Kiir accuses Sudan’s ruling NCP of arming Southern militias

October 4, 2009 (JUBA) – The president of the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) Salva Kiir accused the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of fueling the violent clashes in the semi-autonomous south.

Kiir was particularly referring to the fighting that broke out in the oil-rich Unity State Friday between bodyguards of the state’s governor and troops loyal to army General Paulino Matip.

The GoSS president said that the NCP still retains militias in the South in violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

He also claimed that weapons are flowing into the south from the North particularly on the borders “where arms factories are widespread”.

“The NCP has different ways to sneak in weapons to the South through smuggling arms to the states bordering the south and distributing them among militias and dropping them from airplanes on certain Southern states” he added.

The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) has frequently accused the NCP of standing behind the recent upsurge in fighting in the South but produced no proof.

Kiir said that the SPLM does not have the means to uncover “the games of the NCP who can sneak weapons through various ways [including] ground, sea and air”.

In the past, the GoSS officials said that the NCP aims to undermine the South ahead of the 2011 referendum vote to make it appear unable to govern itself.

Much of the recent violence has taken place in Jonglei, Unity and Lakes states, which are on what the south sees as its border with the north if voters choose independence in 2011.

(ST)