Northern separatists celebrate South Sudan split
* Article
* Comments (7)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
July 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Supporters of North Sudan’s separatist
party, the Just Peace Forum (JPF), took to the streets of the capital
Khartoum on Saturday in celebration of South Sudan secession.
JPEG - 21.2 kb
JPF supporters celebrate the secession of Southern Sudan in Khartoum
July 9, 2011 (REUTERS PICTURES)
On Saturday, 9 July, the predominately Christian-African South Sudan
declared full independence from the Muslim-controlled North in line
with the outcome of the region’s vote on secession at the start of
this year.
The plebiscite was the main stipulation of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) which ended more than two decades of north-south civil
wars.
South Sudan secession is seen by the majority of people and political
forces in the North as symbolising a loss of national pride, in sharp
contrast with the JPF which sees it as a positive outcome worthy of
celebration.
The party has mobilised its mouthpiece Al-Intibaha newspaper to
fulminate against the CPA on the pretext that it gave too many
concessions to the South at the expense of the North.
The party and its paper, which claims to be the voice of the “silent
majority” in the North, have been waging a rigorous campaign against
the presence of “the African element” in North Sudan, and calling for
letting the South go in order to preserve the purity of the country’s
“Arab and Islamic identity.”
A crowd of JPF supporters gathered in Khartoum on Saturday dressed in
white T-shirts written upon it “goodbye to the unity of blood and
tears” as they chanted slogans hailing South Sudan secession.
The party’s leader Al-Tayyib Mustafa, who is a close relative of
president Al-Bashir, announced to his supporters that the party
intends to run in the next elections, expressing confidence that it
would achieve a landslide victory in the polls.
Mustafa told his supporters they were perfectly capable to win the
vote if they “commit to what they were saying in the last years.”
“The street is now ready to reward you for what you have done because
there is a big vacuum no else but you can fill,” he said.
Sudan is due to hold general elections in 2015. President Al-Bashir,
whose National Congress Party won the last elections in April 2010
amid credible reports of mass rigging, promised to step down when his
current term expires in 2015.
The separatist leader went on to level veiled criticism against the
NCP, saying that those who raised the slogan of Islamic Shari’ah did
not implement it “the way it is supposed to be done.”
Mustafa urged his supporters to lead the “liberation” of the Blue Nile
and South Kordofan states, terming them “two pieces left of Naivasha
mess,” in reference to CPA negotiations.
The Blue Nile and South Kordofan states lie on the ill-defined borders
between North and South Sudan, their population largely fought on the
side of the South during the second north-south civil war.
Under the CPA, the two states are supposed to hold popular
consultation on the way they wish to be governed within North Sudan,
but the process has stalled in the Blue Nile while South Kordofan
descended into violence between North Sudan army and forces aligned
with the South.
According to Mustafa, 9 July is the date of Sudan’s “true
independence.” He added that they were happier than those celebrating
in Juba, South Sudan’s capital.
(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.
