Khartoum: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
on Tuesday declared a two-week ceasefire in South Kordofan state
which has been rocked since June by violent clashes between
the Sudanese army and Nuba rebels.
"I declare a unilateral two-week ceasefire," Bashir said
in a speech broadcast on state radio during his visit to
Kadugli, the capital of the state of South Kordofan.
After the two-week truce "we will assess the developments
on the ground as well as the reaction of the other party," he
said.
South Kordofan remained under Khartoum's northern
administration when South Sudan became independent last month,
but violent clashes have been pitting Nuba rebels once allied
to southern rebels against the Sudanese army.
It is located on the border between Sudan and the new
state of South Sudan.
A report prepared jointly by the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights and the world body's mission in Sudan details
"extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and illegal
detention, enforced disappearances and attacks against
civilians" allegedly committed in the troubled South Kordofan
state.
The report released last week covers the period between
June 5 and 30.
"If substantiated (the allegations) could amount to
crimes against humanity, or war crimes for which individual
criminal responsibility may be sought," the report said of the
incidents.
Sudan dismissed the report as being "biased."
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 22:15