Sudanese official cites army pullout delay, calls for Japan aid

October 16, 2007 (TOKYO) — Sudanese Interior Minister Elzubair Bashir Taha predicted a delay of possibly two years in an already overdue plan for a northern Sudan army to withdraw from southern Sudan, while calling for various means of assistance from Japan including technical support for criminal investigation expertise.

”I would say in two years perhaps,” Taha said in a recent interview with the Japanese Kyodo News in Tokyo, referring to the time it will take to complete the pullout from the southern Sudan effectively controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Taha is a Cabinet member of the national unity government, which was jointly established in July 2005 by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the SPLM after the signing of a peace deal ending north south civil war.

Taha’s remarks have heightened concerns about the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January 2005 by the NCP and the SPLM.

The plan for the withdrawal of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) from the south is one of the key issues under the framework of the agreement. The initial deadline for the pullout was July 9.

Taha defended the policy of keeping the SAF in southern Sudan for economic reasons, saying 93 percent of the northern Sudan army has pulled out but ”7 percent of our troops are protecting the oil installations.”

Taha, 61, expressed hope that Japan will provide ”training and also technical support in terms of criminal investigation laboratories” as a way to help ensure ”stability” in the country.

The interior minister visited Japan mainly to attend a Science and Technology in Society forum held in Kyoto earlier this month.

Stressing that there is a need to boost forensic equipment for crime prevention, Taha said, ”Sudan is a big country…But we don’t own a single electron microscope…We look forward for laboratories for genetical investigation and DNA examinations.”

Taha called on the Japanese government to enhance various assistance measures, saying, ”Japan is the largest single donor of aid to Darfur. It comes via the United Nations in the name of United Nations operations but we know the source is Japan.” the Japanese agency Kyodo reported

Taha urged people helping rebel leaders in European countries such as France and Britain to halt the assistance, saying such people have ”responsibility” for an outcome of a session of peace talks on the Darfur crisis slated for Oct. 27 in Tripoli.

Taha said the Sudanese government is ”determined” and ”confident” that it will follow the schedules of holding a census, which is a crucial process for a general election planned for 2009 and a referendum slated for 2011 on whether to authorize independence of the southern region.

(ST)