By Abraham Nega
President Salva Kiir is a well experienced mediator and can assist and guide Ethio-Sudan border conflict toward their own resolution. His Excellency the President does not decide the outcome, but helps the parties understand and focus on the important issues that are needed to reach a resolution.
President Salva Kiir has a capacity as a fantastically well Peace Lover and skilled mediator to clarify the issues and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case. He also offers creative approaches and innovative solutions, while maintaining an unbiased perspective than any other regional leaders among IGAD heads of state.
The Sudanese army said that it was fighting a border war with Ethiopia, specifying it was against Federal Forces and not Ethiopian militia. Large agricultural areas have been recaptured at the border with Ethiopia, the army said, claiming that border signs were uprooted.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said that it would try to resolve the border crisis with Sudan peacefully.
Earlier this week the Sudanese Information Minister said that Sudan had taken control of most of the land it accused Ethiopians of encroaching upon near the border between the two countries.
Tensions in the border region have flared since the outbreak of conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region in early November.Disputes have been concentrated on agricultural land in al-Fashqa.
There have been armed clashes between Sudanese and Ethiopian forces in recent weeks, with both sides accusing the other of instigating the violence. The two countries held talks in Khartoum over the issue.
Ethiopia calls for ‘dialogue’ after Sudan regains control of border areas
Some parties seek to create tensions between the two states, stressing that their historical relations are too deep to be shaken by the desire of conspirators, says Ethiopia.
Sudanese soldiers are seen on an army vehicle as they drive through the defense ministry compound in Khartoum, said Reuters.
Ethiopia has issued a statement saying that it believes the border dispute with Sudan can be solved through “dialogue”, two days after Khartoum took most of the land that it accused Ethiopian forces of attacking.
In a press briefing, the spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign affairs, Amb. Dina Mufti, said that “some parties seek to create tensions” between the two states, stressing that their “historical relations” are “too deep to be shaken by the desire of conspirators.”
“Ethiopia has always been keen on the stability of its neighborhoods to the same extent that it is keen on the stability and security of its people,” Mufti said, as quoted by the ministry’s official Facebook page. “When the revolution erupted in Sudan to achieve the demand of the people for freedom and justice, the government and people of Ethiopia stood by its brothers in Sudan.”
Mufti, despite accusing Sudan of using force since 9 November, pointed out that both sides had positively concluded a two-day meeting of the High-Level Political Committee that took place between top-level officials from both sides.
The Ethiopian delegation vowed “to translate the strong bilateral relations into more strategic cooperation,” including in areas of railway development and port utilization, Mufti said.
The two delegations said they would report to their heads of state after the meetings.
Emphasizing that Sudan also supports “dialogue,” Sudan’s information minister Faisal Saleh told Reuters that “our army will do its duty to take back all our land. Currently our army has taken back between 60 and 70 percent of Sudanese land.”
Media reports suggest that the conflict has taken place in agricultural land in Al-Fashqa, an eastern border region in which Sudan has recently deployed troops.
Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit recently President of The Republic of South Sudan received General Shamsuddin Kabbashi, member of Sudan Sovereignty Council, and the accompanying delegation.
In a statement following the meeting, Umar Gamaruddin, acting minister of foreign affairs of The Sudan, said the delegation briefed President Mayardit on the latest developments in Eastern Sudan and conflict with neighboring Ethiopia, adding that such differences among neighbors are ordinary.
Sudan has restored all its territories, he said, adding that his country and Ethiopia would reach solutions once they agree on the issue of borders.
He called for demarcation of borders between the two countries.
