Khartoum threatens border closure over South Sudan’s failure to expel rebels

The government in Khartoum has threatened to close its border with South Sudan over what it calls the “failure” to expel the armed movements opposed to Sudan. Sudanese officials said that South Sudan must fulfil its “commitment” to honour its pledges regarding such groups.

According to the semi-official Sudanese Media Centre, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kamal Ismail, said that South Sudan’s First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, pledged to expel the rebel movements from Juba within 21 days. He warned that failure to abide by the agreement would result in Khartoum stopping the transit of humanitarian aid through Sudanese territory to South Sudan. His government, added Ismail, is watching Juba carefully on this issue.

A Sudanese political analyst told Quds Press that relations between Sudan and South Sudan have become very tense because Juba has not fulfilled its commitment to the agreement. The South Sudan government has failed in this respect, explained Youssef Abdul Mannan.

He pointed out that reports claim that the Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders, which governed Southern Sudan in line with President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s directive, has rebuked Taban Deng Gai because of the pledges he made to Khartoum about the armed rebel groups. This is especially sensitive given that around 10,000 soldiers from the Nuba Mountains — armed rebels as far as Khartoum is concerned — are fighting on Mayardit’s side. In fact, said Mannan, they are a pillar of the government army, so expelling them is problematic for the South Sudan government.