South Sudan will ‘not fold its arms’ if Khartoum launches attack
June 12, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan said on Wednesday that it will not fold its arms if the government of neigbouring Sudan, with whom it is engaged in an oil dispute, launches cross-border attacks.
Minister Marial, however, quoted president Salva Kiir’s warning during his state address that his country would not fold its arms if Sudan continues to engage in aggressive behaviour and carry out an invading attacks on its territory.
“We have a constitutional obligation as a democratically elected government to protect the territory of this country and its citizens with their properties from any foreign aggression. We will not attack but will not accept being attacked and expected to fold our arms when our people and their properties are attacked. We will do anything within our capacity to safeguard their safety”, he said.
Marial made the remarks at a briefing during which he stated position of the government that it was not in any way interested in returning the country to “senseless war” but that it was time to consolidate peace and build the new nation he said was created as a result of devastating civil wars with Sudan.
“The president clearly stated that he will not return the citizens of this country to senseless war. It is we are afraid to fight. We know our people can fight but this is the position of our government. The position of the government is what I have said already that we are peaceful coexistence with Sudan. We know what war has done to the people of Sudan and South Sudan. The citizens in both Sudan and South Sudan need peace. If you ask any citizen in Sudan, he or she will definitely tell you that they are not interested in war. So why would you go against the interest of the majority”, he asked.
Marial, who speaks for the government as its official spokesperson, wondered why Sudan’s president was mobilising young people for a Jihad – holy war – as he had claimed in a recent speech.
Earlier this week president Bashir order the stoppage of southern oil passing through Sudan to the international markets, accusing South Sudan backing rebels north of the border.
Juba has rejected backing the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) coalition and accused Khartoum of supporting rebellions and militia in the young nation, which split from Sudan in 2011.
“He is calling Jihad to fight who?” Marial asked. “If it is the rebels in Sudan, then he should know they are also Muslims. If it is for South Sudan then he should know that we are not against anybody and therefore do not want to fight senseless war”.
South Sudan was committed to the implementation of the cooperation agreement and the implementation matrix agreed by the two nations to resolve the difference, Marial said. He described president Bashir’s remarks in which he described South Sudanese a fools as “irresponsible and racial statement”.
President Bashir on Saturday 8 accused South Sudan of providing support to the SRF, who are trying to overthrow his 25-year rule.
“We gave them their country with all the resources and instead of focusing on building it, they decided to follow and support fools like them. We will now close the pipeline and after that it is up to them to take it to Kenya or through Djibouti or wherever”, Bashir said at a rally held north of Sudanese capital Khartoum which was broadcast by the national television.
Marial said that Bashir’s comments were “irresponsible”, especially coming from a head of state. He repeated South Sudan’s denial “that we do not provide any support to the Sudanese rebels”.
Earlier this year, in a brief period when relations improved between Juba and Khartoum, Bashir denied that he had described the leaders of South Sudan’s ruling SPLM as “insects” that must be crushed.
Marial said that Sudan wants his country to reject hosting the refugees that have fled from South Kordofan and Blue Nile where the SRF rebels are fighting government.
“Sudan is manufacturing all these lies because we are not accepting them. They want us to chase away the refugees we are hosting in Upper Nile and Unity States. It is these refugees who flood our markets and other public places along the borders which [Khartoum] consider as rebels”, he explained.
(ST)