Kiir eyes Khartoum ceasefire talks

President Salva Kiir has sent a mediation team led by the Presidential Security Advisor Tut Gatluak to Sudan, in a bid to de-escalate the ongoing political turmoil that resulted in the military takeover last week.

The decision was made in a discussion President Kiir held with the First Vice President Dr Riek Machar on Saturday over the matter, where the two leaders agreed to send a delegation to try and to quell the simmering dispute between the military and ousted civilian leaders. 

Speaking after the meeting, Gatluak echoed Kiir’s statement describing Sudan and South Sudan as strategic sisterly countries whose problems become contagious to both sides, hence, the need for an immediate solution.

“In the meeting, they discussed the issue of Sudan, and President Salva Kiir confirmed his contact with Sudanese officials. They also agreed to form a delegation to visit Sudan to try to mediate and resolve differences between the military and civilians, because Sudan is a strategic and important state for the State of South Sudan concerning the joint bilateral agreements,” said Gatluak as quoted by SSBC on Saturday evening.

Appeal for dialogue

In a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, seen by the City Review, President Kiir, through the mediation team, called on the military ruler, Gen. Abdel Fattah AL-Burhan to end the conflict through dialogue.

According to the ministry’s statement, the delegation arrived in the capital, Khartoum, on Sunday morning to appeal and engage the political actors on both sides to avoid any actions that would endanger the stability of Sudan at the critical moment of its history. 

“A high-level delegations led by the Presidential Advisor on National Security, Honorable Tut Gatluak arrived in Khartoum this morning (Sunday) October 31, 2021, from Juba to deliver a message from H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardit, urging the Sudanese leaders across the political divide to resolve their differences through dialogue.” 

“President Kiir has been monitoring the ongoing political tension in Sudan with great concern and is, therefore, appealing to the Sudanese leaders, especially H.E. Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council to provide space for such dialogue,” partly read the ministry’s statement issued on Sunday.

Recently, Sudan descended into political turmoil after the Chairman of Sovereign Council, Gen Al-Burhan, led a military coup that deposed the Prime Minister, Dr Abdallah Hamdok’s government on October 25.

Since then, relations between the military and civilians have soured with the protesters taking to the streets to demand revert to civilian rule. By yesterday, at least 11 people were reported to have been killed in the protests. 

Fears emerge

Last Friday, an activist expressed concern over the uncertain fate of South Sudan’s oil transit to the international market citing the ongoing Sudanese political crisis as a possible hindrance. 

“Obviously, [the military takeover in Sudan] will directly affect South Sudan oil transit to the international market. So we should have a concern,” said Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) Edmund Yakani.

Yakani said the military takeover in Sudan has a direct impact on the country’s main source of revenue.

On the same day, the Minister of Information and Government Spokesperson Michael Makuei assured the public of the continuity of the oil transit to the world market amidst rumours of its suspension due to conflict in Sudan.  

“It is not suspended. The problem [with some of] you is that you do not follow the news from Eastern Sudan. They (Sudanese military government) have been saying that we are making an exception, and out of this exception oil will be exported,” Makuei told journalists after the Council of Ministers meeting yesterday.

 “They will allow some trucks to carry food to Khartoum. This is what they have said and this is what they have done. We have started negotiating with the [Sudanese] government and now everything is in the process,” he added.

Kiir’s efforts to end the conflict came when both regional and international communities had also condemned Sudan’s latest development, which come two years after a similar occurrence that led to the removal of the country’s long-serving president, Omar Hassan El-Bashir, on October 2019. 

African Union (AU) has so far suspended Sudan from all its activities after the scene saying “African Union decides to suspend the participation of the Republic of Sudan in all African Union activities until the effective restoration of the civilian-led transitional authority.” 

However, President Kiir’s hope that brought a partial end to Sudan’s longest war in October 2020, perhaps holds in resolving the ongoing conflict.

Kiir repeatedly said “peace in Sudan is peace in South Sudan” adding both countries know each other problems more than the outsiders.