity States, the South Sudan Armed Opposition shall nominate the candidates which the President shall appointrespectively. The GRSS will nominate the Governor of Jonglei State.

15.2.The State Council of Ministers in the States of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile shall be reconstituted and appointed at the beginning of the Transition, and not later than a month, as per the following power sharing ratios:

15.2.1. GRSS: forty-six (46) percent;

15.2.2. South Sudan Armed Opposition: forty (40) percent;

15.2.3. Former Detainees: seven (7) percent;

15.2.4. Other Political Parties: seven (7) percent.

15.3. In the remaining seven states the GRSS will have eighty five (85) percent of the Executive while the South Sudan Armed Opposition will have a representation of fifteen (15) percent in the Executive of the respective states.

15.4. In the event that a State Ministerial post falls vacant during the Transitional Period, the replacement State Minister shall be nominated by the top leadership body of the party that first selected that State Ministerial portfolio, as appointed at the commencement of the Transition. The replacement State Minister shall serve in office until the end of the Transition Period;

So the government has managed to secure Governorship of one out of three "conflict states" and has had the power-sharing formula for these states drastically rewritten to favour them (the national formula in the original document stays the same) but at the expense of introducing general power sharing in all other state governments - something not included in the original document.

One of the more interesting changes is in another contentious clause, clause 5 chapter II, which covers the demilitarization of the capital. Again a quick side by side:

Original text posted:

The National Capital, Juba, which is the seat of TGoNU, shall be demilitarised within ninety(90) days from the signing of this Agreement in order to create conducive conditions for the formation of the TGoNU and the return of the SPLM/A-IO and SPLM Leaders (Former Detainees) to Juba. Consequently, Juba shall be designated as a Special Arrangement Area(SAA).

5.2. Juba shall be demilitarized 25kms in radius from the centre of the city and the demarcation ofthe area shall be agreed upon (as per attached map) during the PCTSA workshop in terms oflatitude / longitude.

5.3. All other military and paramilitary forces shall vacate Juba in accordance with the boundaries established during the PCTSA workshop with the exception of:

5.3.1. The Presidential Guard: A company consisting of four platoons of 65 soldiers each (65x4=260 soldiers) in total.

5.3.2. First Vice President�s Guard: A company consisting of three platoons of 65 soldiers each (65x3=195 soldiers) in total.

5.3.3. Forces required to protect military barracks,

5.3.4. The third-party security unit (UNMISS, IGAD, AU etc.,)

..

6.1. There shall be established a neutral and credible Transitional Third Party Security Unit (IGAD, AU or UNMISS) of two-three battalions that shall maintain its presence in Juba and any other locations identified and agreed to by the Parties, during the entire Transition Period. The Unit shall be deployed at the beginning of the Transition Period and shall have periodical rotation before the end of the mission. During the Pre-Transition, UNMISS shall deploy the force to undertake the functions of the TTPSU.

6.2. The Transitional Third Party Security Unit shall among others; secure and protect the leadership of TGoNU such as the President, the First Vice President, the Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, parliamentarians, civilian population, personnel of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), and any other person/institution identified as deemed vulnerable either because of his/her position in government or the nature of his/her/its duties/functions. The Unit shall provide office and residential security, close protection and mobile security, quick reaction and emergency response and advance party responsibilities in order to ensure the implementation of the Agreement.

Final text posted:

5.1 All military forces within Juba shall be redeployed outside a radius of 25km from the center of the national capital beginning thirty (30) days after the signing of this Agreement and complete after ninety (90) days. The demarcation of the area shall be agreed during the PCTSA workshop. Exceptions to this provision are as follows:

5.1.1 Presidential Guards

5.1.2 Guard forces to protect military barracks, bases and warehouses

5.1.3 Joint Integrated Police

5.2 Joint Integrated Police shall also be deployed in Bor, Malakal, Bentiu and any other locations, with a focus on areas where Protection of Civilians (POC) sites are located.

5.3 The size, composition and deployment of forces permitted to remain in Juba, Bor, Malakal, Bentiu, and other areas, shall be determined during the PCTSA Workshop.

5.4 Security for personal protection may be sourced from external forces if the Parties require it, but shall operate alongside, and cooperate with, the security forces of South Sudan.

Interesting all reference to a neutral foreign deployment under IGAD/AU/UN authority has been scrubbed and replaced with reference to a new unified force to police both the capital and other contentious cities and towns - something not floated in the original document. I wonder if opposition fear of likely Ugandan involvement in any "neutral" force, which would have been pretty likely, was the driving force behind scrubbing that clause. Specific reference to a Vice Presidential guard has been removed, under the proposed system the Vice Presidency would go to the SPLM-IO - I'm unsure if that's covered in "Presidential Guards" or if that has been dropped. Language isn't the clearest.

kustomkarkommando fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Aug 19, 2015

# ? Aug 19, 2015 22:16

kustomkarkommando: Oct 22, 2012

Kiir signed the peace deal. It's peace :toot:

_{well if you ignore the generals who have refused to recognise the deal}

Kiir only signed after being a bit of a dick though

BBC posted:

And then in a long, slow speech, pausing regularly to remove his glasses and wipe his face, it wasn't quite clear if President Kiir was going to sign the deal or not.

In the end he did, but any moment of statesmanship was lost in a piece of theatre.

He finally said he would sign only if the heads of state initialled a long list of reservations - which he then proceeded to do while photocopies of the list were handed out to the audience.

The regional leaders declined, but the signing went ahead.

# ? Aug 26, 2015 22:18

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 05:37

Homura and Sickle: Apr 21, 2013

So is this gonna end jack poo poo with the war because this feels like an even wetter fart than Libya's deal

# ? Aug 27, 2015 03:35

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie

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