Kiir and Bashir urged to path of peace
Accompanied by former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari and Ireland’s former head of state Mary Robinson, Tutu made the call on July 6 while meeting Kiir in Juba at the start of the team’s six day visit to Juba, Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
The world wants two viable states side by side. Nothing they can do. Whether they like it or not, there is Sudan and South Sudan,” Tutu told the media at Home & Away hotel after their meeting with President Salva Kiir.
Presidents Salva Kiir and Omar Bashir stand on attention as the South Sudanese flag is hoisted during the independence ceremony in Juba on July 9, 2011.
The archbishop is head of The Elders, an organisation founded by South Africa’s former leader Nelson Mandela, which brings together ten former leaders, influential peace advocates and human rights activists.
The leader of the three-man delegation said Kiir had warmly welcomed them and their involvement in the worldwide calls for peace between South Sudan and Sudan.
Tutu, a 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner and head of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission for apartheid-era crimes stated that The Elders aim is to encourage leaders of South Sudan and Sudan on peace and drawing attention to the human suffering caused by conflicts, particularly the growing refugee crisis in the border regions.
Dialogue is the only way to resolve their differences and to build two viable states. Military force is a dead-end, promising nothing but suffering and misery to their people,” says the clergyman.
Former Ireland’s first female head of state and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, expressed deep concern over the human impact of tensions between South Sudan and Sudan.
She lamented that The Elders was particularly appalled by the plight of refugees fleeing the conflict in Southern Kordafan and Blue Niles states that continue to trickle into South Sudan and neighbouring Ethiopia.
Robinson said her team was scheduled to visit Khartoum next week to urge leaders of both countries to realise the importance of interdependence and giving priority to welfare of the people especially women and children who are most vulnerable in times of economic hardship and war.
Meanwhile, the former Finnish leader, Martti Ahtisaari called for an immediate face to face meeting between the presidents Salva Kiir and Omar Bashir.
Ahtisaari stressed that the first priority of any government is for the welfare of its people but said cannot be delivered in either country unless leaders work together as partners, not enemies.
The differences between Juba and Khartoum are based on mistrust which needs to be overcome by confidence building measures. I hope both parties make the most of these talks and reach an agreement before the August 2 deadline,” he remarked.
South Sudan’s Chief Negotiator, Pagan Amum Akech, says his team is committed to the talks, reaching for lasting peace.
Responding to The Niles on whether The Elders could appoint a delegate to the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) mediated talks in the Ethiopian capital, Ahtisaari explained that his organisation was there to support rather than enter the negotiations.
The trio arrived from Addis Ababa on Friday after meeting AUHIP Chairman and South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki for a briefing on the discussions due to resume next week.
The delegation’s trip that comes at a time South Sudan is commemorating the first independence anniversary on July 9, is part of a two-phase initiative by The Elders following a meeting in Khartoum between Omar al-Bashir, former US president Jimmy Carter and out-gone Algeria’s Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi in May.
During their meeting, Carter and Brahimi had urged Bashir and his government on the need to address outstanding issues with South Sudan and to a peaceful resolution of internal problems in the north where government is facing rebel groups.
