Joint Defense Board Says News of Troop Buildups Are False Reports
Khartoum
9 November 2007 (Sudan Radio Service)
The Joint Defense Board of the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army are accusing the media in Khartoum of false reporting related to news of troop buildups along the White Nile and Upper Nile state border.
In a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday, the NCP spokesperson for the Joint Defense Board, Mr. Alderdiri Mohammed Ahmed, said the security situation in White Nile state and southern Sudan is “normal,” and called on the press in Khartoum to report accurately.
[Alderdiri Mohammed]: “The SAF and SPLA often are surprised by what the newspapers write regarding the situation in the country sides and the press portrays various images which are not factual on the ground. And from this platform and in the presence of these two brothers—the two commanders—we would like to say: the people of the press, I hope that you will be truthful to yourselves and have the fear of God through the people of this land. This is important and first and foremost, it is a national responsibility before being something else.”
He said that there is no military escalation in White Nile, saying that troops levels have not increased in the area.
Sudan Radio Service also reported yesterday that an official from Upper Nile state, who asked not to be named, said the number of SAF troops in near the Upper Nile border with White Nile was on the rise, which was causing fear that some kind of armed conflict may be expected.