S. Sudan petitions UNSC over Sudan’s military aggression
CAPTION: Nhial Deng Nhial, South Sudan’s foreign affairs minister
addressing journalists in Juba, December 06, 2011 (Uma Julius/ST)
By Julius N. Uma
December 07, 2011 (JUBA) The government of South Sudan has launched an official petition to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), demanding immediate withdrawal of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) from parts of the south, an official said Tuesday.
Also addressed within the complaint, Nhial Deng Nhial, the foreign affairs minister said, is the call for immediate release of southern soldiers allegedly taken as prisoners as well as an appeal for Khartoum to cease all form of aggression likely to trigger a return to war.
“We urge the international community to exert more pressure on the Government of Sudan and ask them to respect the sovereignty of South Sudan and its territorial integrity. That is all”, Nhial told a press conference in Juba, the South Sudan capital.
While giving a chronology of the series of attacks allegedly carried out by SAF in several parts of South Sudan’s Upper Nile and Unity state, the foreign affairs minister said government has directed its forces to directly expel these northern forces from its territories, but added that dialogue remains the best option.
For instance, In a November 28 attack at Um-Dolwich agricultural scheme in Renk County, Upper Nile state, Nhial said four SPLA soldiers were killed, one went missing and another taken a prisoner.
The southern army, he assured, has already succeeded in securing most of the territories previously invaded by their northern counterparts, citing Jaw, and area located on the north-south border, which was recently occupied by SAF.
Continuous provocation from the north, he told journalists, could result into war between the two nations, after the bitterly fought a two-decade conflict halted by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
“We will not attack president Bashir directly, but if his forces continue invading our territories, then we will have no option since we have to protect our territories and it’s our citizens,” said the foreign affairs minister.
Meanwhile, Nhial denied reports that the southern government had asked the US government declare a no-fly zone over South Sudan, saying such a decision can only be mandated by the UNSC.
“Am not aware of any request for a no-fly zone over the south and like I said before, we made a complaint to the security council and it will have to be their mandate to make such a declaration,” he said.
(ST)