S. Kordofan governor urges tribal leaders to press rebels to join peace process
January 14, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – South Kordofan governor Adam Al-Faki called on traditional leaders to persuade rebels to lay down their arms in order to end the three-year conflict in the state and join the development process.
Al-Faki made his call during a meeting with the member of the Native Administration in Al Abbasiya, located in north-eastern part of South Kordofan state, where he attended a celebration to mark Sudan’s 58th independence day.
The governor demanded the tribal and religious leaders to contact those who joined the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) and to encourage them hand over their guns and to join the ongoing efforts to develop their region.
Al-Faki further reiterated the state commitment to complete the construction of a road linking Um Rababa in North Kordofan state and Abu Jubaiha in South Kordofan.
He also proposed to hold a conference for peaceful coexistence between the different components of the district where reside different tribes.
Last November Sudanese government organised a conference for the leaders of Zaghawa ethnic group in western Sudan, asking them to bring the tribe’s sons, particularly Gibril Ibrahim leader of the Justice and Equality Movement and Minni Minnawi of Sudan Liberation Movement, to the negotiating table to end the 10 year conflict in Darfur.
Speaking in a public meeting, Al-Faki however vowed to end the rebellion and clean South Kordofan state from the rebel groups during the upcoming months, adding that the SPLM-N “came to demolish religion and to dismantle the social fabric”.
The Sudanese government and the SPLM-N rebels were expected to meet last December in Addis Ababa but the meeting was delayed by the South African chief mediator Thabo Mbeki as it coincided with the death of the South African leader Nelson Mandela.
Currently, the Sudanese army carry out a large military offensive on the positions of the rebel alliance Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) in South Kordofan. The two sides claimed victory but there is no independent sources in the region to verify the different statements.
(ST)