Lam Akol

Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin (born 1950) is a high-ranking official in the Sudan People's Liberation Army. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan from September 2005, when a national unity government took office in which the SPLM/A received the foreign affairs ministry and several other key ministries in the government, until October 2007.

Formerly a chemical engineering lecturer at the University of Khartoum, with a Ph.D. from the University of London, Dr. Lam Akol joined the SPLM/A in 1986 after splitting from the government. Of Shilluk origin, he again broke away from the same government on October 24, accusing it of being "responsible for the political situation in the country," and for prohibiting him from visiting his forces in the Upper Nile state in southern Sudan. He subsequently helped form SPLA-Nasir, a faction of the SPLA that intended to overthrow leader John Garang, but failed. The interfactional fighting in the 1990s led to widespread bloodshed in the South.

Dr Lam Akol spearheaded Sudan's proposal for a creation of an African Cultural and Scientific Organisation under the umbrella of the African Union at the last African Union Conference in Khartoum in January 2006.

In 2005 Dr. Akol wrote a piece detailing his role as a negotiator on behalf of SPLA/M leader Dr. John Garang in the initiation of OLS. [http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/engaging-groups/operation-lifeline.php]

On 16 September 2006 he made a complaint about a newspaper article dated 14 September 2006, issue No. 1004, page 4, entitled - Lam Akol fails in mission to U.S. - which claimed that foreign minister, state minister for foreign affairs and the director of information and public relations are mouthpieces and perpetrators of genocide as well as Islamic extremists etc. He called the article a blatant deviation from the laws and rules of news coverage, and also a violation of press covenant of honour by using offensive language against the leaders of the foreign ministry and its staff. Editor-in-chief of the article was Alfred Taban. [http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article18421]

In October 2007, the SPLM withdrew from the government; it demanded, among other things, that Akol be removed from his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as he was seen as being too close to the regime. On October 17, President Omar al-Bashir moved Akol to the less important post of Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and appointed Deng Alor, a leading SPLM member who had previously been the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, to replace Akol as Foreign Minister; this change was seen as an attempt to appease the SPLM. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/17/africa/AF-GEN-Sudan-Reshuffle.php "Sudan's foreign minister demoted in cabinet reshuffle"] , Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"), October 17, 2007.]

References

* [http://www.worldwhoswho.com/views/entry.html?id=sl1446183 AKOL, Lam] International Who's Who. accessed 3 September, 2006.