Al-Bashir defends Addis Ababa agreement, opposition voices doubt
At sunset on Friday, September 28, crowds rushed to Khartoum Airport to greet the Sudanese delegation after it returned from Addis Ababa. People danced and played tambourines, celebrating President Omar Hassan al-Bashir as a knight” and a brave leader”.
The gathering was apparently orchestrated by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) whose members and supporters had turned out in full force and who had build a platform with speakers.
Even though there are some outstanding issues, I am very optimistic.”
This is the first fruit after secession. We hope fighting and bloodshed will stop,” Muhammad Osman, standing among the gathered crowds, told The Niles. Even though there are some outstanding issues, I am very optimistic. I believe it is just a starting point.”
Muhammad Mahdi, another South Sudanese citizen, described the agreement as a bridge between the two countries in the future. It will keep border problems to a minimum and contribute to the two peoples’ wellbeing.”
The two neighbouring countries agreed to resume oil exports and set up a demilitarised border area as part of the September 27 breakthrough. Vital issues remained unsolved, however, including the path of the two nations’ border and the future of the disputed Abyei region and conflicts in the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
Hassan al-Turabi, a leading opposition figure who has been arrested several times, has said he was not convinced the deal would bring peace to the conflictive region.
If we conclude a marriage we have to see to it that the bride and the groom trust each other ... There is no trust, and then serious problems are not settled,” he told Reuters. They wanted to please the world only, because they are under pressure, and they can’t stand the pressure from inside and the pressure from outside.”
They wanted to please the world only, because they are under pressure.”
The African nations met behind closed doors in late September, working to a deadline set by the United Nations Security Council, which threatened the economically struggling countries with sanctions if they failed to agree.
Nine accords were signed, covering Mile 14, a disputed area within the buffer zone between the two countries and the four freedom agreements, facilitating movement and residency of the two nations’ citizens within the other country.
The NCP welcomed the deal as a landmark. It will stop the war,” said Political Secretary Nizar Mahgoub, addressing smiling crowds.
Significantly, the agreement wasn’t criticised during the Friday prayers speeches, unlike negative reaction to other agreements in the past. However, the Sudan Tribune reported that the daily newspaper al-Intibaha was censored by the government from printing critical views about the agreement. In its printed edition on Saturday, the wide-circulation newspaper wrote censored” in the empty column where owner al-Tayeb Mustafa usually publishes a comment.
Writing on al-Intibaha’s website, Mustafa urged security forces to stop censoring his newspaper and to allow it to criticise the agreements to enlighten the government on some imperfections” included in the deal.
But the Sudanese President al-Bashir told gathered crowds about his confidence in the deal. The agreement is a great achievement because peace is the key to resolve all issues,” he said.
The coming days will witness true implementation of the agreements which are the ultimate solution for our problems.”
I talked with President Salva Kiir and he confirmed that he would honour the agreement and he would prove it in coming days. We called it the Cooperation Agreement. It paves the way to solve all the problems with the South.”
Both peoples will return to their habits before the secession. The borders will be used to exchange benefits including trade and livestock, rather than arms and conflicts,” he noted, adding that the border tribes will return to their customs and traditions thanks to flexible borders. The coming days will witness true implementation of the agreements which are the ultimate solution for our problems.”
Sudan’s Minister of Defence, Abdulrahim Muhammad Hussein, said the agreement would soon be transformed from words into actions. Sudan and South Sudan will immediately start moving to implement the signed agreements.”
Head of the negotiation delegation, Edris Muhammad, also voiced optimism, saying, what we achieved in Addis Ababa is just the beginning of senior diplomatic ties and advanced relations, integration and cooperation based on a security agreement between two peoples that used to be in one country.”
