AU officially admits South Sudan as new member state ARTICLECOMMENTS (5) EmailPrintSave
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle August 15, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) – The African Union (AU) on Monday officially admitted South Sudan as its 54th member state. President Kiir witnessing raising of the South Sudan flag, AU HQ Addis Ababa, 15 August 2011 (Thomas Kenne) At a special welcoming ceremony on Monday, the South Sudan flag was raised at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. South Sudan president, Salva Kiir, minister of foreign affairs Deng Alor Kuol, the chairperson of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, diplomats and other invited dignitaries attended the flag-raising ceremony. After decades of bitter war between North and South Sudan, the latter officially proclaimed its independence on 9 July following a referendum which was part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005. South Sudan joined the AU on 28 July. The flag-raising ceremony was delayed because the AU chief, Jean Ping could not attend “I am honoured to officially welcome South Sudan to the AU and to raise its flag to fly deservedly among those of sister member states,” said Ping. “More than any other members states, you know what the cost of peace is, the consequences of war and the lack of vision is not addressing all factors that contribute to conflicts among our peoples and which have led, in your specific case, to a full and devastating civil war over many years,” added Ping. He commended leaders of North and South Sudan for ensuring a smooth transition to South Sudan’s independence hoping a peaceful resolution is secured to other pending issues such as citizenship, border demarcation, currency, oil-revenue sharing and the fate of the contested Abyei region which is currently being monitored by a UN-mandated Ethiopian peace keeping force. "We note with satisfaction that the birth of the new nation was as a result of a peaceful referendum carefully midwifed by two great African Statesmen, Salva Kiir and Omar Hassan Al Bashir," said Ping adding. Kiir expressed his happiness at the historic moment and said his country “assumes its right place” both at the AU and the UN. Kiir said that his country will use its oil revenue to boost agricultural and infrastructure development, for which, “we need any kind of support from you member states of the commission, as we are a new country.” South Sudan the first nation to be admitted to the African Union in almost two decades since Ethiopia’s former province, Eritrea, gained independence in 1993. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
