Sudan SPLM delegation received at White House, State, and Pentagon
April 4, 2009 (WASHINGTON) –The Foreign Minister of Sudan and Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) continued their talks in Washington and New York holding meetings with US officials.
The delegation is led by Secretary General Pa’gan Amum Okiech accompanied by Foreign Minister Deng Alor, the delegation was received at the White House, State Department, Department of Defense and US Mission to the United Nations.
The SPLM, which heads the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, faces a deepening budget crisis due to lower oil revenues, arrears owed them by the central government and high military spending.
Refugees International warned last week that the GoSS is on the brink of collapse and urged the US to help “secure an emergency financial rescue package in order to avoid a breakdown of law and order.”
The SPLM delegation reportedly asked the US government for assistance with the shortfall, but there are no signs of a positive response from Washington.
The low profile visit signals the high stakes of the quiet political and diplomatic maneuvering ongoing by the two 2005 peace partners of Sudan, SPLM and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
In a barely veiled slap at the SPLM visit, Sudan presidential assistant Nafi Ali Nafi was quoted by the official news agency (SUNA) as saying the US administration must establish direct channels of communication with the NCP adding that any other dialogues Washington conducts “will not suffice.”
The chairman of the SPLM, General Salva Kiir sent the high-level delegation to the United States for a visit lasting from March 28 to April 5, 2009.
According to a statement from the GoSS office in Washington, the delegation met the US Special Envoy, Scott Gration on Tuesday – just a day before his journey to Khartoum — and discussed the implementation of the CPA, Darfur Crisis as well as the economic and military support package to the GOSS.
Speaking at a gathering of the Sudanese community on Friday, Amum disclosed that the delegation had been sent on short notice with the intention of meeting Gration before his journey to Khartoum.
The SPLM team also held an interagency meeting attended by representatives of the State Department, Department of Defense, USAID and US Congress. On Friday, the SPLM team met the Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, a GOSS official affirmed.
The delegation was received at the White House by Michelle Gavin, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs in the National Security Council. Together they discussed the current political situation in Sudan, said the GOSS statement.
The SPLM leaders also met with officials in the Department of Defense led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Theresa Whelan and discussed GOSS-US military cooperation in the field of security sector reform.
Gration, who traveled to Darfur on Saturday, said today that Darfur is on the brink of a deepening crisis in the wake of the expulsion of 16 aid groups.
Commenting on the same situation during a public event Wednesday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Foreign Minister Alor echoed remarks made earlier by other SPLM officials, saying that he was not consulted about the government’s decision to expel the groups from North Sudan.
Alor noted that he had read the news in the newspaper like anybody else and that he had been angered by the move.
In a trip to New York, the delegation visited the United Nations headquarters and held meetings with the Deputy UN Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro and Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations.
They also met with US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice, who until recently had been on personal leave, according to a diplomat in New York.
Amum was chosen for the mission because he led a larger SPLM delegation to the US in August last year, he said.
Kiir also hand-picked another member of the SPLM Political Bureau, Abdel-Aziz Adam El-Hilu, who was one of the key commanders during the war in the Nuba Mountains and its failed invasion of Darfur. El-Hilu is tasked with heading SPLM’s efforts in facilitating an end to the Darfur conflict.
Akot Lual, private secretary to the president of GoSS, also took part in the delegation. Lual had previously met at the White House with Gavin on February 27.
Sudan is currently facing rising political tension in light of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
Alor revealed that the NCP asked the SPLM to stage demonstrations in protest of the ICC decision but the request was turned down. However he said that the SPLM wants the decision to be deferred to focus on resolving the Darfur crisis, while the NCP wants the decision annulled.
(ST)
Chameleon Chameleon
Sudan SPLM delegation received at White House, State, and Pentagon
GOSS,
Think well GOSS about economic crisis or otherwise the situation will be worst soon. Begging help from others is not bad, but you Government of Southern Sudan must try to get rid of corruptors and endeavor to manage public funds wisely. Southern Sudan is not an independence state which mean that we rely on NCP arabs north to budget us, so we sould suppose to manage 50% we receive from oil wisely.
Isaac Treter
Sudan SPLM delegation received at White House, State, and Pentagon
GOSS!
As you approve laws to determine the Defend holding the security of the country for the better, also approve budgets using SSLA and laws in place to determine the coming in and going out of moneys from the BOSS, or otherwise you will be always facing such challenges.
I would suggest that any member of the cabinet could get money from the Bank using transparent and lawful documents that which could helping in working out his/her departments appropriately.
Take Care GOSS.
AUGUSTINO DENG
Sudan SPLM delegation received at White House, State, and Pentagon
First of all, I would like to thank those delegation of the SPLM who went to Washington and New York for the political discussion dialogues. According to my own opinion, SPLM as a party should have to know what is mean by the word government. Because in the first point, they should have to address the issue of Omar Bashir arrestment instead of explaining the short crisis about the low of the oil revenues. Now I believe that there is a fact for Omar Bashir, to be arrested because amongst those of the SPLM including those who come to Washington and New York plus those of the SPLM members who remain in Southern Sudan, amongst of them were against ICC indictment on Omar Bashir arrestment including Salva Kiir Miyardit himself was against the ICC indictment of Omar Bashir, according to his speech he had addressed last time in Juba, Sudan.
So in this point, what is the reality of some of the SPLM to advocated Omar Bashir from going to jail? Some people said that if Omar Bashir go to jail, then there will be another war. I think the war is already been declare since the Khartoum Government declined to respect the things that were signed during the CPA. Like for example, if the Khartoum Government is not giving or adhering with the budget of the Southerners that was signed on 01/09/2005, then what is the point of the SPLM to rely on Omar Bashir? The war is declared right there by the Khartoum Government and the SPLM is still relying on Omar Bashir for the purpose to get money and put them in their pockets for their own use. But, they forget about the overall crisis of the Southern Sudanese people.
Second, one thing that the SPLM don’t even know is that, they shouldn’t expect help all the times by asking the US Government to intervene into their crisis. SPLM, on the other hand, is the cause of the mess in Southern Sudan. Why? Because of their mismanagement and dwindling of money all the times, make everything collapse in Southern Sudan. For instance, Southern Sudanese disables heroes don’t get their pays because of the shortage income due to the poor management of the GOSS administration. Take example like the ask a Us Government to assist them, but “there is no response from Washington”. This is because the US government is tried of these Southern Sudanese. How many times the world raised their help to Southern Sudanese and there is no change completely amongst themselves.
For the SPLM to play a political its roles, they should adopt the world leadership instead of relying on other like United Nation, America, Canada, Australia, China, Japanese and so many other countries in world.
This is a big shame to our leaders of Southern Sudanese starting from those of the lower ranks up to the highest ranks. Shame on them all !!!!!!!!!!.