South Sudan welcomes killing of Osama bin laden
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May 4, 2011 (ABYEI) - A senior member of the South Sudan’s ruling
party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Wednesday
welcomed the death of terrorist leader, Osama bin laden, Pakistan
following a raid by the United States special forces.
JPEG - 23.2 kb
Colombian Hasmet Hichster Londono, an admirer of Al-Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden who has been personifying him for seven years, walks around
the neigbourhood of Santa Fe in Bogota, Colombia, on May 4, 2011.
(Getty)
"The killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is welcome news not
only for the United States of America but for the rest of the world
where human life is valued," said Lieutenant General Anthony Bol
Madut, a former Warrap State Governor and a current senior security
advisor in the ministry of internal affairs of the government of south
Sudan.
"By social norms, it is usually unconventional to celebrate death but,
Bin Laden’s role in global security, especially the famous September
11, 2001 attack, on New York and Washington are put in perspective.
This is why it is understandable why most of the world is rejoicing
the man’s death. Not because of any other reason. Nobody can celebrate
death," said Madut in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday
from the regional capital of Juba.
Madut who appears to be the first senior official of South Sudan’s
ruling party to welcome the death of bin Laden said the 2,751 people
killed in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York will never
be forgotten.
An official in north Sudan’s ruling party the National Congress Party
described bin Laden as a “holy fighter” on Monday after his death was
announced by U.S. president Barak Obama.
The parliament speaker Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir was quoted by state
media as telling the NCP dominated national assembly as describing Bin
Laden as a Mujahid (holy fighter) during the parliamentary session and
was interrupted by MP’s who chanted "Martyr, Martyr". He described the
U.S. war on terror as "genocide against Muslims".
South Sudan is due to split from North Sudan in July after a
referendum vote earlier this year, agreed as part of a 2005 peace
deal. The U.S. has indicated that it may removed Sudan from it list of
states that sponsor terrorism after Khartoum recognized the result,
paving the way for southern secession.
The U.S. has said the South Sudan will be exempt from the sanctions
that North Sudan is subjected when it becomes independent on July 9.
Khartoum hosted bin Laden from 1991-1996 before he relocated to
Afghanistan from where he planned the 9/11 attacks on New York and
Washington.
Wol Mawien Jok, a visiting native of the oil-producing region of
Abyei, who acquired American citizenship after resettling 1999 told
Sudan Tribune: "The September 11 attack was not only a surprise attack
to American people and government but to the whole world. So, in
evoking the bitter memories of September 2001, we do not seek to renew
the anguish incurred by bereaved families and other well wishers but
merely to stress that the world does not need a recurrence of such
monstrous excesses."
He warned while people in the United States and elsewhere may be
jumping for joy at bin Laden’s killing, they should not forget the
lingering threat posed by Al Qaeda and other champions of terrorism.
"The whole world should be more vigilant because the al Qaeda network
has not died. It is only the leader who has died. So, although the
scourge of terrorism has suffered a historic defeat, it does not mark
the end of al Qaeda. The whole world should remain alert to the
lurking menace posed by the terrorist group which may consider
inflicting some revenge attacks," warned Jok.
The killing of the al Qaeda leader prompted the US government to send
out instructions to its embassies around the world to be on maximum
alert, warning American nationals of the possibility of al Qaeda
reprisal attacks for bin Laden’s death.
Miyen Alor Kuol, a senior member of the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement from Abyei, adds that dead of the al Qaeda network means
restoration of global and that American citizens and other western
countries should not consider they were they only target of terrorism.
"The terrorists have given themselves a global mandate and it would be
unwise for any country to consider Americans and other westerners as
the only prime targets".
"Even here in Africa, there should be vigilance especially considering
that people in countries like Kenya and Tanzania have in the past been
victims of Bin Laden’s terror," said Kuol in an another interview with
Sudan Tribune from Juba.
The official who was studying in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi
explained that, in 1998, some 224 people, mostly Kenyans, were killed
in the simultaneous bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and in
Tanzania’s main city Dar es Salaam.
"In Africa, he said, the terrorist groups, in 1998 bombed US embassy
killing some 224 innocent Kenyans and other nationalities if I can
recall because I was in Nairobi when it occurred," he explained.
"A part from the regrettable loss of life, terrorism retards
development because of its in-built destruction and because of the
time and money spent tracking down suspects. In bin Laden’s case, he
has been hunted for nearly 10 years".
"If this pursue were not there, the time, effort and money would have
been channeled to development. Rather than resorting to violence
whenever aggrieved about something, al Qaeda should give dialogue a
chance. They will never regret it," said Kuol.
(ST)
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