Salva Kiir. ©Timothy Mckulka
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) was committed to peace and would never take the people back to war, Salva Kiir, First Vice-President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), said at a rally in Juba on 19 November.
Speaking after his visit to the United States and Kenya, Mr. Kiir said the aim of his trip was to mobilize US President George Bush, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Kenyan President Moi Kibaki in a push for peace, rather than incite them against Sudan.
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Reacting to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's recent order for the Popular Defense Forces (PDF) to open their camps and gather the Mujahideen [holy warriors] in readiness for war, Mr. Kiir said he had asked the National Congress Party (NCP) to commit to peace.
"Lets be reminded that no body has a monopoly on waging war, nobody should be proud of amassing war machinery, because weapons alone can not fight and win war." He added that the SPLM had no desire to return to war, although it reserved the right to self-defense, and appealed to Sudanese women and youth to shun hostilities.
Mr. Kiir called on the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), European Union and UN to watch over the peace, saying that the SPLM was more united today than ever before. "I appreciate the consistent commitment of international bodies in supporting implementation of the peace agreement," he said.
The ceremony was attended by several government officials, including GoSS Vice-President Riek Machar, Central Equatoria State Governor Clement Wani Konga and SPLM Secretary-General Pagan Amum. |
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