Facebook Connected Her To A Tattooed Soldier In Iraq. Or So She Thought.

Akinola Bolaji, 35, in Lagos, Nigeria, said he has posed on Facebook as an American fisherman named Robert. Image: The New York Times.

BY JACK NICAS

FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA. (THE NEW YORK TIMES) — On a Monday afternoon in June 2017, Renee Holland was draped in an American flag at Philadelphia International Airport, waiting for a soldier she had befriended on Facebook.

The married 56-year-old had driven two hours from Delaware to pick him up. Their blossoming online friendship had prompted her to send him a care package and thousands of dollars in gift cards. She also wired him $5,000 for plane tickets to return home.

Now she was looking for a buff, tattooed man in uniform, just like in his Facebook photos. But his flight was not on the airport arrivals board. Then a ticket agent told her the flight didn’t exist.

From there, Ms. Holland said, it was a daze. She walked to her car, with “Welcome Home” written on the windows, and sobbed. She had spent much of her family’s savings on the phantom soldier. “There’s no way I can go home and tell my husband,” she remembered telling herself. She drove to a strip mall, bought sleeping pills and vodka, and downed them.

The man in the Facebook pictures had no idea who Ms. Holland was. His real identity was Sgt. Daniel Anonsen of the Marine Corps, and he had joined the social network a decade earlier to keep in touch with friends and family in Maryland. Now he was contending with dozens of Facebook impostor accounts using stolen photos of him at the gym, at his brother’s wedding and in Afghanistan.

“For every one that I deleted, there was 10 more that were popping up,” he said. “It turns my stomach.”

Ms. Holland and Mr. Anonsen represent two sides of a fraud that has flourished on Facebook and Instagram, where scammers impersonate real American service members to cheat vulnerable and lonely women out of their money. The deception has entangled the United States military, defrauded thousands of victims and smeared the reputations of soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines. It has also sometimes led to tragedy.

The scheme stands out for its audacity. While fraud has proliferated on Facebook for years, those running the military romance scams are taking on not only one of the world’s most influential companies, but also the most powerful military — and succeeding. Many scammers operate from their phones in Nigeria and other African nations, working several victims at the same time. In interviews in Nigeria, six men told The New York Times that the love hoaxes were lucrative and low risk.

© Provided by The New York Times Company Messages between Maria and “Jacob Barrett.” The texts have been altered to redact identifying information.
“Definitely there is always conscience,” said Akinola Bolaji, 35, who has conned people online since he was 15, including by posing on Facebook as an American fisherman named Robert. “But poverty will not make you feel the pain.”

Facebook has long had a mission to “connect the world.” But in the process, it has created a global gathering place where the crooks outnumber the cops.

For digital criminals, Facebook has become a one-stop shop. It has plenty of photos of American service members. Creating an impostor account can be easy. Facebook groups for single women and widows are full of targets. Scammers can message hundreds of potential victims. And they congregate in their own Facebook groups to sell fake accounts, Photoshopped images and scripts for pulling off the cons.

“There are so many people out there that are lonely, newly divorced, maybe widowed,” said Kathy Waters, head of a group called Advocating Against Romance Scams. “Everybody wants somebody to love and to listen to them and hear them. And these scammers know the right words to say.”

Facebook said it requires people to use their real identities on its sites. To eliminate impostor accounts, it has invested in technology and more human reviewers. The company works with the authorities to prosecute scammers. Billions of fake Facebook accounts have been blocked over the past year, the company said, though its estimate for the number of active fakes has steadily risen to about 120 million. It declined to disclose a figure for Instagram.

“That job is not finished and we are committed to sharing our progress,” Facebook said in a statement.

Kim Joiner, a deputy assistant to the secretary of defense who oversees the military’s social media accounts, said her team works with Facebook to remove impostors and was pleased with the company’s response. “I’m absolutely satisfied,” she said.

When shown that searches by The Times for three top American generals on Facebook and Instagram had yielded more than 120 impersonators, Ms. Joiner said it was “disturbing.” She said she did not know why the fakes were not eradicated.

“I mean, the numbers are astounding,” she said.

‘My wife’

To her friends and family, Ms. Holland was known as trusting and impulsive. Born in Philadelphia, she had spent time in Arizona and Missouri, working as a gardener and in an auto shop. She met her fifth husband, Mark Holland, when she offered him a ride off the side of the road.

In 2001, she moved to Delaware to care for her sick mother. When her mother died in September 2016, Ms. Holland found herself depressed and with free time. She noticed her sister glued to her smartphone, scrolling through Facebook. So she bought a smartphone, too, and created a Facebook profile.

A few weeks later, Ms. Holland got a Facebook message from a stranger. The profile showed a man in uniform named Michael Chris. He told her he disarmed bombs in Iraq.

Ms. Holland said she initially felt uneasy, but the conversation flowed. Mr. Chris told her about life at war. She made him laugh.

“He kept saying, ‘You’re really funny. And you make it easier for me just to know that somebody is at home that I can talk to,” she said. “How cool is this that I could really make somebody feel better?”

Over several months, their relationship deepened. Ms. Holland said she felt motherly. Mr. Chris began calling her “my wife.”

What Ms. Holland did not know was that the man in Mr. Chris’s photos was actually Mr. Anonsen — and that his images were all over the internet.

Mr. Anonsen grew up in suburban Maryland, about two hours from Ms. Holland’s Delaware home. The oldest of four boys, he said he had “wanted to be in the military since the day I could remember.” After graduating high school in 2006, he joined the Marines.

In 2010, while browsing Facebook, he discovered hundreds of unsolicited messages from women he did not know. Many said they loved him. They asked why, after months of correspondence, he was not responding. They implored him to write back.

Confused, Mr. Anonsen searched for his name on Facebook and found dozens of impostor accounts. The problem quickly mushroomed. The women who thought he had duped them harassed his parents online. A new real-life girlfriend grew suspicious.

“She started questioning everything about what I was doing,” said Mr. Anonsen, now 31. “It actually ended our relationship.”

Mostly searching variations of his name, The Times found 65 profiles on Facebook and Instagram that used Mr. Anonsen’s photos. When The Times reported the fakes to the sites, 24 were removed over more than six months.

Many more accounts have used Mr. Anonsen’s photos with different names. One used the name Michael Chris — and began messaging Ms. Holland in late 2016.

Several months into their online chats, Mr. Chris asked Ms. Holland for money. She bought him iTunes gift cards so, he said, he could buy more minutes on his cellphone. She sent money for beer for his birthday. And she paid for medicine for what he said was a sick daughter, Annabelle, in California.

In June 2017, she wired $5,000 for Mr. Chris and a friend to fly to Philadelphia from Iraq. She sneaked the money from a pile of cash she and her husband hid in their bedroom, which represented their life savings. Mr. Chris promised to pay her back when he got there. He never arrived.

That was when Ms. Holland took the sleeping pills and vodka. Days later, she awoke in a hospital bed. “You open your eyes, and the person you didn’t want to face the most is sitting next to you,” she said. “Mark.”

Mr. Holland knew about his wife’s Facebook friend. An Army Airborne veteran himself, with tours in Honduras and South Korea, he once helped Ms. Holland prepare a care package of snacks, underwear and foot powder for Mr. Chris. (The package was returned.) Now he said he realized his wife’s relationship with this man had gone further than he understood.

“I had a lot of anger,” Mr. Holland, 53, said in an interview last year. “But I also had a little bit of compassion because I knew how bad she felt.”

When Ms. Holland returned home from the hospital, her relationship with her husband and her then 82-year-old father, whom she was caring for, was strained. One person kept talking to her: Mr. Chris.

“He wanted to make it up to me,” she said. “He was going to sit there, look my husband in the eye and tell him how sorry he was and pay him back.”

Ms. Holland said she had been convinced that it was a scam. But Mr. Chris swore to her that he had been delayed by a military operation. She received an email from someone claiming to be Gen. Stephen Townsend of the Army, confirming the story. There were soon new photos of Mr. Chris injured in war, documents showing he was due big insurance payments and promises she would be reimbursed for more than she had lost.

She just needed to get him home.

Twice more, Ms. Holland sent money for airfare, partly with credit cards, without her husband’s knowledge. Mr. Chris never showed.

The Hollands lost $26,000 to $30,000. To start afresh, they moved to Fort Pierce last year.

But the strains remained. Mr. Holland was arrested on domestic violence charges in August 2018, according to a police report. Ms. Holland dropped the charges. She said in an interview last year that there had been another incident in 2017.

On Dec. 23, 2018, Mr. Holland shot and killed Ms. Holland and her father at their new home. Mr. Holland then turned the gun on himself.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said Mr. Holland left no indication of motive.

