Darfur rebels welcome the results of South Sudan vote for independence

February 8, 2011 (LONDON) — The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) welcomed the announcement of the final results of southern Sudan referendum on independence saying it was “the fruit of a long struggle for freedom and dignity”.

More than two million people were killed during the two decades of war and over four million were displaced from the region before the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005 between the Sudanese government led by the National Congress Party and the former rebel Sudan people’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Yesterday President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir accepted the final results of the referendum where southerners almost unanimously voted for the secession of their region. The South Sudan will be declared an independent state on 9 July 2011.

JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein Adam congratulated the people of South Sudan for the result of the historic vote reaffirming that the NCP government bears alone the responsibility of failing to make unity attractive. He further added that Khartoum policy to establish an Islamic state in the country and to impose one culture led to this secession.

He said that the most important thing is to maintain the social and economic relations between the people in the two countries as they used to in the past. He also pointed out that Darfur shares a large part of the border with the South Sudan.

The official of the rebel group, which wages war against the government since eight years in the restive region of Darfur, went to say that “the continuation of the same policy would lead other regions to seek the right of self-determination”.

JEM and rebels from other groups alluded several times to the right self-determination saying the continuing violence and repression on civilians as well as the use of food as weapon would push them to demand the independence of the region. They also emphasize that Darfur was an independent sultanate until 1916.

However no rebel group demanded talks with the government over this issue.

Ahmed called on the opposition groups to agree on a political platform to create a Sudan where people live under state of citizenship, freedom, democracy, equality and rule of law.

(ST)