Khartoum to seal off borders with South Sudan, VP says
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March 6, 2012 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan’s second Vice-President, Al-Haj Adam
Youssef, has revealed that his country will close shared borders with
South Sudan and block the flow of food commodities to the new nation
over its alleged support of rebel groups.
The already tense relations between Sudan and South Sudan have
recently reached its nadir over an oil dispute and mutual accusations
of supporting rebel groups.
Addressing a rally at the headquarters of the paramilitary Popular
Defense Forces (PDF) in Khartoum’s sister city of Omdurman on Tuesday,
Youssef said that the Sudanese government had issued directives to
close the borders with South Sudan and contain flow of food so “it
does not reach those who are fighting us”.
“We have no good relations with them to supply them with food” Youssef
said, adding that their problem is not with Southern people themselves
but with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) who are
governing the country.
South Sudan accused Khartoum last year of imposing a blockade of trade
routes which, according to southern officials, resulted in increases
of food prices.
Youssef said that the move comes against the background of the SPLM’s
support for rebels fighting the Sudanese government in the border
states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The Sudanese VP said that although the government in Khartoum harbours
no hostility towards South Sudanese people, they will not be allowed
to enter Sudan without following the procedures applied to all other
foreigners, as of 9 April.
Sudan decided to revoke the nationality of its former southern
citizens after they voted in January last year for their region’s
independence, which was then declared on 9 July of the same year.
Khartoum took it a step further and set 8 April this year as a
deadline for all Southerners to leave Sudan or regularise their stay
as foreigners.
More than 350,000 Southerners left Sudan and returned home after
independence but United Nations agencies estimate that there are
700,000 still living there.
Youssef called on the remaining Southerners in the north to return
home or else, he warned, Khartoum would not hesitate to ’swoop them
away’. However, he added that they will only “expel the southerners
whose presence is unwelcome”.
He also accused South Sudan of attempting to sabotage the Sudanese
economy through suspension of oil production. Youssef added that Juba
was expecting the Sudanese economy to crumble due to the suspension of
oil production.
South Sudan suspended its oil production in response to Khartoum’s
confiscation of the commodity as it passed through northern pipelines.
Khartoum justified the move by saying that Juba has not paid any
transit fees since the South seceded.
According to Youssef, some Southern officials are now beginning to
realise that the decision to halt oil production was wrong.
Separately, Youssef announced that the government is aware of plans by
South Kordofan’s rebels, whom he described as “drunks”, to advance on
Khartoum through three fronts. He also launched an attack on Sudanese
opposition forces, saying they lack the weight to mobilise the street
against the government.
(ST)
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