Southern Sudan minister Jimmy Lemi Milla shot dead

[Somalina]

A minister in the government of Southern Sudan has been shot dead inside his ministry building in Juba.

 

Co-operatives and Rural Development Minister Jimmy Lemi Milla was killed by a former employee, said Philip Aguer of the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

 

The assailant also killed a bodyguard and was then arrested.

 

The incident comes only days after referendum results confirmed that Southern Sudan would become the world's newest independent state on 9 July.

 

Nearly 99% of southerners voted for secession in last month's poll. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said he will accept the outcome.

 

Officials in the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) believe the motive for Wednesday's shooting was personal rather than political.

 

But the BBC's Peter Martell in Juba says it is a clear sign of the security challenges ahead for Southern Sudan as it moves toward its full independence.

 

Shock

 

The killing has dampened the excitement of the referendum result

Col Aguer said the attacker was a former employee of the minister and believed to be related to him by marriage.

 

Our reporter says Mr Milla arrived as usual at his office in the centre of town in the government ministry complex.

 

But his bodyguard left his pistol in his car and the disgruntled former employee smashed the window, grabbed the weapon and went inside to shoot the minister.

 

It was first reported that the killer shot himself, but it has later emerged that he was arrested by police.

 

Our correspondent says there is shock in Juba that the shooting could have happened right in the centre of the city and at the hub of government.

 

The killing has also dampened the excitement in Juba following the announcement of the referendum results this week, he adds.

 

Milla was a former supporter of the northern ruling party, but switched allegiance to the SPLM after 2005, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed to end two decades of civil war.

 

Although the referendum was peaceful, tension remains high in parts of the oil-rich area which straddles the north and south. Fifty people were killed over the weekend in fighting in Southern Sudan's Upper Nile state.

[Herer]

bad luck missed the chance to celebrate Independence

[Jacaylbaro]

A lesson to South Sudan ..... and other countries.

[Herer]

South Sudan clashes with Athor in Jonglei: '100 dead'

 

More than 100 people are now said to have died in fighting in south Sudan after rebels attacked the army, officials say.

 

Earlier reports said this week's fighting had killed 16 people.

 

Some 39 of those killed were civilians, a south Sudan army spokesman said.

 

The clashes between fighters loyal to George Athor and south Sudan's army come as the region prepare for independence from the north following last month's referendum.

 

Some 99% of people voted to secede from the north, according to official results announced this week.

 

Mr Athor took up arms last year, alleging fraud in state elections, but signed a ceasefire last month just before the historic vote.

Security challenges

 

Twenty members of Southern Sudan's security forces were killed, along with 30 rebels, taking the new death toll to 105, southern army spokesman Philip Aguer said.

 

During the clashes, two army trucks were blown up by land mines near the town of Fangak in Jonglei state, he said.

 

He said Mr Athor's men attacked on Wednesday afternoon and clashes continued on Thursday.

 

Jonglei is the south's most populous state.

 

When Mr Athor took up arms last April, the south accused him of being used by the north to stir up trouble and derail the referendum - charges denied at the time by northern officials.

 

He agreed to the ceasefire deal with the SPLA days before the referendum vote began - although he did not attend the signing ceremony in person.

 

Mr Athor has blamed the SPLA for attacking his forces, but said that he was open to new talks.

 

"If the other side is willing, we can continue talks but if they are not willing, then I would say this is the end of the peace agreement between us and them," he told the Reuters news agency via satellite phone on Thursday.

 

The BBC's Peter Martell in the southern capital, Juba, says the fighting is another sign of the challenges the south faces in bringing its people together and improving security.

 

The week-long referendum vote itself passed off peacefully, but tension remains high in parts of the oil-rich area which straddles the north and south. Fifty-four people were killed over the weekend in fighting in Southern Sudan's Upper Nile state.

 

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has promised to accept the outcome of the referendum.

 

On Wednesday, Sudan's UN ambassador hinted that the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Mr Bashir should be withdrawn as a "reward" for him accepting the south's independence.

 

Mr Bashir is accused of links to war crimes in a separate conflict in the western region of Darfur.

 

Southern Sudan is to become the world's newest independent state on 9 July.

[Ducaysane]

Yaa dilay wasiirka.