Kenya puts forward a new mediation bid between north & south Sudan
March 25, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The visiting Kenyan Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka on Sunday delivered a letter from his boss president Mwai Kibaki to Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.
The Kenyan official welcomed last week’s framework agreement signed in Addis Ababa between Khartoum and Juba adding that his country supports the upcoming meetings on security and political issues on March 30th.
Bashir on his end stressed Sudan’s desire to spread peace and stability in the region and establishing good neighborly relations with South Sudan. He praised Kenya’s efforts to achieve peace as it was the site where the CPA was signed.
Musyoka also expressed optimism that that April 3rd planned meeting between Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir in Juba would contribute to resolving the lingering disputes between the two neighbors.
In Khartoum the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Badr al-Deen Ahmed Ibrahim said that the parliament will meet at the end of March to discuss the security arrangements between north and south Sudan after which a final determination on Bashir’s visit to Juba will be made.
“Once [security arrangements] are accomplished the visit will go ahead to preserve joint interests between the two countries” Ibrahim said.
There were fears that South Sudan may execute the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against Bashir but officials in Juba said they will not arrest the Sudanese leader and they will protect him. Bashir is wanted on ten counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide he allegedly committed in Darfur.
South Sudan has been at loggerheads with Sudan since seceding in July under the 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.
The two have yet to resolve sensitive issues such as demarcating the border, dividing debt and deciding how much the landlocked new nation should pay to export oil – the lifeblood of both economies – through Sudan.
In a related issue the Kenyan VP stressed his country’s commitment to the African Union (AU) resolution instructing countries in the continent not to cooperate with ICC with regards to Bashir’s warrant.
He addressed the ruling by a Kenyan court last year ordering the government to arrest Bashir should he set foot on its territory.
“The Attorney-General has already appealed against the ruling and we are confident that the court will reverse it,” Musyoka said.
“But we must keep in mind the independence of the Kenyan judiciary from the executive branch so we appealed which confirms the impartiality of the judiciary and despite brotherly relations between the two countries, we cannot intervene in the court’s ruling.” he added.
The move by the Kenyan judge triggered a furious response from Khartoum, which pulled out its representative in Nairobi and ordered Kenya’s ambassador to leave within 72 hours, prompting Kenya to send a high-level delegation to heal the rift.
But Khartoum reversed its retaliatory measures.
(ST)
