UNSC condemns attempts to overthrow governments in Khartoum & Juba
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March 6, 2012 (WASHINGTON) – The United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) on Tuesday issued a presidential statement demanding an end to
the fighting on the borders of Sudan and South Sudan and for the two
countries to honour the non-aggression pact they signed last month.
JPEG - 32.2 kb
British representative Mark Lyall Grant speaks to the press after a
meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the UN headquarters
(AP)
Since South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan last July, the
two countries have exchanged bitter accusations of support for rebels
on each side of the border as well as attacks near the poorly defined
border regions.
In particular, Khartoum claims that Juba is sponsoring fighters from
the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) who are fighting
Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. They further
allege that the south was the mastermind behind the Sudan
Revolutionary Front (SRF) which is an umbrella group that incorporates
SPLM-N and Darfur rebel groups.
“The Security Council demands that all parties cease military
operations in the border areas and put an end to the cycle of
violence. It further demands that the Governments of Sudan and South
Sudan take no action that would undermine the security and stability
of the other, including through any direct or indirect form of support
to armed groups in the other’s territory" the UNSC said in a statement
read by Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, security council
president for March.
"The Security Council condemns actions by any armed group aimed at the
forced overthrow of the Government of either Sudan or South Sudan. The
Security Council affirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of both Sudan and South Sudan".
The rare show of unity by UNSC on north-south conflict is likely to
put pressure on the two governments amid growing tensions which
observers fear could ignite a return to war.
The council also urged Khartoum and SPLM-N to return to negotiating
table for talks on ending the war in Blue Nile and South Kordofan on
the basis of the June 2011 accord signed between the two sides in
Addis Ababa.
Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir scrapped the deal, which
addressed the South Kordofan situation, signed by his aide and
instructed the army to push forward with military operations. Bashir’s
move was a huge setback to the African Union (AU) mediation team led
by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
“The Security Council recalls the 28 June 2011 Framework Agreement
between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N) on political and security arrangements for
Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states, and urges them to return to
direct talks to resolve all political and security issues on the basis
of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and of the agreed principles of
the Framework Agreement. The Security Council urges them to resolve
the underlying issues that have fuelled the current conflict in
Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, to end all violence, and to agree to
an immediate cessation of hostilities".
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that
tens of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting into
neighbouring countries.
Sudan has refused to allow aid groups into the states and insisted
that the humanitarian situation there is stable despite UN and
international assertions to the contrary and US warnings of a famine.
"The Security Council emphasizes the grave urgency of delivering
humanitarian aid to avert a worsening of the serious crisis in
Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, and demands that the Government of
Sudan and the SPLM-N cooperate fully with the United Nations and other
humanitarian agencies and organizations, and ensure, in accordance
with international law, including applicable international
humanitarian law, and guiding principles of emergency humanitarian
assistance, the safe, unhindered and immediate access of United
Nations and other humanitarian personnel, as well as the delivery of
supplies and equipment, in order to allow such personnel to
efficiently perform their task of assisting conflict-affected civilian
populations in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states".
Khartoum and Juba’s envoys at the UN defended their respective positions.
"We have not started a war. Nonetheless, we were pushed into this. We
were forced into this," Sudan’s UN ambassador Daff-Alla Elhag Ali
Osman told the council.
Later he told reporters: "We will do our utmost best to chase any
aggressor who steps inside our territory".
South Sudan’s envoy, David Buom Choat, said his country had been
"unfairly accused" of interfering in the conflict between rebels and
the government on the northern side of the border.
(ST)
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