South Sudan invites UAE president to independence ceremony Article Comments (4) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 27, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Vice President of the soon to be independent South Sudan Riek Machar on Monday handed an invitation to president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attend the official declaration of the new state on July 9th. South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar (R) and UAE state Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash (WAM) The invitation was delivered to UAE state Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash during his meeting with Machar and the accompanying delegation. South Sudan is scheduled to become an independent country on July 9 following a near unanimous vote in favor of secession from the North in last January’s referendum. This was promised by a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of civil war between the North and South Sudan. UAE official news agency (WAM) said the two sides explored the future of the relations between the UAE and the South Sudan and ways to boost them in all fields. They also tackled the preparations for hosting the Conference on Investment in South Sudan, which will be held in the UAE. In a related issue the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations Dafalla al-Haj Osman told reporters that president Omer Hassan al-Bashir will attend the independence ceremony. Last week the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) accused South Sudan of succumbing to western pressure by refusing to invite Bashir. Local media in Khartoum reported that Southerners are facing the dilemma of inviting Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges that he masterminded war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur. Southern officials are keen on securing the maximum attendance by officials from U.S. and Europe, according to the sources and are therefore wary of the impact Bashir’s presence may have. Western officials have avoided making contact with Bashir since the warrant and in some situations threatened a walkout if he showed up in conferences they are in. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
