Sudan FVP urges refrain from media war between peace partners
August 4, 2007 (JUBA) — The First Vice – President of and President of the Government of South Sudan and leader of Sudan people’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Salva Kiir, stressed the need to refrain from media war between the peace partners.
In a statement reported by the official SUNA, Salva Kiir said it’s necessary to refrain from media war between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP), in order to avoid any attempt of the enemies of peace to split the two parties.
In a meeting held in Juba with a delegation from the NCP led by Nafi Ali Nafi, the presidential assistant and deputy chairman of the NCP for political and organization affairs, Salva Kiir asserted the capability of the two parties to surpass the pending files through the joint mechanisms.
The SPLM signed a deal in January 2005 with the NCP ending Africa’s longest civil war, a bitter 20-year conflict that claimed 2 million lives and drove more than 4 million people from their homes.
But the SPLM accuses the NCP of stalling on the implementation of important elements in the agreement such as the protocol on the oil-rich Abyei region, border demarcation, security arrangements and disarming of militias.
Kiir said that the SPLM is keen to work more with the National Congress. He pointed out that the existing partnership between the two parties of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is capable to reach solutions for all the pending problems in Sudan.
He called the NCP to reactivate in south Sudan, welcoming the decision of the National Congress to transfer its South Sudan Sector to operate in Juba.
Meanwhile, Nafi assured the keenness of the NCP to overcome all the obstacles that confront implementation of the CPA through objective dialogue and flexibility between the two parties.
He stressed that the solidarity between the two partners can realize the aspiration of the Sudanese people to have a strong and united nation which is capable to utilize its resources for the benefit of its entire people.
During last July, the SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum traded accusations with the NCP official over the CPA implementation. Also the two partners exchanged violent accusation on the deployment of the Sudan Armed Forces and the SPLA, each accuses the other of not withdrawing its troops.
Nonetheless, the question of the oil rich area of Abyei remains the main obstacle to the CPA implementation. Khartoum rejects a report prepared a panel of international experts saying it does not preserve the right of the Arab Misariyah in the region.
The International Crisis Group think-tank said in a report issued last year that “the NCP’s actions regarding Abyei are a blatant violation of the CPA, creating perhaps the most volatile element of the entire agreement right now.”
(ST)