Rice
Says Can't
Delink
Kordofan from
North-South
Sudan, UN in
Denial?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 16 -- On
the deadline
for compliance
with the UN
Security
Council's most
recent
resolution on
Sudan and
South Sudan,
the Council
met behind
closed doors.
On the way in,
US Ambassador
Susan Rice
told the press
not to expect
any "product"
or
further
statement or
enforcement
action, at
least that
day.
When
the session
was over,
Inner City
Press asked
about one or
two paragraphs
of the
resolution:
Inner
City
Press: What
about talks
with
SPLM-North?
I'm sorry if
you've
addressed
this, but
Sudan has said
that they
don't they
think the
resolution can
force
them-they've
said that no
one can make
them talk
to SPLM-North
about Southern
Kordofan?
Ambassador
Rice:
Well, the
resolution
makes clear
that this is
part of the
African Union
Roadmap, and
it is a
requirement.
The reality is
that,
as we all
agree in
there, it is
impossible to
separate what
is
happening from
Southern
Kordofan and
Blue Nile from
the larger
conflict
between North
and South. And
the North
would be wise
to
return to the
table with the
SPLM-North, to
allow
humanitarian
access, which
was discussed
in there as a
matter of
enormous
urgency
given the
onslaught of
the rainy
season. And
the North
needs to
know-and the
SPLM-North
needs to
know-that they
have
obligations in
this regard
under the
resolution.
Moments
later,
Inner City
Press asked
Sudanese
diplomats
about this
statement, and
the situation
in Abyei. On
the latter,
they
reiterated the
position
of minister
Ali Karti that
an
administrative
structure
should be
agreed to and
be in place,
and said that
while South
Sudan pulled
back, they had
"not gone back
behind the
1/1/1956
border."
Inner
City Press
asked South
Sudan's
representative
Francis
Nazario about
Abyei and he
said that
there could be
no
pre-conditions
to leaving
Abyei. Another
representative
said Sudan
should be
asked where
they think the
1956
border is.
Meanwhile
on Sudan
the UN
Secretariat is
in denial --
or at least,
is directly
denying a
press
account that
the government
has told
non-Sudanese
NGOs to leave
El Geneina.
Inner City
Press asked,
then the UN
e-mailed this
answer:
Subject:
Your
question El
Geneina
(Sudan)
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not
Reply [at]
un.org
Date: Tue, May
15, 2012 at
1:05 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee@innercitypress.com
On
yesterday's
question, the
Office for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA)
in El Geneina
confirmed that
no
international
NGO in
El Geneina has
received
information
asking them to
leave the
refugee
camp there.
There is one
international
NGO that is in
the process of
a planned
scale-down.
We'll
see. On May 16
Inner City
Press asked
about 30
reported
arrests of
civilians in
South Darfur.
Typically, the
UN Secretariat
had nothing.
Watch this
site.
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