Out of their hands

By the end of 2017, Mr. Anonsen had quit Facebook and Instagram in frustration.

He estimated that he had reported roughly 200 impostor accounts to Facebook. The company removed some, but said many didn’t violate its rules. When he sent messages to Facebook pleading for help, he received automated responses.

Mr. Anonsen told his platoon commanders about the issue, then his battalion’s intelligence officers. All said it was out of their hands.

“I thought military intelligence would be able to type a couple of zeros and ones and it would all go away, but it’s not that simple,” said Mr. Anonsen, who left the military last year and now works on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico.

His experience reflects the futility of stopping military romance scams: No one appears to be able to help.

“I don’t know what else we can be doing,” said Ms. Joiner, the Defense Department official. She called Facebook impostors “the new norm” and said the Pentagon combats them with education and reporting fake accounts to Facebook.

On Facebook and Instagram, The Times recently found more than 120 accounts impersonating three of the military’s highest-ranking generals. One Instagram account posing as Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had posted a photo of a child in a hospital bed, asking for donations to Nigeria via Western Union.

Ms. Joiner said when the Pentagon reported fakes, Facebook took them down. Yet when The Times reported 46 of the accounts to Instagram, the site responded within 24 hours that none violated its rules, without explaining why.

The Times later provided the list of impostors to the Pentagon. Four months later, 25 accounts were still active.

“I just don’t know how to influence it more than we are,” Ms. Joiner said.

The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, which investigates crimes involving Army personnel, said it fields calls from hundreds of victims of romance scams a month. But it said its investigators cannot look into those reports because the perpetrators and victims are civilians.

“Our jurisdiction stops there,” said Chris Grey, a spokesman for the division. He said they distribute public warnings and urge service members to protect their identities.

There are no exact figures on how many service members and civilians have been affected. The F.B.I. said it received nearly 18,500 complaints from victims of romance or similar internet scams last year, with reported losses exceeding $362 million, up 71 percent from 2017.

The F.B.I. investigates a fraction of those reports, said James Barnacle, head of the F.B.I.’s money laundering unit. Many victims lose a few thousand dollars, and “it’s really hard for an agency like the F.B.I. to work something that low, just because there’s so many cases that come in our door,” he said.

Facebook said it constantly removes impostor accounts with the help of software, human reviewers and user reports. Its software also scans for scammers and locks accounts until owners can provide proof of identity. It has a video warning people of scams.

The hoax has created a brigade of victims’ advocates. One is the group Advocating Against Romance Scams, run by Ms. Waters, a health care worker from Fresno, Calif., and Bryan Denny, a retired Army colonel.

Since 2017, they have met five times with Facebook and with 11 separate congressional offices to lobby for a law to hold social media sites responsible for such scams.

Since last year, Facebook has used Colonel Denny in tests of a new system to quickly remove impostors of commonly impersonated service members. He provided Facebook with 51 photos that his imitators used. Months later, he said, the fakes still showed up.

In an email to Ms. Waters and Colonel Denny last year, a Facebook spokeswoman wrote, “I understand what it must look like to you guys. I hope we can redeem ourselves.”

Finding Michael Chris

Ms. Holland left behind a trail of clues about Mr. Chris.

It started with receipts from Western Union and MoneyGram, which wire money around the world. Those revealed that Ms. Holland had not sent money directly to Mr. Chris, but to people in places like New Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Mr. Chris had told Ms. Holland they were “Army agents.” In reality, the F.B.I.’s Mr. Barnacle said, they were probably “money mules” who laundered payments to confuse victims and the authorities. They could be accomplices or victims themselves.

One of the names on Ms. Holland’s receipts was Maria, a Greek immigrant in New Jersey. She spoke on the condition of anonymity to hide her involvement in the scam from her adult children.

Maria, 57, said she joined Facebook after her husband died in 2010. She quickly heard from men in uniform and developed a relationship with a supposed Army sergeant named Jacob. He showered her with compliments, called her “my Queen” — and then requested money.

Over two years, Maria sent roughly $15,000. She pawned her jewelry and stopped paying her mortgage. When her bank blocked her from sending more, her scammer persuaded her to forward a payment from someone else: Ms. Holland.

“Am tired disappointed depressed I lost everything I don’t know what ales to do,” Maria wrote to her scammer in messages reviewed by The Times.

“Just give me your trust one more time,” the person wrote.

“Okay one time,” Maria responded.

In 2017, the bank foreclosed on Maria’s house. To save her home, she increased her working hours at a factory to seven days a week.

“I don’t know how humans can do that to another human,” she said.

The ‘Yahoo Boys’

All of the clues ultimately pointed to Nigeria.

Maria’s receipts showed her payments went to someone in Nigeria named Victor Ohaja. That name had also appeared in Ms. Holland’s receipts. In her final payment to Mr. Chris, $350 went to Mr. Ohaja. His connection to the person purporting to be Mr. Chris was unclear.

According to the Internet Protocol address for the person messaging as Mr. Chris — a kind of online identification number that can provide a rough location — he appeared to be in Lagos, Nigeria.

The Times messaged the person and presented its reporting about his scam. “Nice job,” he responded. “No one is perfect.” Then he logged off and has not returned.

Nigeria has become synonymous with online scams, fairly or not. Easy internet access, poverty and English are widespread. And those who learn the trade pass it to others, said the men who talked to The Times about the internet schemes.

They called their victims “clients” and themselves “Yahoo Boys,” a nod to the online chat service Yahoo Messenger where love scams gained traction nearly 20 years ago. Now they ply their trade on Facebook and Instagram, they said, because that’s where the people are.

Three Nigerian men, age 25, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they conned people on Facebook to pay for their education at Lagos State University.

They said they previously made $28 to $42 a month in administrative jobs or pressing shirts. With love hoaxes, the money was inconsistent but more plentiful. One estimated he made about $14,000 in two years; another took in $28,000 in three years.

Nigerian authorities have publicized raids on Yahoo Boys, but the scammers said they do not worry. Some said they paid bribes to evade arrest.

Facebook was becoming tougher on their profession, they added, but Instagram was easy to elude. If their accounts were blocked, they bought new ones; a six-month-old profile cost about $14, one said.

Adedeji Oyenuga, a senior lecturer in criminology at Lagos State University who has studied Yahoo Boys, said Nigeria’s older generation largely rejects the scammers, but many youths embrace them. “Girls would rather date a Yahoo Boy,” he said.

The trail of Ms. Holland’s and Maria’s money led finally to Owerri, a city of 1.2 million people in southern Nigeria.

During his cash pickups at banks in Owerri, Mr. Ohaja left four nearby addresses and three phone numbers, according to an official at a money-transfer company, who declined to be identified because the information was confidential.

There was another name. Maria’s scammer had once instructed her to send a package to an Orji James Ogbonnaya at a different Owerri address. Her scammer also sent a phone number for Mr. Ogbonnaya that was the same number that Mr. Ohaja left during one of his pickups.

In Owerri, the addresses led to dead ends: a convenience store, an electronics shop, a DHL location and an office building.

“There’s no name like that here,” said Peace Benjamin, the building’s security officer. “It’s a trick. Don’t you understand?”

When The Times tried the phone numbers, one left by Mr. Ohaja was disconnected; another went to a lecturer at the local university, who expressed confusion. The number linked to both Mr. Ohaja and Mr. Ogbonnaya was answered by a deep-voiced man who identified himself as Mr. Ogbonnaya. He hung up when he learned The Times was calling.

“Please. I don’t know you. I don’t have any information related to what you’re looking for,” he texted later. “Don’t bug me. I really need some peace.”

That night, Mr. Ogbonnaya called back. He denied any connection to Yahoo Boys. “I’m just a delivery man,” he said.

Last month, the same man answered the phone again.

“I don’t know anybody like that,” he said, when referred to as Mr. Ogbonnaya. “I’m Chris. You can call me Chris.”

Jack Nicas reported from Fort Pierce, Fla.; Washington, D.C.; New York; Seattle; San Francisco; Belton, Mo.; and Lagos and Owerri, Nigeria. Bukky Omoseni and Mayowa Tijani contributed reporting from Lagos. Tony Iyare contributed reporting from Owerri. Susan Beachy contributed research.

Jack Nicas reported from Fort Pierce, Fla.; Washington D.C.; New York; Seattle; San Francisco; Belton, Mo.; and Lagos and Owerri, Nigeria. Bukky Omoseni and Mayowa Tijani contributed reporting from Lagos. Tony Iyare contributed reporting from Owerri. Susan Beachy contributed research.

Descendants Of 2 African Slaves To Spend Night Inside Reconstructed North Carolina Slave Cabin

Inside a reconstructed slave cabin at Somerset Place State Historic Site. (North Carolina Historic Sites)

BY LUCIA I. SUAREZ

CRESSWELL, NC (FOX NEWS) -- The descendants of two Africans who were enslaved at a North Carolina plantation will spend the night in a reconstructed slave cabin near the same sites where they once lived.

