SPLM Press Release no. 5

April 19, 2009, The Hague, Netherlands: Today in the Hague before the distinguished members of the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal, the Government of Sudan (GoS), and the international community, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), finally had the opportunity to shine the light of truth on the Government's case.

During the second day of the oral hearings before the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal, the SPLM/A put forth their case as to why the Tribunal should find that the ABC Experts did not exceeded their mandate. The

SPLM/A's counsel methodically refuted with clear arguments and overwhelming factual evidence and legal authorities every claim raised yesterday by the Government's attorneys. In describing one of the Government's untenable arguments, the SPLM/A's counsel stated to the Tribunal, "We will see that they [the GoS] don't even stand on foundations of sand; they stand on nothing but rhetoric." In fact, on at least seven different occasions, the SPLM/A counsel used the prior statements of Ambassador Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed -- the Government's own Agent in the Arbitration and former member of the ABC -- to topple several of the GoS's frivolous and legally unsupported arguments.

The SPLM/A described the Government's presentation yesterday as a "featureless plain," and then went forth and methodically described for the Tribunal the historical context of the current dispute, the decades of war in Sudan, the human suffering caused by the civil wars on the people of Sudan, and the background of how the parties arrived at the current arbitration. While the Government of Sudan asserted that "retrospectively" the composition of ABC Experts "might prove not to have been particularly fortunate," the SPLM/A counsel clearly stressed the importance of "humility" in front of and "deference to" the ABC Experts report and the ABC Experts themselves, who had over 150 years of combined experience in Sudan and East Africa, were approved by the parties themselves, did exactly what the parties asked them to do, and were uniquely qualified to carry out the work required by the ABC.

Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, GoSS Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development, stated, "We are pleased that after today the Abyei Arbitration Tribunal will see the Government of Sudan's case for what it is - one based on mischaracterizations and misrepresentations . As our counsel made clear today, the ever shifting and reformulated arguments show that they do not have a serious claim, only after-the-fact arguments generated in desperation after the ABC delivered a decision they did not like."

Hon. Deng Alor Kuol, GoS Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that
while today was just the beginning of the SPLM/A's full oral presentation to the Tribunal, we are very pleased and as a result, very hopeful." He further noted that several members of the Government's delegation spoke to him throughout the day to express their appreciation for the compelling nature of the presentation made by the SPLM/A's counsel.

If the reader desires more information about the Abyei Arbitration process, including information on the issues before the Tribunal, public access to the hearings, and arbitration timelines, please see the English and Arabic document, "Summary of the Arbitration Process" located at the google list serve to which you are a member.   In addition, documents related to the arbitration, including the Arbitration Agreement and the written submissions of the parties, are available to the public at the PCA website (see http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1306).  Transcripts of the oral pleadings will also be available at the PCA website after the completion of the oral pleadings.

For Further Information, please contact:

Dr Luka Biong Deng Minister of Presidential Affairs- Office of GOSS President, and SPLM/A Co-Agent for the Arbitration

Tel: +249122635821 or +249911308196; +256477106201