March 25, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The visiting Kenyan Vice-President
Kalonzo Musyoka on Sunday delivered a letter from his boss president
Mwai Kibaki to Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.
- Kenyan Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka met at Khartoum airport by Sudan presidential assistant Galal al-Digair March 24, 2012 (SUNA)
Musyoka told reporters after the meeting that the message contained
an initiative to establish good neighborly relations between north and
south Sudan. He underlined Kenya’s keenness to remove suspicions and
hostilities between the two sides and urging them to maintain peaceful
coexistence in spirit of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
The Kenyan official welcomed last week’s framework agreement signed
in Addis Ababa between Khartoum and Juba adding that his country
supports the upcoming meetings on security and political issues on March
30th.
Bashir on his end stressed Sudan’s desire to spread peace and
stability in the region and establishing good neighborly relations with
South Sudan. He praised Kenya’s efforts to achieve peace as it was the
site where the CPA was signed.
Musyoka also expressed optimism that that April 3rd planned meeting
between Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir in Juba would
contribute to resolving the lingering disputes between the two
neighbors.
In Khartoum the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson
Badr al-Deen Ahmed Ibrahim said that the parliament will meet at the end
of March to discuss the security arrangements between north and south
Sudan after which a final determination on Bashir’s visit to Juba will
be made.
"Once [security arrangements] are accomplished the visit will go
ahead to preserve joint interests between the two countries" Ibrahim
said.
There were fears that South Sudan may execute the International
Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against Bashir but officials in Juba said
they will not arrest the Sudanese leader and they will protect him.
Bashir is wanted on ten counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity
and genocide he allegedly committed in Darfur.
South Sudan has been at loggerheads with Sudan since seceding in July under the 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.
The two have yet to resolve sensitive issues such as demarcating the
border, dividing debt and deciding how much the landlocked new nation
should pay to export oil - the lifeblood of both economies - through
Sudan.
In a related issue the Kenyan VP stressed his country’s commitment to
the African Union (AU) resolution instructing countries in the
continent not to cooperate with ICC with regards to Bashir’s warrant.
He addressed the ruling by a Kenyan court last year ordering the
government to arrest Bashir should he set foot on its territory.
“The Attorney-General has already appealed against the ruling and we
are confident that the court will reverse it,” Musyoka said.
"But we must keep in mind the independence of the Kenyan judiciary
from the executive branch so we appealed which confirms the impartiality
of the judiciary and despite brotherly relations between the two
countries, we cannot intervene in the court’s ruling." he added.
The move by the Kenyan judge triggered a furious response from
Khartoum, which pulled out its representative in Nairobi and ordered
Kenya’s ambassador to leave within 72 hours, prompting Kenya to send a
high-level delegation to heal the rift.
But Khartoum reversed its retaliatory measures.
(ST)
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