Sudan yesterday marked 50 years of independence, a turbulent half-century of civil wars, humanitarian suffering, frequent dictatorship and a long search for a way to grow as Africa's biggest nation.
The huge state stretching from Egypt's southern border deep into the heart of black Africa was among the first on the continent to gain independence, on Jan. 1, 1956. But political instability kept it lagging behind others when their turn came.
After 58 years of joint Anglo-Egyptian colonial rule, Sudan has known four decades of totalitarian power and just 10 years of democratic rule made vulnerable by economic hardship, labor unrest and partisan squabbling.
Today, it is under military rule, but the year has seen an end to Africa's longest civil war, with hopes that peace talks in Nigeria could also end a bloody conflict in the western region of Darfur.
At a ceremony on the banks of the Blue Nile late on Saturday, President Omar al-Beshir vowed to ensure Sudan's continued unity by implementing the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) that ended 21 years of war between north and south.
"We are determined to fully implement the CPA and to carry out development projects in all regions of the country during the interim period so that unity will be attractive to both southerners and northerners," Beshir said.
Last year's peace agreement between north and south provides for a six-year period of interim rule headed by a national unity government, after which the south will vote in a referendum on self-determination.
A Philippine boat convoy bearing supplies for Filipino fishers yesterday said that it was headed back to port, ditching plans to sail to a reef off the Southeast Asian country after one of their boats was “constantly shadowed” by a Chinese vessel. The Atin Ito (“This Is Ours”) coalition convoy on Wednesday set sail to distribute fuel and food to fishers and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea. “They will now proceed to the Subic fish port to mark the end of their successful mission,” the group said in a statement. A Philippine Coast Guard vessel escorting the convoy was
China’s military yesterday showed off its machine-gun equipped robot battle “dogs” at the start of its biggest ever drills with Cambodian forces. More than 2,000 troops, including 760 Chinese military personnel, are taking part in the drills at a remote training center in central Kampong Chhnang Province and at sea off Preah Sihanouk Province. The 15-day exercise, dubbed Golden Dragon, also involves 14 warships — three from China — two helicopters and 69 armored vehicles and tanks, and includes live-fire, anti-terrorism and humanitarian rescue drills. The hardware on show included the so-called “robodogs” — remote-controlled four-legged robots with automatic rifles mounted on their
DISPUTED WATERS: The Philippines accused China of building an artificial island on Sabina Shoal, while Beijing said Manila was trying to mislead the global community The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is committed to sustaining a presence in a disputed area of the South China Sea to ensure Beijing does not carry out reclamation activities at Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Reef), its spokesperson said yesterday. The PCG on Saturday said it had deployed a ship to Sabina Shoal, where it accused China of building an artificial island, amid an escalating maritime row, adding two other vessels were in rotational deployment in the area. Since the ship’s deployment in the middle of last month, the PCG said it had discovered piles of dead and crushed coral that had been dumped
STREET WATCH: Residents watched over barricades blocking roads and flew white flags to show that they intended to keep an eye on their neighborhoods France yesterday deployed troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport, banned TikTok and imposed a state of emergency after three nights of clashes that have left four dead and hundreds wounded. Pro-independence, largely indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on its Pacific archipelago have spiraled into the deadliest violence since the 1980s, with a police officer among several killed by gunfire. On roads, the torched detritus amassed over four days of unrest was scattered amid fist-size hunks of rock and cement that appeared to have been flung during riots. Armored vehicles roved the city’s palm-lined boulevards, usually