Sudan shuffles governors of Kordofan states including ICC suspect
July 12, 2013, (KHARTOUM) -The Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir has endorsed the final status of the three Kordofan states following reinstating West Kordofan state and issued decrees appointing new governors to them.
According to the presidential decrees, Haroun has been appointed as the acting governor for North Kordofan , Adam Al-faki Mohamed Al-Tayeb as acting governor for South Kordofan, and Ahmed Khamis Bakheet for West Kordofan.
The three governors will be sworn in at the presidential palace on Sunday afternoon.
Haroun is one of the Sudanese officials wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes he allegedly masterminded in Darfur during his time as state minister for interior.
During the conflict with rebels in his state, there has been numerous reports of abuses against civilians in the Nuba mountains area in particular.
Some officials in from ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in South Kordofan have expressed unhappiness with Haroun and called for his removal over his “failure” to maintain security.
The presidential decrees were based on a law which has been ratified recently and provided for abolishing North and South Kordofan states and establishing three states including North, South, and West Kordofan.
Bashir abolished West Kordofan state in August 2005, and established the greater South Kordofan while some of its territory was transferred to North Kordofan state.
The measure was part of the provisions of a protocol related to the resolution of the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile state encompassed in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of January 2005 between the Sudanese government and the former South Sudanese rebels SPLM-N.
West Kordofan is the home of Arab Misseriya tribe and where oil fields are located.
The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) included the reinstatement of West Kordofan state among its electoral pledges for the elections of South Kordofan governor in May 2011. Since, a commission was set up to prepare the separation of the two states.
Last April, the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N) criticized Sudan’s government’s decision to re-establish West Kordofan state and described it as “dodging responsibility”.
The rebel groups, including the SPLM-N, and Sudanese opposition parties proposed in a political declaration (New Dawn Charter) released last January to divide the country into 8 regions with two independent administrative entities in Kordofan.
(ST