Unconfirmed: South Sudan reportedly facilitated Debretsion's escape

borkena
November 29, 2020

A report by “Sudans Post”, seemingly Cairo based Sudanese news source, said on Sunday that South Sudanese Diplomatic Mission in Addis Ababa is given seventy-two hours to leave the country.

The source quoted anonymous South Sudan embassy staff in Addis Ababa as saying “We have been given 72 hours to leave. That that decision was delivered to us in a letter this morning by the Ethiopian security body and they told us that they don’t want us here ‘until further notice’”

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia did not release a statement on Sunday regarding the South Sudan Diplomatic Mission in Addis Ababa.

“Sudans Post”(https://www.sudanspost.com/breaking-ethiopia-expels-south-sudan-diplomats/) also claimed that Ethiopian Ambassador to South Sudan left Juba ” to protest reported presence of leader of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Debretsion Gebremichael, in Juba.”

What is implied is that TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael was in South Sudan. The website went further to claim that Debretsion met with Egyptian leader, Sisi, who visited South Sudan on Saturday.

However, chances for Debretsion to escape to South Sudan is almost impossible as Mekelle, from where he was leading the war against the Ethiopian Defense Force, was encircled from four directions for several days before it was finally captured by the Ethiopian Defense Forces on Saturday.

The story would have made a little sense if it claimed that Debretsion fled to Sudan disguised as a refugee from the Tigray region of Ethiopia and then to South Sudan.

No other news sources reported either about the alleged development regarding the South Sudanese diplomatic mission or about Debretsion’s escape to Egypt.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intelligence Division, said on Saturday that it has seized large quantities of smuggled heavy weaponry in Kassala. The weapons are smuggled from Ethiopia, according to RSF.

RSF said, “the seized weapons included 3 sp.g.9 cannons, 3 820 ml. cannons, 7 machine guns, 11 RBJ 7 cannons, 1 G3 machine gun, 25 mines 23 of which are  MD Iranian made mines,  and 3 made in Belgium, 8 boxes of machine guns’ 12/7 strings, 8 strings of bombs, 12 fuses of mines, 1 doska cannon 12/7 MT, 65 mortars bullets, 5 mortars  60/75, 3 packets of mines’ wires, 25 bullets of cannon 9 GPS, 31 boxes of cannons’ ammunitions, 38 capsules of mortars 82 ml, 7 containers of 9 GPS, machine gun 50, 7 spare pipes of machineguns 82ml , 1 telescope,   and 2 remote wireless communication apparatus.”