January 4, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - In response to statements by the South Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor, his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ghandour said that the disputed Abyei area belongs to Sudan.
- A man waves a South Sudanese flag as he celebrates the results of the referendum in Abyei on 31 October 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)
Ghandour was responding to press statements by South Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor who was in Khartoum during the week end.
During a visit to Khartoum during the week end Alor who is a son of Abyei told Al-Jareeda that Abyei belongs to South Sudan.
"Abyei is a Sudanese territory and the issue is resolved by the decisions of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the African Union," Ghandour said in statements to the press at the National Assembly in Omdurman.
He further pointed to the protocol of Abyei in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which paved the way for the South Sudan independence.
The CPA provides that the contested territory remains part of the north until the organization of a referendum determine its fate.
The difference over who will participate in the referendum prevents the two countries from holding the agreed referendum.
However, the Dinka Ngok organized a three-day unilateral referendum from 27-29 October 2013 to say they want to join the Republic of South Sudan.
Khartoum, Juba, the African Union and the international community refused to recognize the outcome of the vote.
During the electoral campaign for the presidential election in March 2015, the candidate of the ruling National Congress Party (President Omer al-Bashir told a rally in Al-Foula, capital of West Kordofan State that Abyei area belongs to Sudan and will remain a Sudanese territory.
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PCP’s to dissolve itself to unify Islamic forces in Sudan
January 4, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Political Secretary the Popular Congress Party (PCP), Kamal Omer, disclosed that his party would dissolve itself to unite with other the Islamic parties when peace and stability are achieved in Sudan.
- Popular Congress Party (PCP) Political secretary Kamal Omer (Photo SUNA)
Omer was Asked whether it’s time to reveal, ‘the succession system’, a plan conceived by Hassan al-Turabi the late PCP leader to reunite the Islamist forces in one party to back the establishment of an Islamic state in a democratic regime.
"I can assure you that the moment to announce it is approaching and it is not too far," he said in an interview with the Al-Siha newspaper on Tuesday, pointing the succession system is designed to take place when peace and stability are established in the country.
The late Hassan al-Turabi was criticized by the opposition forces for his indefatigable support for the national dialogue process despite the government refusal to ensure freedoms and the continuation of war against the rebel groups.
The National Umma Party of Sadiq al-Mahdi and the Reform Now Movement of Ghazi Salah al-din Attabani suspended their participation in the dialogue process to protest the lack of freedoms in the country.
The new political alliance for an Islamic constitution should gather all the Islamic forces including the Sudanese Islamist, traditional parties and Sufi groups. The Democratic Unionist Party and the National Umma Party are among the forces targeted by this large coalition.
The idea, which is detailed in a paper prepared for the PCP’s leadership in 2015, links the dissolution of the party with the creation of this alliance.
The PCP secretary general said his party was not supportive of calls for civil disobedience that aims to overthrow the regime without an agreement over the transitional period among the political forces.
Omer also ruled out that the party would not take punitive measures against the PCP youth who posted a memo hostile to any participation in the new government tasked with the implementation of the dialogue outcome.
He added that his party is keen to ensure freedom of expression and disclosed that the PCP leader Ibrahim al Sanousi met with the youth group and explained the party’s positions.
Different sources say the PCP would not participate in the dialogue government but intends only to participate in the parliament to take part in the elaboration of the new constitution.