Sudan summons Kenya and Ethiopia ambassadors over arms deliveries to Juba

October 13, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned separately Monday the ambassadors of Ethiopia and Kenya to Sudan regarding arms shipments to southern Sudan.

Sudan alleged that Kenya is involved in weapons delivery to Southern Sudan government (GoSS) via the Ukrainian ship seized off the Somali coast but Nairobi denies the charges. On the other hand it was reported that an Ethiopian military plane recently arrived at Juba Airport with weapons to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

The Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan Riak Machar has denied any knowledge of reports of an Ethiopian airplane landing yesterday in Juba with heavy weapons.

Machar said a press statement that even if the weapons belong to the SPLA, then there is still no problem because the Comprehensive Peace Agreement grants the SPLA the right to get arms from any sources and it does not require any coordination from Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to import weapons. Machar added that SAF did not need any co-ordination with the SPLA to import weapons when it imported jet fighters recently.

The CPA agreement does give the GoSS executive and legislative powers over military and security forces during the 2005-2011 interim period, but Juba is still subject to another part of the agreement on security arrangements, which states that the Joint Military Board has to determine the issue and submit it to the presidency for approval.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed strong protests to the ambassadors from Kenya and Ethiopia and expressed astonishment as the two countries are linked with “distinguished relations” with Sudan and they are founding members of the IGAD organization that sponsored the negotiations which led to the signing of the CPA in January 2005.

The two countries also are members of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission for the implementation of the agreement, the statement underlined.

The foreign ministry referred to the importance of the contribution of the neighboring countries to boosting confidence between the two parties to the agreement for realizing the comprehensive peace which is the basis for peace in the whole region.

The Sudanese government said that the military plane arrived at Juba Airport on October 10 loaded with weapons. Concerning Kenya, the government’s protest related to the Ukrainian ship loaded with heavy weapons to southern Sudan via port of Mombasa, Kenya.

(ST)