Senior Politician Accuses The West Of Backing Regime Change A senior South Sudanese Politician has accused western countries of working for "Juba regime downfall." 22 February 2014 Hon. Wol Deng Atak, a former national legislator questions the neutrality of the west in the current crisis in South Sudan. [Gurtong]
By Ariik Atekdit *JUBA, 22 February 2014 [Gurtong] -* Wol said the west have failed to pressurize the rebels to work for peace in South Sudan and cooperate with the government for development. "Is the west truly concerned of the suffering of poor people in South Sudan? If they were concerned, their governments would be talking of justice like they call for it in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Angola, and Sierra Leone among others," he said. The senior member of SPLM - South Sudan's ruling party, now turned a political analyst, said, "Thousands have died in South Sudan's violence and all they could say is release, release and release detainees without regard to justice." He said that western world has refused to find the root cause of the conflict in South Sudan. "They (westerners) are fond of saying get political settlement with rebels without giving themselves time to know the context of the violence. I don't buy it and I think the president or the nation would not buy it either," he said. He said the current power struggle in the country should have happened only if the democratic general elections of 2015 were rigged or not organised. South Sudan is only more than two years since it gets its independence from the Sudan. The world's newest nation has experienced civil wars of over 50 years when it was still part of the then Sudan. Wol urges the west to help the young nation to bring peace and services to its citizens instead of supporting the current ''senseless wars." Oil-wells in Unity State are already affected by clashes there and the remaining Upper Nile wells are at risk of being attacked by the rebels according to government officials. "The west should pressurize the rebels to lay down their weapons and address their concerns in a democratic exercise due next year. They should call for justice on the perpetrators of coup," Wol said. He suggested that government should not accept the withdrawal of Ugandan People's Defense Forces - (UPDF). "The West encourages, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to intervene in Somalia but don't want to do the same in South Sudan. They encourage South Sudan and Uganda to crush LRA but want South Sudan to negotiate with tribal warlord Dr. Riek Machar," he lamented. Since mid-December the conflict broke out in Juba, the Capital of South Sudan which the government blamed on the ex-vice president Dr. Riek Machar of plotting a "Coup" against President Salva Kiir's Government however, Dr. Riek said it was a presidential guards' quarrel. The conflict quickly spread to Bor, Bentiu, Malakal and the latest in Tonj North and East Counties of Warrap state. Humanitarian Organizations reported that over 10, 000 people lost their lives and 700, 000 others displaced and now taking refuge in the UNMISS Compounds across the Country and others within and in the neighbouring countries. Posted in: Home<http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/CategoryView/mid/519/categoryId/1/Home.aspx> , Foreign Relations<http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/CategoryView/mid/519/categoryId/5/Foreign-Relations.aspx> , Governance<http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/CategoryView/mid/519/categoryId/6/Governance.aspx> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oojY2JRTe51%3De-uxwWPL5W31YfDWGRMN5b%2BgyMqTBDEPA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
