Sudan says UNSC resolution contains positive elements
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May 2, 2012 (WASHINGTON) – The Sudanese government reacted with
caution to the resolution adopted unanimously today by the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) saying it contains positive elements
but vowed to review it carefully in order to determine its negotiating
strategy with South Sudan.
JPEG - 31.9 kb
Deng Alor Kuol, the South Sudanese Minister of Cabinet Affairs, speaks
to the media following the passing of a United Nations Security
Council resolution regarding ongoing hostilities between Sudan and
South Sudan at UN headquarters in New York, May 2, 2012 (Reuters)
Today’s decision directs Khartoum and Juba to inform the Chairperson
of the African Union Commission and UNSC president in writing of their
intention to commit to a cessation of hostilities including aerial
bombardments within 48 hours.
The two sides must immediately withdraw their forces inside their
respective borders without conditions and within a week activate the
Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) and the
Safe Demilitarized Border Zone (SDBZ).
Also, withdrawal from the disputed border region of Abyei must be
completed in two weeks in accordance with the June 2011 Agreement on
Temporary Security and Administrative Arrangements for Abyei.
Furthermore, the two countries will return to the negotiating table in
two weeks time to settle issues including oil, citizenship, border
demarcation and Abyei. A four-month window was given to conclude the
talks.
Talks on these contentious items is mediated by the African Union
High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by Thabo Mbeki but there
was little success in achieving any breakthrough.
The panel managed to schedule a meeting between Sudanese president
Omer Hassan al-Bashir and his southern counterpart Salva Kiir for
April 3rd to seal framework agreements on borders and citizenship.
However, clashes that erupted between the two countries in late March
over the oil-rich region of Heglig inside South Kordofan led to the
suspension of the summit.
Relations deeply deteriorated in early April after South Sudan army
(SPLA) managed to occupy Heglig for 10 days before Sudan Armed Forces
(SAF) reclaimed the area. Juba insists that it withdrew voluntarily
and dismissed Khartoum assertions that they were expelled by force.
South Sudan claimed that Heglig is part of Unity state that was
annexed to north Sudan several decades ago through an administrative
decision. Heglig, which produces half of Sudan’s oil, saw its
facilities severely damaged which Khartoum blamed on SPLA and vowed to
sue it internationally.
The UNSC resolution passed today called for a fact finding effort to
assess the losses including economic and humanitarian damage to oil
facilities and other key infrastructure in and around Heglig.
Despite reservations expressed by China and Russia, the resolution
maintained the threat of non-military measures against any side that
fails to comply with council’s demands that were in essence part of
the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) roadmap endorsed last month.
"We are always very cautious about the use and threat of sanctions,"
China’s U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong told the council.
"China has all along maintained that African issues should be settled
by the Africans in African ways" Baodong added.
The Russian envoy expressed same sentiment.
"The arsenal of political and diplomatic instruments for normalizing
the situation has nowhere been exhausted," Russia’s UN Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin told the council.
"We consider sanctions as an extreme measure" he said
In Beijing, the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
praised China for backing the resolution.
"I’m pleased that China and the United States joined with a unified
international community just hours ago to support a strong UN Security
[Council] resolution that provides unambiguous support to the African
Union roadmap," Clinton said.
The Sudanese government criticized the AUPSC for requesting the
blessings of the UNSC and warned against the attempt to override the
African role by involving the UNSC. It said that the intervention by
the world body will make political considerations and pre-established
positions prevail over the requirements of peaceful settlements.
Last Sunday, the Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti sent a letter to
the AU declaring his country’s "preliminary" agreement with the
roadmap while expressing several reservations that were not specified.
Karti traveled to Moscow this week to press Russia on Sudan’s point of
view regarding the draft resolution. However, the Russian foreign
minister Sergei Lavrov signaled his backing to the resolution despite
expressing discomfort with including Article 41 of the UN charter.
Article 41 states that the UNSC may decide what measures – not
involving the use of armed force – are to be employed to give effect
to its decisions, and it may call on the Members of the United Nations
to apply such measures.
These may include complete or partial interruption of economic
relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other
means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.
Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Al-Obeid Marwih said that
elements of the UNSC resolution related to condemning Heglig
occupation and calling for assessing damage to oil facilities are
positive.
Marwih noted that Sudan has no "fundamental objection" on the
resolution as long as it is made on the basis of the AUPSC roadmap.
But the head of ruling National Congress Party (NCP) parliamentary
bloc Ghazi Salah al-Deen slammed the AUPSC communiqué saying that it
equated between the victim and the villain.
"We cannot endorse any international decision denying the right of the
Sudanese people," Al-Deen told the legislative assembly.
Al-Deen, who also serves as Bashir’s adviser, said the labeling of
Heglig as disputed area is "malicious".
Sudan’s ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Osman expressed disappointment
with the resolution.
"It is notable that the resolution has disregarded the continuous
aggression by South Sudan against Sudan," Osman told the council.
"Peace ... will only be achieved through halting all forms of support
and sheltering of proxy rebel and armed groups espoused by the South
Sudan," he added.
But South Sudan’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs Deng Alor Kuol who
attended the vote told the council that his government would comply
with the resolution.
"It is my privilege to reaffirm to you that, in compliance with the
decisions of the African Union Peace and Security Council, the UN
Security Council’s Presidential Statement, and in the spirit of our
commitment to peace, my government ordered the withdrawal of our
police force from Abyei Area on 28 April 2012. We expect the
international community to exert efforts to ensure the immediate and
complete withdrawal of Sudan Armed Forces from Abyei Area," Alor told
the council.
As acknowledged formally by the African Union, my government is
already committed to the cessation of hostilities and the resumption
of negotiations under the auspices of the African Union High
Implementation Panel. We welcome the decision of the African Union
Peace and Security Council, and the commitment of the UN Security
Council to the enhancement of the AUHIP led negotiations process
through the active participation of the UN, the Chairman of IGAD and
other international partners,"
"We appeal to the United Nations and its member states to urgently
mobilize humanitarian assistance for the population affected by
Sudan’s continuous aerial bombardment and ground incursions in
northern states of South Sudan," he said.
Alor told reporters that his country did not abandon claims to Heglig
and stressed that the move on the region was in response to Khartoum’s
aerial bombardments and ground incursions. He said the ownership of
Heglig would be on the negotiating table.
The U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice hailed the vote saying that
it enforces a timeframe to achieve results after years of talks.
"With this vote, the Council has clearly imposed tight deadlines for
concrete action, in line with the African Union decision. This
Council, especially those members with particular influence, including
my own, must continue to press both parties to implement the African
Union Roadmap by ending hostilities, ceasing cross-border attacks and
movements, halting aerial bombardments, withdrawing all their forces
from the border areas including Abyei, activating the necessary border
security mechanisms, and ending support to rebel groups working
against the other state," she said.
"It is also essential that both parties return at once to the
negotiating table under the auspices of the African Union High-level
Implementation Panel to reach agreement on critical outstanding
issues. We support the plans of the African Union to travel to
Khartoum and Juba in the coming days to begin the process. This is
ultimately the only way that further conflict can be avoided" Rice
added.
She warned that the UNSC is willing to impose punitive measures if
there is lack of progress.
"If the parties fail to take these steps promptly, this Council is
united in its determination to hold both sides accountable. We stand
ready to impose Chapter VII sanctions on either or both parties, as
necessary," the U.S. diplomat said.
But the Russian ambassador said that sanctions should not be used in
relation to conflicts in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and
Blue Nile, where fighting has been raging since last year between
Sudan’s army and rebels from Sudan People Liberation Movement North
(SPLM-N) who want to topple to Khartoum government.
The resolution orders Khartoum and SPLM-N to cooperate with the
mediation and use a June 2011 framework agreement as a basis for
talks. The deal was signed by presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie
only to be scrapped by Bashir himself later.
(ST)
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