President Kiir deeply saddened by death of Ambassador Kuol
January 5, 2018 (JUBA) – South Sudan President Salva Kiir said he was deeply saddened by the death of Kuol Alor Kuol South Sudan Ambassador to UN institutions in Geneva stressing that his death is a great loss for South Sudan and its people.
The late Ambassador Kuol died in December 2017 and his body was repatriated to the country in early January 2018. Officials attributed the cause of his death to a heart attack.
He and foreign Minister come from the same family and are native of the disputed Abyei region.
“This is a very sorrowful occasion for one talk over it and as I was joking with my brother Deng Alor when he broke the news to me on Wednesday, soon after the demise of our ambassador. He came to me in my office to inform me about the death of Ambassador (Kuol Alor Kuol). I told him, Deng, if God ask people and asked me who from this family, I would have him told to take you. He asked me how my brother, can you wish me death, I said yes, Ambassador Kuol does not deserve to die at this time,” said president Kiir.
“We needed him,” he added.
The president said he decided to leave the prayer services because he did not want to stay looking at the picture and portrait of the late for he would not have the courage to stay without breaking into tears for the loss of the ambassador
“I cannot tolerate looking at the photo while sitting quietly. I would have cried, although I would not have cried loudly, I would have shed tears. I want to tell the family that the loss is not yours alone, it is a loss to all, he said.
The president described late Ambassador Kuol who died in Geneva, Switzerland, as the representative of the government to the office of the United Nations, was a great man and someone with whom they have no difference.
Foreign affairs Minister Deng Alor Kuol, who comes from the disputed area, could not accompany and attend the burial as the United Nations interim force in Abyei could not include his name on the list of those who would go for burial services.
(ST)