Sudan has no choice but to accept UNSC resolution, Karti tells parliament
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May 9, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese minister of foreign affairs, Ali
Karti, took the stance before the parliament on Wednesday to defend
his country’s acceptance of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution
ordering it to return to negotiations with South Sudan.
JPEG - 17 kb
FILE PHOTO - Sudan foreign minister Ali Karti at a meeting in the UNSC
Karti told parliamentarians that Sudan has no choice but to comply
with the resolution which, according to him, is better than the
African Union (AU)’s roadmap that formed its basis in the sense that
it threw the ball back to the two countries’ negotiating teams and met
Sudan’s demands for prioritizing security issues.
Months of AU-mediated negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan over
oil exports, citizenship, disputed borders and security floundered
dangerously in early April, leading shortly after to military
confrontations between around the disputed oil-producing region known
as Heglig in Sudan and as Panthou in South Sudan.
Alarmed by the situation, the AU produced a roadmap ordering the two
countries to cease hostilities immediately and return to negotiations
with a three-month deadline to conclude them.
The AU then referred the roadmap to the UNSC which, on May 2, issued a
resolution adopting the recommendations its recommendations and
threatening both countries with non-military sanctions if they failed
to comply.
Sudan’s top diplomat reassured the parliament on the UNSC’s threats of
sanctions, claiming that Khartoum did not initiate any hostilities and
was not involved in arming groups rebelling against the South Sudanese
government in Juba.
Karti said that Khartoum is serious in returning to negotiations but
will not do so unless priority is accorded to resolving security
issues.
Khartoum accuses Juba of supporting rebels who once fought as part of
South Sudan’s army and are now fighting against the government in
Sudan’s border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Juba denies
the charge and accuses Khartoum of doing the same with southern rebel
groups.
The Sudanese government appears to believe that it can crush the
rebels militarily if South Sudan ceases to support them.
“We will not steer away from security issues. Sudan will not negotiate
on the issues of oil and other material interests with a dagger on its
back,” Karti said.
The minister also said that Khartoum has nothing to fear from
returning to talks, in response to extremist elements calling for no
negotiations with South Sudan.
The Sudanese government is under pressure from hard-line figures in
the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) as well as from the far-right
Just Peace Forum (JPF) to defy the UNSC resolution.
Three days ago, Al-Tayyib Mustafa, JPF’s leader and uncle of President
Omer Al-Bashir, issued a statement criticizing the UNSC resolution and
vowing that his party will oppose it by all legitimate means.
Karti urged rational and wise dealing with the UNSC resolution,
promising that the government will not sign any deal that is not in
the interest of Sudan.
In response to Karti’s address, the parliament’s speaker, Ahmad
Ibrahim Al-Tahir, warned that parliamentarians would not approve of
any step that harms that interest of Sudanese people.
(ST)
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