SPLA boss rushes home over clashes
Dec 02, 2006
Salva Kiir, the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, has cut short his visit to South Africa to address the urgent problem in Malakal, the capital of the oil rich Upper Nile region in South Sudan, which is causing concern in Kampala.
By Emmy Allio
Salva Kiir, the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, has cut short his visit to South Africa to address the urgent problem in Malakal, the capital of the oil rich Upper Nile region in South Sudan, which is causing concern in Kampala.
Three days of fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) left hundreds of people dead and hundreds more wounded.
By press time it was not clear if Ugandan traders were among the casualties.
The fighting has subsided since a ceasefire was declared on Wednesday evening, after UN officials, along with high-ranking SPLA and SAF commanders arrived in Malakal to ease the tensions.
However, reports yesterday indicated looting was still taking place, dead bodies were seen in the streets and the water supply was cut off.
Uganda has urged President Omar Bashir and his deputy, Salva Kiir, to address the Malakal issue in order to save the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in January 2005.
“Uganda is concerned about events evolving in Malakal and urges the authorities of Khartoum and Juba to sit together and address the issue,†the Minister of State for International Affairs, Henry Oryem-Okello, commented.
“Restraint is needed at this time for the sake of peace in the region. We hope that the events in Malakal do not affect the ongoing peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army in Juba.â€
According to the SPLA, the fighting was triggered off when a pro-government militia, SSDF of Gabriel Tang, refused to move to Khartoum to integrate into the SAF. The peace agreement requires that all armed groups either join SAF or SPLA.
According to Sudan radio stations, the Sudanese army lost 34 officers and soldiers.
Sudanese media also reported that 108 wounded SAF soldiers were airlifted to Khartoum, while 50 injured SPLA soldiers were flown to Yei.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called the clashes a “serious violation†of the peace agreement.
The United States through its State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, announced it was “very concerned about the reports of fighting†and said the UN role in quelling the violence in Malakal was a clear indication why the United Nations forces are needed in Darfur.
Meanwhile, Badru Mulumba reports from Juba that fighting in Malakal has hit aid agencies and businesses, but in Juba, life goes on as usual.
Ugandan business people are holding out in Juba oblivious of the outbreak of fighting in part of Southern Sudan .
“I have not heard anything,†Christine Kainembabazi, an owner of a kiosk in Juba said. “It’s business as usual.â€
But aid agencies wound up as fighting broke out in Malakal, a two-hour flight journey from Juba.
“The shootout took place in our very compound,†said Yosa Wawa, a Ugandan working as the Programmes Director of Windle Trust International in Southern Sudan. “We have already informed Unicef.â€
Windle Trust, a civil society organisation that connects tutors all over southern Sudan to teach English to teachers has withdrawn English tutors it had dispatched to the area.
They are not the only ones. A Sudanese director in Nile Coaches, a bus service plying the Juba-Yei-Arua route, returned to Juba after the fighting broke out on Monday.
“They ran out because it was a very serious issue,†the booking clerk of Nile Coaches in Juba, Yoko Saidi, said yesterday.
The director, Gen. M. Malual, had been in Malakal on a training mission.
At Unicef, the staff was withdrawn two days ago. “All our staff has been evacuated,†said information assistant, Skye Wheeler.
Salva Kiir, the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, has cut short his visit to South Africa to address the urgent problem in Malakal, the capital of the oil rich Upper Nile region in South Sudan, which is causing concern in Kampala.
Three days of fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) left hundreds of people dead and hundreds more wounded.
By press time it was not clear if Ugandan traders were among the casualties.
The fighting has subsided since a ceasefire was declared on Wednesday evening, after UN officials, along with high-ranking SPLA and SAF commanders arrived in Malakal to ease the tensions.
However, reports yesterday indicated looting was still taking place, dead bodies were seen in the streets and the water supply was cut off.
Uganda has urged President Omar Bashir and his deputy, Salva Kiir, to address the Malakal issue in order to save the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in January 2005.
“Uganda is concerned about events evolving in Malakal and urges the authorities of Khartoum and Juba to sit together and address the issue,†the Minister of State for International Affairs, Henry Oryem-Okello, commented.
“Restraint is needed at this time for the sake of peace in the region. We hope that the events in Malakal do not affect the ongoing peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army in Juba.â€
According to the SPLA, the fighting was triggered off when a pro-government militia, SSDF of Gabriel Tang, refused to move to Khartoum to integrate into the SAF. The peace agreement requires that all armed groups either join SAF or SPLA.
According to Sudan radio stations, the Sudanese army lost 34 officers and soldiers.
Sudanese media also reported that 108 wounded SAF soldiers were airlifted to Khartoum, while 50 injured SPLA soldiers were flown to Yei.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called the clashes a “serious violation†of the peace agreement.
The United States through its State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, announced it was “very concerned about the reports of fighting†and said the UN role in quelling the violence in Malakal was a clear indication why the United Nations forces are needed in Darfur.
Meanwhile, Badru Mulumba reports from Juba that fighting in Malakal has hit aid agencies and businesses, but in Juba, life goes on as usual.
Ugandan business people are holding out in Juba oblivious of the outbreak of fighting in part of Southern Sudan .
“I have not heard anything,†Christine Kainembabazi, an owner of a kiosk in Juba said. “It’s business as usual.â€
But aid agencies wound up as fighting broke out in Malakal, a two-hour flight journey from Juba.
“The shootout took place in our very compound,†said Yosa Wawa, a Ugandan working as the Programmes Director of Windle Trust International in Southern Sudan. “We have already informed Unicef.â€
Windle Trust, a civil society organisation that connects tutors all over southern Sudan to teach English to teachers has withdrawn English tutors it had dispatched to the area.
They are not the only ones. A Sudanese director in Nile Coaches, a bus service plying the Juba-Yei-Arua route, returned to Juba after the fighting broke out on Monday.
“They ran out because it was a very serious issue,†the booking clerk of Nile Coaches in Juba, Yoko Saidi, said yesterday.
The director, Gen. M. Malual, had been in Malakal on a training mission.
At Unicef, the staff was withdrawn two days ago. “All our staff has been evacuated,†said information assistant, Skye Wheeler.