South Sudan rebuffs proposed meeting between Kiir, Bashir
January 19, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – South Sudan has reacted negatively to a proposal by Kenya to organize a meeting between its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and Sudan’s President Omer Al-Bashir, in contrast with Khartoum’s positive response.
The purpose of the meeting is to help the recently-separated countries resolve their disputes over a host of issues including the fees South Sudan should pay for the use of Khartoum’s pipeline infrastructure to transport its oil.
But South Sudan’s media minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, expressed reservation over the proposal, saying that Al-Bashir has failed to respond to Kiir’s invitation to visit Juba.
“When Salva Kiir visited Khartoum in October, he invited Al-Bashir to visit Juba but he has failed to honor this invitation, and now he is sending other parties to hold a meeting in a third state?” Benjamin was quoted by the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper.
The South Sudanese minister went on to accuse Khartoum of seeking to create multiple mediation platforms in order to stymie efforts by the African Union High Level Panel (AUHIP) led by former South Afrcian President Thabo Mbeki to resolve the two countries’ dispute over post-secession issues.
“A week ago, they [Khartoum] asked the Egyptians to mediate, and now they are asking Nairobi, and they previously asked China to do the same,” Benjamin.
“Khartoum should quit the habit of shopping for mediators” he said, adding that the situation is different now because South Sudan is an independent state.
(ST)