Sudan says West plotting to “clone” Darfur in South Kordofan

August 14, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese parliamentarian has accused South Sudan and the West of supporting the rebellion in the country’s southern state of South Kordofan in order to create a pretext for the deployment of UN troops.

Calls for intervention to contain the ongoing armed conflict between Sudan’s army and the rebels Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement in South Kordofan have started to gain traction after two months since the war erupted in early June.

Khartoum recently terminated the mandate of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which was established in 2005 to monitor the implementation of the 2005’s comprehensive peace agreement that paved the way for South Sudan’s independence in July.

The deputy speaker of the Sudanese parliament, Hagu Gasim Al-Said, on Sunday told his fellow parliamentarians that the government of South Sudan and some Western countries are supporting the plans of the SPLM’s leader Abdul Azizi Al-Hilu to undermine security in the state so the UN could find an excuse to deploy its troops.

According to the MP, AL-Hilu’s plan aims to setup displacement camps in the state to serve as an excuse for Western aid agencies to enter South Kordofan. “They wanted to clone another Darfur in the state,” he added in an address to parliamentarians from South Kordofan.

The UN estimates that at least 200,000 people in South Kordofan have been killed, injured or forced to flee their homes and land since the fighting erupted.

Al-Said pointed out that the government had strongly resisted the creation of displacement camps in the region. “We supported the displaced with all our powers in order to block any attempt to setup displcament camps in the area so South Kordofan will not become Darfur two,” he claimed

However, he later admitted the existence of refugees in the eastern rims of South Kordofan and that they need urgent support.

(ST)