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Juba rubbishes Bashir's claims of backing Sudan rebels

Thursday May 25 2017

South Sudanese authorities have dismissed claims of supporting rebels in Sudan, fighting to oust President Omar al-Bashir.

Information minister Michael Makuei said the accusations by President Bashir against Juba and Egypt were completely false.

President Bashir on Tuesday claimed that Juba and Cairo were offering military and logistical support to the Sudanese anti-government factions based in Darfur.

He told the media in Khartoum that groups battling government forces, entered the Darfur region through South Sudan and Libya and were well armed with Egyptian armoured vehicles for the attacks on two states last Sunday.

READ: Bashir accuses Egypt, South Sudan of backing rebels

However, Mr Makuei said South Sudan and Egypt had not offered any support to any Sudanese rebels.

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“With due respect to their opinion, that is not correct. Where do we come in with Egypt so that we work together for the support of these rebels?” Mr Makuei posed in Juba.

He added that South Sudan has no border with Egypt which could be jointly used to support army groups fighting the Khartoum government.

“Egyptians are a government in their own right. They (Sudan) are south of Egypt and we are south of Sudan, we don’t have any border with Egypt so that we can coordinate activities and work together,” Mr Makuei expounded.

He also stressed that Juba has no capacity or interest to support violence in Sudan.

“What is our situation at present to justify us supporting any other rebels?” he posed.

Mr Makuei urged President Bashir and his government in Khartoum to always verify their reports before making public accusations.

South Sudan and Sudan have been exchanging accusations against each other, since the largest African country split into two independent states in 2011.

The two countries also got into a military confrontation in 2012 over the ownership of Heglig, located between their common border.

The international community and the African Union immediately intervened and pushed the two to the table for talks which resulted in the signing of 12 agreements in September 2012 on border demarcation, security, citizenship and trade among others. 

READ: African Union, UN seek political solution for South Sudan

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