Mina Wilson, 57, of El Cerrito, Calif., is among the 40 descendants of two slaves named Kofi and Sally who are gathering Saturday for a reunion at the Somerset Place State Historic Site in Creswell, N.C. She is among the six family members staying overnight on the grounds.

“I think it will be a deeply spiritual experience,” she told the Associated Press. “I think we’ll be talking and communicating with the energy there.”

It will be the first time descendants of slaves will have spent the night at the former plantation.

The two slaves were among the 80 slaves brought to Creswell from the coast of west Africa in 1786 to clear out swamps for the plantation. Karen Hayes, the site manager for Somerset, told the AP that these dozens of slaves spent two years doing backbreaking work to dig a 6-mile, 20-foot wide transportation canal connecting Lake Phelps to the Scuppernong River.

"They were dealing with mosquitos, snakes and heat exhaustion," Hayes said. "And they didn't know why they were here and why they were captured."

In an 1899 book, a former Somerset overseer said that the slaves would drown themselves to escape bondage and some died from the work. In an indication of mortality among the slaves, just 15 of the original 80 are identified on the 1803 slave inventory, according to genealogical data gathered by Dorothy Redford, former executive director of the site.

By 1865, Somerset had expanded to include thousands of acres of crops, along with sawmills. The number of slaves working the property grew to more than 200.

The main house, built about 1830, still stands while the original slave cabins did not survive. The two there today were built at the same location as the original ones, to the same size and using the same materials, Hayes said.

Wilson and her family members are part of a larger group of 18 people staying on the grounds Saturday night as part of the Slave Dwelling Project.

Joseph McGill, who began the project to emphasize the history of slaves and has stayed overnight in slave dwellings about 200 times, told the AP it’s “totally different” to have direct descendants participating.

“It’s making that connection,” he said. “It’s rare that African Americans can make those connections to the place where their ancestors were enslaved.… They still have to get over the anxiety of visiting the place where their ancestors were enslaved.”

Wilson said she is part of the sixth generation of Kofi and Sally and that her story gives her “a different level of appreciation for the journey my parents and their parents took, and the vision they had to lead themselves from that to where I sit.”

“I have an immense gratitude and appreciation for that,” she added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

In this undated photo made available by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural resources, a list from Nov. 10, 1803 shows the slaves at Somerset Plantation in NC., among them the names of Sally and Kofi (listed as Cuff). (North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources)

Hundreds Detained At Latest Political Protest In Moscow

Police officers detain a protestor during an unsanctioned rally in the center of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Police in Moscow have detained a leading opposition figure as she was heading to an unauthorized rally and march protesting the exclusion of independent and opposition candidates from the Moscow city council election. Lyubov Sobol, who is one of the aspirants rejected from the ballot, has been detained in central Moscow and taken away in a police van. Police have detained dozens of other demonstrators. (AP Photo/ Pavel Golovkin)

BY JIM HEINTZ

MOSCOW (AP) — Protesters once again took to the streets of Moscow Saturday, decrying the exclusion of some independent and opposition candidates for upcoming city council election that has shaken up Russia’s political scene.

Moscow police detained more than 300 protesters Saturday, a monitoring group said, a week after authorities arrested nearly 1,400 people at a similar protest.

Lyubov Sobol, one of the excluded candidates and a driving figure of the current wave of protests, was among those detained. She was grabbed by police in central Moscow and hustled into a police van, loudly demanding to know why she was being held.

Demonstrators were aiming to hold a march along the Boulevard Ring, which skirts central Moscow and is a popular locale for people to walk around, despite repeated warnings that police would take active measures against a protest.

Helmeted riot police lined the route and started seizing demonstrators from a scattered crowd on Pushkin Square and pushing them back from another square further along the route.

Some of the detentions were harsh, including one young bicyclist who was beaten with truncheons as he lay on the pavement still straddling his bike. Some other detainees appeared nonchalant, smirking or checking their phones as police led them to buses.

The OVD-Info group, which monitors arrests, said at least 311 people had been detained.

Once a local, low-key affair, the September vote for Moscow’s city council is now emblematic of the division within Russian politics and the Kremlin’s ongoing struggles with how to deal with strongly opposing views in its sprawling capital of 12.6 million people.

In the past month, the issue has provoked a surprisingly large outcry for a local election. On July 20, about 20,000 people turned out for a demonstration that was the largest in the city in several years.

On Saturday, about 2,000 people attended another rally in St. Petersburg supporting the Moscow protests, the local news site Fontanka.ru reported.

The Moscow city council, which has 45 seats, is responsible for a large municipal budget and is now controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year-term, are up for grabs in the Sept. 8 vote.

Also Saturday, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it was opening a criminal case against the Foundation for Fighting Corruption, headed by the Kremlin’s most prominent foe Alexei Navalny. The committee said the organization was suspected of receiving funding that had been criminally acquired.

Navalny is serving 30 days in jail for calling last week’s protest. The head of the foundation also is jail in connection with that protest.

___

This story has been corrected to show there were 2,000 protesters at the St. Petersburg crowd, not 3,000.

UN: Monthly Afghan Casualties Highest Since 2017

In this Thursday, May 30, 2019 photo, members of Farmanullah Shirzad's family who fled their village in Nangarhar province in late April as Islamic State group fighters swept through the area, are seen at their temporary home in the city of Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State group has lost its caliphate in Syria and Iraq, but in the forbidding mountains of northeastern Afghanistan the group is expanding its footprint, recruiting new fighters and plotting attacks in the United States and other Western countries. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AP) — July saw the highest number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in a single month since 2017, the U.N. mission said Saturday.

Its preliminary findings indicate more than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded, mainly due to a spike in casualties from insurgent attacks. It did not provide a breakdown of deaths and injuries, but said the overall number was the highest for a single month since May 2017.

It said more than 50% of casualties were caused by bombings. A roadside bomb tore through a bus in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people. A complex attack on the office of the Afghan president’s running mate last weekend killed at least 20 people. The target of the attack, former intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh, escaped unharmed. No one has claimed either attack.

The Taliban, who effectively control half the country, carry out daily attacks on security forces and government targets that often kill and wound civilians. An Islamic State affiliate also operates in Afghanistan, targeting security forces as well as minority Shiites.

A roadside bomb in the western Herat province killed a district chief and another individual on Saturday, according to police spokesman Farzad Farotan, who said five others were wounded in the blast. In the southern city of Kandahar, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle wounded at least eight civilians, according to provincial police spokesman Jamal Naser Barekzai. No one claimed either attack.

The Taliban have kept up a steady tempo of attacks despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States in recent months. The two sides appear to be closing in on an agreement in which U.S. forces would withdraw in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan would not become a haven for terrorist groups.

“As peace efforts have intensified in recent weeks so too has the conflict on the ground,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the U.N. envoy to Afghanistan. “I call on all parties not to ramp up military operations thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace.”

On Tuesday, the U.N. released a report saying most civilian deaths in the first half of the year were caused by Afghan forces and their international allies. The report apparently referred to civilians killed during Afghan and U.S. military operations against insurgents. The Afghan government disputed the results and methodology of Tuesday’s report, saying it makes every effort to prevent civilian casualties.

Doctors Say Four Protesters Shot Dead At Rally — Sudan Unrest

People demonstrate against the killing of protesting children, who were shot dead when security forces broke up a student protest in Khartoum, Sudan August 1, 2019. (Reuters)

BY TRT WORLD

Thursday's marches against student killings in Sudan come as the military council and the pro-democracy movement are set to resume talks later in the day to finalise a power-sharing agreement.


Thursday, August 1

Four more protesters shot dead

Four protesters were shot dead on Thursday in Omdurman, the twin city of Sudan's capital Khartoum, a doctors committee linked to protesters said, as thousands demonstrated across the country.

"Four protesters have been killed by live ammunition and several wounded at a rally in Omdurman," the doctors committee said in a statement.

Activists say mass protests taking place in capital

Sudanese pro-democracy activists have posted videos on social media showing thousands of people taking to the streets in the capital, Khartoum on Thursday.

The Sudanese Professionals Association says the rallies are demanding justice for the killing of at least six people, including four students, earlier this week during student protests in a central province.

"Where is the investigation committee?" chanted protesters as they marched in the Burri and Bahri districts, sites of regular protests since they first erupted in December against the regime of now ousted president Omar al Bashir.

Many carried Sudanese flags and photographs of some of those people killed in the months-long protest campaign.

Protesters also rallied in Al Obeid, the Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan, in White Nile state and in the central city of Madani, witnesses said.

Sudan military and opposition move closer in transition talks

Opposition leaders said on Thursday they had resolved major sticking points in talks with Sudan's military rulers, bringing them closer to a deal on forming a new transitional government.

"The agreement is really now just around the corner," Satea al Hajj, a leader in the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition of opposition groups, said in a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday.

Negotiations were set to restart later on Thursday, the spokesman for the military council said.

The opposition had demanded that members of the sovereign council should not be granted blanket immunity from prosecution for past crimes, but FFC leaders said on Thursday they had agreed that they could be granted only "procedural immunity"- meaning top officials could be tried with the permission of two-thirds of the legislative council.

The opposition leaders said both sides also agreed another key point, reaffirming that the parties included in the FFC would have 67 percent of the legislative council while the rest will be granted to other opposition and political groups.

Sudan's ruling military council did not immediately confirm the details of the agreements.

Security force at a bank killed protesting children - army

A top Sudanese army commander said a security force assigned to guard a bank in Al Obeid was responsible for killing protesting children in the city on Monday, the official SUNA news agency quoted him as saying on Thursday.

At least six people were killed at a rally in Al Obeid, 400km southwest of Khartoum, at least four of them children.

They were killed when security forces broke up a student protest in the city, opposition-linked doctors said.

The teenagers were rallying against fuel and bread shortages, residents said.

Wednesday, July 31

AU mediator urges trial for killers of school children

The African Union's mediator for Sudan called on Wednesday for a speedy trial for those responsible for killing school children at a protest in the city of Al Obeid.

The teenagers were rallying against fuel and bread shortages, residents said.

Mohamed Hassan Lebatt also called for the ruling military council and opposition coalition to sign a constitutional declaration they have been wrangling over for weeks.

A joint legal committee from both sides is due to meet later on Wednesday, where it is expected to complete its work on the document, he told a news conference.

A date will be set for signing the constitutional declaration after the meeting, he said, adding he hoped that would happen quickly.

Tuesday, July 30

Violence in Sudan

Thousands of Sudanese students joined protests across the country on Tuesday, condemning the violent dispersal of a demonstration the day before that left six people dead.

Security forces opened fire on a demonstration by teenage students in the city of Obeid, southwest of the capital Khartoum on Monday.

Protest leaders said security forces caused the deaths, while local authorities said they had begun an investigation. The military condemned the violence.

Talks with generals cancelled after new killings

Negotiators for Sudan's protest movement said they would not be holding planned talks with the country's ruling generals as they were visiting a town where five protesters were killed – four of whom were students.

"There will be no negotiations today as we are still in al Obeid," Taha Osman, a negotiator from the protest movement told AFP news agency by telephone from the town where Monday's killings took place.

Sudan military rulers denounce Al Obeid killings

The head of Sudan's ruling military council said there must be immediate accountability over the shootings in Al Obeid, according to state news agency SUNA.

"What happened in Al Obeid is a regrettable and upsetting matter and the killing of peaceful citizens is unacceptable and rejected and a crime that requires immediate and deterrent accountability," Abdel Fattah al Burhan was quoted as saying.

Monday, July 29

Five killed at a protest

Five protesters including four students were shot dead and several wounded at a rally in a town in central Sudan on Monday, a doctors committee linked to the protest movement said.

"Five martyrs succumbed to direct wounds from sniper bullets during a peaceful rally in Al Obeid," the committee said in a statement.

Sunday, July 28

Fresh talks on Tuesday

Talks between Sudanese protesters and ruling generals on remaining issues related to installing a transitional civilian administration are to resume Tuesday, a mediator and protest leader said.

African Union mediator Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt said on Sunday that the two sides have been invited for "final talks on the Constitutional Declaration".

Prominent protest leader Babiker Faisal also confirmed Tuesday's talks in Khartoum between the two sides, who signed an initial power sharing deal on July 17.

The statement came as Sudanese police fired tear gas on Sunday at scores of protesters demanding an independent probe into a deadly June raid on a Khartoum sit-in, despite an investigation identifying eight officers it said were involved.

Saturday, July 27

Preliminary talks held as part of ongoing peace efforts

Sudanese generals and protest leaders, who signed a power-sharing agreement, held preliminary talks with rebel groups in neighbouring South Sudan as part of ongoing peace efforts.

The meeting followed an agreement on Thursday between protest leaders and their rebel partners to end their differences over the accord signed with Sudan's military rulers earlier this month, vowing to work jointly for peace.

Arriving at the airport in the South Sudanese capital Juba earlier on Saturday, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the deputy chief of Sudan's ruling military council, told reporters he hoped the meeting would "restore peace" by focusing on "how we can implement the recent peace agreement we signed in Khartoum".

Sudan paramilitaries involved in deadly June 3 raid


The head of a Sudanese investigative committee said that 87 people were killed and 168 wounded on June 3 when a sit-in protest was violently broken up by security forces.

Fath al Rahman Saeed, the head of the committee, told a news conference that 17 of those killed were in the square occupied by protesters and 48 of the wounded were hit by bullets.

Some security forces fired at protesters and three officers violated orders by moving forces into the sit-in, he said, adding that an order was also issued to whip protesters.

Opposition medics have said 127 people were killed and 400 wounded in the dispersal, while the health ministry had put the death toll at 61.

Thursday, July 25

Protesters to march against political party allocation

Sudan's pro-democracy movement is calling for marches in the capital, Khartoum, and in other locations across the country.

This comes just hours after the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters, said they'd reached a deal to reconcile their differences with rebel groups that are also part of the movement.

Those rebel groups had rejected the final part of a power-sharing deal with Sudan's ruling generals, arguing it fails to meet their demands for peace.

The FDFC said the rebels had agreed that the transitional government should be responsible for achieving a peace deal.

Wednesday, July 24

Military general, officers arrested

Sudan's military said on Wednesday it had arrested a top general and several others over a foiled coup attempt announced earlier this month.

"At the top of the participants is General Hashim Abdel Mottalib, the head of joint chiefs of staff, and a number of officers from the National Intelligence and Security Service," the military said in a statement.

"Leaders from Islamic movements and the National Congress Party" of ousted leader Omar al-Bashir were also arrested, said the statement published by the official SUNA news agency.

Friday, July 19

Friday talks with army rulers postponed - protest leaders


Sudanese protest leaders said Friday talks with the country's army rulers have been postponed, just days after the two sides signed a power-sharing deal.

The delay in the signing of the second and possibly more contentious part of a power-sharing agreement with the country's military comes as the opposition says it needs more time to resolve differences among its members over the deal.

"The talks have been postponed," said prominent protest leader Omar al Digeir.

"We need more internal consultation to reach a united vision," he added, with no new date set for negotiations to resume.

The first part of the deal was signed earlier this week, marking a significant step forward amid simmering tensions between the protest movement and the country's military, which in April ousted longtime autocrat Omar al Bashir.

The two sides were expected to meet on Friday, negotiate and subsequently sign the so-called constitutional declaration that defines how much power each would have in the transitional period until elections are held.

Thursday, July 18

Thousands converge on Sudan square for 'martyrs' rally

Thousands of Sudanese demonstrators converged Thursday on a prominent square in Khartoum in a march to honour comrades killed in the months-long protest movement that has rocked the country.

Witnesses said men, women and school children waved Sudanese flags as they headed towards the Green Yard from different parts of the capital.

As they marched, the demonstrators shouted slogans that have been the rallying cries of the uprising that led to the April toppling of longtime dictator Omar al Bashir: "Civilian rule, civilian rule!" and "Freedom, peace, justice!"

The marches were held in response to calls from a key protest group.

"The rallies are a tribute to those honourable martyrs of the December revolution," the Sudanese Professionals Association said in a statement.

Riot police fired tear gas to disperse a rally at a central bus station in downtown Khartoum, witnesses said.

"Protesters who were dispersed are trying to mobilise again and continue with the rally. It's like a game of cat and mouse between them," a witness told AFP from the capital's Jackson bus station.

Wednesday, July 17

Power-sharing deal signed

Sudan's protesters and ruling generals on Wednesday inked a power-sharing deal, paving the way for a civilian administration, a key demand of demonstrators since president Omar al Bashir was deposed in April.

The two sides initialled a document called the "Political Declaration", after intense talks through the night over fine details of the agreement.

The deputy chief of the ruling military council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who initialled the deal on behalf of the generals, said the agreement was a "historic moment" for Sudan.

Tuesday, July 16

Protesters against 'absolute immunity' to army

Sudan's key protest group, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) is opposed to giving the military "absolute immunity" against prosecution for violence against demonstrators, a spokesman said, as the two sides held talks on a power-sharing deal.

"We refuse absolute immunity that the military rulers have asked for," Ismail al Taj, a spokesman for SPA told reporters in Khartoum.

His comments came just before the ruling generals and protest leaders sat down to fine-tune the landmark deal agreed earlier this month after mediation by African Union and Ethiopian mediators.

The deal, which is yet to be formally signed, aims to establish a transitional governing body to install a civilian administration for a period of just over three years.

Monday, July 15

Protests held over civilian's death

Scores of Sudanese demonstrators took to the streets in a Khartoum district on Monday night to protest against the killing of a civilian allegedly by paramilitaries the previous day.

Earlier Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat demonstrators as scores protested in downtown Khartoum against the killing of a civilian allegedly by paramilitaries the previous day.

Riot police beat several protesters and loaded them into trucks, while large numbers of police were deployed in the area. Witnesses said similar demonstrations took place in other parts of the capital.

On Sunday a civilian was shot dead in the town of El Souk southeast of Khartoum, as members of the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces allegedly fired at protesters that the paramilitaries leave the town, according to residents and doctors close to the protest movement.

Sunday, July 14

Meeting between protesters and military postponed

Sudan's pro-democracy movement postponed a scheduled meeting with the country's ruling generals for a second time on Sunday, saying "further consultations" were needed before they would sign a power-sharing deal with the military. Activists leaders said the meeting was pushed back to Tuesday.

Activists also said paramilitary forces had opened fire on demonstrators in a southeastern town, killing at least one protester and wounding seven others.

The military and the pro-democracy coalition had agreed earlier this month on a joint sovereign council that will rule for a little over three years while elections are organised.

Members of the military council and the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters, were supposed to meet on Sunday night to finalise and sign the agreement.

Saturday, July 13
Thousands mourn protesters killed in raid

Sudanese protesters lit candles and released balloons in Khartoum as thousands rallied across the country to mourn dozens killed last month in a brutal raid on a protest camp.

Crowds of protesters were violently dispersed by men in military fatigues in a pre-dawn raid on a sit-in outside army headquarters on June 3, killing dozens.

Saturday's commemorative rallies came as mediators said talks between generals and protest leaders to discuss the finer details of a recently agreed power-sharing accord had been postponed to Sunday, at the request of protest leaders.

Thursday, July 11

Ruling council foils military coup - state TV

Sudan's state-run TV says the country's ruling military council has foiled an attempted military coup.

Initial reports suggest that at least 16 officers have been arrested.

The development comes as the military council and protest movement leaders are in discussions on a power-sharing deal.

The military and a pro-democracy coalition agreed last week on a joint sovereign council that will rule for a little over three years while elections are organised.

Both sides say a diplomatic push by the US and its Arab allies was key to ending a weeks-long standoff that raised fears of all-out civil war.

Monday, July 8

Sudan military council to dissolve – army

Sudan's top general said the military council that assumed power after the ouster of President Omar al Bashir in April will be dissolved with the implementation of a power-sharing deal reached with protesters last week.

The military and a pro-democracy coalition agreed last week on a joint sovereign council that will rule for a little over three years while elections are organised.

General Abdel Fattah Burhan, head of the military council, said in televised comments late on Sunday that the army would return to its barracks after 21 months when the leadership of the council passes from a military representative to a civilian.

The council will include five civilians representing the protest movement and five military members. An 11th seat will go to a civilian chosen by both sides. The protesters will select a Cabinet of technocrats and a legislative council is to be formed after three months.

Burhan also insisted that the military council did not order the violent dispersal of the main protest camp last month, which killed scores of people and led to the collapse of talks.

"We trust that military council members had nothing to do with what happened in the sit-in dispersal," he said.

As part of the power-sharing agreement, the two sides agreed on an independent Sudanese investigation into the deadly crackdown, but the details have yet to be worked out.

Saturday, July 6

Sudan protest leaders cancel civil disobedience campaign

Sudan's protest movement on Saturday said it has cancelled a nationwide day of civil disobedience that was planned for later this month, after reaching a power-sharing agreement with ruling generals.

Prominent protest leaders Ahmed al Rabie and Khalid Omar confirmed to AFP that the civil disobedience campaign had been cancelled.

"It is to give room for the agreement" to be implemented, Rabie said.

The protest umbrella group on Saturday released a new programme of events on social media networks, which makes no mention of the July 14 civil disobedience campaign.

US welcomes Sudan deal

The United States on Saturday welcomed a provisional agreement forged by Sudan's ruling military council and a coalition of opposition and protest groups to share power for three years as an "important step forward."

The US State Department said in a statement that special envoy for Sudan Donald Booth will return to the region soon.

The agreement brokered by the African Union and Ethiopia Union, announced on Friday, is due to be finalised on Monday.

"We look forward to immediate resumption of access to the internet, establishment of the new legislature, accountability for the violent suppression of peaceful protests, and progress toward free and fair elections," the statement said.

Friday, July 5

Sudanese celebrate as deal is widely hailed

Crowds of jubilant Sudanese took to the streets of Khartoum on Friday to celebrate a landmark deal between protest leaders and the country's ruling generals aimed at turning the page on months of political unrest.

The power-sharing deal, reached in the early hours after two days of hard-won talks brokered by Ethiopian and African Union mediators, came after previous negotiations collapsed in May over who should lead the new body – a civilian or soldier.

The European Union on Friday hailed as a "breakthrough" a landmark deal between protest leaders and Sudan's ruling generals to bring months of unrest to a close.

"The agreement reached by the Transitional Military Council and the Forces for Freedom and Change in Sudan on a three-year civilian-led transition, as announced by the African Union, is a breakthrough," said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Turkey is pleased that the ongoing negotiations in Sudan have led to an agreement, the foreign ministry said.

"We are pleased that the negotiations between the Transitional Military Council and the Forces of Declaration of Freedom and Change in Sudan have led to an agreement," read the statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday he was encouraged by a power-sharing deal.

Guterres "encourages all stakeholders to ensure the timely, inclusive, and transparent implementation of the agreement and resolve any outstanding issues through dialogue," said a UN statement.

Power sharing agreement reached

Sudan's ruling generals and protest leaders reached an agreement on the disputed issue of a new governing body on Friday, in a breakthrough power-sharing accord aimed at ending the country's months-long political crisis.

"The two sides agreed on establishing a sovereign council with a rotating military and civilian (presidency) for a period of three years or little more," African Union mediator Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt told reporters.

"We want to reassure all political forces and armed movements and all those who took part in the change... that this agreement is all inclusive and does not exclude anyone," deputy chief of the ruling military council General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said in a statement.

The latest round of talks had resumed Wednesday after intense mediation by Ethiopian and African Union envoys, who had put forward a draft proposal to break the weeks-long deadlock.

Wednesday, July 3

Opposition open to discussion

Sudan’s military rulers and the main opposition alliance started talks in Khartoum on Wednesday over who should lead Sudan toward elections.
A Reuters journalist saw representatives of the two sides meet at a hotel in the capital.
Earlier, Sudan’s main opposition alliance said it was prepared for direct talks with the country’s military rulers over who should head a sovereign council to lead Sudan’s transition to democracy.

Talks between the two sides collapsed after members of the security services raided a sit-in protest camp outside the defence ministry on June 3.

Tuesday, July 2

Sudan protesters call for civil disobedience on July 14

Sudanese protest leaders called for a one-day nationwide "civil disobedience" campaign on July 14, days after they organised mass protests against the ruling generals that rocked the country.

The move, which aims to increase pressure on the ruling generals to hand power to a civilian administration, will be preceded by mass protests on July 13, the Alliance for Freedom and Change said in a statement.

UAE says dialogue important

It is important to continue dialogue in Sudan and avoid an escalation, a senior United Arab Emirates official said on Tuesday, after protests against the ruling military.

"Dialogue should continue without antagonism and towards an agreement on transition...It is necessary to avoid conflict and escalation," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter.

Monday, July 1

Death toll reaches 11

Sudanese activists said on Monday that at least 11 people countrywide had been killed in clashes with security forces during mass demonstrations demanding a transition to civilian rule.

Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of the capital, Khartoum, and other areas Sunday in the biggest protests since security forces cleared a sit-in last month.

Protesters blame generals for bloodshed at rally

Sudan's protest leaders blamed ruling generals for deadly new violence over the weekend at the first mass rallies since a June crackdown on demonstrators.

Nazim Sirraj, a prominent activist, said on Monday that three bodies were found next to a school in Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum.

Sirraj said the total death toll was 10, including one killed in the city of Atbara, a railway hub north of Khartoum and the birthplace of the December uprising that eventually led to Bashir's ouster.

Security forces deployed en masse in key Khartoum squares, firing tear gas in several places, including at protesters attempting to reach the capital's presidential palace.

