Arman says economic assistance to Sudan must be conditioned on end of war ArticleComments (5). Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 29, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The secretary-general of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N), Yasir Arman, has called on the international community to withhold economic assistance to Sudan until the country’s government ends the war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Arman made his call during a two-day visit to Berlin where he met a number of German officials and representatives of political parties and lobby groups. The SPLM-N said in a media release that Arman called on German officials and legislators to support his group’s demands of opening corridors to deliver humanitarian assistance in Blue Nile and South Kordofan as well as establishing an international committee to investigate reports of abuses. South Kordofan and Blue Nile have been the scene of an armed conflict between the Sudanese army (SAF) and SPLM-N fighters who were part of the army of the now independent state of South Sudan. The conflict killed hundreds and displaced thousands of citizens as the UN reported violations that may amount to ’war crimes’ and ’crimes against humanity’ if substantiated. In his talks with German officials, Arman noted Sudan’s frantic efforts to persuade Western countries to relieve its debt, saying that any economic assistance to Sudan must be conditioned on the government’s respect of human rights and ending the war in the two states. Arman also said that Sudan’s request to hold a conference in Turkey to galbanize financial support comes from officials accused of committing war crimes, in what appears to be a dig on president Al-Bashir who is sought by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He said that the international community should not lend any economic support a dictatorial regime that spends more than 70 percent of the country’s budget on security and military. The SPLM-N’s official said that any economic support to Sudan would be a support for the continuation of war and crimes not for Sudanese people who aspire to end the war and achieve democratic transformation and sustainable development in order to end their suffering. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" 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/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
