South Sudan ready to mediate Sudan-Ethiopia border dispute: Machar
July 15, 2022 (JUBA)- The South Sudanese government decided to send a delegation to mediate the border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia, said the First Vice President on Thursday.
Riek Machar disclosed the decision in remarks on the fifth day of the public awareness and consultation on water management in south Sudan gathering national and foreign experts at the council of ministers on Thursday.
“Lately, the last council of ministers made a resolution in order to end the Sudanese-Ethiopians conflict. We decided to send a delegation to them so that they don’t quarrel,” said Machar.
Last June, Ethiopian militiamen captured and killed seven soldiers triggering a large military operation from the Sudanese army to retake the last Ethiopian settlement inside the claimed area.
He added that the main objective for this initiative is that South Sudan has good relations with neighbouring countries and hopes avoid them the horrors of war.
“We have no issue with Egyptians and like we have no issue with the Ethiopians. If they are in conflict, we would help them resolve their issues peacefully because. We have lived wars, and we value the relations between these two countries with us. Whether with the Ethiopians or with the Sudanese,” said Machar.
During the year 2020, Amhara militiamen intensified attacks on Sudanese farmers and clashed several times with the Sudanese deployed troops along the border and clashed with Ethiopian militiamen in the Al-Fashaga area.
In December 2020, Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen claimed that Al-Fashaga is an Ethiopian territory and called for talks to settle the dispute.
Sudanese officials swiftly rejected the claim pointing to previous border demarcation agreements signed by the two countries in the past.
In return, the Sudanese officials call for talks to agree on technical committee to place border markers in line with the 1972 agreement.
In May 2021, Sudan declined an initiative by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to settle the border dispute and to fund agriculture schemes in Al-Fashaga using Ethiopian and Sudanese farmers.
Al-Burhan at the time, welcomed the project stressing that Khartoum can sign such agreement with the Gulf country after the border demarcation process.
(ST)