Sudan turned over a new page in its history on Saturday with the swearing in of a former rebel leader as vice president under a power-sharing deal ending 21 years of civil war.
John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, took the oath as first vice president in the capital of Khartoum under the provisions of a peace agreement signed January in Kenya.
President Omar al-Bashir signed a transitional constitution before taking the oath as his country's leader. Ali Othman Taha, formerly al-Bashir's first deputy, was sworn in as second vice president.
Sudan is to form a new government within the next month. Under the power sharing arrangement the current government is to take 52 percent of Cabinet portfolios, the former rebel SPLM gets 28 percent, while the remaining 20 will go to other opposition groups.
Speaking at the Presidential Palace following the swearing in, Garang reiterated calls for his people to work for national unity.
He urged Sudanese to work together to ensure that "peace prevails throughout Sudan," saying that January's peace agreement would be inadequate as long as peace did not prevail in the western region of Darfur or in the country's east.
Garang, who became leader of the regional government for the south under January's accord, said he intended to work for the entire country, urging his compatriots to ensure that religion, ethnicity and politics do not stand in the way of Sudan's development.
He described the massive and jubilant turnout of Sudanese in the streets of the capital to welcome him yesterday as "a true referendum on the desire of the Sudanese for change and real democratization."
He also called for "a revolution against hunger" through working for the agricultural and industrial development of the country.
Al-Bashir likewise urged Sudanese to strive for national unity, saying that one of his most important tasks as president was to "implement the peace agreement and achieve voluntary unity in six years."
His comments referred to a provision of the peace agreement under which Sudanese are to go to the polls to indicate whether they want to divide the country or maintain its current of responsible freedom that will not be constrained by exceptional laws.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, one of several foreign dignitaries at the ceremony, said it was "a day of great hope for the Sudanese people, who have suffered so long."
However, he also sounded a cautionary note, warning that "unity is as yet incomplete and precarious, but it is immensely precious."
He urged the new government to make solving the problems in Darfur and east Sudan its top priority. "The peace process between north and south must be made irreversible, which it not be unless it takes root in the east and in the west as well," he said.
On the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Annan said that although it has been partially addressed, efforts must continue to ensure a comprehensive solution capable of ending the suffering and conflict.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS