The Recent Cross - Border Attack On Darfur Sudan Is A Victim Of The Typical State-Sponsored Terrorism

In Luanda, Sudan took part this week in an important meeting of the chiefs of staff of the armed forces of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). the main objective of the meeting was to adjust common positions, means and ways to end conflicts in the two regions.

The importance of Sudan's participation in the Luanda’s meeting is mainly premised on the fact that, it comes sooner in the aftermath of Sudan’s recent exposure to yet another typical cross- border aggression, simultaneously from Libya and South Sudan, perpetrated by elements and groupings (Darfur holdout rebels) which are already regionally classified as negative forces.

In view of their increasing role in sabotaging consecutive regional and international efforts to achieve peace in the Sudan, besides exacerbating threats to peace and security in the region, as evidently manifested now in both South Sudan and Libya, the ICGLR’s Uganda summit of 2011, has unambiguously designated Darfuri holdout rebels, as one of the negative forces destabilizing Africa, that should be combated.

Having derived the lessons of the past, Africans today are increasingly conscious and wary that peace, stability, and security, are prerequisites for sustainable development in the sub region; that the prevailing conflicts hinder the prospects of realizing the full economic potential of this geo-strategically important region.

The said consciousness is rooted in the appreciation of the interconnection of African countries, besides, the recognition of the imperative of mutual dependence, which is further necessitated by the fact that conflict in the region stalemates and defeats all legitimate regional aspirations in development and prosperity. Moreover, conflicts has the capacity and propensity to impact beyond the region.

By the same token, the African leaders who gathered in the Seventh Annual High-Level Retreat of Special Envoys and Mediators on the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa, which was convened from 26 to 27 October 2016 in Egypt, on the theme, “Silencing the Guns –Mediation Practices and Contemporary Wars”, pledged not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans and thereby undertaking to end all wars in Africa by 2020.

Indisputably one of the fundamental reasons for disturbances in this part of the world, has been the cross-border insurgencies, aided and abetted by another states. No matter what, the continuance of such activities are more likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security.

More recently in April 2017, deliberating the situation in Congo and the region at the UNSC, the Egyptian Ambassador to the UN; Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, outlined myriad challenges facing the region, the most prominent of which was armed groups posing hurdles for Governments and threatening civilians.

However, in a sad dichotomy, only one month after, these very armed groups, in a barefaced act of aggression, aboard Egyptian armored vehicles, penetrated simultaneously into Darfur form Sudan’s immediate neighboring countries, namely Libya and South Sudan, where they were based, trained and heavily armed for almost two years, to execute attacks against the Sudan, in an abhorrent disregard and contempt of all regional and international charters and agreements. These countries should be held culpable for all the crimes committed by these negative forces in the Sudan.

According to the UN Charter, Article 2.4 of which provides that all members should refrain from the threat or use of force against any other state; thus, no state should act in such a way within its territory that it directly impacts on the territorial integrity or political independence of another member state, a concept more fully elaborated by the UN General Assembly in its 1970 Declaration on Friendly Relations.

The Dar - Es-Salaam Declaration (ICGLR), in conformity with the Protocol on Non-Aggression and Mutual Defense, unequivocally obliges member States –including South Sudan- from any direct or indirect support, delivery of arms or any other form of assistance to armed groups operating in the region, and deny use of their respective territories in support of activities by armed groups to carry out acts of aggression or subversion against other Member States.

The vow made by South Sudan's Vice President Taban Deng during his visit to Khartoum in August 2016 for instance to expel the rebels within 21 days, turned to be yet another chapter of similar unfulfilled pledges. The Darfuri insurgents kept on actively crossing the border and carry out attacks against government targets on regular basis, the latest of which was the May attempt, in which the invading rebels were mauled and destroyed almost completely.

Ironically, at the time the United Nations refugee agency unfolds how Sudan is currently hosting more than half a million South Sudanese refugees. What a gratitude Sudan is yielding from Juba in return! At the time South Sudan joining countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia in crossing the one-million mark on refugees fleeing the world's youngest nation myriad mayhems and clashes.

Arguably, flared up with such irresponsible however, systematic behavior on the part of Juba, the United States in October 2016, was prompted to express - for the first time - its positions openly; calling on the government of South Sudan, to stop harboring and supporting the Sudanese armed groups, pointing to the credible reports that Juba continues to safe –haven to these terrorist groups, in an obvious infringement of UN Security Council Resolution 2046.

By the same token, in the backdrop of their heinous crimes in Libya, both Libyan agencies and international statements and documents confirm not only the participation of Darfur rebels as mercenary in Libya, but also of having involved in organized crimes, such as looting of Libyan oil fields, car hijacking, looting gold mines, to name a few. The African Union classified Darfur rebel movements as negative forces which had committed various forms of organized crimes, and widely contributing in prolonging crisis and thereby exacerbating instability in a number of African countries for money and weapons.

Make no mistake, Sudan by way or another, was victim of a premediated and barefaced act of aggression and state-sponsored terrorism. The international community should strongly condemn in strongest terms, the recent military escalation in North and East Darfur, which breaches the cessation of hostilities and destabilizes regional peace and security in Sudan and the region. At the same time, stronger pressure should equally be exerted, on the remnant rebels to accept the cease-fire and negotiate seriously

Again, the international community should likewise, poise to show “ zero tolerance” towards Sudan’s neighboring countries which continue to use their territories, as a base of operations for these terrorists, or providing them, with any kind of assistance, that might tend to prolong the present conflict in Sudan and beyond.