South Sudan: Former U.S. Official Calls for Arming Army

All Africa
May 14, 2012

Washington — The United States should move in to provide ant-aircraft defense systems to South Sudan in order to discourage Khartoum from launching aerial attacks and persuade it into returning to negotiations, former special envoy to Sudan said.

Since South Sudan gained its independence from the north in July 2011, it has accused its northern neighbor of bombarding inside its territories and particularly near the border regions. Some of the bombings were confirmed by UN officials and journalists.

The alleged bombing campaigns intensified particularly after the outbreak of rebellions last year in the border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan by the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N).

Khartoum persistently accuses Juba of supporting SPLM-N rebels who fought alongside southerners during the north-south civil war. But South Sudan dismissed the allegations.

Read full article

This article was posted: Monday, May 14, 2012 at 1:28 pm

---

---

---

---