Sudan summons Kenya and Ethiopia ambassadors over arms deliveries to Juba
Tuesday 14 October 2008 04:10.
October 13, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned
separately Monday the ambassadors of Ethiopia and Kenya to Sudan regarding arms
shipments to southern Sudan.
Sudan alleged that Kenya is involved in weapons delivery to Southern Sudan
government (GoSS) via the Ukrainian ship seized off the Somali coast but
Nairobi denies the charges. On the other hand it was reported that an Ethiopian
military plane recently arrived at Juba Airport with weapons to the Sudan
People’s Liberation Army.
The Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan Riak Machar has denied
any knowledge of reports of an Ethiopian airplane landing yesterday in Juba
with heavy weapons.
Machar said a press statement that even if the weapons belong to the SPLA, then
there is still no problem because the Comprehensive Peace Agreement grants the
SPLA the right to get arms from any sources and it does not require any
coordination from Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to import weapons. Machar added that
SAF did not need any co-ordination with the SPLA to import weapons when it
imported jet fighters recently.
The CPA agreement does give the GoSS executive and legislative powers over
military and security forces during the 2005-2011 interim period, but Juba is
still subject to another part of the agreement on security arrangements, which
states that the Joint Military Board has to determine the issue and submit it
to the presidency for approval.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed strong protests to the ambassadors
from Kenya and Ethiopia and expressed astonishment as the two countries are
linked with "distinguished relations" with Sudan and they are founding members
of the IGAD organization that sponsored the negotiations which led to the
signing of the CPA in January 2005.
The two countries also are members of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission
for the implementation of the agreement, the statement underlined.
The foreign ministry referred to the importance of the contribution of the
neighboring countries to boosting confidence between the two parties to the
agreement for realizing the comprehensive peace which is the basis for peace in
the whole region.
The Sudanese government said that the military plane arrived at Juba Airport on
October 10 loaded with weapons. Concerning Kenya, the government’s protest
related to the Ukrainian ship loaded with heavy weapons to southern Sudan via
port of Mombasa, Kenya.
(ST)
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