Sudan says Kiir’s visit to Israel reveals covert relations
December 22, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali Karti has downplayed fears of a security impact on his country following the visit of South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir to Israel, saying it is just a revelation of what was happening in secrecy between Tel Aviv and Sudan’s former southern rebels.
Speaking to reporters in the capital Khartoum on Thursday, Sudan’s top diplomat said that the visit would not create any security repercussions on his country. He further said that Kiir’s visit was merely a continuation of the well-established relations between his ruling party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), and the Jewish State.
Karti pointed out that Israel has historically supported the SPLM’s rebellion in the former southern region of Sudan through weapons and training, adding that this support was admitted by the SPLM itself.
During his one-day visit to Tel Aviv, Kiir reportedly thanked his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres for the support his country gave to South Sudan during the war whose latest round ended in 2005 with the signing of a peace deal that paved the way for South Sudan’s independence in July this year.
“I am very moved to be in Israel and to walk on the soil of the Promised Land, and with me are all South Sudanese people,” he said, according to a statement by Peres’ office. “Without you, we would not have arisen. You struggled alongside us in order to allow the establishment of South Sudan and we are interested in learning from your experience.”
As far as Karti is concerned, “It is better for the Arab and Islamic world to know the truth of the relationship between the southern state and Israel, which many Arab and African state used to doubt.”
Israel was quick to recognize South Sudan’s independence and pledged to establish full diplomatic and economic ties with the world’s new nation.
(ST)