Email
Print
Save
February 6, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The spokesperson of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, announced on Wednesday that they plan to release five prisoners of war (POW) from South Sudan’s People Liberation Army (SPLA).
- Spokesperson of the Sudan Armed Forces Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad (ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)
Col Sa’ad said the five soldiers were captured in mid-2012 in an area called Kafan Dibi, which is part of South Darfur state, during an incursion attempt by the SPLA. It is one of the border regions that are in dispute between Khartoum and Juba.
Darfur rebels fighting Khartoum since 2003 reportedly managed to occupy Kafan Dibi briefly in May of last year before the SAF recaptured it.
Sudan accused SPLA of taking part in the fighting alongside the rebels.
The army spokesman said releasing the POW’s was made as a gesture of goodwill and urged Juba to do the same and free SAF prisoners in its custody. He specifically named Brigadier Telefon Kuku who was an SPLM commander from the Nuba Mountains before falling out with its leadership.
Khartoum launched a campaign two years ago calling for his release from jail in South Sudan where he is being held without charges.
The SPLA POW’s will be handed over in the South Darfur capital city of Nyala next Monday through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Col Sa’ad said.
He went on to say that Sudan expects South Sudan to demonstrate “prudence and foresight” by withdrawing immediately and unconditionally from six disputed regions it controls, stressing that the SAF is not incapable of protecting the gains of the people and the homeland.
(ST)
Latest Comments & Analysis
National unity: a project for each and every South Sudanese 2013-05-21 14:23:01 By Jacob K. Lupai May 21, 2013 - South Sudan has just attained independence from an imposed unity that had failed miserably to take into account the objective realities on the ground. In the old (...)
Unity and reconciliation necessary for sustainable peace in Darfur 2013-05-21 14:19:47 By Adeeb Yousif May 20, 2013 -The biggest challenge in the Darfur conflict today is divisions. These divisions have created misunderstanding and mistrust within Darfurian society. Moreover they (...)
The Invasion of Abyei: two years of more agony 2013-05-20 05:39:13 By Luka Biong Deng May 19, 2013 - On 21st May 2013, the people of Abyei have spent two years of more agony and they will remember again the sad memories of how their lives and livelihoods were (...)
MORE