Salva Kiir to visit restive Darfur next month

August 22, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese First Vice-President and President of southern Sudan government, Salva Kiir Mayadrit, will visit the restive region of Darfur next month, said a statement issued by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) this week.

Kiir visited two of northern Sudan states, Southern Kordofan in July and Blue Nile in August. These visits come some four years after the formation of the national unity government in July 2005.

In a statement released at the end of the SPLM political bureau in Juba between 16-20 August, the southern Sudan ruling party said Salva Kiir would visit Darfur after the end of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan which started on Saturday August 22.

The SPLM will send a delegation to the troubled region to meet with regional political leadership and the tribal leaders to “identify their views on the political solution to Darfur issue.”

The SPLM had announced this visit in the past several times but it had been adjourned for unknown reasons. The SPLM is represented in the local governments of the three states of Darfur in accordance with the 2005 peace agreement.

The SPLM was a close ally to the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur but relations between the two parties witnessed some frictions following the death of the late John Garang.

In October 2008, a delegation led by SPLM Secretary General met with the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement to discuss ways to reach a fair peace in Darfur, the meeting also agreed to organize a meeting between Kiir and JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim but since the two parties failed to agree on the place of the meeting.

Also, the National Congress Party is very suspicious to any role that the SPLM can play in the resolution of Darfur conflict due to the permanent tension and difference over the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

(ST)