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AU WEEKLY

PEACE AND SECURITY

AU WEEKLY…keeping you updated

14--21 April , 2014

In this issue

• South Sudan Commission of Inquiry hailed

• AU to welcome back Guinea Bissau after elections

• Bouteflika wins Algerianelection with landslide

• AU to stand byNigeria in fightagainstterrorism

A delegation representing the Sudanese government was due to arrive in Addis Ababa on Monday, April 21, for another round of peace talks with rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

Most of the delegates representing the SPLM-N are already in the Ethiopian capital for the talks, scheduled to kick off Tuesday, April 21.

The talks hit a snag last month, prompting the African Union, which has been mediating the negotiations, to warn the two sides that it would refer the case to the UN Security Council if they failed to conclude an agreement before April 30.

“The two sides will be negotiating under a deadline of April 30 as set by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki,” the source said.Further Reading: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/134242/sudan-envoys-due-in-addis-for-talks-with-splm-n

@Oxfam_AU Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union: OI-AU

The African Union Peace and Security Council met on April 16 and declared its readiness to lift the sanctions against Guinea Bissau following presidential elections there. The AU PSC, said that the sanctions would be lifted upon the completion of the elections.

“We are hopeful this process (elections) has brought us to the last hurdle.

“If a winner emerges, the council is looking forward to knowing the results,’’

Ambassador Paul Lolo Bolus, the PSC President, said.

The Nigerian ambassador to the AU, currently holding the PSC presidency, said that if a new President emerged through a round one victory or a runoff, the council’s constitutional requirements would have been met.

“The constitutional order would have returned and Guinea Bissau would be invited to take its place at the AU,’’ the Nigerian envoy

said.

Guinea Bissau is headed for a second round after the first round was conducted in what the AU election observers said was free and fair.

The AU suspended Guinea Bissau from its membership after a coup in 2012.

http://www.premiumtimesng.c o m / n e w s / 1 5 8 9 9 1 - a u -prepared-lift-guinea-bissau-sanctions.html

AU prepared to welcome back Guinea Bissau after elections

Sudan-SPLM talks set to resume in Addis Ababa

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On 15 April 2014, the AUC Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, received a UNSG Report on the situation in Western Sahara, which included; the consultation undertaken by the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy with

There have been few positive developments in South Sudan since December 2013. But the African Union Commission’s (AUC) recent appointment of an inquiry body that will investigate the widespread human rights violations should give hope to all Africans. Hope not only

Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday stressed the need for more concerted efforts to strengthen the trade and economic ties with African countries.

Mamnoon expressed these views while talking to Imran Yawar, Pakistan’s

the Parties to the conflict; UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO); humanitarian activities and human rights. She urged the UNSC to give the much-needed impetus to the search for a solution to the

that the African Union stands by the commitment in its Constitutive Act to combat impunity and intervene to prevent mass atrocity crimes, but also that the people of South Sudan will finally be able to draw a line in the sand and begin to tackle the root causes of the recurring

ambassador-designate to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and permanent observer to African Union (AU).

The President said Pakistan values its close and cordial relationship with Ethiopia and urged the newly appointed

conflict, bearing in mind that Western Sahara has been on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963.

waves of violence they have suffered for decades. As the first commission of inquiry established by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the AUC chair, it will set important precedents for how the continent responds to mass atrocity crimes

ambassador to focus on further consolidating the bilateral relations particularly in trade and commerce sectors.

AU requests for renewed international effort to resolve Western Sahara

South Sudan: African Union Commission of Inquiry could set precedent

http://www.peaceau.org/uploads/426th-psc-br-dpa-7-4-2014-en.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/apr/22/south-sudan-african-union-

Pakistani seeks to foster ecoomic ties with the African Union

http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/167974-president-stresses-strong-economic-ties-with-african-countries.html

AUstandsbyNigeriainthefightagainstterrorism

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS

Following a bomb attack in Abuja, Nigeria on 14th April 2014, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma issued a statement condemning the attacks that claimed dozens of lives and wounded many otherr. She expressed AU’s sincere condolences to the bereaved families and to the people and Government of Nigeria. She reiterated the Union’s solidarity in efforts aimed at preventing and combating terrorism and called for enhanced inter-African cooperation to address this scourge.

http://www.peaceau.org/en/article/the-african-union-strongly-condemns-the-terrorist-attack-in-abuja#sthash.ACC7lkFi.

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AU WEEKLY

Algeria’s president won a fourth term in a landslide victory, but it only masks a bigger question for this oil-rich North African nation — what now? It’s still unclear who will eventually succeed the 77-year-old leader who has been in power since 1999 and deal with an emboldened opposition.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had a stroke

last year, won a staggering 81 percent of the vote in Thursday’s election despite not even appearing in his own campaign.

His main opponent, former Prime Minister Ali Benflis, has responded by crying foul and promising to found a new political party to unite the opposition against a system he describes as rotten and a leader he believes is

no longer capable of ruling.

“Algeria will now be run by proxy, a singular situation that puts the security of the country in danger,” he told supporters after it was announced he had won just 12 percent of the vote.

http://www.timesunion.com/news/world/article/Algeria-s-ailing-president-77-wins-4th-term-5412929.php

BouteflikawinsAlgerianelectionwithlandslidevictory

UPCOMING EVENTSDATE EVENT VENUE DEPARTMENT CONTACT

April 24

April 28-29

Open Session of the Peace and Security Council on Silencing the Guns: Pre-requisites for Realising a Conflict-Free Africa by the Year 2020

Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development Experts meeting

AUC New Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

AUC Mandela Hall, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Peace and Security

Rural Economy and Agriculture

SITUATION ROOM

Peace and Security

Department;

African Union Commission

E-mail: ausituationroom@

yahoo.com

Eva Chanya

CAADP Year Of Agriculture Events Coordinator,

AUC- Department of Rural Economy & Agriculture.

Tel : +251 11582874

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AU WEEKLY