Khartoum to host S. Sudanese peace conference on Monday
January 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs has confirmed to host a regional conference on South Sudan’s political and security situation in the capital, Khartoum, on Monday.
The conference, which China initiated, will involve participation of representatives of president Salva Kiir’s government and armed opposition faction led by the former vice-president, Riek Machar.
Representatives of China and member states of the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), will also attend the Khartoum forum.
“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in Khartoum on Sunday leading a senior-level delegation to the meeting,” Al-Kordofani said in a press release on Thursday.
He also pointed out that the Chinese foreign minister and his Sudanese counterpart will also discuss issues pertaining to the bilateral relations between the two nations.
“During his stay here, Wang and his Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti are expected to hold talks on the bilateral ties and cooperation in such areas as commerce, economy and investment,” he added.
IGAD for the past one year has been mediating between the two warring parties with little progress as fighting has continued.
The conflict is complicated by military interference of the neighbouring Uganda and Sudanese rebel factions such as the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on the side of president Kiir’s government.
Machar’s opposition group of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) has been calling on all foreign troops, notably Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) to withdraw from South Sudan in implementation of the 23 January cessation of hostilities accord signed by the two warring parties.
The rebels argued that the military interference of the foreign forces will likely expand the war and the interference amounted to occupation and colonization of South Sudan which they vowed to resist.
The SPLM-IO accuses Juba of surrendering the sovereignty of the country to foreign agents.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has however refused to withdraw his troops, fearing that president Kiir’s forces would be defeated by the rebels and his leadership taken over in Juba unless an alternative regional force was deployed.
It seems China wants to step up its influence on the two warring parties and help the IGAD regional body in trying to persuade the parties into reaching a peace agreement and stop the war.
Beijing is the biggest dealer in oil production in South Sudan which provides 95% of the overall revenues for the young nation. It also provides loans to the economically staggering east African country. The Asian nation also provided weaponry to Juba at some point.
Also the rebel group in September last year dispatched a delegation to China to persuade Beijing to concentrate on exerting efforts to help end the war and stop providing weapons to Juba, adding Beijing had influence on Juba which it could utilise.
“We believe China can help in changing the current negative mindset in Juba. The regime is solely depending on Beijing and Khartoum for its survival, economically and even militarily. Our leadership believes China can positively play this card of influence and persuasion at its disposal in ending the war,” Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune.
Juba on the other hand accuses its northern neighbour of training and arming the country’s opposition forces. Both sides denied the accusations.
(ST)