South Sudan’s Kiir urges troika countries to offer financial aid
October 26, 2016 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir has appealed to the Troika countries to provide the financial assistance needed for his government in the implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement, instead of advocating for punitive measures, which could undermine the country’s reconciliation efforts.
“One important point was the need for the international community, particularly the members of the troika countries to provide financial assistance to help with the implementation of the peace agreement. This was very important as you know troika countries are part of the IGAD-Plus. They played a key role during the negotiation and promised to provide financial assistance during the implementation process,” the aide, who preferred anonymity, disclosed.
“The other item which was discussed is the need for the international community to cooperate and work with the current government of national unity,” he added.
Also discussed, the official said, was the issue of armed groups operating with the knowledge of or taking advantage of porous border lines between Sudan and South Sudan.
“This third was very important because it has been one of the contentious issues which has not been allowing full cooperation in the implementation of security arrangements between Sudan and us (South Sudan) because the issue of armed groups. Sudanese government thinks those fighting them, particularly the SPLM-N are still attached to us, which is not true. They have de-linked themselves from us soon after secession on July 9th, 2011”, further explained the presidential aide.
“On our side, we believe, and this is not just assumption, it is with strong evidences that Sudan provides to militia groups who are there to destabilize the country and cause havoc. These people are trained, hosted and provided with all types of military weapons and logistics to execute their plans in the country. The international community knows this but they chose to keep quiet and instead continue to believe what Sudanese government tells them. so this needs a key country to play a role in helping the leaderships of the two countries to identifying where there is a problem and try to resolve it amicably”, he stressed.
Norway’s foreign affairs minister, Borge Brenda was received at Juba international airport by his South Sudanese counterpart, Deng Alor Kuol.
Brenda discussed with him and his host bilateral matters and what South Sudan government was doing with regards to implementation of the peace agreement.
Brenda told the state-owned SSBC, he was in South Sudan to assess the humanitarian situation to see what possible assistance his country can provide.
He did not, however, say the kind of assistance his government would provide.
Meanwhile, South Sudan’s foreign minister affairs, appreciated the visit of his Norwegian counterpart, urging the Troika country to consider extending their support from humanitarian to developmental assistance.
(ST)