Hundreds gather across Nile after deadly clashes

Hundreds of people gathered in the city of Omdurman across the River Nile from Khartoum to protest against the ruling military a day after fatal clashes between security services and protesters.

Members of the crowd said they came out after residents found the bodies of three young men riddled with bullets and dressed in civilian clothes close to the river early in the morning.

At least 600 people blocked off the main road leading to White Nile Bridge, which connects Omdurman to Sudan's capital, and set up barricades as riot police looked on.

Sunday, June 30

Seven killed in Sudan protests – state news agency

At least seven people were killed and 181 were wounded during a day of protests across Sudan, state news agency (SUNA) said late on Sunday, citing a health ministry official.

The protests on Sunday were the largest since a deadly raid by security forces on a protest camp outside the defence ministry three weeks ago.

At least five dead as thousands protest army rule

Five protesters were killed on Sunday during mass demonstrations that rocked the country as tens of thousands of people protested against the ruling generals, a doctors committee linked to the protest movement said.

"The death of four martyrs in the city of Omdurman on the road of our victorious revolution brings the number of martyrs to five" in Sunday's protests, the committee said, after it reported earlier that a protester was shot dead in the town of Atbara.

"There are several seriously wounded by the bullets of the military council militias in hospitals of the capital and the provinces," it added.

June 30th, 2019

Four (4) civilians were killed during today’s protests in Omdurman city, raising the death toll to 5 civilians till now.

Thursday, June 27

Tear gas fired as students protest near palace

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse dozens of students demonstrating against the ruling military council at a financial academy in the heart of Sudan's capital Khartoum on Thursday, witnesses said.

Dozens of lawyers also gathered outside the main courthouse complex in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, calling for civilian rule and for people to join mass demonstrations planned for Sunday.

They chanted: "Freedom, peace, and justice. Civilian (rule) is the people's choice."

UN puts brakes on peacekeepers' pullout from Darfur


The UN Security Council voted unanimously to put the brakes on the withdrawal of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur region as the country deals with a political crisis.

The council approved a resolution to extend the current mandate of the force, known as UNAMID, for four months until October 31.

It asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide an update in 60 days on the situation on the ground — and it asks the UN and AU to make recommendations by September 30 on what the council should do about continuing the withdrawal.

Monday, June 24

Sudan must allow monitors access - UN rights chief

Sudanese authorities must grant human rights monitors access to the country and end "repression" against protesters and the shutdown of the Internet, UN human rights boss Michelle Bachelet said on Monday.

Bachelet, in a speech opening a three-week session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, said that her office had reports that more than 100 protesters were killed and many more injured during an assault by security forces on a peaceful sit-in on June 3.

"Hundreds of protesters may be missing," she said.

Sunday, June 23

Ethiopia, AU mediation needs to be unified - Sudan military

Sudan's army rulers appealed to the African Union and Ethiopia to unify their efforts in outlining a blueprint for a political transition in the crisis-hit country.

The generals, who seized power after ousting president Omar al Bashir in April, expressed reservations about an Ethiopian proposal that, according to protest leaders, calls for a civilian-majority ruling body.

Sunday's call by the ruling generals comes after the mediators met the military council's chief General Abdel Fattah al Burhan on Sunday.

"He (Burhan) underlined that the mediators' efforts should focus on preparing a joint proposal," the council's spokesman General Shamseddine Kabbashi told a news conference.

He also criticised the Ethiopian mediator for the delays and for presenting a proposal "different" to the AU's.

Sudan court orders company to end internet blackout - lawyer

A court ordered telecoms operator Zain Sudan to restore internet services, a lawyer said, after they were severed nearly three weeks ago when troops forcefully dispersed protesters camping in central Khartoum.

Abdel Adheem Hassan, a lawyer who filed his own case against Zain Sudan over the blackout, said the Khartoum District Court ordered Zain to "immediately restore internet services to the country".

Sudanese courts do not confirm or deny their rulings to the media.

Zain Sudan, a subsidiary of Zain Kuwait and the largest operator in Sudan, was not immediately able to comment on the matter on Sunday.

Hassan said a Zain representative had told the court in response to the petition that the company had been ordered verbally by "high authorities" to cut the internet.

A source at Zain said the telecoms regulator had ordered the internet outage and demanded that they be added as a party to the case in an appeal.

Saturday, June 22

Protesters accept Ethiopia plan

Sudanese protest leaders said they accepted the creation of a civilian-majority governing body for a political transition in Sudan as proposed by an Ethiopian envoy.

The ruling military council has yet to give its decision on the Ethiopian proposal.

"We think that our acceptance of the proposal is a major leap towards meeting the goals of the revolution, which are freedom, peace and justice," protest leader Babiker Faisal told reporters in a brief statement.

"It will put the country on the right track to create the transitional period that would usher in sustainable democracy."

Thursday, June 20

Protests still continue in Sudan

Hundreds of Sudanese demonstrated in state capitals, seeking to revive a push for civilian rule in ongoing tumult since the overthrow of Bashir more than two months ago.

There were gatherings in each of the state capitals of Wad Madani, Al Ubayyid and Port Sudan to call for the Transitional Military Council to relinquish power.

Dozens also demonstrated in the national capital Khartoum, including employees from the private Bank of Khartoum, the country's largest, chanting "Civilian!" and waving Sudanese flags.

Sunday, June 16

Ex-leader appears in public for first time since ouster

Bashir appeared in public on Sunday for the first time since he was overthrown, as he was taken out of prison to the office of the anti-corruption prosecutor.

Bashir, wearing traditional white robes and turban, was driven in a Toyota Land Cruiser to the prosecutor's office in Khartoum, a Reuters witness said.

The military overthrew and detained Bashir on April 11 after 16 weeks of street protests against his 30-year rule. He was being held in prison in Khartoum North, across the Blue Nile from the capital's centre.

General to punish Khartoum killings perpetrators


A top Sudanese general vowed to send to the "gallows" those who carried out a deadly crackdown on a Khartoum sit-in earlier this month that left dozens of protesters dead and hundreds wounded.

"We are working hard to take those who did this to the gallows," Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy chief of the ruling military council said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"Whoever committed any fault" will be held accountable, Dagalo added.

Saturday, June 15

Bashir to appear in court

Ousted Sudanese leader Bashir will appear in court next week to face charges of corruption and possessing foreign currency, the country's acting prosecutor general told reporters on Saturday.

"Ousted president Omar al Bashir will appear in court next week following charges of corruption and possessing foreign currency," Al Waleed Sayyed Ahmed said, without specifying the day.

Friday, June 14

Opposition, US seek investigations

Sudan's veteran opposition leader Sadiq al Mahdi called on Friday for an "objective" international investigation into last week's deadly crackdown on protesters, after the ruling military council rejected such a probe.

Mahdi's call was backed by top US envoy Tibor Nagy, who urged an "independent and credible" investigation into the June 3 killings.

Mahdi, speaking after attending Friday prayers at a mosque in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, condemned the operation.

"The protest's dispersal was wrong. There should be an independent international investigation into it," he told AFP.

"It's important that the probe is objective and not biased in favour of the authorities."

Nagy, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa, also called for an investigation.

"The USA believe very strongly there has to be an investigation which is independent and credible which will hold accountable those committing the egregious events," he said in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, after a two-day visit to Khartoum.

Thursday, June 13

Military rejected negotiations proposal from Ethiopian PM

Sudan's military rulers said on Thursday that Ethiopia's prime minister had suggested that negotiations between the rulers and the Sudanese opposition on a transition to democracy move to Addis Ababa.

The Transitional Military Council rejected that proposal, the council's spokesman said.

'Several coup attempts thwarted'

Sudan's military rulers said they had thwarted several coup attempts and that some officers had been arrested over the deadly dispersal of protesters at a sit-in in Khartoum earlier this month.

Two different groups of people suspected of involvement in the attempted coups had been arrested, the Transitional Military Council's spokesman said. One group consisted of five individuals while the other had more than 12 members, he said.

The council itself took power in a coup on April 11 when military officials ousted and detained former President Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year autocratic rule.

Sudan military admits dispersing sit-in

Sudan's ruling military council for the first time admitted it dispersed a Khartoum sit-in, which left dozens dead, as US and African diplomats stepped up efforts for a solution to the country's political crisis.

The military council had "decided to disperse the sit-in", said spokesman Kabbashi.

"We ordered the commanders to come up with a plan to disperse this sit-in. They made a plan and implemented it ... but we regret that some mistakes happened."

He said the findings of an investigation into the incident would be released on Saturday.

Sudan charges ousted leader Bashir with corruption

Sudan's state prosecutor's office said that Bashir had been charged with corruption after the completion of an investigation.

