Sudanese officials snub meetings with UNSC delegation
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May 22 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese 2nd Vice President Ali Osman
Taha and foreign minister Ali Karti have cancelled appearances with
the visiting delegation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
in a sign of tension between Khartoum and the international community.
JPEG - 39.7 kb
US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice (center), Russian ambassador to the
UN Vitaly Churkin (right) and French ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud
(left) in Khartoum May 22, 2011 (UN)
The UNSC has already called off a planned stop in the contested area
of Abyei on the North-South borders which witnessed fierce clashes and
ended up with a military takeover by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) of
the oil-rich region.
Sudanese officials attributed Karti’s absence to a sudden illness but
did not provide a similar explanation to scrapping the meeting with VP
Taha.
The United States ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
expressed regret over the cancellations saying that Sudan forfeited a
chance to exchange views with the UNSC on the Abyei crisis.
Speaking to reporters Rice said that the UNSC could use different
tools to resolve the crisis in Abyei.
The UNSC today issued a statement calling on the Northern SAF to
withdraw from Abyei after its military takeover yesterday.
"The members of the Security Council call upon the government of Sudan
to halt its military operation and to withdraw immediately from Abyei
town and its environs," the French ambassador to the United Nations,
Gerard Araud, told a joint news conference in Khartoum with his
Russian and US counterparts.
The Council also denounced the attack by Southern forces on SAF units
last Thursday which triggered the North’s retaliation.
"The members of the Security Council condemn the attack by Southern
forces against a United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) convoy
escorting Sudanese Armed Forces elements of Joint Integrated Units on
May 19 in Abyei."
"The attack was not only a serious breach of agreements between the
parties, but also a criminal act against a United Nations mission and
its personnel," the statement said.
They also deplored the "unilateral" decision by president Omer Hassan
Al-Bashir to dissolve the Abyei administrative council and called for
its reinstatement "without delay".
In New York, the UN Secretary general Ban K-Moon also said he “remains
deeply concerned for the safety of the civilian population of the
area, the vast majority of whom has been forcibly displaced due to the
fighting,”
The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Khalid Moussa slammed the
USNC "quick" condemnation of SAF action while turning a blind eye to
what he described as aggression by the Sudan people Liberation Army
(SPLA) and UNMIS peacekeepers.
"We urged the council to provide support for the peace cause and
denounce the SPLM’s aggressive manner," Moussa said.
He also brushed aside UNSC criticism of Bashir’s decrees saying it is
a sovereign decision and that the disbanded council "was part of the
problem". The spokesperson emphasized that there is nothing in the
constitution that stipulates consultation with First VP Salva Kiir,
who is also South Sudan president, before making that decision.
The UNSC is now expected to head towards South Sudan capital of Juba
for talks with Kiir and other officials in the semi-autonomous region.
(ST)
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