European Union - EEAS (European External Action Service) | Juba tells Bashir not to beat the drums of war

Juba tells Bashir not to beat the drums of war (07/02/2012)

(Sudan Tribune) The Vice president of South Sudan Riek Machar dismissed statements made by Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir in which he raised the prospects of war between neighboring states.

This week the Sudanese president suggested that tensions reached a level which makes the scenario of war a real possibility. Machar said that suspending oil production does not mean they want to go to war with Sudan.

South Sudan VP also reacted to statements by Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti that Khartoum will use 700,000 of southerners living in the north if a war erupts. Machar said southerners on either side of the borders don’t want to go to war adding that 2 million cattle herders from the north operating in the south will have their presence terminated by end of March in accordance with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).