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June 19, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir on Sunday accused the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) of "betrayal" in South Kordofan which is currently witnessing heavy fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the SPLA.
- Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir addresses supporters during a visit to Sinkat Town in Red Sea State June 19, 2011 (Reuters)
"The enemy there [South Kordofan] practiced treachery when all of them were eating from the same plate," Bashir told his supporters in Sinkat locality in Eastern Sudan.
Bashir said he regretted the "late understanding" of SPLM leaders.
"We hope that now they understood....anyone who looks our way we will stab his eyes," he warned.
The oil-rich state of Southern Kordofan, on the ill-defined border with the south, is among several flashpoints as Sudan’s south prepares to secede on July 9.
Fighting between SAF and SPLA in the state erupted on June 5th under mysterious circumstances. The Northern army said that the SPLA launched an attack on a police station and stole weapons prompting a response.
However, the SPLA claimed that SAF attempted to disarm their units by force. The North gave SPLA in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan until June 1st to evacuate the two states and head South of the 1956 borders.
But officials in the south’s dominant party said that fighters in these border regions are Northerners and therefore cannot be asked to migrate southwards.
Prior to that the SAF moved on May 21st to seize the contested region of Abyei in retaliation for an ambush on its forces near the area that was blamed on the SPLA.
In both cases thousands of civilians have been displaced creating a humanitarian crisis that has partially spilled into the soon to secede south. Furthermore, several reports have alleged that the conflict in South Kordofan has taken an ethnic dimension.
Khartoum has given conflicting signals over the game plan for Abyei with Bashir vowing never to withdraw and other officials saying that a pullout is contingent upon new security arrangements.
SAF said that it will continue its military campaign in South Kordofan, which included aerial bombardment, until it crushes the rebellion led by former deputy governor and leading SPLM figure Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu.
The Sudanese president today called for friendly ties between the North and South instead of war and displacement but stressed that the army is prepared to fight.
"If they want war...we will show them practically like what happened in Abyei and South Kordofan" Bashir said.
"It is better that they [SPLM] come to us in good terms and we will be better than them," he added.
Some analysts have argued that the North is seeking through the recent military operations to strengthen its position at the negotiating table with the South particularly with regard to oil sharing and border demarcation.
The African Union panel headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki is seeking to de-escalate the situation through North-South talks that are ongoing in the Ethiopian capital.
Mbeki announced this week that both sides agreed "in principle" to withdraw Sudanese troops from Abyei and deploy Ethiopian peacekeepers. However, the Northern side has reportedly attached stringent conditions to its approval.
On South Kordofan the former South African leader said that the warring parties have agreed to hold talks on cessation of hostilities but offered little details as fighting intensified around the state capital of Kadugli.
(ST)
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