Sudan encourages Arab states to foster good relations with South Sudan

March 9, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government would like to see Arab states build strong ties with the newly established country of South Sudan, an official said today.

At a press conference held at the Sudanese embassy in Yemen, visiting presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie said that his government wants their Arab peers to be “open” with South Sudan and provide services and investments.

Nafie said that this serves the main cause for Sudanese neighbourhood ties with African nations.

The general Arab sentiment is that Sudan’s breakup into north and south, which officially took place last July, was a result of western meddling.

Last year’s visit by South Sudan president Salva Kiir to Israel fueled those suspicions.

The Sudanese official then spoke about ongoing negotiations with the South on post-secession issues saying that no progress was made despite the availability of proposals and mediation.

He went on to say that South Sudan has an agenda of supporting rebel groups fighting Khartoum to bring about a regime change so that they control the entire country.

However, Nafie stressed that Juba has no means of making this plot work.
The Sudanese army (SAF) has been battling forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan since June last year.

The two states lie on Sudan’s borders with the newly established country of South Sudan. They are home to communities that largely fought alongside Southerners in the civil war that ended in 2005 with a peace deal that paved the way for the South’s independence.

Sudan also accuses Juba of supporting a coalition of rebel groups including the SPLM-N, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and two factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) and Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM).

Khartoum routinely accuses its southern neighbour of supporting the SPLM-N in the course of the fighting which has intensified over the last few weeks.
Relations between the two neighbours were further strained over the decision by Juba to shut down oil production in retaliation to Khartoum’s confiscation of part of the crude which is exported through the north’s pipelines.

Nafie was on a visit to Yemen along presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail to congratulate the newly elected president Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

Hadi will serve for an interim two-year period under a Gulf brokered transition plan signed by his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh last November after 10 months of protests demanding his resignation.

(ST)