South Sudan says Sudan’s rhetoric fooling international community
March 3, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan on Sunday said the government of neigbouring Sudan, with which it has been unable to resolve list of contentious post-secession issues, was fooling the international community by talking up its commitment to implementing an agreement signed in September.
Minister Marial said the “time for rhetoric and calls for endless negotiation has finished” and accused Sudan of amassing and scaling up deployment of troops along the border areas.
He, however, expressed South Sudan’s commitment to implement the agreement without raising any preconditions but said that Juba did not see any point engaging in endless negotiations on issues which have already been discussed and remain only to be implemented.
Sudan has insisted that security issues, specifically Juba’s alleged backing of their former comrades in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, be resolved before other aspects of the nine point deal are implemented.
The consequence has been that South Sudan has not resumed oil production, a move that is needed to aide the struggling economies of both countries. A dispute over oil transit fees led South Sudan to halt production just over a year ago.
In an interview with Sudan Tribune Marial said that South Sudan has “always been ready to fully implement the agreement. The visit of the president of the republic of South Sudan, General Salva Kiir Mayardit to oil fields after the signing of the agreement was to open oil production and flow to indicate our commitment as government to implement the agreement but what did they do? They refused to resume production and started raising impossible demands. They raised things which were not part of the agreement. They want disarmament of their rebels.”
Minister was reacting to a statement by the Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs stating commitment of the Sudanese government to the comprehensive and coordinated implementation the September agreements and the January 5 presidential meeting.
The February 28 statement expressed Sudan’s full commitment to the implementation of the deal in order to promote peace and the realisation of the two viable states living side by side in peace.
But minister Marial said the statement holds nothing more than political rhetoric by the Sudanese government to fool the international community.
“We will see. The government of Sudan does not do what it says. It is the government fraught with contradictions. They say one thing and do another. They are just fooling the international community. If they are serious why are not implementing it.”
(ST)