South Sudan leader to convene a crisis meeting in Juba

KHARTOUM
November 18, 2007 (Sudan Tribune)

Salva Kiir, vice president of Sudan and president of the southern Sudan administration, will convene a crisis meeting with senior members of Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) cabinet in Juba today according to press reports.

The daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoted Yasir Arman, deputy SPLM secretary general, as saying that the meeting will be “important and decisive”. The meeting is expected to include the Governor of Blue Nile State Malik Agar, Pagan Amum, the SPLM Secretary General, minister of transport Kowal Mayang as well as Arman.

The meeting comes in light of the statements by Sudan’s President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in which he warned the SPLM that he is prepared to go to war if necessary and ordered the mobilization of the paramilitary forces created to fight the former southern rebels.

Al-Bashir also reiterated his rejection to Abyei commission report and said that the oil region will never be part of the South.

Arman said that the SPLM’s final position on various issues pertaining to the Comprehensive Peace agreement shall be clear today.

“The crisis between the National Congress Party (NCP) is at a critical stage; either we are at the footsteps of a resolution or a new escalation” he added.

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) said that president Omer al-Bashir and his first vice-president, Salva Kiir will meet on Monday. It is not clear if the meeting will actually take place.

Kiir is expected to address graduates of prison guards on Tuesday in Juba.

On 11 October, the SPLM suspended its participation in the government of national unity to protest against the delay in the implementation of the 2005 peace deal.

The US Administration proposed a series of measures to restore confidence between the two partners and to engage a tripartite mediation to resolve the issue of Abyei; but the SPLM leadership rejected the proposal.

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