The separation of the Sudan takes a dangerous twist

July 9 will mark the official beginning of North and South Sudan as separate countries.   July 9 is also the last day for UN peace-keeping troops to be in Sudan.  Those UN troops were the only bulwark against Islamic expansion via President Bashir of the then unified Sudan and his dreaded Janjaweed shock-jihadists.  Without the UN there, watch for immediate and aggressive attacks from Bashir and his jihadists.

We may, one day look on July 9 as the day Islam conquered another country in North Africa.


From IOL News May 29

Sudan orders UN out of restive south

Juba - Sudan has ordered the official termination of the UN's north-south peacekeeping mission on July 9, the date the south will declare full independence, Khartoum’s official news agency said.

“Sudan has officially notified the United Nations of the end of the term of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on July 9,” Suna said in a statement late on Saturday.

Violence in the contested border region of Abyei following the occupation on May 21 by Khartoum’s troops and tanks have raised fears the two sides could tip back into civil war.

Heavy fighting has forced thousands of people to flee southwards.

No reports of thousands fleeing northward yet.

Khartoum has received international condemnation for the taking of Abyei, saying that it violated the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the two sides to end two decades of civil war.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti sent a message to thank UN chief Ban Ki-moon, noting that Sudan has shown “the utmost cooperation, transparency and commitment” to the CPA, the deal that set up the UN force.

UNMIS includes over 10,000 people, most of whom are troops, as well as almost 500 military observers monitoring the peace agreement, and over 1,000 civilian staff.

Although UNMIS headquarters are in Khartoum, most staff are based in the south, which voted overwhelmingly to split from the north in a January referendum.

A separate joint UN-African Union force (UNAMID) operates in the north’s war-torn western Darfur region.