The charges were related to laws on "suspected illicit wealth and emergency orders", the public prosecutor's office said without giving more details.

It has not been possible to get a comment from Bashir since his ousting.

UN says it confirms 17 deaths in Sudan's Darfur

The United Nations said it had confirmed the killing of 17 people and the burning of more than 100 houses in Deleij village in the Darfur region of Sudan earlier this week.

The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur also said 15 people were injured and the violence "occurred during heated clashes between nomads and residents apparently angered by the increase in commodity prices at the local market".

Opposition medics said "Janjaweed militias" fired live ammunition at civilians on Monday at a market in Deleij, Central Darfur, killing 11 people and wounding 20 others.

The Janjaweed are Arab militias who have been accused of committing atrocities in Darfur, in the west of Sudan, during a civil conflict that started in 2003 and, according to UN estimates, has killed up to 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million.

Wednesday, June 12

US joins diplomatic push to salvage agreement in Sudan

The United States named a special envoy to Sudan to find a "peaceful" solution between demonstrators and generals, as protest leaders demanded "international guarantees" for implementing any agreement reached with the army rulers.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the – triggered by the June 3 crackdown on protesters – got a boost as Washington nominated experienced Africa hand Donald Booth as a special envoy to Sudan to help craft a "peaceful political solution" between the generals and protesters.

Booth, who previously has served as special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, was already in Khartoum along with Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs Tibor Nagy to "engage with the parties," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.

Late on Wednesday protest leader Madani Abbas Madani told reporters that "any agreement (reached with generals) must have regional and international guarantees" for implementing it. He did not elaborate.

Independent investigation needed - UN rights experts

UN rights experts called for the Human Rights Council to set up a probe into possible violations committed by Sudan’s security forces against “peaceful protesters”.

Sudan is “sliding into a human rights abyss,” a group of five United Nations experts said in a joint statement.

The experts called for an “independent investigation” to be set up by the UN Human Rights Council, which opens a new session on June 24.

The signatories of the statement include Aristide Nononsi, who focuses on human rights in Sudan, as well as the special rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, and Agnes Callamard, the rapporteur on extrajudicial or summary executions.

UN human rights experts are independent specialists who do not speak for the world body.

Khartoum resumes activities but residents wary

Shops began to reopen in Sudan’s capital but many residents stayed indoors after demonstrators called off a nationwide civil disobedience campaign that had brought Khartoum to a standstill.

The slow return to normalcy came after an Ethiopian mediator announced that the protest leaders and the ruling military council had agreed to resume talks following a deadly crackdown on a weeks-long sit-in.

The negotiations collapsed last month because the two sides disagreed about whether a civilian or soldier should head a new governing body.

Tuesday, June 11



UN Security Council strongly condemns Sudan violence

The UN Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned recent violence in Sudan and called on Khartoum's military rulers and protest movement to work toward a solution to the crisis.

In a unanimous statement, the council called for an immediate halt to the violence against civilians and stressed the importance of upholding human rights.

Sudanese militia kills 9 people in Darfur village – doctors

A Sudanese militia has shot dead nine people in a village of the war-torn region of Darfur, a doctors committee linked to the country's protest movement said.

The "massacre" was carried out on Monday by the Janjaweed in Al Dalij in Central Darfur state, the committee said on its Facebook page.

The Janjaweed, a militia accused by rights groups of widespread abuses in the Darfur region, have been absorbed in Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"Yesterday, they fired live ammunition on citizens in the souk of Dalij," the doctors' committee said.

"Following the systematic massacre, the doctors in the area of Dalij received 11 dead and 20 wounded."

"The doctors confirmed that nine citizens were killed by bullets and sticks of the Janjaweed. However, the cause of death of the other two or who they were was unclear," the committee said.

Protesters, military rulers to resume talks – Ethiopian envoy

Protest leaders have agreed to end their civil disobedience campaign launched after a crackdown on demonstrators and resume talks with Sudan's ruling generals, an Ethiopian mediator said on Tuesday.

"The Alliance for Freedom and Change agreed to end the civil disobedience (campaign) from today," Mahmoud Drir, who has been mediating since a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week, told reporters.

"Both sides have also agreed to resume talks soon" on a handover of power to a civilian administration, he said.

The protest movement itself said in a statement that it was calling on people "to resume work from Wednesday."

Sudan's military council also agreed to release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, Dirir said.

Monday, June 10

Top US envoy heads to Sudan to call for halt to attacks on civilians


A top US diplomat will head to Sudan this week to urge an end to a bloody crackdown on protesters, Washington said Monday, as a nationwide civil disobedience campaign challenged the African country's ruling military council.

Tibor Nagy, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, plans to meet both members of the military leadership and protest leaders in Khartoum, the State Department said.

He is to leave on the trip on Wednesday and also visit Ethiopia to discuss the Sudan crisis with the regional power as well as the African Union.

"He will call for a cessation of attacks against civilians and urge parties to work toward creating an enabling environment" for talks to resume, the State Department statement said.

Sudanese rebel chief expelled from country

A Sudanese rebel chief said Monday he was deported from Khartoum to South Sudan with two comrades hours after authorities claimed to have released the three men from detention.

"I was deported against my will... I have not been released; I have been deported from my country," Yasir Arman, deputy chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), told AFP at a hotel in South Sudan's capital Juba.

Sudanese state television reported earlier on Monday that Arman –– together with fellow leading rebels Ismail Jalab and Mubarak Ardol –– had been released from custody.

A statement from SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar said the three officials had been "denied access their accommodation" and deported in a military plane to Juba, South Sudan’s capital.

Sudan's military blames protest leaders for escalation

Sudan's ruling military blamed the country's protest movement for an escalation as the second day of the opposition's general strike kicked in on Monday in the protesters latest bid to pressure the army to hand over power to civilian rule.

For the second day, shops and businesses were closed in the capital, Khartoum, though there was visibly more traffic in the streets than on Sunday, when the strike began.

But the military's latest harsh words — describing actions by the protest movement as doing major harm to Sudan and its security — reflected that th e ruling generals are hardening their stance.

TMC to 'enhance' presence of armed forces in streets

Lieutenant General Jamaleddine Omar of Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) said that the ruling council "has decided to enhance the presence of the armed force - Rapid Support Forces and other regular forces - to restore life back to normal…"

Omar claimed that protestors were barricading roads, which was a "complete crime" that was "infringing the freedom of the citizens."

The Sudan Doctors' Committee, the medical affiliate of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), says 118 people have been killed since June 3.

The military-run Health Ministry has offered a lower death toll of 61, including 49 civilians and three security forces in Khartoum.

Sunday, June 9

At least four people killed

Four people were killed in Sudan on Sunday on the first day of a "civil disobedience" campaign by protesters, a doctors' committee linked to demonstrators said.

Two people were shot dead in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman just across the Nile river, the Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said, adding two others died in a hospital in Omdurman after being stabbed.

Protesters launch general strike after crackdown

Sudanese police fired warning shots on Sunday to disperse protesters building roadblocks in the capital, as part of a civil disobedience campaign against the ruling generals following a bloody crackdown that left dozens dead.

Protesters set about building roadblocks in Khartoum while markets and shops were closed in several other towns and cities. People gathered tyres, tree trunks and rocks to build new roadblocks in the capital's northern Bahari district.

But riot police swiftly moved in, firing gunshots in the air and tear gas at demonstrators before clearing the makeshift barriers, a witness said.

Several vehicles of the feared RSF, blamed by witnesses for the killings during the crackdown, were seen Sunday moving across some parts of the capital loaded with machine guns.

Saturday, June 8

Opposition calls for civil disobedience

A key protest group on Saturday announced a nationwide "civil disobedience" campaign it said would run until Sudan’s ruling generals transfer power to a civilian government.

The call by the SPA, which first launched protests against longtime ruler Bashir, came days after a bloody crackdown on demonstrators left dozens dead in Khartoum and crushed hopes for a swift democratic transition.

"The civil disobedience movement will begin Sunday and end only when a civilian government announces itself in power on state television," the SPA said in a statement.

"Disobedience is a peaceful act capable of bringing to its knees the most powerful weapons arsenal in the world."

It was still unclear how the campaign would unfold on the streets, especially in Khartoum where all key roads and squares have been deserted since Monday’s crackdown.

Ethiopian PM offers plan for new transitional council

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has proposed setting up a new transitional council in which civilians would be in the majority, the opposition leaders said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the TMC thanked Ethiopia for its mediation efforts, state news agency SUNA said.

The TMC expressed its "openness and keenness to negotiate to reach satisfactory understandings that will lead to a national consensus..., leading to the establishment of a democratic transition," SUNA said.

Abiy had on Friday urged Sudan's military rulers and civilian opposition to exercise "bravery" in trying to agree steps towards democracy after the worst bloodshed since the overthrow in April of President Bashir.

