Sudan’s FFC send message of love to Juba as Kiir says ready for close relationship

August 17, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese democratic forces on Saturday sent a special message of love to South Sudanese people and called to build a strong relationship for the interest of the two peoples.

While President Salva Kiir reiterated his offer for mediation with the armed groups to establish strong and solid relations between the two Sudan.

President Salva Kiir was warmly welcomed on Saturday in Khartoum as he attended the signing ceremony of the agreement on the transitional authority between the army and the Forces for Freedom and Changes (FFC).

In a speech delivered on behalf of the FFC, Mohamed Nagy Alasam was keen to send a strong message for the South Sudanese recalling the ancestral relationship between the two people and called to build the best relationship between the two countries.

"We greet you with longing and love, and our pleasure is only with you, you are part of us and we are part of you. We are only reunited with you (...) and we will strive to get back as we agree," Alasam said

"Our separation was harsh, but reunification is possible. You are our half sweet," he stressed.

The separation of South Sudan in January 2011 is seen in Khartoum as a betrayal by the Sudanese Islamist who refused a secular Sudan as it was demanded by South Sudanese to remain in power under the pretext of establishing an Islamic state.

Sudan and South Sudan still have to define borders and to settle the future of the disputed Abyei area. Also, despite the separation number of Sudanese in Juba or the South Sudanese in Khartoum remained similar to the time before the separation despite the repatriation of South Sudanese during the two first years after the independence.

PEACE IS IN OUR INTEREST

For his part, President Kiir in his speech hailed the struggle of Sudanese for "a peaceful, diverse, and prosperous nation governed by democratic principles".

He further pointed to the strong relationship and the blood bond between the two people.

"We have a common historical bond over the hundreds of years we have spent as one people within a single country," Kiir said.

He further underlined that South Sudan’s support to the people of Sudan "is not driven by political, ideological, or economic calculations.

"Our support is driven by a genuine desire to live and prosper peacefully together with our brothers and sisters in Sudan," he further said.

"It is on the basis of this understanding that the people of and government of South Sudan avails itself of the opportunity to mediate a settlement between the Sovereign Council and the armed groups," he proposed.

Kiir in the past said that stability in South Sudan cannot be achieved without settling the armed conflict in the South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile. Khartoum, in the past years, accused Juba of allowing the SPLM-N rebels to bring arms and ammunition through its territory.

However, Juba leverage on the armed groups particularly the SPLM-N of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu is seen as weak because he failed to reunite the two SPLM-N factions.

However, several opposition figures say willing to accept the offer made by Juba in the upcoming period to narrow the gaps between them and al-Hilu group. The other SPLM-N faction led by Malik Agar is part of the opposition FFC.

"South Sudan will play an important role in ensuring that the armed groups come home and be part of this transition," Kiir said.

(ST)