♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Musa Hilal and his council's leadership arrested in Darfur

November 27 – 2017 MISTERIHA / KHARTOUM Musa Hilal, former janjaweed leader and chairman of the Revolutionary Awakening Council was arrested on Sunday, confirming the Council's suspicions about the Sudanese authorities planning for the militia leader's arrest.

Heavy clashes erupted on Sunday between the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces and Hilal’s militias at his headquarters in Misteriha in North Darfur. The commander of the RSF, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemeti) reported the arrest of Hilal to the pro-Sudanese news agency Suna yesterday.

Three of Hilal's sons, three brothers, and senior members of the council’s leadership were also arrested, sources in the area reported. They arrived in Khartoum on Monday.

RSF director of general supplies, Brig. Abdelrahim Gumma, was killed during the confrontations that led to the arrest.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that at least 11 members of the Border Guards militia, largely affiliated with its founder Hilal, were killed in Sunday’s clashes. They reported that civilians, including at least three women, were also killed, but exact numbers have not yet been ascertained. The area reportedly remained under siege yesterday – all roads in and out were controlled by the RSF. Large military reinforcements have arrived with “tanks, armoured vehicles, and 500 armed vehicles”.

The arrests seem to verify claims made by Hilal’s Council last month of a plan for the RSF to capture him and send him “alive or dead” to Khartoum.

Continue reading

♦ Al Bashir asks Russia to 'protect Sudan against US aggression'

November 27 – 2017 SOCHI / KHARTOUM Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir has asked Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to protect Sudan from “aggressive acts of the United States”. Sudanese opposition parties and rebel movements have rejected Al Bashir's remarks.

Al Bashir met with Putin in Sochi on Thursday. “We are thankful to Russia for its position on the international arena, including Russia’s position in the protection of Sudan. We are in need of protection from the aggressive acts of the United States,” said Al Bashir, whose visit was planned in July by Putin's invitation.

“America succeeded in dividing the Sudan into two countries and now is seeking to further divide it… we believe that what happened in our country is the result of American policy.”

Opposition party the Popular Congress Party considered Al Bashir's remarks “a new trend in the government policies that will cast its shadows on foreign policies and strategies”. In a press statement on Sunday, the party said that Al Bashir's comments came in response to the conditions and dictations made by the US administration during a visit to Sudan by US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan. Sullivan called for a comprehensive and definitive cessation of hostilities in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur.

In addition, the Sudanese leader also praised his earlier meeting with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. “We are currently launching a programme to modernise our armed forces and we agreed with the defence minister that Russia will contribute to this.”

More news from Radio Dabanga:

November 28 – 2017 SARAF UMRA / KHARTOUM Rapid Support Forces executing the weapons collection campaign in Saraf Umra, North Darfur, have arrested five people in the past…
 

November 28 – 2017 KHARTOUM Tear gas used in renewed clashes between residents of El Jireif East and riot police resulted in the wounding and fainting of 18 people on Monday…
 

November 26 – 2017 DONGOLA The community security police of Dongola in Sudan’s Northern state arrested 83 youths last week, most of them students, for ‘odd shaving and…
 

November 24 – 2017 KHARTOUM Sudanese women rights centres launched the Women's Initiative and Building Trust campaign to combat violence against women on…
 

November 24 – 2017 KHARTOUM The Sudanese security service confiscated copies of El Jareeda and El Tayyar newspapers from the printing house on Thursday early…
 

November 23 – 2017 KADUGLI The number of people detained following anti-mine demonstrations in Kologi in South Kordofan ten days ago has risen to four…
 

November 23 – 2017 OMDURMAN The family of Darfuri student leader Nasreldin Mukhtar have called for him to be released immediately, or brought to a fair trial…
 

November 23 – 2017 PORT SUDAN The Children’s Hospital in Port Sudan as well as El Tahadom rural hospital in Red Sea state have seen an influx of cases of dysentery…
 

November 22 – 2017 KHARTOUM The Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed the high prevalence in all states of Sudan of the Plasmodium vivax parasite which causes malaria…
 

November 22 – 2017 KHARTOUM A number of major currency dealers have reportedly been arrested in Sudan, and others have fled abroad, in a second day of tough government…
 

November 22 – 2017 CAIRO Economists and academics have strongly criticised the Sudanese government's tough measures to counter the collapse of the Sudanese Pound…