While no breakthrough was announced at the end of Abiy's one-day visit, an aide to the Ethiopian prime minister said the talks went well and that Abiy would be returning to Sudan soon.

Forces arrest protest leaders who met Ethiopia PM

Sudanese security forces arrested two prominent rebels and an opposition leader, a day after they met the Ethiopian premier during his reconciliation mission to Khartoum, their aides said on Saturday.

Prime Minister Abiy, who has emerged as a key regional leader, met representatives of both sides on Friday in a bid to revive talks between Sudan's ruling generals and protest leaders after a deadly crackdown left dozens of people dead in the capital this week.

Among the protest movement delegates he met were opposition politician Mohamed Esmat and a leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Ismail Jalab.

Sudanese security forces later arrested both men without giving any reason, their aides told AFP on Saturday. Esmat was arrested on Friday soon after his meeting with Abiy. Jalab was arrested from his residence early on Saturday.

Friday, June 7

Opposition accepts Ethiopian PM as mediator

Sudan's opposition says it accepts Abiy as mediator between military rulers and opposition under certain conditions.

The statement comes after the visiting Ethiopian premier held talks with the members of Sudan's opposition Forces for Freedom and Change in the capital Khartoum.

Ahmed seeks 'quick' democratic transition

Ethiopian PM Abiy called for a "quick" democratic transition in Sudan on Friday after talks in Khartoum with the country's protest leaders and ruling generals.

"The army, the people and political forces have to act with courage and responsibility by taking quick steps towards a democratic and consensual transitional period," he said in a statement, during a visit to revive talks between the two sides after a deadly crackdown by security forces on demonstrators.

Ethiopia's PM meets opposition

Abiy met and held talks on Friday with members of Sudan's opposition Forces for Freedom and Change, his office said in a tweet.

"He expressed Ethiopia's commitment to fostering peace in the region and underlined that a prerequisite for restoring peace in Sudan is unity," Abiy's office said.

Earlier on Friday, Abiy's office said he met the chief of Sudan's ruling military council in a bid to ease the political crisis.

US Sanctions Zimbabwean Official Over Post-Election Killings

In this Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018 file photo, the body of a man lays in the closed entrance of store after being shot as opposition party supporters and police clashed in Harare, Zimbabwe. The United States has placed on its sanctions list a former Zimbabwean army general who commanded troops accused of killing six civilians after a disputed election a year ago. The listing signals U.S. frustration over the lack of accountability in the killings in the capital, Harare. It comes as Zimbabweans on Thursday mark a year since the shootings. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen, File)

BY FARAI MUTSAKA

HARARE, ZIMBABWE (AP) — The United States on Thursday placed on its sanctions list a former Zimbabwean army general who commanded troops accused of killing six civilians after a disputed election a year ago.

The listing of Anselem Sanyatwe signals U.S. frustration over the lack of accountability in the Aug. 1, 2018 killings in the capital, Harare. There was no immediate response by Zimbabwe’s government to the U.S. announcement, which was likely to bring fresh anger from an administration that has pressed for the lifting of U.S. sanctions over past rights abuses.
Sanyatwe is the first to be sanctioned over the crackdown and the first Zimbabwean official listed since the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe in November 2017. Sanyatwe and his wife are now barred from traveling to the U.S.

Soldiers were deployed to suppress a protest against delays in announcing results of Zimbabwe’s first election without Mugabe on the ballot. The U.S. statement says it has “credible information” that Sanyatwe was involved.

The election had been peaceful, giving many people hope that the southern African nation was on the brink of change. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over after Mugabe’s forced resignation and was declared the election winner, had promised sweeping post-Mugabe reforms and re-engagement with the West.

Sanyatwe later defended the soldiers’ deployment while appearing before a commission of inquiry into the killings, but denied the army shot the protesters and instead accused the opposition.

He later retired from the army and was appointed ambassador to Tanzania.

Zimbabwe’s military has been sent into the streets since the killings. The U.S. sanctions statement also noted that “there has been no accountability for the excessive use of force by Zimbabwean security forces on civilians in January and February this year, which reportedly resulted in at least 13 deaths, 600 victims of violence, torture or rape, and more than 1,000 arrests.”

That crackdown came after protests in Harare over the country’s collapsing economy.

The U.S. and the European Union, which imposed sanctions almost two decades ago over alleged rights abuses, have in recent months issued several statements warning against continued violations.

Mnangagwa’s government has made the lifting of sanctions a top priority and has held several meetings with senior officials from the U.S. and EU to lobby for that and Zimbabwe’s readmission to the Commonwealth.

The killings “demonstrated to the whole world the crisis of governance that has defined the character and the nature of the problem in Zimbabwe,” opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who placed second in last year’s election and lost a court challenge to the results, told a prayer meeting on Thursday to remember the killings. “After the departure of Mr. Mugabe, nothing has changed. The old cannot renew.”

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Bangkok contributed.

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Mozambique's Last Rebel Fighters Finally Lay Down Their Arms

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi, right, and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade after signing a peace accord at Gorongosa National Park, about 170 kilometres from Beira, Mozambique, Thursday, Aug, 1, 2019. Mozambique’s president and the leader of the Renamo opposition signed a peace accord on Thursday to end years of hostilities that followed a 15-year civil war. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

BY ANDREW MELDRUM

GORONGOSA NATIONAL PARK, MOZAMBIQUE (AP) — Mozambique’s president and the leader of the Renamo opposition signed a peace accord on Thursday to end years of hostilities that followed a 15-year civil war.

The former rebel group’s remaining fighters are disarming just weeks before a visit by Pope Francis and a national election that will test the now-political rivals’ new resolve.

The permanent cease-fire is the culmination of years of negotiations to end fighting that has flared several times in the more than 25 years since the end of the civil war in which an estimated 1 million people died.

Pope Francis has said he is coming to promote reconciliation in the southern African country of some 30 million people. The Catholic church’s Sant’Egidio community helped to negotiate the war’s end in 1992 and the church has encouraged peace since then.

President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade signed, shook hands and embraced at Gorongosa National Park, near the Renamo headquarters where the group has maintained an armed base for more than 40 years. Of the more than 5,200 fighters who are disarming, some 800 are coming down from their camp on Mount Gorongosa and register for employment at the wildlife park.

The accord will be followed by another agreement to be signed in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, on Aug. 6 pledging peace in the Oct. 15 national elections. Previous elections have been marked by violence and Renamo allegations that the ruling Frelimo party rigged the results.

Renamo, which is the Portuguese acronym for National Resistance of Mozambique, became an opposition party after the civil war but had never fully disarmed until now.

“This agreement has historic significance because up ’til now Mozambique has had an opposition party in parliament that also has armed fighters in the countryside. Now there can be peace,” said Neha Sanghrajka, a negotiator of the deal. Unlike in previous peace efforts the important issues have been implemented before the signing, she said.

The issues include an amnesty for rebel fighters that Nyusi signed earlier this week and a constitutional amendment that stipulates provincial governors will be elected rather than appointed by the central government.

There is “tremendous symbolic value” in having the signing at Gorongosa, said fellow negotiator Swiss Ambassador Mirko Manzoni, who is also an envoy of the United Nations secretary-general.

“Gorongosa was where the war started and now it is where it ends,” Manzoni said, pointing out that the mountain is in a strategic location in the center of Mozambique. “This agreement gives people hope that there will be lasting peace.”

Renamo’s longtime leader Afonso Dhlakama died in Gorongosa in 2018. Momade succeeded him and is responsible for concluding the peace agreements.

“We will no longer commit the mistakes of the past,” Momade said this week as Renamo fighters turned in their arms. “We are for a humanized and dignified reintegration and we want the international community to help make that a reality.”

Momade also said he hoped Gorongosa Park would help Renamo’s ex-combatants and their families re-enter society.

In recognition of its pivotal role, Mozambique’s president declared Gorogosa to be a peace park.

After falling into neglect during the civil war, the park that sprawls over 4,067 square kilometers (1,570 square miles) has been re-invigorated with help from American philanthropist Greg Carr. He has said he was inspired after former South African president Nelson Mandela told him that wildlife parks should be places of national reconciliation and development.

The park also has helped surrounding communities recover after Cyclone Idai devastated large parts of central Mozambique in March and killed more than 600 people. More than 80,000 people are receiving food aid and help in planting crops, while aid groups warn that many others in the region face a hunger crisis in the months ahead.

“I’m excited at what the park can do in the next five years and beyond to help keep the peace,” Carr said. “We need the park to deliver opportunities and benefits to the demobilized fighters to sustain the peace. Now it’s go, go, go for us to build on the achievement of this peace agreement.”

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