SPLA And SAF Pull Back From Al-Qwek
Khartoum
13 November 2007 (Sudan Radio Service)
The SPLA and the Sudan Armed Forces have ordered their forces to leave the al-Qwek area near the White Nile and Upper Nile state border. The two armies have also formed a committee to solve what is being called the “misunderstanding” that has led to a buildup of troops in the area.
Speaking to Sudan Radio Service by phone from Khartoum last Friday while attending a meeting of the joint SPLA and SAF Defense Board, spokesman Major General Bior Ajang said that the committee will visit the area to help diffuse tensions between SAF and SPLA soldiers along the White Nile and Upper Nile state border.
Ajang said that the SAF has been alarmed by the presence of SPLA forces in the area, saying that SAF feared the SPLA was about to restart war. However, he said that SPLA was legally in al-Qwek as that lies south of the January 1st, 1956 border. The SPLA has retreated to Geger in Upper Nile and SAF has returned to Umm Jalal in White Nile.