Sudan and South Sudan: new escalation

By Vestnik Kavkaza

On June 8 the Sudanese government said it will void the agreement on transit of South Sudan's oil through its territory and is ready to terminate all agreements on security and economic cooperation. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Sudan to the Russian Federation, Omar Dahab, commented on the current state of relations between Sudan and South Sudan. According to him, on April 27, 2013, that is, about 2 and a half to 3 months ago, troops or members of the so-called Sudanese Revolutionary Front began training in special camps, which were established in South Sudan, and after appropriate training they invaded the territory of Sudan. “Unfortunately, we had very small forces there, mainly police. They (militants) killed so many people. This was done with racist underpinnings, on the basis of tribal hatred. They killed women and children. It was a very brutal operation. Very terrible crimes have been committed by these rebel forces who invaded our country,” the ambassador said.

He mentioned that Sudan sought to implement the agreement with South Sudan as a package - security problems, economic issues. “But we faced the fact that two Sudanese cities were almost completely destroyed. This was a clear and open violation of all agreements. What was Sudan supposed to do? Of course, it was supposed to defend himself. We decided to stop the transfer of oil through our territory. It is because of these events we were forced to undertake such a step. Now the vice-president of South Sudan has announced that he proclaims their commitment to the principles of security, which were discussed in the previous agreement. The parties came to the current agreement just two days ago, at a meeting held in Khartoum. A declaration was made consisting of nine points. The most important of these points is a complete cessation of support and provision of refuge to any rebel or insurgent groups in accordance with the Security Council resolution. That is, completely abandoning support for the insurgency. Thus, both countries have come to a basic agreement to provide security between the two countries. Both sides have shown a reasonable approach, and we are very optimistic now, precisely because the agreement was reached, and there is the will of both parties to implement the Security Council resolution. We ask God to come and help us to achieve peace and security,” Omar Dahab said.