JUBA — South Sudan said Saturday it will not arrest Sudan's President
Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war
crimes, during an upcoming visit to the newly independent nation.
South
Sudan said fears by former civil war foe Sudan that Bashir would be
arrested when he visits Juba on April 3 were unfounded as he had been
invited by his southern counterpart Salva Kiir.
"That itself is an
assurance. You don't invite someone as a trick," Pagan Amum, the
secretary general of the south's ruling SPLM party told reporters upon
his return from Khartoum where he delivered Kiir's invitation to Bashir
.
"President
Bashir will be protected as a guest of state, as a head of state and
the government of South Sudan is under the obligation to... build
peaceful relations with the republic of Sudan and that is the business
that President Bashir is coming for," he added.
Members of Sudan's
ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have voiced concerns that the
invitation is a ruse by South Sudan to avenge decades of civil war in
which an estimated two million people died.
"I would like to allay
all the fears by NCP or by any concerned South Sudanese that the aim of
inviting President Bashir is because we have business that is not
finished. It is a business of peace, it is a business of interest of the
people of South Sudan," Amum said.
Amum, the South's top
negotiator in African Union-led talks on outstanding issues between the
two countries after the south's independence last July, said Bashir had
accepted Kiir's invitation.
The two leaders will sign an agreement
struck at the latest round of AU talks in Ethiopia to demarcate an
oil-rich border area and safeguard the rights of citizens in each
other's countries.
Relations between Sudan and South Sudan
worsened in late January, when the south shut down oil production that
accounts for 98 percent of its revenues in a fierce oil row in which
Juba accused Khartoum of "stealing" its crude.
The two nations are still at odds over the south's use of Khartoum's pipeline and refinery to export its oil.
Amum
said that after the first deals were signed, the two presidents would
meet with the AU and negotiating teams to work on agreements about the
thorny issues of oil and contested border areas.
"Then they can
proceed in this new positive environment to discuss all the issues and
help reach agreement with in a very clear time frame, hopefully a month
or two. This is the result of our mission to Khartoum and the letter
that we delivered to Bashir," he said.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق