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South Sudan SSDF denies training militias in Ethiopia

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SSDF Denies Training Insurgents in Ethiopia

Press Release

July 18, 2007 — The leadership of South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) hereby refutes false allegations made by Sudan Today that SSDF is training militias in Bilpam, Ethiopia to topple the Government of South Sudan (GoSS). Although Sudan Today claims to be a dossier for truth and transparency, it is now obvious that it is in fact a dossier for misinformation and fabricated lies. Despite its claim that it is compiled by watchdogs in Juba and Khartoum, the leadership of SSDF has discovered that Sudan Today is authored by some high-ranking members of the SPLM who called their faction “Mother SPLA”. This faction is composed of ideological children of late Dr. Garang who are now shedding crocodile tears over the loss of power. The authors of this newsletter of misinformation are among those SPLM members who falsely believe that Dr. Garang was “assassinated by the National Congress party (NCP)” without tangible evidence to prove their allegations.

In issue No V, Sudan Today alleges that “Gordon Kong and Gabriel Tang are now training over 10,000 Nuer militiamen at the historic SPLA training camp of Bilpam”. The problem with this allegation is that the premises do not support the conclusion because Bilpam is Ethiopian territory located in Gambella Province. Although the Nuer are the largest ethnic group in Gambella making up 40% of the population, the province is Ethiopian territory, a part from the fact that it is being administered by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who is neither a Nuer nor a Sudanese who may qualify to become a member of SSDF. The SPLM/A used Bilpam as its headquarters in 1980s because it was allowed to do so by the Ethiopian government of Col. Mengistu Hailemariam. Most importantly, the Sudanese territory which borders Gambella Province is currently under the control of the SPLA. If there are insurgents being trained in Bilpam’s forests without the knowledge of Ethiopian government, then they might be the militias of SPLA. Therefore, the allegation that Maj. Gen. Gordon Koang is training militias in Bilpam might have been engineered by anti-Kiir elements to deflect the truth that some military officers of the SPLA are working with foreign powers to undermine the CPA militarily by training insurgents to topple Salva Kiir before invading Khartoum Presidential Palace.

The SSDF has discovered that Mother SPLA faction is now conducting trainings in various areas of South Sudan with an intention of overthrowing the government of Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit in order to return the South to era of late Dr. Garang where South-South dialogue was regarded as something that would undermine the power of certain Dinka clans. Although members of Mother SPLA faction abhor the South-South dialogue embraced by Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir, the people of South Sudan, including the leadership of the SSDF, believe that the position taken by Salva Kiir should be applauded because it will ensure smooth implementation of the CPA. South Sudan, or Sudan for that matter, does not belong to a group of tribalists calling themselves “Mother SPLA”. It belongs to everybody living in it including the Northern merchants who are living and working in the South. The authors of Sudan Today need to know that it is illegal to call for military coup d’état to topple Salva Kiir as they made it abundantly clear in their newsletter.

The SSDF would like to make it abundantly clear that it would protect the CPA and the Constitution of Sudan from being toppled violently by the Mother SPLA faction. The SSDF has a constitutional duty to protect the Government of National Unity (GoNU) from desperate members of the SPLM/A who mistakenly believe that the path to glory and power is to allow themselves to be used by the enemies of Sudan to overthrow a legitimate government.

The leadership of SSDF would also like to rebut the misrepresentation of SSDF as “Nuer Militia”. The SSDF is neither composed of Nuer nor a militia army. It was formed as the result of the conclusion of Khartoum Peace Agreement signed on April 21st, 1997. The SPLM’s tribalists who called a professional army as “Nuer Militia” are not only defying reality but also ethnic diversity in the South. The Khartoum Peace Agreement was signed by late Kerubino Kuanyin Bol, late Arok Thon Arok and Riek Machar who were representing SPLM/A—Bhar el Ghazal, Bor group SPLM/A and SSIM respectively.

We would like to inform the Sudanese, particularly Southerners, that SSDF will deal with authors of Sudan Today in order to bring them to justice for aligning themselves with foreign powers to topple both the governments of the South and GoNU. We will soon find out the names of authors of Sudan Today who are masquerading as members of civil society so that they should face charges of treason for calling for the Constitution of Sudan to be toppled.

For Contact

Mr. Peter Chuol Gatluak, Secretary General of SSUDA

Tel. (402)408-6352

U.S.A

Further Contact:

SSUDA/SSDF Secretariat

Khartoum, Sudan

Email: [email protected]

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