US: Bashir’s call for ceasefire, a positive step

American administration urges ‘the rebels from Nuba to follow’

The United States, on Friday called Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir’s announcement for ceasefire in South Kordofan as a positive first step.Victoria Nuland, spokesperson of the US State Department, called for resumption of negotiations and encouraged the rebels from Nuba to take a similar step.

Nuland said in a statement, “The Declaration of the Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir is a positive first step and the United States calls for a strong rebel heart to do the same thing.”

SPLM: There is no ceasefire in South Kordofan

In response to the US statement, Qamar Dahlman, media advisor to the president of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), told Radio Dabanga that there is no de facto moratorium ceasefire by the government on the ground in South Kordofan.

He said, “The ceasefire declared by Al-Bashir is political propaganda which has nothing to do with reality.”

Dahlman added that the SPLM in Southern Kordofan and the Nuba Mountains is ready to go to the negotiating table if there is political will from the other end as well.

‘Bashir using food as a weapon’

Yasir Arman, the secretary-general of the SPLM (North) said in a statement on Friday that Al-Bashir is using food as a weapon in the ongoing war in South Kordofan and Nuba Mountains.

Arman’s statements came in the backdrop of the Sudanese president rejecting any role of international aid organizations and humanitarian action in providing the urgently needed aid for refugees in South Kordofan.

“SPLM-North condemns such irresponsible speech and calls for an urgent agreement between Government of Sudan and SPLM-N to open safe corridors for humanitarian operations in South Kordofan,” he said.