Sudan president says North-South ties to continue after referendum

President Omar Al Bashir visited Juba yesterday for talks with the leadership of South Sudan. He was received by the region’s leader Salva Kiir Mayardit in a ceremony at the Juba Airport and then driven to Kiir’s presidential palace. Other senior regime leaders accompanied President Bashir including Minister of Defense Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein. The visit constitutes a milestone in the ongoing post-referendum negotiations, signalling at the highest level that the uneasy partnership between Bashir’s party and Kiir’s will continue to endure.During his visit, the president highlighted his commitment to the country’s 2005 peace agreement despite the impending possibility of South Sudan breaking away. In remarks to journalists at the presidential palace, President Bashir expressed his commitment to all the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). He said “we are in a sensitive time” due to the referendum. Referring to observers and media present in South Sudan, he said that these will be witnesses to the referendum process. He said that he wants to demonstrate his commitment to the referendum result, whatever it will be, whether unity or separation. “All people should accept it in a good spirit,” he said, promising that he would accept the final results of the referendum.

Bashir and Kiir appear also to have reached an understanding that the South Sudan government should quell any support or harbor for Darfuri rebels based in its territory. Both Bashir and Kiir said that the Government of Southern Sudan has committed itself to expel rebels from the region – a reference to Minni Minawi and his dissidents in Juba, among others. Elaborating on this, President Bashir reasoned that from his own experience of backing rebels – such as those in Eritrea and Ethiopia – nothing positive had come of it.

Responding to a question on Abyei, President Bashir said that the CPA partners will keep discussing the issue. The solution to the problem has been postponed until 9 July, he announced. He added that in the event of separation, future relations between North and South will continue economically, politically, and socially “because we were one country and one people, especially in the border regions.” He said they commit themselves to preserve security and prosperity for all citizens, whether southerners in the north or northerners in the south.