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------Original message------ From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> To: "Group" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, March 4, 2013 10:35:32 AM GMT-0500 Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Sudan’s rhetoric fooling international community This has been one of my concerns for some time. There are a number of reasons why the international community is "fooled" by Khartoum. One is that many in the diplomatic community still find it difficult to accept that a government can lie so blatantly, convincingly and consistently. As Dr Barnaba Marial says (below), "They say one thing and do another". Or, as Uncle Abel Alier wrote elsewhere many years ago, "Too many agreements dishonoured". Experience demonstrates that Khartoum will say anything, sign anything and agree to anything, but that they do not intend to honour it. Connected with this is the short-termism of most of the international personnel, whether diplomats, UN, aid industry, peace industry, human rights industry or whatever. Few of them are in post for more than a year or two, and even fewer of them have a deep understanding of the historical, cultural, political and religious context of Sudan and South Sudan. There was a period when I made myself unpopular with a number of western diplomats by telling them to their face, "Khartoum is running rings around you and you don't even know they are running rings around you". Few of these short-term people remember that there are already signed agreements, that both sides have already compromised, that Khartoum is trying to move the goalposts and start negotiations afresh from the current situation without acknowledging that the current situation is the result of concessions already made by Juba. Abyei is a particularly good example of this dynamic. A faulty post-CPA analysis, particularly from the USA, may also have contributed. It argued that the CPA brought a degree of stability and that therefore maintaining a sort of status quo would maintain that stability. Current conflicts in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Abyei, Blue Nile and between the two countries, as well as the stalemate in negotiations, discredit that analysis. It perhaps also contributed to the "moral equivalency" argument, that both sides are equally to blame for any problems. Clearly that is not the case, as Dr Barbaba points out: "If they are serious why are [they] not implementing it"? One side is genuinely trying to honour the agreements which it has signed while the other is deliberately trying to undermine them. At the same time, it has to be said that Juba is failing in its attempts to help the international community to understand the hopes and aspirations of the South Sudanese people and their government, and that this is causing a loss of international sympathy for the new country. This is not a new phenomenon. During the war the SPLM/A was also very poor at international diplomacy and public relations. It was the Church which did most of the international advocacy on behalf of the people of South Sudan. But currently it is very dangerous for South Sudan. Short term international personnel, whether in politics, diplomacy or aid, are misinterpreting events in South Sudan by judging it through the lens of their own limited experience and knowledge of the context and history, and are generally focusing only on the negative. The government in Juba, as well as the Church and civil society, need to strive urgently to correct this imbalance. John BEGIN South Sudan says Sudan’s rhetoric fooling international community March 3, 2013 (JUBA) - South Sudan on Sunday said the government of neigbouring Sudan, with which it has been unable to resolve list of contentious post-secession issues, was fooling the international community by talking up its commitment to implementing an agreement signed in September. “This is not the time for statements. If they are sincere and committed to the terms of September agreement which the two presidents had signed, then let them come out and implement it,”, South Sudan information minister Barnaba Marial said on Sunday . Minister Marial said the “time for rhetoric and calls for endless negotiation has finished” and accused Sudan of amassing and scaling up deployment of troops along the border areas. He, however, expressed South Sudan’s commitment to implement the agreement without raising any preconditions but said that Juba did not see any point engaging in endless negotiations on issues which have already been discussed and remain only to be implemented. Sudan has insisted that security issues, specifically Juba’s alleged backing of their former comrades in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, be resolved before other aspects of the nine point deal. The consequence has been that South Sudan has not resumed oil production a move that is needed to aide the struggling economies of both countries. A dispute over a oil transit fees led South Sudan to halt production just over a year ago. In an interview with Sudan Tribune Marial said that South Sudan has "always been ready to fully implement the agreement. The visit of president of the republic of South Sudan, General Salva Kiir Mayardit to oil fields after the signing of the agreement was to open oil production and flow indicate our commitment as government to implement the agreement but what did they do? They refused to resume production and started raising impossible demands. They raised things which were not part of the agreement. They want disarmament of their rebels”, Minister was reacting to a statement by the Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs stating commitment of the Sudanese government to the comprehensive and coordinated implementation the September agreements and the January 5 presidential meeting. The February 28 statement expressed Sudan’s full commitment to the implementation of the deal in order to promote peace and the realisation of the two viable states living side by side in peace. But minister Marial said the statement holds nothing more than political rhetoric by the Sudanese government to fool the international community. "We will see. The government of Sudan does not do what it says. It is the government fraught with contradictions. They say one thing and do another. They are just fooling the international community. If they are serious why are not implementing it." (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article45712 END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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