---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 12:23 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] President Salva Kiir Builds On 2012 Success To: Group <[email protected]>
1. Kiir Counts On 2012 Success, Promises Development In 2013 The President of the Republic of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit has extended New Year wishes to all the citizens of the country calling on the South Sudanese to start the New Year by reflecting on the 2012 achievements and hoping for a peaceful, prosperous, secure, and stable country in 2013. 31 December 2012 By Juma John Stephen JUBA, 31 December 2012 [Gurtong] – “First, we have managed to put the situation in Jonglei which threatened our unity, identity and being as a nation to calm. Through the disarmament and the peace and reconciliation processes and in partnership with UNMISS, life is returning to normality in Jonglei. There is still more to be done in order to establish it once and for all,” President Kiir said. “Secondly, as we institute governance structures and ensure delivery of services to our people, we have managed to establish most of the institutions necessary to run a nation. The latest being the establishment of the national Election Commission which will start the preparations necessary for the elections in 2015,” he said. He said that during the austerity measures, the government ensured that there would be minimal interruption to the sections that provided basic services to the people. He said that the gallant Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) has been able to protect the borders and defend the territory of the Republic of South Sudan from the continuous aggression of Khartoum and its allied militias. The President said as a Member of the United Nations, the Republic of South Sudan has remained and continues to remain committed to the principle of good neighborhood. On the Cooperation Agreements signed between the Republic of South Sudan and Republic of Sudan, the president Kiir said these agreements were the price for peace, but some people are misreading them. He added that for the border-monitoring mission to be established, South Sudan is temporarily withdrawing its forces and asked for the resilience of the nation. “Let me make this clear, South Sudan has not given up on any of its fundamental national interests. South Sudan has not given up any territory or land. We stood firm,” he said. “We are temporarily withdrawing our forces from the immediate border areas. This will allow for a demilitarized border zone to be operational. We hope that these arrangements will make sure that peace and stability is maintained along our common border,” he added. The recent visit of the Ethiopian prime Minister was to call on the two presidents for a summit in Addis Ababa next week in order to resolves the issues of the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement. The President said in 2013 his government will focus on ensuring economic development and urged the people of South Sudan to respect the values and principles on which the nation was founded on. The President ended his speech by calling for unity of the South Sudanese people, saying that the diversity must be an asset not a threat. http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ID/8983/Default.aspx END1 2. South Sudan willing to withdraw army from Sudan border - president By Carl Odera JUBA | Tue Jan 1, 2013 8:08am GMT (Reuters) - South Sudan is willing to withdraw its army from the disputed border with Sudan, President Salva Kiir said, signalling a possible compromise at a summit with his Sudanese counterpart. Kiir and Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir agreed in September to withdraw troops from the disputed border as a precondition to resume oil exports from landlocked South Sudan through Sudan. Oil revenues are vital to both economies. But both countries still have troops 10 km (6 miles) from each other's border, and both accuse each other of supporting rebels on the other's territory. Kiir and Bashir are scheduled to meet this month at a summit brokered by the African Union to discuss how set up the border zone which will be monitored by soldiers from both sides and U.N. peacekeepers. "To be able to establish the border monitoring mission, we are temporarily withdrawing our forces from the immediate border areas," Kiir said in a speech on New Year's Eve. "This will allow for a demilitarised border zone to be operational," he said, without giving a date for the pullout. South Sudan's Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told Reuters the withdrawal would have to be coordinated between the two countries. He did not elaborate. South Sudan seceded from Sudan under a 2005 peace deal which ended decades of civil war. But both countries have yet to demarcate the border, which straddles oil production facilities. The two rivals are also at odds over Abyei, an area between Sudan and South Sudan prized for its fertile grazing land. (Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Louise Ireland) http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/01/uk-sudan-south-idUKBRE90003D20130101?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401 END2 3. S. Sudan to withdraw its troops from border areas: Kiir December 31, 2012 (JUBA) - The Republic of South Sudan will withdraw its troops from the border areas to allow for the operation of the proposed demilitarized border zone with Sudan, President Salva Kiir said Monday. "We are temporarily withdrawing our forces from the immediate border areas. This will allow the demilitarized border zone to be operational. We hope that these arrangements will make sure that peace and stability is maintained along our common border”, said Kiir in his new year’s message. He however stressed South Sudan has not given any of its land to Sudan, adding that its leaders stood firm throughout the year to protect the fundamental interests of its nationals. The two Sudans, on 27 September, reached an agreement on several key issues, including the demilitarization of common border, oil, security, among other. The African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) facilitated the deal, reached in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Both countries, under the deal reached, agreed to withdraw their troops 10 kilometers from either side of the border, to be monitored by a joint force and the United Nations peacekeeping forces (UNISFA) working in Abyei . However the security arrangements deal is not yet implemented as Khartoum demands that South Sudan disarms rebels fighting the government in South Kordofan and Blue Nile as precondition for the full implementation of the security arrangements with South Sudan. Sudan also demanded to extend the buffer zone to include Blue Nile and South Kordofan border in a way to prevent the Sudanese rebels operating in the two states from crossing to South Sudan or receive materials. However, President Kiir in response described Sudan’s demands as practically “impossible and will not happen”. Former US envoy, Princeton Lyman, the for both countries recently said he was "troubled" by Khartoum’s recent requests and demands. The two countries, however, agreed earlier this month in Addis Ababa to implement what they agreed and to keep talks on the rebel issue. The political and security committee will meet in Addis during the upcoming days. Also the two presidents Bashir and Kiir are scheduled to meet in the Ethiopian capital. In his speech, President Kiir assured the population of South Sudan army’s (SPLA) commitment to protect the nation and its territory from external aggression, citing those from Khartoum and its allied militias. The young nation, on Sunday, accused the government of neigbouring Sudan of “amassing troops” at the border ahead of a planned meeting between the two countries’ Presidents aimed at resolving a number of outstanding issues pertaining to the south’s independence in July last year. "There are now 3,000 troops fully equipped moving towards disputed areas. They are moving with heavy weapons and they started their activities with ground on areas which deeply inside our territory. They have started this with the attack on Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and a raid of farmers in Renk County in Upper Nile State", South Sudan’s information minister, Barnaba Marial said. The troop build-up, he claimed, was "to preempt [the] presidential summit" and prevent the planned meeting between President Kiir and his Sudanese counterpart, Omer Hassan Al-Bashir. Both Presidents have not met since September when they signed a Cooperation Agreement on numerous issues. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article45041 END3 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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