Tanks, Rocket Launchers
It was known already at the beginning of the month, that the war cargo on an Ukrainian freighter, hijacked off the coast of Somalia, was destined for Southern Sudan. The cargo contained 33 T-72 tanks, bazookas, anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers, spare parts as well as ammunition.[1] The freight manifest, obtained by the BBC, contained the initials "MOD"/GOSS" indicating that the weapons cargo had been ordered by the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of the Southern Sudanese secessionists (GOSS, Government Of South Sudan). The transport was due to proceed via Kenya. Although the Kenyan government persistently maintains that its Defense Ministry has recently been doing business under the name of GOSS and that the weapons are for Kenya's army, no one seriously doubts that the destination was Juba. According to reports Southern Sudan has in fact since 2007 been lavishly arming itself.
Assault Rifles
Thus Juba had ordered not only the 33 tanks that are now in the hands of the pirates. Already last November, military experts had witnessed a delivery of tanks to Southern Sudan. It is estimated that more than 100 T-72 and T-55 tanks have been received by the secessionist militia forces over the past few months.[2] A strange Kenyan deal has also raised suspicions. Though the 20,000 soldiers of the Kenyan Army are equipped with German G3 rifles and receive their ammunition from licensed Kenyan production, last year Nairobi bought 40,000 Ukrainian AK-47 assault rifles - a measure that arms experts find difficult to explain.[3] Now that the tank delivery, which was also to be processed through Kenya, has been stopped offshore from Somalia, Kenya is being strongly suspected of supporting the Southern Sudanese secessionists with weapons trade. Juba is in any case procuring the necessary finances. Last week the Southern Sudanese Finance Minister placed the demand for a two-thirds increase in the secessionist regime's current budget - mainly because of the dramatic increase in the military budget.[4]
In Plain Sight of Berlin
The Southern Sudanese arms buildup is being carried out in plain sight of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), whose task is to oversee the cease-fire. Just a few weeks ago, the German Bundestag extended the Bundeswehr's participation in the UNMIS mission. Currently there are approx. 40 German soldiers in Sudan in connection with UNMIS. It is unfathomable how they could not be aware of Juba's extensive arms buildup, particularly with Berlin's close allies - the USA and Great Britain's direct support of Juba's militias ("Sudan People's Liberation Army" SPLA).[5] Military experts assume that the SPLA has entrenched the new tanks in along Sudan's north-south border, to systematically prepare for the armed conflict after the referendum on secession in 2011 - evidently with the connivance of UNMIS. It is generally expected that the Southern Sudanese separatists will win the referendum and the resources-rich territory under their control will secede.
Public Administration
German government agencies are strongly pushing to establish the essential state infrastructure. The Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has again been offering its support to Southern Sudan (while withholding it from its adversary, the central government in Khartoum). On behalf of the BMZ, the German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) has launched the project "supporting the formation of governmental structures in South Sudan" in cooperation with the Office of the President of South Sudan. Its objective is to establish an entire public administration operating "on three levels district, state and Government of South Sudan (GOSS)".[6] It is a long-term project that is expected to be completed only in 2017. In executing a series of tasks - partially on behalf of other institutions - the GTZ has de facto become one of the most influential organizations in the secessionist region. It is not only pursuing a project for the reintegration of refugees, but has also been active in the field of water supply and road construction, including training the required workforce. The GTZ has also been aiding German police, who, within the framework of UNMIS, were procuring logistical supplies for Southern Sudanese police stations.
Constitution and Judiciary
All activities in Southern Sudan are focused on the secession referendum scheduled for 2011. Until then, the secessionists have to "prove that they are willing to assume and capable carrying out basic governmental tasks and responsibilities," writes the GTZ magazine.[7] German jurists are also helping to reach this goal - including the drafting of the South Sudanese constitution and advising legislature and judiciary. This task has been undertaken by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, starting in 1998 with small steps and since 2002 on a larger scale. German personnel is not only providing professional legal training to Southern Sudanese (and - to avoid open provocation - to a certain degree also Northern Sudanese) lawmakers and judges. The Southern Sudanese Interim Constitution beginning with the words "We, the people of Southern Sudan", initially designed as supplementary to an all Sudanese constitution was also drafted in southern Germany. This has laid the foundation for providing a new state, "South Sudan," the appearance of a constitutional legality.
No Realm for Retreat
Berlin has been supporting the secessionists of Southern Sudan for years,[8] because of the German-US American drive to push back the Islamic influence at the Horn of Africa and therefore crush the power of the Islamic spectrums in Somalia as well as the Sudanese government in Khartoum. Their objective is to have Southern Sudan - which is in part under Christian influence - secede, thereby depriving Islamic forces access to its abundant resources. These measures are embedded in a strategic orientation introduced by the US government in the first half of the '90s [9] with the purpose of taking control of the raw materials in the Persian Gulf as well as in the direct and indirect neighboring Arab-Islamic influenced regions. This is the objective behind reducing the realm of retreat in Northeast Africa for anti-Western opponents, while supporters with the appropriate credentials are doted with public administrations and constitutions - as well as war material.
Posts
